I scc t|c stors, I |cor t|c ro||irg t|urácr, V|cr t|roug| t|c uooás, orá jorcst g|oács I uorácr, Ará |cor t|c oirás sirg succt|y ir t|c trccs. 22 WHAI ON EAPIH I5 GLOPY? V|cr I |oo| áour, jrom |ojty mourtoir grorácur Ará scc t|c oroo|, orá jcc| t|c gcrt|c orcczc. Ará u|cr I t|ir|, t|ot Goá, His Sor rot sporirg, Scrt Him to áic, I scorcc cor to|c it ir, Hc o|cá orá áicá to to|c ouoy my sir. V|cr C|rist s|o|| comc, uit| s|out oj occ|omotior, -Stuort K. Hirc, 1949, 19S3 (Irspircá oy Cor| Boocrg`s pocm, ¨O Storc Guá,´ 188ó) 23 ChopIer 1 WHAI ON EAPIH I5 GLOPY? (Isaiah 6:3). s t g|ory. Ierhaps it suggests images of gold and light, crowns and jew- els. Maybe it calls to mind great achievements or heroic feats. For some, it speaks of what belongs solely to Ieaven itself, a state of perfection and serenity far from the struggle and day-to-day experience of Earth, the state we hope to enter at the end of our earthly lives. For others it suggests what we have fallen short of because of sin (see Rom. 3:23). - cal words, I fear g|ory is often abstract and lacks immediate connection in our minds and experience. And the images it does conjure up-crowns or - Veight of Glory,¨ C. S. Lewis describes the poverty that many of us bring to an understanding of glory, a poverty that makes glory appear strange and confusing: 24 WHAI ON EAPIH I5 GLOPY? prominent in the New Testament and in early Christian writings. All this makes no immediate appeal to me at all, and in that respect I fancy I am a typical modern. Glory sug- gests two ideas to me, of which one seems wicked and the other ridiculous. Either glory means to me fame, or it means better known than other people, the desire for fame appears to me as a competitive passion and therefore of hell rather than heaven. As for the second, who wishes to become a kind of living electric light bulb. 1 But Lewis goes on to explain that when he put aside his initial confu- sion, dug deeper into the language of the Scriptures, and allowed Scripture to challenge and expand his thinking, he discovered the reason Scripture resounds with the word g|ory and with promises that we will have it. Ie saw that glory is what we were made for (see Isa. 43:7). in search of a deeper understanding and experience of glory. As it did with Lewis, the journey happened to me, but once it did, I found myself embroiled in a treasure hunt, in which a series of intriguing clues led me to one discovery after another. And eventually, I found that g|ory had begun to unfold in my mind and heart as the word that contained my deepest long- ings, my highest priorities, and my destiny-as well as the conviction that it contained those things for everyone else on the planet. As a result of this unfolding, the promise of Iabakkuk 2:14 took on an - cágc oj t|c g|ory oj t|c Lorá, os t|c uotcrs covcr t|c sco.´ Interestingly, this verse is often misquoted by the simple omission of the word |rou|cágc omission gives rise to a vision of the earth being gradually covered by a sort 25 WhOI On EOrIh |s GIOry? of vapor that drips down from Ieaven and eventually engulfs the planet in bright gold. Vonderful though that vision might be, it can leave us waiting for an appearance of glory that is completely outside of us, distracting us from the powerful invitation in this verse-the invitation to |rou what glory is, and ultimately, to live in a world where everyone shares that knowledge. |rou|cágc from the prom- ise of Iabakkuk is that its omission turns the fullness of God's glory on the earth into a future event rather than a present reality. Vhen the prophet Isa- iah saw the Lord enthroned, he heard the angels declaring, is ju|| oj His g|ory|´ - tory of ¨falling short of the glory of God¨ has not diminished it in any way. Neither has our failure to perceive it. It is impossible for us to erase God's glory from the universe. As C. S. Lewis wrote, ¨A man can no more diminish God's glory by refusing to worship him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word 'darkness' on the walls of his cell.¨ 2 In light of Isaiah's vision that the earth is already full of God's glory, the prophecy of Iabakkuk is God's promise that the gap between the imma- nent reality of Iis glory in the universe and our perception of that glory our knowledge. Understanding this promise, however, depends upon under- |rou|cágc in this verse is yoáo, the same word used in Genesis 4:1, which says that Adam ¨knew¨ Eve. Yoáo indicates an intimate, experiential knowing, 3 and what is yoáo tells us that through a continuous process of relational encounters, just as Adam and Eve experienced in a lifelong covenant. In our world of the Internet and modern viral marketing, we are increas- ingly aware of how quickly experiences can multiply, and I like to think that 2ó WHAI ON EAPIH I5 GLOPY? these technologies are a parable of what this multiplication of knowledge may mean in part. Capturing an experience on a video or audio recording one person to millions. One person can laugh at the antics of a little child, and with the sweep of a mouse, that experience can be transmitted to thou- - tion has become a part of our everyday lives. Of course, |ou it will happen is secondary to t|ot it will happen. Ve are promised not merely that we will know about glory, but that we will experi- ence it, live in it, and encounter it. And because God's glory is a present real- ity, it is a promise that we are invited to experience now. God´s Expressions I have found, as Lewis and countless others have through the centuries, that words are keys that can unlock experiences for us. A journey into the language of glory is vital in preparing us to perceive and experience the glory - ous words and what they yield for us in our perception of glory, beginning with the word g|ory itself. God's glory is t|c rcsu|t oj Goá cxprcssirg Himsc|j. In other words, every- thing Ie has made and does, and the attributes, nature, and power behind those actions, are Iis glory. It is said of artists that they do at least two things-they copy and express themselves. But God is the artist who has nothing to copy (at least to begin with), so Ie just expresses Iimself. ¨A|| t|irgs comc irto ocirg t|roug| Him, orá oport jrom Him rot|irg comc irto ocirg t|ot |os comc irto ocirg´ ( John 1:3). Ie is the originator of all things. ways God expresses Iimself, and to have both glory and God's expressions with what glory looks like, and as we study Iis expressions, we will become 27 WhOI On EOrIh |s GIOry? more and more familiar with Iim. Vhat is God like. Vhat does Ie say. Our two greatest resources in studying the expressions of God are the Bible and creation-the Book of Scripture and the Book of Nature, as they which we learn who Ie is: Ior sircc t|c crcotior oj t|c uor|á His irvisio|c ottrioutcs, His ctcrro| poucr orá áivirc roturc, |ovc occr c|cor|y sccr, ocirg urácrstooá t|roug| u|ot |os occr moác. (Romans 1:20). Vhen we look at creation, we see God. Ve see Iis invisible attributes in a mother's love for her children. Ve see Iis eternal power through tele- scopes that reveal an enormous universe full of unimaginably powerful heav- enly bodies and events. Closer to home, we experience Iis power in great waterfalls, mighty oceans, and sunlight that travels 93 million miles and yet retains enough heat to warm this beautiful planet. Ve see Iis divine nature in the way Ie created the human body to heal itself. God expressed Iimself in Iis creation, and Ie didn't hide it. Ie is ¨c|cor|y sccr´ in what Ie made. - less theories, when it was designed by God to reveal Iimself to us: Society's refusal to acknowledge the Designer and Source of all that exists is a fatal rcprooj, jor corrcctior, jor troirirg ir rig|tcousrcss (2 Timothy 3:16). thousands of years, the Bible's consistent message and revelation of God is undeniable. As we read the Bible, God is revealed to us, and Iis nature, attri- butes, and power are written across every page. It is even more mind-blowing 28 WHAI ON EAPIH I5 GLOPY? that this very text also invites us to be imitators of the awesome God it reveals: (See Ephesians 5:1.) Creation and the Bible do not merely symbolize or communicate God's - nition of glory, based on Romans 1:20: G|ory is t|c ctcrro| vo|uc t|ot somc- t|c ottrioutcs, roturc, orá poucr oj Goá. and power. In fact, along with revealing God's glory, creation and the Bible not only reveal that we have glory; they also reveal that among all that God has made, among Iis manifold expressions, human beings were designed to relate to Iis glory in a unique way. Ve will explore our unique relationship to glory, as well as the glory of creation and the Bible, throughout this book. For the moment, however, I want to draw your attention to the only other verse in Scripture in which yoáo of God's glory is not reserved solely for the next life: Ior Goá, u|o soiá, ¨Lig|t s|o|| s|irc out oj áor|rcss,´ is t|c Orc u|o |os s|orc ir our |corts to givc t|c Lig|t oj t|c |rou|- cágc oj t|c g|ory oj Goá ir t|c jocc oj C|rist (2 Corinthians 4:6). - ative act was to command light out of darkness. Later, Ie performed a simi- lar creative act, one with equal power, drama, and impact. But this time, Ie commanded light to shine out of the darkness of our hearts. Vhat was the source of that darkness. It was a rejection of glory: os Goá, rcit|cr ucrc t|or|ju|, out occomc voir ir t|cir 29 WhOI On EOrIh |s GIOry? imogirotiors, orá t|cir joo|is| |cort uos áor|crcá (Romans 1:21 KJV). In ignorance and deception, mankind turned from the light of God's glory, only to discover that there is no other source of light in the universe. - ¨knowledge of Iis glory ir t|c jocc oj C|rist´ - edge of Iis glory that Adam and Eve beheld in their innocence. In the face of Christ, we see the ctcrro| vo|uc God has for us, evidenced by the price Ie paid to restore us to the place where we could behold Iis glory and be restored to the glory we had fallen short of. - and value of the knowledge of the glory of God, is this: Vc o||, uit| urvci|cá jocc, oc|o|áirg os ir o mirror t|c g|ory oj t|c Lorá, orc ocirg trorsjormcá irto t|c somc imogc jrom g|ory to g|ory, just os jrom t|c Lorá, t|c Spirit (2 Corinthians 3:18). beholding Christ, makes us like Iim. In other words, the intimacy of yoáo does not merely reproduce encounters with Christ; it reproduces Iis nature and likeness within us. other part of God's creation was designated to bear Iis image; and thus no other part of Iis creation has the same glory we have. As Bill John- son regularly points out, ¨Yes, God does say that Ie won't share Iis glory with another. But we're not another.¨ Ve are made in Iis image-glori- ous: Ve are Iis body, Iis Bride, and Iis children. Ve are not usurpers or 30 WHAI ON EAPIH I5 GLOPY? face of Christ reveals our own glory-the glory Ie made us to share with Iim from the beginning. And if we were made for glory, then there is one question that must possess us: Vhat on earth is glory. Endnofes 1. C. S. Lewis, (New York: Macmillan Iublishers, 1980), 11. 2. C. S. Lewis, (London: IarperCollins, 1964), 41. 3. Blue Letter Bible, ¨Dictionary and Vord Search for yoáo` (Strorg`s 304S),´ Blue Letter Bible 1996-2011, http://www.blueletterbible. org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm.Strongs=I3045&t=KJV; accessed January 31, 2011.