In the last post I mentioned the passage in 2 Thessalonians 1:8,9. It should be, for the disciple of Jesus Christ, one of the most sobering pictures of "Hell" in the Bible. Immediately following that verse, however, in 2:10-12, we see additional thoughts on the reflective glory of God that have pretty powerful and worship-inspiring implications for our daily lives.
In the same day the Lord Jesus comes in judgment to cast the disobedient to the Good News away from "the presence of the Lord and the glory of His power," He will also "be glorified in His saints" and "be marveled at among all who have believed." The glory of the Lord Jesus Christ will not be something outside of us, something to be an object of observation, but fully manifested or revealed in believers (those who have been wholly set apart for that purpose).
But, so we don't lapse into a false belief that Christ's glory-in-us is only future, Paul tells the "church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ" (1:1) that he continually prays for them: "...that our God will count you worthy of your calling, and fulfill every desire for goodness and the work of faith with power..." I do hope God fulfills the desires to do His good work in power and in faith (John 3:21; Ephesians 2:10; Philippians 2:12,13; Hebrews 13:20,21). But why? What would the result of this be? "...so that the name of our Lord Jesus will be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ." Just incredible. Even now, when I become a vessel for His powerful work through me by faith, He can be - NOW - glorified in me and I in Him.
Lord, give your children a passion to be wholly consumed with Your good works (a working of His grace in our lives), that Jesus will be glorified TODAY in them!
2 comments:
It's exciting to think God can and will be glorified in me, but sometimes hard to believe with all my faults. Sometimes I hope I can get out of the way, so people can see Him.
"...I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for Whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith..." (Philippians 3:8,9). Faults are trumped by true faith, and He WILL be glorified in His children.
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