Glory

Jude 24-25

What is glory?  No, I’m not talking about the 1989 film about one of the first all-black Army regiments in the Civil War.  Many scriptures and even my own prayers refer to the Glory of God.  Christian songs sing about glorifying God.  But if you sit and ponder for a moment, what does that word even mean? What comes to mind?

Can you define it?  The Jews referred to it as “Shekinah Glory,” even though it’s not a word found in Scripture.  Shekinah means “resting place,” referring to when God’s presence rests on earth with mankind.  The clearest examples are when the cloud rested over the tabernacle with Moses or when smoke filled Solomon’s temple.  But that still doesn’t define glory.  

Glory, translated directly from the Greek in Jude’s letter, represents the unspoken manifestation of God. It is the word used to describe something indescribable and divine.  It is an attempt to sum up God’s presence and awesomeness into a word, only to guide us to the thought of what is in the mind of the writer.  The truth is, it is a word that falls short of fully explaining what it is meant to indicate.  It’s the light that shines when angels appear.  It is what made Moses’ face shine so brightly that it brought the Israelites a sense of fear.  It is also what casts out demons and heals the sick.  It is what made the cohort of Roman soldiers fall to their knees when Jesus said, “I am.” (John 18:6). It is why Isaiah, in his vision, said, “Woe is me” (Isaiah 6:5).  It is also what provided light for the universe before God created the sun and stars (Genesis 1:3).  It is the reason why we need Jesus’ blood to cover us, or else we cannot withstand being in God’s holy presence.  This is exactly what Jude is reminding us of as he closes out his letter.

Isaiah recognized this immediately when in God’s presence…only in a vision!  He thought he was done for, toast, vaporized!  I’ve had some near-death experiences myself, but never one where I thought I was just going to be POOF gone.  This is the power of God’s glory.  Thankfully, we get to stand before God blameless and with great joy.

Jude points out that it is THIS God, the only God, the true God, who is able to empower us to not do all of the things he warned about in his letter.  While we have been slowly walking through this short letter to the church, remember it was written as just one single message.  As we end this study, I encourage you to read over the whole letter in one shot; it will only take a few minutes.  Feel the weight of it, the seriousness of it, and then bask in the relief of the last two verses.

Now, a curious thought I have, which may only be a humble revelation of my own shortsighted thinking when it comes to recognizing the majesty of God, is if God’s glory is irresistible, why do we talk about giving God glory?  Jude’s concluding line starts with to, as if He only gets glory, majesty, dominion, and authority if we give it to Him.  He already has it!  If He truly is God, why do we need to give it to Him?  This, my friends, is the wonder and mystery of God’s way of doing things.

Yes, He already has these qualities.  After all, if it wasn’t for Him, we and the whole of creation wouldn’t exist!  Yet, some of His other qualities and characteristics (love, grace, and mercy) are what also give us an invitation to recognize God for who He is of our own free will before we are forced to accept it.  In Romans 14:11, the Apostle Paul points to a quote from Isaiah 45, reminding us of God’s sovereignty as an exhortation to honor God in how we treat each other. While the entirety of Isaiah 45 is a great soliloquy from God about His sovereignty, let’s look at a piece of it here:

     22 Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth, 

       for I am God and there is none besides me. 

     23 I have sworn by myself; 

       a word that shall not return has gone forth from my mouth in righteousness: 

     ‘Every knee shall kneel down to me; 

       every tongue shall swear.’ 

     24 ‘Only in Yahweh,’ one shall say to me, ‘are righteousness and strength.’ 

       He shall come to him, and all those who were angry with him shall be ashamed.

Jude’s closing to his letter also echoes this sentiment.  God allows us to give Him glory, to recognize His awesome presence in wonder of our own accord.  He invites us to see his majesty as the King of Kings throughout the universe and even enter into His throne room (Hebrews 4:16). He bestows upon us the opportunity of sharing His dominion with Him and enjoying it (Matthew 25:21).  He shares with us His authority on earth so that His glory might be shared with others (Matthew 28:18-20).

So, it isn’t that He needs it from us; rather, He shares it with us so that we too might enjoy it.  However, the caveat is that the responsibility that comes with it is to honor Him in doing so.  It is exactly what Jude exposed in his letter: we must be careful in how we wield it and to be wary of those who are doing so inappropriately.