Glory of God

31 May 2015

Dear  Phyllis,

John 17 has got to be one of the most unique chapters in the Word of God. I know of no other place in the Bible that comes close to presenting the deepest spiritual mysteries. Jesus' opening remark sets the stage for the subjects that were to follow. “Father, the hour has come; glorify Thy Son that Thy Son may glorify Thee.” There is much here that is self-evident. Obviously, what was to happen in the next 24 hours was the entire purpose why Jesus came as a man. On two previous occasions Jesus said to His mother and, later, to His brothers, “My hour has not yet come (Jn. 2:4; 7:6). But now His hour had arrived. And to accomplish the task for which He came He would need special grace. That is why He prayed, “Glorify Thy Son that Thy Son may glorify Thee”.

But the question might be raised, “What did He mean glorify Thy Son?” What is the glory of God? Did the Father answer that prayer? When did He answer it? How did He answer it? These are profound questions that do not have easy answers. The very question, “what is the glory of God?”, is one for which that I have never heard a satisfactory explanation, nor do I think it is possible to intellectually grasp what it is.

Natural glory is readily understood. It is the gold medalist standing on the platform at the Olympics. It is the winning quarter back holding up the trophy after he has just won the Super Bowel. After a spectacular triumph, it is that moment of victory. It is accomplishment. This is the moment of glory. But what was Christ's moment of glory?

To answer that we must abandon all similarity with earthly victory and look in a different direction. It doesn't make sense, but I believe most spiritual Christians would agree that Jesus' greatest moment of glory was when He died on the Cross. Analyzing this might shed some light on the subject of spiritual glory. Jesus uses the word glory or glorify six times in this prayer. One occasion is when He said, “And the glory which Thou gavest Me I have given them (His followers) that they may be one as we are one” (Jn. 17:22).

We know that the Father has highly glorified His Son and given Him the highest place in heaven. But when the curtain is pulled back and we get a glimpse of heaven in Revelation 5 we are startled at what we see of Christ. Instead of all His power, glory, and majesty sitting on the Throne we see a Lamb that had been slaughtered. I have told you how years ago I was deeply offended by the Father when I saw that. I roared, “How insulting! Jesus is not the Lamb. He is the Lion! He is the King!” And then the Lord showed me that the Lamb is the highest symbol of power in heaven. The Lamb is the absolute Top. And the Lamb that was slain is the absolute ultimate end of submission. Submission unto death.

What is the glory of God that Jesus was praying for? I believe it is submission and obedience to the will of God. Jesus glorified the Father by His submission to the will of God. Obeying God – this is the glory of God. Later in the breakfast by the sea, Jesus spoke of Peter's death, how he should glorify God (Jn. 21:19). The worlds index of glory is achievement, but in the Kingdom of God glory is submission. This also explains why Jesus said He has given His followers glory that they might be one. There is no way Christians will ever be one by ecumenical compromise. This can only divide. But the way Christians can be one is by mutual and total submission to the will of God. That will unite us.

One time in Karuizawa we were having an unusual church service in discussing a verse in Hebrews. There was a panel of three to give our views of that verse and then opened it up to discussion from the floor. For some unknown reason Marvin Fieldhouse attacked me from the floor with as hard remarks as you could imagine. At first I was stunned and it took a minute to collect my thoughts how to reply. Dave Hanson was on the panel and tore into Marvin. I thought this will be interesting – Marvin against a lawyer. Marvin mopped the floor with Dave. Dave wound up stammering.

Dave Hanson was the most tender hearted man God ever created. After agonizing for a week Dave went up to apologize to Marvin. Marvin came to the door and gruffly said, “What do you want?” Dave replied, “I came to apologize for the argument we had.” Marvin shook his finger in Dave's face and demanded, “You go back and write down every dirty word you have said about me, and every critical thought you have ever had against me on a sheet of paper and sign it!” And slammed the door in Dave's face. Dave died. For two weeks he couldn't sleep. We were going to get up a posse and go hang Marvin to the nearest tree. But then the Lord spoke to Dave about submitting ourselves one to another from 1 Peter 5:5. Dave dutifully wrote down every thing he could think of and signed it, “I am sorry. Please forgive me. David Hanson”. He went went up to see Marvin again. Marvin came to the door and demanded, “What do you want now?” Dave quietly replied, “Here is the paper you requested.” Marvin stood there totally nonplussed with a piece of paper in his hand.

The next day, Dave dropped in my office and sat in a chair. Then with tears pouring down his cheeks Dave said, “Bill, God has filled me with the spirit of glory. This is the most glorious day of my life”. Marvin got a piece of paper and Dave Hanson got filled with the glory of God.

You may be wondering what happened to me. A month ago I had a life altering accident on my motor bike. At first I refused to go to the hospital but lost that argument when I got forcefully taken there in an ambulance. I was sure there was nothing seriously wrong but an X-ray showed a slight crack in the ball of my upper arm bone in the shoulder socket. I still dismissed it as very minor. But when I got home the world stopped spinning. I nearly passed out walking half way up stairs. For the next 24 hours ten steps were all I could take without hitting severe exhaustion.

I assumed it was just a matter of time. All injuries will heal with time, and I was more or less correct. Everyday I did get better. After two weeks I decided it was time to start an exercise program and began swinging my arm in a pendulum 90 degree ark. It actually felt good to do it. But then my arm went into recession, swelled up, and my hand turned black. I suspected there might be something wrong. The consensus of everyone was – go to the hospital – NOW. It seemed pretty apparent that the problem was internal bleeding and an X-ray would not stop the bleeding. I suspected it had something to do with tendons in the shoulder, but I couldn't imagine any therapy to help, that but surgery. Financially that was out of the question.

As I was praying about this dilemma the verse came to me, “No man has ever yet hated his flesh but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the Church” (Eph. 5:29). I thought, I have given my body to Jesus. I am part of His Body. If Eph. 5:29 is true, and obviously it is, this means that Jesus nourishes and cherishes His Body. This being true, why in the world should I ever go to a hospital? Jesus is the great Physician. That is one of His job descriptions. Rutherford wrote, “Blessed is the sickness that would summon such a tender Physician to the bedside of a patient.” That meant I was in a special dispensation of the direct care of Jesus. Why go to someone inferior and insult my Doctor?

Within a few days the swelling did go down and in time the blackness of my hand cleared up. Now it is nearly normal. But Jesus has placed me in the slow recovery category. Today I am within a day of being one month. My recovery is about 15%. I wish it was higher. Everyday the envelope gets pushed back a little further. I can't really eat with my right hand yet but I can hold a spoon. With effort I can raise my arm 10 or 15 cm (6 inches), but no further. With the bleeding stopped I should get back to exersize again soon.

Jesus has been marvelous. Praise the Lord!

                                                                                 bill