I want to continue on in the same vein as in the last column - coming into the completeness of Christ, for His Kingdom purposes (see link on Amy's Past Columns for "The Completeness of Personality").  I believe that we are moving more and more into a day of which Paul wrote:

 

"For the creation waits with eager longing

for the revealing of the sons of God." (Rom. 8:19)

 

Again, the most common thought process in the Body of Christ is that we will not display the holiness and fullness of Christ until after our physical death and entrance into eternity.  I want to propose, however, that God desires to so fill and lead us with His Spirit that our true sonship is evident beyond question while we still walk this earth (Rom. 8:14).  It is in this place of openly manifesting His glory that we can most glorify Him - by exhibiting His wisdom to the principalities and powers (Eph. 3:10), and by walking in an unprecedented unity with the Father that will stun the world and convince them that Jesus is truly the Son of God (John 17:21, 23).

 

About five years ago I was reading what I consider one of the richest chapters in the Bible:  John 17.  Jesus reveals so much about Himself, the depths of His love for the church, and the degree of glory and unity which He and the Father desire for us.

 

As I read Jesus' prayer in verse one, "Father, the hour has come.  Glorify and exalt and honor and magnify Your Son, so that Your Son may glorify and extol and honor and magnify You," a thought entered my head which shook me.  Very clearly I heard, "Amy, begin to pray this prayer."  I jumped as if I had touched a hot surface and immediately called out for the Spirit's direction.

 

Again I heard, "Amy, begin to pray this prayer:

'Glorify me that I may glorify You'."

 

This was such a foreign concept to me that I was fearful to even talk with anyone about it.  I began to study the scriptures to see if God ever desired for anyone or anything to receive glory except Himself.  Although I have touched only the surface, I'm sure, I'd like to share what I have discovered.

 

There are many instances in the Old Testament where God spoke of glorifying His people:

 

"Behold, you [Israel] shall call nations that you know not, and nations that do not know you shall run to you because of the Lord your God, and of the Holy One of Israel, for He has glorified you." (Is. 55:5)

__________

 

"Arise [from the depression and prostration in which

circumstances have kept you - rise to a new life]!  Shine

(be radiant with the glory of the Lord), for your light has come,

and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you!

For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and dense darkness [all] peoples, but the Lord shall arise upon you [O Jerusalem], and

His glory shall be seen on you." (Is. 60:1-2)

__________

 

"Thus says the Lord:  Behold, I will release from captivity

the tents of Jacob and have mercy on his dwelling places;

the city will be rebuilt on its own [old] moundlike site,

and the palace will be dwelt in after its former fashion.

Out of them [city and palace] will come songs of thanksgiving

and the voices of those who make merry.  And I will multiply them, and they will not be few; I will also glorify them,

and they will not be small." (Jer. 30:18-19)

 

Although these verses speak literally of Israel, Jerusalem, and Jacob, they are also prophetic words spoken over us as children of God.

 

Romans 3:23 states that we all start on the same level playing field:  "All have sinned and are falling short of the honor and glory which God bestows and receives."  Before we have been made righteous through faith, we are all falling short of God's glory.  But notice, it is a glory which He not only receives, but also bestows on others.

Before faith, we have not received the glory He desires to give to us, and we are not able to give God the glory He deserves from us.

 

Jesus made a remarkable statement in John 17:22-23:  "I have given to them the glory and honor which You have given Me, that they may be one [even] as We are one:  I in them and You in Me, in order that they may become one and perfectly united, that the world may know and [definitely] recognize that You sent Me and that You have loved them [even] as You have love Me."

 

"I have given to them the glory and honor which You have given Me..."  What an astonishing thought!  That the One Who created the universe with a word (John 1:1-3), Who willingly stripped Himself of all privileges and rightful dignity to come to earth and sacrifice His life for our sin (Phil. 2:5-7), would then take the glory He so rightly earned and deserved and give it to us, the children of God.

 

Why?  Why would He share His glory and honor?  Yes, it is so that we can become one just as He and the Father are one.  But ultimately

John 17:1 gives us the answer - so that we may glorify Him!

 

Jesus, as always, gives us the perfect example.  He walked in utter and complete submission and obedience to the Father.  In this place, He was utterly and completely unified with the Father and all that belonged to the Father belonged to Him (John 17:10).  For this reason,  Jesus was able to glorify the Father so profoundly.

 

When we abandon ourselves completely to the Holy Spirit's divine instruction, allow Him to consume our every desire, and wholly trust Him in all things, we step into a whole new level of glorifying God.  Then He fills us with revelation of Himself and places His favor, glory, and honor upon and within us, enabling and empowering us to walk in a realm of demonstrating the realities of heaven on earth and  displaying His glory for all to see.

 

I walk and pray often, and lately I have found myself prophesying to the land and the animals around me:  It's coming!  It's coming!  The revealing of the sons of God is coming!

 

We, as the Body of Christ, should so reveal the glory of God that we have nothing in common with earth and everything in common with heaven.  When Habakkuk prophesied that the time is coming when the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea, he was seeing an ocean of God's children who walk the earth demonstrating God's glory.

 

I long for the fulfillment of Zechariah 8:20-23.  I long for the world to be provoked to such hunger and jealousy by our passionate purity, that even when we are not consciously doing or saying anything,

the weight of God in us causes them to grab at our garments saying, "Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you."

 

The day is coming when those who belong to the Lord of hosts will show forth His glory in such a way that nations will again cry out, "What must I do to be saved?"

 

 

"With this in view we constantly pray for you,

that our God may deem and count you worthy of [your] calling

and [His] every gracious purpose of goodness, and with power

may complete in [your] every particular work of faith

(faith which is that leaning of the whole human personality on God in absolute trust and confidence in His power, wisdom, and goodness).

 

Thus may the name of our Lord Jesus Christ be glorified and become more glorious through and in you, and may you [also be glorified] in Him according to the grace (favor and blessing) of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One)." (II Thes. 1:12)

 

 

 

Amy