The word glory is used to describe the greatness or splendor of someone or something. When God appeared to Abraham, He revealed himself as the God of Glory. The word glory therefore goes well with God. But the scripture says that God had crowned man with glory, but he lost it because of sin. So the message of salvation is that God wants to restore the lost splendor and glory of men. Paul writing to the Thessalonians said, “God chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth, to which He called you by our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.” The greatness of salvation is more than the blessedness of forgiveness of sins; it gives us the privilege to live reflecting the beauty and character of God. Peter in his epistle describes it as being partakers of the divine nature.

God expects us, as His people not only to confess our faith but also express it. There is no better way to communicate the faith than reveal the glory of God through our lives. As the song writer puts it “Let the beauty of Jesus be seen in me, all His wondrous compassion and purity.” Many like in the times of Jesus are still coming with the earnest request “Sir, we would see Jesus.” The world expects nothing less than this in our life and testimony. The missions committee decided to recall a missionary from the mission field as he was getting old and seemed limited in the language skill. But the leadership in the mission field thought otherwise and sent a reply to home office, “Please do not recall him, for his life makes up for all our talking.”

The face of a saintly man never fades from my childhood memory. He was the pastor of a small church in the neighborhood. Though very limited in education and talents, he conspicuously carried the grace and glory of the Lord Jesus in his life. As a friend of my father, he was a frequent visitor at home. The humility, meekness and the purity of his life earned him a nick name ‘Bhaktan’ (Godly) Kuttiachen. A preacher noticed the radiant face of a man in the audience and as he continued to preach on the second coming of the Lord Jesus, the man joyfully shouted, “Yes, yes that will be glory for me.” The speaker was anxious to know more about that brother with joyful testimony. “Oh, that’s old glory face,” replied his informant. “He’s a Christian who always seems to be on the mountaintop.” Later Charles H. Gabriel was so impressed with this same man that he was moved to write his familiar gospel song, “O That Will Be Glory For Me.”
If God’s beauty radiating from our lives can put a song in the lives of other people, we are indeed blessed of the Lord..

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 by the Spirit of the Lord (2Cor.3:18).

Glory is a wonderful word replete with meanings like majesty, splendour and wholeness. Man, the paragon of all creations lost his glory when he sinned in the garden of Eden and that made him run from the presence of God and hide. A man without the glory of God will always suffer shame. The land he stood on was also divested of its glory and was cursed. Where there is lost glory, there is indeed ugliness, defeat and shame.

In the Old Testament the glory of God is linked with the Lord’s self-revelation. Thus in Exodus it reveals his character and goodness. When Moses begged God to show His glory the Lord said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name the Lord in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion” (Ex.33:19-20).

The glory of God also implies his presence among his people. The OT often links God’s glory with His presence among Israel in the tabernacle and temple. Similarly in the New Testament also glory of God is associated with His essential nature which has its fullest expression in Jesus. It is through his nature and actions we discover the splendor of God. The writer of the Book of Hebrews says “he is the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s very being”(1:3).

Though Jesus’ whole life was a mani festation of God’s glory there were several occassions when he revealed it in a special way. At the marriage of Cana Jesus revealed his glory by showing his adequacy.