Reflected Glory

by F. McCormick | Category: The Glories And Excellencies Of Christ | Feb 1958

"But we all, with unveiled face reflecting as a mirror the glory of the Lord, are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord the Spirit" (2 Corinthians 3.18).

If we are to adorn God's temple, we must reflect the glory of the Lord. We behold the glory of the Lord in the mirror of God's word, and as true reflection of His glory we are changed or transformed into the same image from glory to glory, and so we live and manifest Christ. This is a present every day progressive action. We may well exercise our hearts as to whether this is true of us. Am I more Christlike in my talk, walk, manner of life and testimony than aforetime? Note how this is a vital necessity to the ministry of reconciliation

those who preach Christ must live Christ.

"Commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God" (2 Corinthians 4.2).

The mirror of God's word gives us a perfect reflection of the glories of Christ from Genesis to Revelation, but the reflection of the excellencies of Christ by us is imperfect and partial, albeit we press on.

To produce a perfect reflected image requires a perfect reflector. It is the unevenness in the glass or metal which distorts the image, and it is the unevenness in the life and character of the child of God which distorts the image of Christ in him spiritually. The work of the Holy Spirit is to remove the roughnesses in the life and walk, so that more of Christ may be reflected by us. Glass or metal has to be ground, then polished, to become an effective reflector, and we may liken this to God's dealings with us in the grinding and polishing experiences of chastening. What is more delightful to both God and His children than to see a truly polished Christian reflecting day by day the glory of the Lord as he is wrought upon by the Holy Spirit? These experiences may not be pleasing to the flesh, but they are designed for "our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness" (Hebrews 12.10), to make us more like His own Son.

"My son, regard not lightly the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art reproved of Him (Hebrews 12 5)

"Consider Him" (Hebrews 12 3) May it be ours to be "transformed into the same image from glory to glory"!

Like Thee in faith, in meekness, love

In every heavenly grace

From glory unto glory changed

Till we behold Thy face

MY GLORY

There are two great future events set before the believer in Titus 2. 13, as objectives of the Christian's hope, namely,

"Looking for the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ."

The first of these will be fulfilled when the Lord Jesus comes to the air for His own according to His promise.

"And if I go and prepare a place for you, I come again, and will receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also " (John 14.8).

Blessed hope, truly, for all in Christ. He has gone, He is preparing a place, lie is coming again. Should not this prospect fill us with daily expectation, with yearning desire to see our Beloved ? It is not merely a doctrine to be held, but a reality to be looked for. Just as truly as His going to the Father was a fact, so also will he His coming for us.

"I ... will receive you unto Myself. " " For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout" (1 Thessalonians 4. 16) In the night of His betrayal He expressed His heart's longing in prayer to His Father,

"Father, that which Thou hast given Me I will that where I am they also may be with Me, that they may behold My glory which Thou hast given Me" (John 17.24).

This great event, when loved and Lover shall meet, is therefore the subject of His promise, and prayer (John 14. 17), and also of angelic and apostolic confirmation (Acts 1. 11 ; 1 Thessalonians 4. 15), and reaffirmed by the testimony of the risen Lord, " Behold, I come quickly " (Revelation 22.12).

Are we in that happy spiritual condition which will allow us to say in truth, "Amen: come, Lord Jesus " ?

Bright and glorious is the prospect before us; we, who have by faith seen that thorn-clad brow, that marred visage, and the tortured physical form of the lonely Sufferer of Calvary, "Who his own Self bare our sins in His body upon the tree," shall in that moment of moments, " see Him even as He is " (1 John 3.2). He whom God hath highly exalted, Possessor of all authority in heaven and earth, Co-partner of the Father's throne, with glory upon glory bestowed upon Him as the victorious One in life, and in death ; our Redeemer, Saviour and Lord, yes, " we shall see Him even as He is," and His prayer and heart's desire will be fulfilled, " that they may behold My glory."

"We know that if He shall be manifested, we shall be like Him." Ere we can bear the celestial splendours of our heavenly home, and gaze with wondering rapture upon that glory which God has given Him, we must know a bodily change, " For verily in this we groan, longing to be clothed upon with our habitation which is from heaven (2 Corinthians 5.2). So that "we wait for a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ who shall fashion anew the body of our humiliation, that it may be conformed to the body of His glory, according to the working whereby He is able even to subject all things unto Himself" (Philippians 3.20, 21). With bodies conformed to the body of His glory we shall then be able to behold His glory, which the Father has given Him. This may take place at any moment. Sad, sad it would be if we were found, when the Lord comes, occupied with the things of this world, unfaithful, content to drift with the stream of a Christ rejecting mass of humanity, instead of reflecting the moral image of Christ in this darkness. Then indeed we may " be ashamed before Him at His coming " (1 John 2.28).

Are we watching for the Master ?

If He should return to-day,

Would He come and find us sleeping,

As the moments pass away ?

THE APPEARING OF THE GLORY.

While we are looking for the " blessed hope," we are also looking for an event which will be of world-wide importance. The " blessed hope " has to do with believers in Christ alone. It takes place in the air; it is the meeting of Christ and His Church, never more to part. This event is nowhere seen in 0ld Testament prophecy, it is a New Testament revelation. But Christ will come later, in manifest glory, to this earth to rule and reign, as is foretold from Genesis to Malachi. Of this event we read,

"He cometh in His own glory, and the glory of the Father, and of the holy angels " (Luke 9.26).

He is coming to establish righteous rule and government on earth, and "the government shall be upon His shoulder" (Isaiah 9.6). As for His enemies who conspire against all divine restraint, saying,

"Let us break Their bands asunder,

And cast away Their cords from us,"

the LORD shall have them in derision, and of Him who is seen in Revelation 19. coming forth with the armies of heaven, it is said,

Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron;

Thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel

(Psalm 2).

In righteousness His kingdom will be established, and " the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea" (Isaiah 11.9). He shall sit upon the throne of His father David,

"Behold, a King shall reign in righteousness " (Isaiah 32.1).

A glimpse of the glory of that future kingdom is seen on the mount of the transfiguration, of which Peter says,

"For we did not follow cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty" (2 Peter 1.16).

On that occasion God intervened. from " the excellent glory" to say, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye Him" (Matthew 17.5).

The supreme authority of Christ is one of the main characteristics of that future kingdom, His voice must be heard, and His word obeyed.

"He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem" (Isaiah 2.3).

There, " Thine eyes shall see the King in His beauty ... there the LORD will be with us in majesty ... for the LORD is our Judge, the LORD is our Lawgiver, the Loan is our King; He will save us" (Isaiah 33.17, 21, 82). In that day He will be the conspicuous One among the myriads, even as He was to His own in the days of His flesh, and among the heavenly host, the altogether lovely One, appearing in glory as KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS, "and upon His head are many diadems" (Revelation 19. 12). And "Even He shall build the temple of the LORD; and He shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon the throne; and He shall be a Priest upon His throne " (Zechariah 6.18), a Priest after the order of Melchizedek, King of righteousness, and King of peace (see Hebrews 7. 2).

Eternal glories crown His name,

As Prophet, Priest, and King;

Soon heaven and earth shall sound His fame,

Each day fresh praises bring."

But why should we be looking for that glorious appearing of which the Old Testament Scripture speaks so much ? It is because that is the time "when He shall come to be glorified in His saints, and to be marvelled at in all them that believed" (2 Thessalonians 1.10), and the time also, when those precious and exceeding great promises which have been made to believers in this dispensation will find fulfilment.

"If we endure, we shall also reign with Him" (2 Timothy 2.12).

"He that overcometh, and he that keepeth My works unto the end, to him will I give authority over the nations" (Revelation 2.26).

The apostle Paul, with true spiritual acumen, assessed the possibilities of having something to his account in that day of "the revealing of the sons of God," and he said,

"For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed to us-ward" (Romans 8.18).

Peter said of himself that he was " a witness of the sufferings of Christ, who am also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed" (1 Peter 5.1). The promises made to the overcomer in the seven churches in Asia are worthy of prayerful consideration, and the words of Him whom John saw in the midst of the golden lampstands come to us with clearness and freshness,

"Howbeit that which ye have, hold fast till I come."

"I come quickly: hold fast that which thou host, that no one take

thy crown" (Revelation 2.25 ; 3.11)).

Ali believers are sharers in the " blessed hope," for the dead and living in Christ shall be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, and will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall ever be with the Lord. This is one of the unconditional blessings bestowed upon all who are in Christ; but not all in Christ will be found among the overcomers. It is the present enduring sufferers with Him now, who will share those special rewards and glories with Him then.

"Now unto Him that is able to guard you from stumbling, and to set you before the presence of His glory without blemish in exceeding joy, to the only God our Saviour, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and power, before all time, and now, and for evermore. Amen." (Jude 24, 25).

F. McCormick | Feb 1958
The Glories And Excellencies Of Christ