What happens in the “Glory of God”? To answer this question, another question must be answered first. What is the “Glory of God”?
The Glory is fullness of the presence of God. God’s glory is expressed in many ways. For Israel, the glory came in a cloud and in a fire. For us, the glory comes in Jesus. “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.” (Hebrews 1:3, NIV) If the glory is the presence of God then the glory is filled with the holiness of God and with the essence of all that God is.
Where the glory comes, it is to be a place of holiness. “there also I will meet with the Israelites, and the place will be consecrated by my glory. ” (Exodus 29:43, NIV) When the glory comes, we are to be transformed, we are to be changed. “And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. ” (2 Corinthians 3:18, NIV)
The glory is the manifestation of the presence of God. It is a place of holiness. It is a place of change. It is a place of intimacy. It is a place of truth. It is a place where we can see God as He is and it is a place where we can see ourselves through the eyes of God.
There is a story of glory that spans Exodus 19-34. God’s glory came on the mountain and Moses received the ten commandments. Here is the gist of it. God invited everyone to consecrate themselves and come into His glory. (Ex 19:1-14). However, God did not allow for presumption. Only when the horn was sounded could the people go up the mountain. Note that the people were invited to consecrate themselves and go up the mountain.
So a few days later, the appointed time and place for the glory arrived.
“On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast. Everyone in the camp trembled. Then Moses led the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the Lord descended on it in fire. The smoke billowed up from it like smoke from a furnace, the whole mountain trembled violently, and the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder. Then Moses spoke and the voice of God answered him.” (Exodus 19:16–19, NIV)
At this point everyone was going to meet with God. However as the trumpet grew louder, the people got scared and only Moses spoke. Their fear demonstrated their lack of consecration. And the Lord great mercy said, “Go down and warn the people so they do not force their way through to see the Lord and many of them perish. ” (Exodus 19:21, NIV)
Consecration is a total abandonment and trust in God, His grace and mercy. It is a letting go of ourselves. It is dedication to God and God alone. The people’s fear exposed their lack of dedication and trust in God.
Now Moses was with God a long time. He received knowledge and understanding. He began to understand the purpose and the wisdom of God. Moses became empowered to lead. He was being transformed by the glory of God.
The people who did not consecrate themselves were spending time hanging around the glory. Because the glory did not destroy them and because they were not consecrated to God, they grew bold in allowing their sin to manifest. They built a golden calf (Ex 32).
Today We have many people who want to hang around the glory, but they have a disregard for holiness. They enjoy the supernatural, but they refuse to allow the supernatural to transform them. They say they are in the glory, but they speak from arrogance that reveals their heart.
Yes we must pursue the glory of God, but when we find it we must make a decision to fully consecrate ourselves and to become transformed into people of holiness.
If you pursue the glory but cannot love your brother, you have not seen God. If you pursue the glory but cannot support your local church or your pastor, you have not seen God. If you say you have spent time in the glory of God, but then have a bitter heart, you have not seen God. If you enter the glory, but still keep thinking that the world is against you, you have not seen the glory.
We keep asking God to change our world. God keeps asking to change us.
The world is looking for the reality of the Glory of God to be expressed in your life. Become consecrated. You will become transformed.
If you find yourself truly in the glory, stay until you become changed.