Paul McKenzie

Memory Verse, Friday, March 13, Galatians 1:5

"to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen."

Whenever I look at the "glory" of the Sun, I think of it as a small symbol of the true Glory of God. It is hard for us to imagine that all the universe was created by simply the breath of God. It's hard for us to understand that He is outside of this universe; that He is outside of even what we recognize as our time and space.

He "anthropomorphizes" in Scripture to give us some understanding of His being, and we ignorantly anthropomorphize Him, trying to bring Him down to our level. We see that He is a "plural oneness": Elohim. The closest my feeble mind can grasp to understand a fragment of this is marriage, where God says "two become one flesh", and that is a very poor analogy, but a very vague concept of two persons in one substance.

Three persons in one substance. We see a picture of that oneness at the baptism of Jesus. We see a taste of that glory in the Transfiguration. We get glimpses of the Godhead working together through Scripture, where in John we see "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made." (John 1:1-2)

And when God breathed out the heavens and the earth, we see "And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters." (Genesis 1:2b) And Christ, after His physical presence on earth was accomplished, sent that Holy Spirit to dwell in each heart of those born again.

Some refer the relationship of the Godhead as a "dance". Again, I rudely compare that to my Wedding Dance with my pretty wife. For me, there was no one left in the room but her. I was perfectly content to simply be with her. And no matter where we go, if she is with me, I am home. And, at the wedding, for example, I didn't "need" anyone but her. We wanted to invite others to celebrate with us.

And that has some similarity to God. He, One Substance in Three Persons, was perfectly content in Himself. But for our sake and extreme joy and pleasure, He created us to share in His glory. And those who understand what "the glory of God" is, give all glory we possess right back to Him, just as between the Godhead they glorify each other. I shouldn't say "just as", for that is different, in that all glory we may possess was given us as well, as a matter of fact, our being was given us by His breath.

And only God is true "Being". That's why He referred Himself to Moses as "I Am". And that's why Jesus in John 8 referred to Himself as "I Am." He is and always was. Our only being is what He created us to "be". I think it was RC Sproul who referred to us as "becomings", for He is molding those who believe into His children—His workmanship (Ephesians 2:10).

For a believer, it is a natural thing to bask in the glory of God, just as we bask in the glory of the Sun. We did nothing to have that life-sustaining warmth flow upon us, just like we did nothing to earn the right to have the glory of God flow upon us.

For His glory exudes from Himself, displaying all of His amazing attributes, and giving us a glimpse of the joy that is to come. And we get to bask in that glory, simply by faith in Christ. "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God." (Romans 5:1-2)

Justified. Not receiving the justice we deserve, but justified. Declared righteous. And the fantastic thing is, once we are born again, we have been given a new nature, a nature that abides in the Glory of God, and we have this innate desire to please Him above all things.

Oh, we sometimes in our foolishness try to pull from our lingering dead nature, for it still battles with us as we learn to walk in our new nature. But we are assured by the "seal" of the Holy Spirit that "He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ." (Philippians 1:6). So we, in spite of ourselves, can rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.

This is not a religion. This is a relationship. And as that relationship develops, we mature. This is called the process of "sanctification". Justification is done in a moment, for it is God who justifies. Sanctification can be measured in decades, for God has chosen to "work with us", teaching us through joys and adversities to discern His glory from others. And when we bask in His glory, we are filled with a peace and joy that passes all understanding, which keeps our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:7).

If this is giving you a burning desire to be free from this present darkness, repent from your sins and call upon the name of "the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen."

Today if you hear His voice, harden not your heart.

*KJV used*

Memory Helps

"To whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen."

This verse is so simple that it needs little help. I not only picture this mentally, but physically raise my hands beyond the glory of the sun and reach toward the glory of God, replacing the "whom" with "You" as I cry out "To YOU be glory for ever and ever! Amen!"

I hope you do the same.

Linking verse numbers:

I use my friend "Lee" (L=5) as my memory character for verses 5. Wearing a big bow "Tie" (for chapter 1, T=1) we are both raising our hands, pointing them toward heaven. I picture my arm around my buddy's shoulder as we do it. This way I remember that this is 1:5.