We Are God’s Glory

Transcript

Alright. Thank you very much and hello again, radio friends. How in the world are you? Oh, I trust things are going okay at your house. I’m happy in the Lord. I’m glad to be back with you, my precious friends. The miles drop away and we’re together again around the Word of God. Hallelujah! What a precious relationship that is.

I’m grateful for the cards and letters that come in telling me that the things that are said on this broadcast oftentimes seem to meet a special need that you have and that, of course, is precisely what I always pray that God may take what is said and by the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit fit it to your need. That’s what I could call putting a handle on the Word of God and I’m grateful for the privilege, believe me.

We’re looking at I Peter Chapter 5 and we’re just about through with it. As a matter of fact, we were talking about what was in verse 10 of chapter 5. “”The God of all grace, who hath called us unto His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, make you perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.” And we walk through those different words and saw some of the meanings that are involved there. Now, he’s called us to His glory, verse 10, what it said, “To Him be glory…” The fact of the matter is that in God’s wonderful plan, he’s taken human nature which was ruined by our fall into sin in the case of our first parents, Adam and Eve, and we lost that covering glory which was the supreme covering of those innocent creatures that God had created in the garden; and sin and shame then because the heritage of the human race.

But when the Lord Jesus Christ came, the fulfillment of all of God’s promises and the fulfillment of all of the types and pictures in the Levitical offerings and in the sacrifices that were offered during the Old Testament times, then Paul could say, “Finally, Christ our Passover lamb has been sacrificed for us.” And just at the time when households were preparing to sacrifice the Passover lamb in Jewish households, our Lord Jesus Christ was hanging on the cross pouring out His precious blood as God’s Passover lamb. And that’s why Isaiah could say prophetically, “He,” Christ, “was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was upon him and with his stripes we are healed. And so God called us to His glory. In other words, a ruined human creation by God’s redemptive love and power has been given an eternal destination that the Bible calls “eternal glory.” It was lost at the Garden of Eden. It’s given back to you and to me through the cross of the Lord Jesus and through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit and the work of the Word of God which makes a difference in people’s lives. He called us to His glory.

Now, it says, “But the God of all grace…” then he has all these dependent phrases, “He called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus after you have suffered a while, make you perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.” Those are all dependent phrases. And then he goes on. He says, “To Him, the God of all grace. To Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.” What do you make of that? The profound truth is that when sin entered into the world, we lost the shine of God’s glory. When the Lord Jesus Christ cried out as He hung on the cross “It is finished,” the redemptive work was done and our Lord Jesus made atonement for our sins in His death on the cross, buried, and then risen again the third day to be a living savior and the indwelling Holy Spirit provides now the shine of God’s glory on the believing heart. How do I know? II Corinthians 3: “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord,” see the word “glory” there, “the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” The indwelling Holy Spirit working on God’s Word as it’s hidden in your heart produces the ineffable shine of God’s glory upon your life. That’s what has happened. Now, it says, “To Him be glory.”

Can you conceive of the fact that God takes a ruined creation and makes it bring glory to Him? Paul said that, “God has saved us to the end that in the ages to come might be known by the church, the manifold wisdom of God.” God wants to prove it all of the ages to come that He was right and that He is wise and that He had a plan.

See, the great lie that the devil told in the Garden of Eden never has changed really. The devil said, “God is cheating you. He knows that if you disobey him, you’ll be better off.” And that, of course, has come down through the centuries and we have it today in what’s called “secular humanism” where people are taught you don’t really need God. You can get along without Him. And so the devil’s lie never has been changed. But God is in the process of proving that the devil is wrong. See, to the intent that now and to the principalities and powers, in heaven and places, principalities and powers. Where do you get that phrase? “We wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities against powers,” this is Ephesians 6:12, “against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” And God has done what He did at the cross and then in your life to the intent that now under the principalities and powers might be known by the Church, the manifold wisdom of God.

God is in the process of proving to the devil and to all of his demons and to all the world around that the will of God is right and the purposes of God are perfect. How do I know? He uses Christians to prove that and you go over to Romans 12:2 and He said, “Be not conformed to this world but be you transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good, and prove what is acceptable, and prove what is perfect, namely the will of God.” God’s will is good. It’s not flawed. It’s acceptable. You can take it. Enjoy it. It’s perfect. You can’t get a better deal than the will of God.

And so it says, “To him be glory.” Our blessed redeeming God with all of His wonderful John 3:16 love has stooped down to a ruined creation. “By our own will we went into sin and thus sin passed upon all, death passed upon all men, for all have sinned,” Paul says in Romans. And God reached down and took this ruined creation and saved those who would believe on the Lord Jesus and has made of us His exhibit A to prove to the devil and everybody else in all the universe that God is right and that God is love, that God cares and that God saves. It’s a beautiful truth, isn’t it? Now it says, “To him be glory and dominion forever and forever.” The will of God is good and acceptable and perfect. You can’t get a better arrangement than the will of God.

Jimmy Johnson is an evangelist whom I haven’t seen in many years. What he told in a public meeting up in Canada at the old Canadian Keswick Conference Grounds, I don’t believe it’s in existence anymore, but at that time we were using it as a meeting place for a conference of Youth for Christ people; and Jimmy Johnson was there and he told a story of how in his college days he felt desperately in love with a girl who wouldn’t even look at him and it just broke his heart over. He longed for her just to notice him and she wouldn’t even notice him. He prayed so hard, “Oh, God, make her notice me. Make her fall in love with me.” Nothing happened. Finally, in desperation and in sadness he transferred out of that school into another Christian school. And as time went on he found another fine Christian young lady and married her and he became a well-known evangelist in the Southland especially.

Well, as some of your know, in many a little town there isn’t any motel or hotel nearby and so you stay with one of the families and you eat with a bunch of the rest of them that gives you a chance to have fried chicken 21 times. In any case, that’s what was happening. And so the minister of the local church said to this evangelist, “Today we’re going to eat at Mr. So and So’s house. His wife went to school with you.” Oh, he said, “I don’t remember anybody by that name.” “Oh,” he said, “her maiden name was such and such.” And then our Brother Johnson said he remembered. This was the girl concerning whom he had prayed so earnestly “Oh, Lord, make her notice me” and she never would. And he thought to himself, “Do I have to open up all those old wounds again?” But there wasn’t anything for it. He had to go and to have lunch at the house.

And he told us that as he walked, he walked slowly as he could in the little town, finally got to this house up the steps onto the front porch, knocked on the door, and the door was opened by the man of the house who had taken off work that day so he could be home and enjoy the luncheon with the visiting evangelist and his pastor. And he said, “Come on in. I want you to meet my wife. She went to school with you.” Jimmy Johnson said, “I took one look at her and my heart began to sing ‘Praise God from whom all blessings flow’.” [Laughter] Twenty years had gone by. It took God 20 years to prove to him that God’s choice was the right choice.

God’s will is perfect. Have you decided that yet? So many of us try to second-guess our Lord. God’s will is perfect. It’s good. It isn’t flawed. There isn’t any flaw in God’s plans for you. It’s acceptable. It means you can take it and it’s perfect. There isn’t any better deal in all of the universe. To him be glory. You bring glory to God by being in His will, being led by the Holy Spirit. The Bible says, “As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” You bring glory to God by being in His will, by being led by His Spirit. By living in the Word of God, we all with open face beholding as in a mirror that as a reference to the Word of God, the glory of the Lord, are changed and you bring glory to God to let the Holy Spirit shine through you with the very life and power and attributes and love and compassion of the Lord Jesus Christ.

You want to think about that? Oh, you and I, poor, faulty, fallen, failing human beings that we are can bring glory to our blessed Lord as we dwell in His Word and as we yield to the blessed indwelling Holy Spirit of God. May that be your experience and mine today, my precious friend.

Dear Lord Jesus, have your way with each one of us and may we shine for Thy glory. I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Until I meet you once again by way of radio, walk with the King today and be a blessing!