Jamin Bradley

Glory is a difficult word to explain, even for theologians. In a literal sense, it can be something like weight or heaviness. Perhaps this is why priests couldn’t stand up in Solomon’s Temple when God’s glory entered it or why a common manifestation of the Holy Spirit is for people to suddenly drop to the floor. But this weighty glory can also be related to themes like fame or honor. You might feel a glory like this when meeting someone famous.

But God’s glory also has a supernatural appearance to it. When he shows up in the Bible, certain visuals are seen, like clouds, smoke, lightning, and fire. This lightning and fire shouldn’t be surprising since heavenly beings are often depicted in bright ways. Indeed, even Christians will one day put on resurrected, glorious bodies that shine like heavenly beings.

But Isaiah recognized that God’s glory has already come upon us through Jesus. Therefore, we are supposed to rise up and shine right now. As Michael Heiser once said so beautifully, “If we could see with spiritual eyes, we would see a world of darkness peppered with the lights of Yahweh’s presence, spreading out to meet each other, inexorably pressing and spreading out to take back the ground of the disinherited nations from the enemy.”

But our bodies are not currently exuding physical light, so how do we shine? Jesus answered this question by equating our light with good works and God’s glory. For Jesus, if the world was ever going to be drawn to the light of his reign, his followers would have to magnify his radiance with their works. Through their actions, they would have to prove that a different world is possible when we live with different hearts.

How are you making God famous? In what ways have you and your church shined recently? How might God partner with your passions to shine more brightly? Stoke the flame.