Have
You Seen the Face of God?
The disciples of Jesus saw His glory. They gazed into His
character, which is the character of God. “The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us,
and we beheld His glory, glory as of the begotten from the Father, full of grace and
truth” (John 1:14).
When we see Jesus we see the Father. He “is in the bosom of the
Father, He has explained Him” (v. 18).
The Old Testament speaks of the glory of God being so bright in
radiance like the display of light that no man could approach it. The LORD is clothed with
splendor and majesty. The face of Moses glowed with an irradiation or illumination in a
strange and wonderful way when he came down from the mountain after speaking with God (Ex.
34:29-35). His whole personal being was mastered, captured, and illuminated by fellowship
with God. There was a supreme consciousness of God’s presence.
That Shekinah glory cloud of God was seen coming down on the
Tent of Meeting in the wilderness (Ex. 40:34). “And Moses was not able to enter the
tent of meeting because the cloud had settled on it, and the glory of the LORD filled the
tabernacle” (v. 35). God blessed His meeting place with His holy presence in a cloud
by day and a column of fire by night. When Solomon’s Temple was dedicated God
manifest His presence by filling it with His cloud of glory (1 Kings 8:10-11). “The
glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD.”
The apostle Peter, James and John were there on the mountainside when
God the Father glorified His Son at His transfiguration (2 Pet. 1:16-17; Matt. 17:2). God
the Father glorified His Son so that He would glorify the Father.
Jesus prays to the Father in John 17:1, 5, “Father, the hour has
come; glorify Thy Son, that the Son may glorify Thee . . . . And now, glorify Thou Me
together with Thyself, Father, with the glory which I ever had with Thee before the world
was.”
Jesus possessed the fullness of
God’s attributes and character in the inward sense. Moreover, He also possessed the fullness of
God’s outward, visible glory. When the disciples looked into the
face of Jesus they saw the heavenly Father. In His Incarnation Jesus laid the
manifestation of His deity
aside; for, if He had not, the disciples would not have been able to approach Him.
However, Jesus did
retain the fullness of God’s glory in the inward sense sense and
disclosed it to His disciples. When He returns in glory we, too, will
see Him as He is.
Ever since His ascension into heaven, after His resurrection, Jesus
has been exalted in glory. He has received even a greater glory because of His obedience
to the Father’s will. As recorded in John 17, Jesus payer to the
Father was that He might again enter into this visible glory of heaven.
The first Christian martyr, Stephen, saw the glory in Acts 7:55-56.
Stephen “gazed intently into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at
the right hand of God, and he said, ‘Behold, I see the heavens opened up and the Son
of Man standing at the right of God.”
These words of that martyr have been a sweet encouragement to many a
martyr of Christ down through the centuries of persecuted Christianity.
Have you looked into the face of Jesus and seen the face of God? It
is there we see the glory of God. Are you going through a fiery ordeal? It is here you
find your strength not only to endure, but also to triumph to the praise of His glory. God
supplies the strength “so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus
Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen” (1 Pet. 4:11).
Furthermore, we will rejoice with exultation when Christ is fully
revealed “at the revelation of His glory” at His Second Coming (v. 13).
Jesus also prayed that we too, would share in Christ’s glory
that the Father will be glorified (John 17:5, 10). To some extent we already share in it
as we embody the likeness of Jesus Christ. When we embody His character and fruit of the
Spirit we possess His glory. Jesus is glorified through us. Jesus prayed, “all things
that are Mine are Thine, and Thine are Mine; and I have been glorified in them” (the
disciples). “But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the
Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the
Lord, the Spirit” (2 Cor. 5:18).
There is only one way to accomplish that and God gets all the glory.
God alone is responsible for the results. As we gaze into the face of Jesus by faith we
are being gradually transformed into the likeness of Jesus Christ. Now when that happens
God alone gets the glory. It is a work of God’s grace.
This should be motivation and encouragement for us to strive daily to
glorify the name of Jesus so that He will glorify the Father. As we glorify Him, He
demonstrates His glory, and the Father is glorified. We are insufficient for such a
ministry, but our God is all-sufficient. We draw our sufficiency for such an awesome task
from His all-sufficiency (2 Cor. 3:5-18).
Today, we glorify Jesus Christ as we show forth His character in our
daily lives.
One great and glorious day we shall behold His glory in all of its
splendor when He arrives on His cloud of glory (Acts 1:9-11).
Selah!
Message by Wil Pounds (c) 2006
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