FOUNDATIONS: 8 God’s Glory Purifies Us

John struggled a great deal with temptations to look at pornography on his smart phone. The pleasure he experienced from looking at those women was a powerful pull on his heart, especially when he felt bored or lonely. John was encouraged to think more about the beauty and attributes of God. And then to compare God to those women. And even take a moment to picture God next to those women. This became a powerful protection against the pull of pornography. John learned that the pleasure he received from thinking about and visualizing the beauty and glory of God made even the most seductive women on a screen look ugly and dirty. John learned:

We all, who . . . contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory.

(2 Cor 3:18 NIV)

The awe you experience from meditating on God’s glory purifies your life.

In the last chapter, we said that experiencing God’s GRACE produces love for Him. In this chapter you will learn that experiencing God’s GLORY does the same. The dictionary defines glory as praise, honor, and fame. God’s Glory means the revelation of His greatness. Our text says, “We all, who . . . contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory” (2 Cor 3:18 NIV). The awe you experience from meditating on God’s glory purifies your life.

The more we “contemplate the Lord’s glory” the more we will be “transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory” to be like the Lord. Focusing on His power, character, and beauty purifies our life. This is because when any of the sinful, pleasurable, attractive, things of this world are placed next to God’s glory, their true worthlessness is revealed. God is more beautiful, pleasurable, and awesome than anything the devil or the world can offer.

The glory of God’s Power

We get some idea of what glory is when we think of movie stars, music stars, and sports stars. People adore and worship them. What they do to merely entertain people is considered so valuable they are among the most worshipped and wealthiest people on Earth. People feel a great sense of awe when they personally meet one of Earth’s stars.

But God’s stars reveal a lot more glory than any of Earth’s stars. In fact, Creation is perhaps the best way to understand God’s glory: “The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship” (Ps 19:1). The majesty, intricacy, and sheer size of mountains, oceans, planets, and galaxies shows us the wisdom and power of God. Whatever power, wisdom, or beauty is displayed in Creation, we can know that the Creator is infinitely more so. So let us contemplate Him for a moment in His Creation.

First of all, what God created is BIG. You could fit 1 million Earths inside our sun. Another sun was discovered that is big enough to swallow up approximately 2 billion Earths. Our sun is the closest star to Earth but is 93 million miles away. The next closest star is 25 trillion miles away. And our sun is only one out of an estimated trillion billion suns. Travelling at the speed of light (about 670 million mph.) it would take about 20 billion years to reach the edge of the Universe we can see with our best telescopes. No one knows what is beyond that except your Creator God. ^[1]

Secondly, God’s creation is POWERFUL. The center of our sun burns at over 500 million degrees. The sun expends more power in one second, than all the energy ever consumed in the whole history of humanity’s cities, homes, and cars. ^[2] That is the power and size of just our sun. And again, there are an estimated 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 other suns in the Universe! One star is 4 million times brighter than our sun. ^[3]

We know of no reason the stars beyond our sun exist except to be “declaring the glory of God . . . night after night” (Ps 19:1-2). Think about the last time you looked at the stars and how massive, powerful, and far away they are. And your God made them all with just a word. Do you get the feeling that when He made them He was showing off a little?

The Holy One says, “To whom will you compare Me? Or who is My equal?” Look up into the heavens. Who created all the stars? . . Because of His great power and mighty strength, not a single one is missing. (Isa 40:25-26)

Make a habit of recognizing the beauty of nature, and the greatness of the Universe, and remembering the beautiful and powerful God Who made them. It will change you. It will make the glittery things of Earth seem dull. “We all, who . . . contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory” (2 Cor 3:18 NIV). The awe you experience from meditating on God’s glory purifies your life.

The glory of God’s Person

God has revealed His glory not only in Creation but also in Scripture. Of course God’s character, holiness, and perfection are described and demonstrated throughout the Bible. But here we will focus on some actual pictures God has given us of Himself, and more specifically of the exalted Christ. Through these biblical portraits we can “see” God and be awed at who He is and even what He looks like.

For example, the Apostle John tells us, “Isaiah . . . saw Jesus’ glory and spoke about Him” (John 12:41), and Isaiah wrote of his experience:

In the year King Uzziah died I saw the Lord. He was sitting on a lofty throne, and the train of his robe filled the Temple. Attending him were mighty seraphim [Angels of Fire ^[4]] . . . They were calling out to each other, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Heaven’s Armies! The whole earth is filled with his glory!” (Isa 6:1-3)

Imagine sinning against THAT Person right after seeing Him. Imagine thinking that anything or anyone on Earth is as beautiful and marvelous as the God you just saw. In the days of kings, the height of a man’s throne, the material and length of his robe, and the magnificence of his palace were all a measure of his power, respect, and glory. Certainly the Lord, and everything about Him, is more beautiful, majestic, and awesome than anything ever seen!

And what are the Angels of Fire constantly singing? “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord.” Holiness reflects the fact that God is morally perfect and pure. So pure that even the sinless Angels of Fire have to cover their eyes in His presence. And why is “The whole earth filled with his glory”? Because even though few recognize it, everything and everyone possessing any goodness or glory are merely reflecting the goodness and glory of God.

The sight of the Lord’s glory led Isaiah to exclaim, “I am a sinful man.” But once again, grace was revealed through an Angel who told him “your guilt is removed, and your sins are forgiven” (vs. 5-7). But God’s love alone is not sufficient to bind your heart to Him. You can be convinced of His grace and still lack a power against sin that the sight of His glory can give you. This is why He reveals both His grace and glory to you. It is not just what God does for you that compels you to love Him. Just as important is WHO HE IS. It was not just God’s forgiveness, but His awesomeness that led Isaiah to cry out, “Here I am. Send me!” (v.8). Isaiah knew that God is not only merciful, but magnificent and worthy of all your adoration.

And Isaiah needed to know this because his mission from God was to: “Harden the hearts of these people. . . . Until their towns are empty, their houses are deserted, and the whole country is a wasteland” (Isa 6:10-11). Only the image of the awesome beauty and glory of God could sustain a man on a mission like that. Which is why you must keep the same beauty and glory of God in mind in order to maintain your full devotion to Him no matter what else happens to you in this life.

You will probably not be given a vision of God like Isaiah. But God also gave us more pictures of Himself in Scripture that can guide your imagination to see God. You use your imagination to sin. Why not use it to put yourself before the very throne of God and worship Him?

Isaiah was changed by his experience of God’s glory. “We all, who . . . contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory” (2 Cor 3:18 NIV). The awe you experience from meditating on God’s glory purifies your life.

It is very difficult for humans to express the majesty, power, beauty, and glory of God. So what would God say if He described Himself? We have just such a statement in Isaiah 40. But before we look at it, let us note why God described Himself to the Israelites. It was because of their idolatry. They were attracted to the beauty of mere statues made of gold and wood. They were enamored with the wisdom of learned men and the glory of powerful and popular people. They were tempted by the sinful pleasures of the world. All of which is why God reminded them of His beauty, majesty, power, and wisdom which make all the idols of this world look like trash.

And as we take a moment to simply think about what He says, we experience a pleasure that nothing on Earth can give us. Especially when you remember this is your God, the same God who adores you. Your God challenges you to worship only Him when He says:

Who else has held the oceans in his hand? Who has measured off the heavens with his fingers? Who else knows the weight of the earth or has weighed the mountains and hills on a scale? . . .

All the nations of the world are but a drop in the bucket. They are nothing more than dust on the scales. He picks up the whole earth as though it were a grain of sand. . . . The nations of the world are worth nothing to him. In his eyes they count for less than nothing—mere emptiness and froth.

To whom can you compare God? What image can you find to resemble him? Can he be compared to an idol formed in a mold, overlaid with gold, and decorated with silver chains? . . .

Haven’t you heard? Don’t you understand? Are you deaf to the words of God—the words he gave before the world began? Are you so ignorant? God sits above the circle of the earth. The people below seem like grasshoppers to him! He spreads out the heavens like a curtain and makes his tent from them. . . .

“To whom will you compare me? Who is my equal?” asks the Holy One. (Isa 40:23-25)

So why would you worship anyone or anything else? And before you snicker at the Israelites for how foolish they were to bow down and trust mere statues made of wood, ponder for a moment the worthless things you honor, adore, serve, and crave more than God. Pictures of naked girls on a computer screen. The praise and popularity of people. Money. Food. Cars. Houses. Football players. Movie stars. Politicians. Humans seek all of these things for pleasure, significance, security, and a sense of awe. But put any of them next to the pictures of God in Scripture and how do they look now? Worthy of your worship or rather worthless?

The following are two more visions of your Lord:

And on this throne high above was a figure whose appearance resembled a man. From what appeared to be his waist up, he looked like gleaming amber, flickering like a fire. And from his waist down, he looked like a burning flame, shining with splendor. All around him was a glowing halo, like a rainbow shining in the clouds on a rainy day. This is what the glory of the Lord looked like to me. (Ezek 1:26-28)

And standing in the middle of the lampstands was someone like the Son of Man. He was wearing a long robe with a gold sash across his chest. His head and his hair were white like wool, as white as snow. And his eyes were like flames of fire. His feet were like polished bronze refined in a furnace, and his voice thundered like mighty ocean waves. . . And his face was like the sun in all its brilliance. (Rev 1:13-16)

And this one is actually a vision of God the Father:

I watched as thrones were put in place and the Ancient One sat down to judge. His clothing was as white as snow, his hair like purest wool. He sat on a fiery throne with wheels of blazing fire, and a river of fire was pouring out, flowing from his presence. Millions of angels ministered to him; many millions stood to attend him. (Dan 7:9-10)

The above biblical portraits are the real God and He is infinitely more beautiful, enjoyable, attractive, majestic, magnificent, glorious, and awe-inspiring than anything else you could desire. The most beautiful thing or person you have ever seen is only a shadow of God, and all their beauty ultimately comes from Him.

You cannot see God right now. But others can. And their response to what they are seeing is another way you can begin to grasp the glory of God. In Revelation we are given a description of several sets of worshipers.

Regarding the four living creatures we read: “Day and night they never stop saying: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty,’ who was, and is, and is to come” (4:8).

Regarding the twenty-four elders we read: “They lay their crowns before the throne and say: ‘You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being’” (4:10-11)

Regarding “the voices of thousands and millions of angels around the throne and of the living beings and the elders . . . [who] sang in a mighty chorus: “Worthy is the Lamb who was slaughtered—to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing.”

Regarding “every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea . . . [who] sang: “Blessing and honor and glory and power belong to the one sitting on the throne and to the Lamb forever and ever.”
And the four living beings said, “Amen!” And the twenty-four elders fell down and worshiped the Lamb” (5:11-14). And maybe you should take a moment today and do the same!

This is why David said: “The one thing I ask of the Lord—the thing I seek most—is to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, delighting in the Lord’s perfections and meditating in his Temple” (Ps 27:4). David had probably seen a vision of the Lord (cf. Ps 63:2). But these were probably not frequent. However, what was constantly in the temple was the Bible of that time, including the five books of Moses. And in them the glory and power of God was clearly revealed. And it was in Scripture that David sought to meditate on the “perfections” of the Lord because doing so was so delightful (cf. Ps 119). As the Psalmist simply said: “God [is] the source of all my joy” (Ps 43:3-4).

If you saw God with your eyes, His sheer glory would consume your life and all else would fade from your vision. Likewise, seeing Him with your mind, meditating on His divine attributes, burns away a lot of worthless things you think about and purifies your desires. Place the picture of God that is revealed in the passages above next to anything or anyone else you want to worship, serve, or seek and your idols will melt away.

It is amazing and endearing that Someone as awesome as God has cared so much for you. Who would you rather have love and like you? A guy? A girl? A spouse or child? A boss? They may not love or like you but God Almighty does. And His love makes the love of anyone else relatively unimportant. Nothing will be able to compare to the glory of God if you constantly keep it in mind.

“We all, who . . . contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory” (2 Cor 3:18 NIV). The awe you experience from meditating on God’s glory purifies your life. ^[5]

► Return to the beginning and answer the questions there.

► Recite 1 John 4:12 from memory.

► Memorize 2 Corinthians 3:18 in the translation above or another one.

► Complete Project 2G: “Comparing Christ” on the next pages.

Numbers regarding the size of the Universe are taken from Erwin Lutzer, Seven Reasons Why You Can Trust the Bible (Moody, 1998), 147. For a video portrayal of the size of stars compared to Earth see online at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4M6wlBjU38. ↑
Richard Swenson, More Than Meets the Eye, (NavPress, 2000), 148. ↑
See online at http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/questions/question21.html. ↑
“Angels of Fire” translates the Hebrew word serāpîm meaning “fire beings” (John Oswalt, The Book of Isaiah, Eerdmans, 1991). ↑
For additional study on the attributes of God, we would suggest the following books: Knowing God, J.I. Packer; The Attributes of God, A.W. Pink; Pleasures Evermore, Sam Storms. ↑