"Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it,
they would not have crucified the Lord of glory." 1 Corinthians 2:8
Our ever blessed Lord, who died for us, to whom we belong, with whom we shall be forever, is the Lord of Glory. Thus He is called in 1 Cor. 2:8, "for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory." Eternally He is this because He is the express image of God, the brightness of His Glory" (Heb. 1:3). He possessed Glory with the Father before the world was (John 17:5). This Glory was beheld by the prophets, for we read that Isaiah "saw His Glory, and spake of Him" (John 12:41). All the glorious manifestations of Jehovah recorded in the Word of God are the manifestations of "the Lord of Glory," who created all things that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, who is before all things and by whom all things consist. He appeared as the God of Glory to Abraham (Acts 7:2); Isaac and Jacob were face to face with Him. Moses beheld His Glory. He saw His Glory on the mountain. The Lord of Glory descended in the cloud and stood with him there (Exod. 34:5). How often the Glory of the Lord appeared in the midst of Israel. And what more could we say of Joshua, David, Daniel, Ezekiel, who all beheld His Glory and stood in the presence of that Lord of Glory.
In the fulness of time He appeared on earth "God ... manifest in the flesh." Though He made of Himself no reputation and left His unspeakable Glory behind, yet He was the Lord of Glory, and as such He manifested His Glory. In incarnation in His holy, spotless life He revealed His moral Glory; what perfection and loveliness we find here! We have the testimony of His own "We beheld His Glory, the Glory as of the only begotten of the Father" (John 1:14). "They saw His Glory" (Luke 9:32) when they were with Him in the holy mountain. They heard, they saw with their eyes, they looked upon, their hands handled the Word of life, the life that was manifested (1 John 1:1-2). In His mighty miracles the Lord of Glory manifested His Glory, for it is written "this beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth His Glory" (John 2:11).
And this Lord of Glory died. The focus of His Glory is the cross. He was obedient unto death, the death of the cross. He gave Himself for us. Without following here all the precious truths connected with that which is the foundation of our salvation and our hope, that the Lord of Glory, Christ died for our sins, we remember that God "raised Him up from the dead, and gave Him Glory" (1 Pet. 1:21). He was "received up into Glory" (I Tim. 3:16). "Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into His Glory'' (Luke 24:26). The risen Lord of Glory said: "I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God" (John 20:17). He is now in the presence of God, the Man in Glory, seated in the highest place of the heaven of heavens "at the right hand of the Majesty on high" (Heb. 1:3). He is there "far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come" (Eph. 1:21). He is highly exalted, the heir, of all things. In that Glory He was beheld by human, mortal eyes. Stephen being full of the Holy Spirit "looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the Glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God" (Acts 7:55). This was the dying testimony of the first Christian martyr. Saul of Tarsus saw this Glory; he "could not see for the Glory of that light" (Acts 22:11). John beheld Him and fell at His feet as dead. And we see Him with the eye of faith. "But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with Glory and Honour" (Heb. 2:9).
But this is not all. The unseen Glory of the Lord and the unseen Lord of Glory will some day be visible, not to a few, but to the whole universe. He will come in the Glory of His Father and the holy angels with Him (Matt. 16:27). The Lord of Glory will be "revealed from heaven with His mighty angels" (2 Thess. 1:7). He will come in power and Glory, come in His own Glory (Luke 9:26) and sit on the throne of His Glory (Matt. 25:31). His Glory then will cover the heavens (Hab. 3:3) and "the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the Glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea" (Hab. 2:14). The heavens cannot be silent forever and He who now is the object of the faith of believers, and the One whom the world has rejected, will come forth in all His Majesty and Glory and every eye shall see Him. Then every knee must bow at the name of Jesus and every tongue confess Him as Lord. In that manifestation of the Lord of Glory and the Glory of the Lord we His redeemed will be manifested in Glory. He will then be glorified in His saints and admired in all them that believed (2 Thess. 1:10). He will bring His many sons, to Glory (Heb. 2:10). We are "partaker[s] of the Glory that shall be revealed" (1 Pet. 5:1). The God of all Grace hath indeed called us unto His eternal Glory by Jesus Christ. "And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of Glory that fadeth not away" (1 Pet. 5:4). "But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that when His Glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy" (1 Pet. 4:13).
But ere this visible Glory is manifested over the earth and on the earth and He comes forth as the King of kings and Lord of lords His own will be gathered unto Him and be caught up in clouds to meet Him in the air. Then we shall see Him as He is and be like Him. The Glory which the Father has given Him as the head of the body will be bestowed upon the whole body; for thus He prayed "the Glory which thou hast given me I have given them" (John 17:22). And in the Father's house where He is, in the Holy of Holies we shall behold His Glory. We shall be changed into the same image "that He might be the firstborn among many brethren" (Rom. 8:29).
And now, dear reader, joint heir with the Lord of Glory, called by God unto the fellowship of His Son, in meditating on these wonderful facts given to us by revelation, does not your heart burn within you? What a blessing, what a place, what a future is ours linked with the Lord of Glory, one with Him! What a stupendous thought that He came from Glory to die for us so that He might have us with Him in Glory!
And these blessed truths concerning the Lord of Glory and the Glory of the Lord we need to hold ever before our hearts in these dreary days when darkest night is fast approaching. To walk worthy of the Lord, to be faithful to the Lord, to render true service, to be more like Him and show forth His excellencies, we but need one thing, to know Him better and to behold the Glory of the Lord. It is written "But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the Glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." Guided by the Spirit we can look on the Lord of Glory and His Glory, mirrored in all parts of the Word of God. And then as we look on this wonderful person and His relation to us and ours to Him, as we behold His glory both moral and literal, in humiliation and exaltation, past, present and future, we are changed into the same image. Our path will be from Glory to Glory! And some day there will come that supreme moment when we shall be suddenly changed "in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye." Oh child of God see your need! It is Christ, the Lord of Glory set before your heart; all worldly mindedness, all insincerity, all discouragement, all unbelief, all unfaithfulness must flee when we follow on to know the Lord and daily behold "as in a glass the Glory of the Lord" (2 Cor. 3:18).
"Now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His Glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen" (Jude 1:24-25).
From The Lord of Glory... by A. C. Gaebelein. New York: Publication Office "Our Hope", ©1910.
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