THE GLORY: DO YOU KNOW

WHAT IT REALLY MEANS?

By. Mario Olcese

Key Text: “Eternal life to those who by patient

continuance in doing good seek for glory,
honor, and immortality;” (Rom 2:7 NKJV)

The Mistaken Concept of Glory

Millions of people have listened to sermons in churches that state that

God has called their friends and loved ones to his celestial glory. Also,
in funeral sermons, the Pastor or Bishop may say that the dear
deceased brother is right now with God in His glory, being
synonymous with heaven itself. However, what many Christians are
ignorant of is that this promised glory by God and His Son for the
faithful, has to do with a possession, or inheritance, of a Kingdom on
the earth at the the Parousia (the coming or appearing) of our Lord
Jesus Christ, the King of God's Kingdom.

This brief study will demonstrate that the Glory to which all believers
are called has to do with the coming of Christ’s millennial kingdom to
the earth. This primary study is intended to remove the doubts that
we can still partake of the glory which we have been offered. The
Catholic tradition is a distortion of the biblical view of the glory we
are offered. It has largely gone unexamined by many Christians.

In Search of Glory

The apostle Paul refers to glory as the Christian's goal: the

OBJECTIVE. We are to seek for it tenaciously. In his letter to the
Romans, the apostle says to them: “God "will give to each person
according to what he has done." {7} To those who by persistence in doing
good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life.” (Rom 2:6-
7 NIV) So, all Christian believers must seek and long for the future
glory (see the parallel words of Jesus in Matthew: “But seek first His
Kingdom and His righteousness…” (Matt. 6:33), that will be granted to
the believer after his mortal body has been clothed with immortality
by the resurrection of the last day, in the parousia (or coming of) our
Lord Jesus Christ. These are Paul's words: “When Christ, who is our

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life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.” (Col. 3:4).
So you see that nobody yet possesses the glory that we have been
offered through the teaching of the Bible. And again the apostle Paul
tells the believing Romans about this end-time glory, in the following:
“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be
compared with the glory that is to be revealed in us” (Rom. 8:18). Here
Paul says that we must suffer tribulations before receiving the glory,
which agrees with other writings of his that say: “If we endure, we shall
also reign with Him” (2 Tim. 2:12). Here our suffering will bring glory
as a reward: Glory which will come when we REIGN with Christ.

It is a fact that our glory is inseparably linked to the future kingdom of

Christ. One cannot be in glory, without being in the Kingdom and vice
versa. In 1 Thes. 2:12 Paul shows this inseparable connection between
the glory and the kingdom. He writes to the faithful of Thessalonica
the following words: “so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the God
who calls you into His own kingdom and glory”. Paul says concerning
the Kingdom and glory that they are future when he says that our
glory will come when Christ appears. “When Christ who is our life
appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.” (Col 3:4
NKJV)

The Glory in the Old Testament

King David, singer of beautiful praise Psalms, says it this way in

Psalms 145:11-13: “They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom, and tell of
thy power, to make known to the sons of men thy mighty deeds, and the
glorious splendor of thy kingdom. Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
and thy dominion endures throughout all generations”. The LORD is faithful
in all his words, and gracious in all his deeds. David predicts that men will
recognize the kingdom of God as something glorious and magnificent.
Besides, King David's Kingdom, including his descendants, was the
very same kingdom of Yahweh. 1 Chro. 28:5 reads: “And of all my sons
(for the LORD has given me many sons) he has chosen Solomon my son to sit
upon the throne of the kingdom of the LORD over Israel”. Solomon, the
successor of David, took his seat in the same throne of Yahweh's
kingdom in Israel. And this kingdom that Solomon inherited was a
glorious kingdom in the judgment of all men! God's dominion or
government over His people through His anointed kings was God's
glorious kingdom in the Promised Land. That kingdom was
established to last for many generations (Psa. 145:13) and exercising
divine authority on the nations of the earth in the long term (Psa. 72:8).
God had sworn to David that his sons would continue to sit on the
throne without fail. (2 Sam 7:16 NKJV) "And your house and your

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kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be
established forever."' " (1 Ki 9:5 NKJV) "then I will establish the
throne of your kingdom over Israel forever, as I promised David your
father, saying, 'You shall not fail to have a man on the throne of Israel.'
Also he promised that some day a last and final Davidic king would
restore David's throne (Eze. 21:25-27). The glory of the Kingdom
would someday be established in the earth with a Jewish king of
David's line. And Daniel (in chapter 7) spoke of that kingdom-glory
as an inheritance that would be possessed by God's saints in the
future. Note especially, verses 18 and 27 “But the saints of the Most
High shall receive the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, for ever
and ever.' And the kingdom and the dominion and the greatness of the
kingdoms under the whole heaven shall be given to the people of the saints of
the Most High; their kingdom shall be an everlasting kingdom, and all
dominions shall serve and obey them” This is the glory that the Most
High's saints will receive!

Ezekiel 39:21 says the following: “And I will set my glory among the
nations; and all the nations shall see my judgment which I have executed,
and my hand which I have laid on them”. Here God talks about putting
his glory among the nations, that glory that has to do with His
tabernacle, his dwelling place among the saints (Rev. 21:1-3). God
Himself will place His sanctuary among men. Finally, His presence
and His rulership as King of kings will be absolute in the world. He
will first reign in His kingdom through His Son, Jesus (The King of
kings), for a thousand years, and then The Almighty Father will
personally reign with Christ and his church as the Sovereign over His
whole creation forever. Then the world will enjoy peace and justice
never seen before by any human being, when the devil and his
followers will be eradicated from the earth forever.

An Already Present Glory by Faith, but Not Yet Realized

It is certain that today we can have the glory, the salvation, the
everlasting life, and the Kingdom through our faith. Each believer is
already in the book of life in God's sight, and in a way, right now we
possesses that glory and immortality by faith (“…those who through
faith and patience inherit the promises” Heb. 6:12). But let's remember
that we must keep that faith in order to get the final realization of our
salvation (See Heb. 9:28; 1 Pet. 1:5). Jesus “has given” us glory by faith
(John 17:22). Christ had it while He was on the earth, although He
received it after his victory over death in his resurrection (Heb. 2:9).
In the same way, Christ will take us to glory (not heaven!) when we

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are raised from the grave, having also been made perfect through the
present tribulations. "We must through many tribulations enter the
kingdom of God." (Acts 14:22 NKJV)

The Gospel of Christ's Glory ( 2 Cor. 4:4 )

Paul in 2 Corinthians 4:4 Says: “In their case the god of this world has
blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the
gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the likeness of God”. Here Paul reveals
that Christ's glory – which is like the glory that is promised to us, is
the glory of the gospel. Paul preached ‘the Kingdom of God’ as
related to the message of the gospel concerning Jesus. Consider (Acts
28:23 NKJV) “So when they had appointed him a day, many came to
him at his lodging, to whom he explained and solemnly testified of
the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus from both
the Law of Moses and the Prophets, from morning till evening.”
(Also Acts 28:30, 31)
So That ALL RELATED with Christ's glory is the true Gospel, because
this glory is an important part of the Gospel of Christ's Kingdom (Mat.
24:14). (Mat 24:14 NKJV) "And this gospel of the kingdom will be
preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the
end will come.”
We have just seen that kingdom and glory come side by side. So,
each time that we are promised glory, in reality what is promised to
us is the Kingdom. In short, to talk about the gospel of Christ's glory is
to talk about the gospel of Christ's kingdom. The glory is part of the
Kingdom, and the Kingdom involves the glory that we will obtain
completely in the Parousía (or return of Christ). All believers are
moving by faith to that monarchical glory (Heb. 2:10).

Peter “Took Part” In The Coming Glory (1 Peter 5:1)

The apostle Peter says it this way: “…So I exhort the elders among you, as
a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ as well as a partaker in
the glory that is to be revealed” (1 Pet. 5:1). With these words the apostle
Peter recognized that right now he was also participating with the
other believers of the glory that has not yet been manifested. That
participation in glory was, for Peter, the participation of the divine
nature (see 2 Pet. 1:4), by which one can obtain “…an entrance into the
eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (See 2 Pet. 1:11). This
agrees with what has been said by Paul when he assured the faithful
of Corinth that: “flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor
does the perishable inherit the imperishable” (1 Cor. 15:50). One must

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earnestly desire the divine nature! Besides, for Paul, this participation
in the glory of the Kingdom was equivalent to the participation of
GRACE (Phil. 1:7), the true gospel of God's grace or the gospel of
God's Kingdom in the earth (Look for my two articles on the subject in
Google: “ Is the Gospel of Grace Paul's New Gospel? And “The Part is
not the whole: A Study of the Complete Gospel!”).

The Apostle John Also Was a Participant in the Kingdom

John, just like Peter and Paul, was a participant of the glory which he
called “the Kingdom”. In Revelation 1:9 he says: “John, your brother,
who shares with you in Jesus the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient
endurance, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God
and the testimony of Jesus”. Did you notice, dear reader, that
partnership in the Kingdom for John was the partnership of glory for
Peter, and in turn was the partnership of grace for Paul? That is, do
You Understand now that the 3 terms (glory, kingdom, and grace) are
closely related? It is evident than John participated in the kingdom;
that is to say, in the glory that had not yet become manifest. And if
glory had not become manifest, then neither had Christ's Kingdom.
Christ's Kingdom was for John, a subject of the future, because he
finalized his book asking for the coming of the King of the kingdom
(Rev. 22:20 ).

What does John and James's Petition reveal?

It is interesting to compare Matt. 20:20-21 with Mar. 10:35-37, where

we will discover what was clearly the glory for the disciples. These
verses in Matthew' and Mark have been overlooked by many students
of the Bible, and are key verses to understand what glory is promised
by Christ. Unfortunately many believe that the glory is to be in the
third heaven as white winged little angels playing a harp or a golden
lyre for all the eternity.

Let's compare these two passages:

Matt. 20:20,21: “Then the mother of the sons of Zeb'edee came up to

him, with her sons, and kneeling before him she asked him for
something. And he said to her, "What do you want?" She said to him,
"Command that these two sons of mine may sit, one at your right
hand and one at your left, in your KINGDOM."

Mar. 10: 35-37: “And James and John, the sons of Zeb'edee, came
forward to him, and said to him, "Teacher, we want you to do for us

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whatever we ask of you." And he said to them, "What do you want
me to do for you?" And they said to him, "Grant us to sit, one at your
right hand and one at your left, in your GLORY."

If we compare both texts that refer to the same subject, but with
slightly different perspectives, we will see that Matthew says that the
mother of Zebedee's children (James and John) requested of Jesus a
position of privilege in the KINGDOM for her two children. On the
other hand, Mark writes saying that James and John asked Jesus for a
place of privilege in His GLORY. Why this difference between both
evangelists? Well, the only possible explanation is that there was little
or no difference, since it was obvious that for the first Christians they
associated the glory with the Kingdom and vice versa. With these
verses it’s again demonstrated that the gospel of Christ's glory (2 Cor.
4:4) is closely related to the gospel of Christ's Kingdom (Mat. 24:14).
Rresent-day preachers should understand this subject, and not
speculate with interpretations that get away from the pristine truth of
the Scriptures. Definitively the gospel of grace, the gospel of the
Kingdom, the gospel of glory, the gospel of peace, the gospel of
salvation, Christ's gospel, the gospel of the promise, etc, are all
basically the same unique biblical gospel (Gál. 1:6-9).

The Glory that the three Witnesses saw: Peter, James and John

It is extremely interesting what the apostle Peter wrote in his second

epistle that carries his name, chapter one, and verses 16-18: “For we did
not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and
coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.
For when he received honor and glory from God the Father and the voice was
borne to him by the Majestic Glory: This is my beloved Son, with whom I am
well pleased, we heard this voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on
the holy mountain” (of the transfiguration)”. This reminds us of what
Jesus said in the Parable of the Tares when the nobleman went to heaven to
RECEIVE a Kingdom, according to Luke 19:12. So Jesus went to heaven
to receive glory and honor (2 Pet. 1:17), part of his glory and honor
was in receiving the kingdom (Luke 19:12).

Now please notice this: In Luke 9:32 we are told that three selected
disciples, Peter, James, and John, saw Jesus' GLORY. Notice that in
Luke 9:27, Jesus had promised that some would see HIS KINGDOM.
Also in Mark 9:1 Jesus announced to his disciples that it would be His
kingdom that was to come and would be seen by some of His
disciples in an event that we now know was his TRANSFIGURATION
that occurred 6 days after. The three disciples, Peter, John, and James,

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really saw the majesty or the Messianic King's GLORY or His
KINGDOM, like a preview of the glorified Lord in order that they
might be witnesses of his glory and Kingdom.

Crowned to receive the Glory

The apostle Peter says that there is a crown of glory for the faithful. 1
Peter 5:4 says, “And when the chief Shepherd is manifested you will obtain
the unfading crown of glory”. This means that we will be crowned like
kings in the Kingdom as was Jesus Christ according to Heb. 2:9: “But
we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the
suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the
grace of God, might taste death for everyone.” (Rev. 5:10: NKJV)
“And have made us kings and priests to our God; And we shall reign
on the earth." (Rev 3:21 NKJV) "To him who overcomes I will grant
to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with
My Father on His throne.”
This tells of our glorification. Only the crowned are the nominees to
be the executives of the messianic Kingdom, and this event the
prophet Daniel foresaw clearly for the conquerors ((Dan 7:18 NKJV) “
'But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom, and
possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever.' . . . (27) Then
the kingdom and dominion, And the greatness of the kingdoms under
the whole heaven, Shall be given to the people, the saints of the Most
High. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, And all dominions
shall serve and obey Him.'”

Thrones of Glory

We read in Matthew 19:28: “Jesus said to them, "Truly, I say to you, in the
new world, when the Son of man shall sit on his glorious throne, you who
have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of
Israel.”. See clearly that Christ's glory has THRONES. And where can
there be thrones but in the kingdom? In this case we discovered that in
Christ’s glory (his kingdom) there are thrones for Him and for the
saved. Those thrones are Messianic Kingdom's thrones. So the GLORY
again relate with THE KINGDOM of the Messiah in the new earth. In
addition, take notice of the Psalm 122:3-5, where we are given more
details on the thrones and the geographic location: “Jerusalem, built as
a city which is bound firmly together, to which the tribes go up, the tribes of
the LORD, as was decreed for Israel, to give thanks to the name of the
LORD. There thrones for judgment were set, the thrones of the house of
David”.

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So you must be aware that the glory has nothing to do with a stay of
the just in heaven like winged little angels, but with the dwelling of
the saints in positions of authority at Christ's millenarian Kingdom in
the promised land. That promised land is not the heaven, but
Jerusalem, Christ will govern with his followers. Notice (Mat 19:28
NKJV) ‘So Jesus said to them, "Assuredly I say to you, that in the
regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of His glory, you
who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the
twelve tribes of Israel.’ At that time Christ's Kingdom will be
glorious. Psal. 72:7-20 says: “In his days may righteousness flourish, and
peace abound, till the moon be no more! May he have dominion from sea to
sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth! May his foes bow down
before him, and his enemies lick the dust! May the kings of Tarshish and of
the isles render him tribute, may the kings of Sheba and Seba bring gifts!
May all kings fall down before him, all nations serve him! For he delivers the
needy when he calls, the poor and him who has no helper. He has pity on the
weak and the needy, and saves the lives of the needy. From oppression and
violence he redeems their life; and precious is their blood in his sight. Long
may he live, may gold of Sheba be given to him! May prayer be made for him
continually, and blessings invoked for him all the day! May there be
abundance of grain in the land; on the tops of the mountains may it wave;
may its fruit be like Lebanon; and may men blossom forth from the cities like
the grass of the field! May his name endure for ever, his fame continue as
long as the sun! May men bless themselves by him, all nations call him
blessed! Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who alone does wondrous
things. Blessed be his glorious name for ever; may his glory fill the whole
earth! Amen and Amen! The prayers of David, the son of Jesse, are ended.”

But it is equally necessary to emphasize that our Lord Jesus Christ has
not yet taken a seat on the throne of His glory in spite of the fact that
some theologians have propagated the opposite. Notice what Jesus
Himself says about the time of his being enthroned at his kingdom or
glory: "When the Son of man comes in his glory, and all the angels with
him, then he will sit on his glorious throne.” (Mathew 25:31). So Jesus has
gone to heaven to receive the power of the kingdom (Luke. 19:12; Dan.
7:13,14), but he has not yet taken a seat on HIS throne, but on His
Father's throne. He says : “He who conquers, I will grant him to sit with
me on my throne, as I myself conquered and sat down with my Father on his
throne” ( Rev. 3:21 ).

Glory and Power

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We read in Rev. 5:13: “And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth
and under the earth and in the sea, and all therein, saying, "To him who sits
upon the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might
for ever and ever!". And in Rev. 19:1 we read: “After this I heard what
seemed to be the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, crying,
"Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God”. So the
glory has to do with the power that Christ and His saints will have in
the kingdom over the entire world.

Power, Authority and the Kingdom

In Revelation 12:10, talking about our Lord Jesus Christ's future

kingdom and his saints, says: “And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying,
"Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the
authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been
thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God.”. Well then
again, power, glory, and authority are intimately linked with Christ's
Kingdom. The saints will have power in glory, or that is the same as
saying: Authority at Christ's kingdom. In the parable of Luke's ten
Mines, Jesus explains that the faithful will receive authority over
entire cities, and the power exercised on human groups means
authority (v.17). Also Rev. 2:26 “He who conquers and who keeps my
works until the end, I will give him power over the nations”.

Satan has obscured The Gospel of Christ

We have seen that Satan has blinded the unbelievers' eyes in order
that they not perceive or understand the message of the Gospel of the
Kingdom; that is, the gospel of grace, or the gospel of coming Christ's
glory. The devil does not desire that potential believers welcome this
message of God because it means his own ruin, and of his kingdom in
this world (See Mark 4:15). He has exchanged the gospel of a literal
kingdom of God in the earth for a “spiritual reign in the believer's
heart”, or for an “ecclesiastical kingdom”. The devil obstructs the
human beings' reasoning, making them believe that God's Kingdom
has nothing to do with a personal reign of the Messiah over the new
earth. He has managed to convince millions that the Davidic covenant
and the Abrahamic covenant, which insures for Christ and his church
a kingdom on this planet, were not to be realized. Such preachers
maintain that those covenants expired because of the infidelity of
God's pristine people, and that these now have proceeded to being
the inheritance of a new people (the gentile church) but with a purely
spiritual significance. Augustine of Hipona was one of the responsible

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 fathers for this crass mutation of the original pact. For Augustine, the
Messianic Kingdom became an ecclesiastic kingdom, and David's
throne transferred, from the earthly Jerusalem, to the celestial
Jerusalem itself. This grave error was propagated subtly by Romanism
for centuries, obscuring and making almost dissappear the true
earthly Kingdom, as it is displayed in the Scriptures from cover to
cover.

Summary

1.- Looking for the Glory ( Rom. 2:6,7 ) is to look for the Kingdom
( Matt. 6:33 ).
2.- The afflictions precede the glory ( Rom. 8:18 ) and it precede also
the Kingdom ( 2 Tim. 2:12 ). Therefore glory and reign are equivalent.

3.- the Gospel of Christ's Glory (2 Cor. 4:4) is the Gospel of Christ's
Kingdom (Matt. 24:14), and is the gospel of grace (Acts 20:24).

4.- To be participating in the Glory (2 Pet. 1:4) is to be participating in

the Kingdom (Rev. 1:9).

5.- To receive the Glory (2 Pet. 1:16-18) is to receive the Kingdom (Luc.
19:12).

6.- To see the Glory (Luke. 9:32 ) is to see the Kingdom ( Luke. 9:27 ).

7.- Christ is sitting now on His Father's throne, not on His ( Apo.
3:21 ).

8.- The Glory is associated with the Power, and the power with the
kingdom, and the kingdom with Authority ( Rev. 5:13; 19:1; 12:10 ).

…………………

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