Growing up as a child, I used to think the moon had its own light, staring at it every night until I learned in science class that the moon does not actually have a source of light of its own. Rather, it acts like a giant cosmic mirror, reflecting sunlight to the Earth. Nobody would have recognized the moon in the first place if the sun were not present, or if the moon itself were an opaque object that did not allow light to pass through. In this description, it is easy to identify that the glory of the moon is tied to the sun, and that the sun, in its own right, is the true definition of glory.
The analogy of the sun and the moon provides a pictorial representation of what the glory of God truly means. Glory is the identity of God, just as light is the identity of the sun. Only God is eternal, and His glory is a perfect and eternal attribute of His holiness, majesty, goodness, and love.
In the Old Testament, the manifestation of God’s glory was accompanied by supernatural fire, thick clouds, and a great quaking of the earth. We see these phenomena when God gave the law to Moses (Exodus 19:18). This evidence shows that the presence of God is manifest in a place; various descriptions were given to the glory of God across the Old Testament. All the miracles that occurred in the Old Testament happened because God wanted to reveal His glory through His people or by the prophets He had chosen. For example, God could have taken the Israelites through another route, but He chose to lead them through the Red Sea because He intended to showcase His glory (Psalm 136:13–14). The glory of God is also evident in the miracles and wonders of His works.
In the New Testament, the glory of God is revealed in His Son, Jesus Christ. Colossians 1:15 describes Jesus as the express image of the invisible God. We understand by this that Jesus carries the glory of God.
“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14)
We remember that Moses requested to behold the glory of God in Exodus 33:18 but was unable to see it. He had to hide in the rock because God told him,
"You cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live" (verse 20).
What Moses could not see, we can now expressly see in our Lord Jesus Christ. All the miracles that our Lord Jesus performed on Earth serve as evidence of the glory of God.
The Impermanent vs. The Eternal
Human glory, including our dignity and honor, eventually fades. As the scripture says,
"For all people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field, the grass withers and the flowers fall" (1 Peter 1:24, NLT).
In contrast, the glory of God, the sum of all His divine attributes, never passes away. It is eternal.
A Call to Reflect His Presence
When Isaiah 60:1 declares that the glory of the Lord has risen upon you, it signals a divine mandate. This is the very presence of God calling us to reflect His light to the world. We are summoned to be witnesses of His glory, showcasing through our lives that we have beheld Him. This representation is our primary function: the purpose for which He has called us. In Exodus 34:29, 35, we see the result of Moses' encounter with God. When he descended from the mountain, his face radiated such brilliance that the people were afraid to approach, forcing him to use a veil. Yet, as remarkable as this was, that glory eventually faded (2 Corinthians 3:12, 13). God is not inviting us to a fading glory. He is calling us into an everlasting radiance found only in Christ Jesus, the one who is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
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