By: Robert D Rogers
How can grace and glory be so intricately related and dependent on each other? The answer to that is truly a multi-faceted one, but let us take a look at one of the less thought of relationships. Do you remember when Jesus was speaking to His disciples in the 17th chapter of St. John's gospel? If you recall the theme was "unity."
Truly the failure of unity in the body of Christ is one of the most crucial truths that limit us from fulfilling the great commission. Indeed there is no greater mandate closer to the heart of God than that of reaching a lost and separated world for Him.
Luke 19:10
10 For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.
John 3:16-17
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
KJV
Yet no truth has seemed to elude us more than that of unity. How can this be? It seems to me that every ministry, denomination, organization, and minister I know of desires the unity of the Church, and at the same time, unity seems further from reality than it has ever been before. Still, Jesus declares in the following prayer that He is giving His glory to the Church that she might become one.
John 17:21-23
21 that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.
22 And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one:
23 I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.
NKJV
Jesus Himself declares that His glory will unite the Church in such a way that the world will believe on Him. "That they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me." I am convinced that part of the answer as to why the Church has failed to walk in the unity that Jesus Christ has prayed for is that we have a truly limited grasp of the term "glory." For those of us who come from a Pentecostal background the manifestation of the glory of God is one of the sweetest and most longed for experiences we delight in. The glory of the "baptism of the Holy Spirit and the accompanying gifts and anointing cannot be minimized. For others the glory of the pre-eminence of the Word of God is the main and overshadowing focus and for others it is the winning of souls and others the function of the clergy. Each of these truths carries their own "glory," and yet it seems these very facets are the things that separate us. How then can this glory divide rather than unite? Jesus Himself said He had given us His glory in order that we might be one.
It is not that any of the emphasis is wrong, but rather that they are just too limited. When we make any portion the whole, we toss out a greater part of the whole. That is what I believe we all have done these past centuries. We have thought our concepts and theologies are the whole and have defended them with an admirable zeal, but a zeal that has turned out to be very divisive. As we have focused on our truth, we have not been open to the progressive revelation of scriptures that our great God has been unfolding throughout the centuries.
We Pentecostals relate the glory to what we see from the Greek word "dunamis." The same word we get dynamite from. Personally the infilling of the Holy Spirit has been one of the most important life changing and fulfilling blessings I have ever experienced. I would not trade or give up this aspect of glory at any price. Nevertheless, this is only part of the definition of the doctrine of the Glory of God. When Jesus uses the word glory in John 17 he uses the Greek word "doxa" which comes from the base word "glory."
I believe that the "glory" the Lord Jesus Christ was speaking of in John 17 is the same "glory" the heavenly Father agreed to reveal to Moses. Moses requested to see the glory of the Lord and God answered him in an unusual way. God agreed to show Moses His glory but look at the word He uses when He agrees to this.
Ex 33:18-19
18 And he said, "Please, show me Your glory."
19 Then He said, "I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.(emphasis mine)
NKJV
Do you see it? Moses asks to see the Glory of the Lord and God agrees to show him, yet when God says He will show Moses His glory He uses a different word than glory. He uses the word "goodness." In other words God is saying, "My goodness is my glory!" The next day Moses ascends to the top of the mountain and God begins to show him His glory. The words God uses here are very revelatory.
Ex 34:5-7
5 Now the Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord.
6 And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, "The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth,
7 keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin,
NKJV
Do you see the connection of Grace - Glory and the Goodness of God? Does not the Father say, "My Glory is indeed My Goodness manifested through My Grace?" It is not the doctrines that each denomination proclaims that will unite us. It is not the anointing or gifts that will unite us. It is not the ministerial offices that will unite us. Nor is it a prideful position on the word of God. No - the Lord says it is my grace that will make us one. Not the weak sin encouraging grace, but grace that has so affected each of us that we have no desire to be judgmental or proud when we relate to one another. It is the knowledge of our own sinfulness and iniquity that has so grieved us and the grace shown in the midst of this uncovering that so weakens us that we become pliable in the hands of the Lord.
Grace in its fullest and most complete sense is the revelation of Jesus Christ Himself. Dear one, when we behold the glorified Christ every question, every inferiority, every jealousy disappears into nothingness.
Imagine... a body of Christian believers all speaking, declaring, and proclaiming God's strategic word for this moment in history. Will you join us in this strategic moment of history so that the Church may fulfill its end-time destiny?
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