Reflecting God's Glory
As God's living temple today,
we are to reflect His presence and glory
to the watching world.
Here now is Dr. Gene Getz:
The interesting thing about
this particular Principle is that we see it
emerging from the total biblical story.
Whether it relates to Israel in the Old Testament
and how they worshiped God,
or whether it relates to us as believers today,
we are to reflect God's glory.
That's one of the reasons
God has chosen any one of us--
His people in the Old Testament,
those of us who live as members
of the body of Jesus Christ: To reflect His glory.
Now in Ezekiel's prophecy,
what he sees is a return of the Lord's glory
to the temple in Jerusalem.
This is the vision that he has.
Ezekiel chapter 43, verse 1:
He led me to the gate,
the one that faces east,
and I saw the glory of the God of Israel
coming from the east. ...
Now may I remind you,
if you go back in early prophecies--
earlier prophecies--
that Ezekiel had before the temple was destroyed.
He saw in this vision, the glory of the Lord
departing from the temple to the east--
outside of the city.
God was stationing Himself, if we can say that,
outside of the city of Jerusalem,
outside of the temple.
Now what happens here, you know,
14 years after the temple was destroyed,
he has this vision.
And once again he sees the glory of the Lord
coming back to the temple.
And we read on:
...His voice sounded like
the roar of mighty waters,
and the earth shone with His glory. ...
It's hard to imagine what this was really like.
...The vision I saw was like
the one I had seen
when He came to destroy the city,
and like the ones I had seen
by the Chebar Canal.
I fell facedown.
The glory of the Lord
entered the temple
by way of the gate that faced east.
[And] then the Spirit lifted me up
and brought me to the inner court,
and the glory of the Lord filled the temple.
Now there's no way in which
we can imagine what that was like.
We do have the illustration
of Solomon's temple.
When he dedicated the temple
and the glory of the Lord came into that temple.
And the priests and those who were
inside the temple had to leave
because the glory of the Lord filled that temple.
So here once again, we see the Lord
returning with His glory into this temple.
And this was part of the vision
that Ezekiel had.
Now it was an awesome experience.
We read about this in verse 5 of chapter 44:
...Then the man brought me
by way of the north gate
to the front of the temple. ...
Now we've seen a visualization
of what that looked like in a previous Principle.
...I looked, and the glory of the Lord
filled His temple. ...
He saw this in his vision.
No way that I can describe
what that looked like
because he doesn't describe it in detail.
But notice he says:
...I fell facedown.
The Lord said to me:
"Son of man, pay attention;
look with your eyes,
[and] listen with your ears
to everything I tell you about all the statutes
and the laws of the Lord's temple.
Take careful note of the entrance
of the temple along with all the exits
of the sanctuary.
And here God gives him instructions
regarding what is to be reinstituted by Israel.
Now that they're gathered
from all over the world.
They're in this brand new temple.
And we have that recorded of course, by Ezekiel.
Now as I said, there are various opinions
regarding whether this was literal,
whether it was figurative.
I personally believe it's literal.
If you're consistent throughout Ezekiel,
throughout the prophets,
there seems to be
a very literal aspect to all of this
in terms of Israel being regathered
from all over the world
to once again inhabit Jerusalem.
That God does have a future plan for Israel.
And we see this actually, in Ezekiel
in an earlier chapter when he said this--
the regathering:
...tell them: This is what the Lord God says:
I am going to take the Israelites
out of the nations where they have gone. ...
And today we know that
Israel is scattered to the ends of the earth.
Someday they will be regathered.
So God says:
...I will gather them from all around
and bring them into their own land.
Now I personally believe that's literal.
I have a difficult time interpreting that
as being figurative.
Or having been fulfilled
in the body of Jesus Christ.
Now some believe that it is.
I respect that.
My personal opinion is it's literal.
Now, God also said--earlier in Ezekiel
with another vision. God said:
I will make a covenant of peace with them;
it will be an everlasting covenant with them.
I will establish and multiply them,
and will set My sanctuary among them forever.
Now here's a very important thought.
When you see the word "forever"
or "everlasting," when you go back
to the Hebrew word,
it's not the same as the word in English.
It means a period of time.
It's not defined in terms of a period
but it's a lengthy period of time.
Which means that He could be saying:
For a thousand years this temple will exist,
be a place of worship,
particularly for the children of Israel.
So it seems to be literal.
And if you look at Romans,
the New Testament, we read this--
God's future plan for Israel:
So that you will not be conceited, [Paul wrote]
brothers, [sisters,] I do not want you
to be unaware of this mystery:
A partial hardening has come to Israel
until the full number of the Gentiles
has come in. ...
The Gentiles--that's most of us who are here.
Gentiles and Jews, no longer Jews or Gentiles
in God's sight. We're one body.
We're the church.
But Paul goes on to say:
God has a plan for Israel--
a future plan.
And so we read:
...And in this way all Israel will be saved...
Now at that point, I'm not sure
exactly what that means.
Except that there's also an indication
in the book of Ezekiel and other prophets,
there will be a resurrection of Israel,
particularly when Christ returns.
A resurrection of those
who are righteous.
Those who've been circumcised in their hearts.
They will continue to participate in God's plan.
...And in this way, all Israel will be saved,
as it is written:
The Liberator will come from Zion;
He will turn away godlessness from Jacob.
And this will be My covenant with them
when I take away their sins.
And Paul seems to be referring to the
very same thing that Ezekiel was referring to
in relationship to the regathering
and to the rebuilding of this temple.
Now whether or not we agree on
whether it's literal or figurative,
there's one thing we all agree on,
and that is that it has
a very unique application
to us as God's sanctuary today.
We are His sanctuary.
And we, as God's chosen people,
are to reflect His glory.
That's where Paul begins
in the book of Ephesians when he says
that God has chosen us in order that:
We are to be "to the praise
of His glorious grace."
He goes on in chapter 1 to say
that Jesus Christ has redeemed us:
"So that we . . . might bring praise to His glory."
And he ends that chapter by saying:
Through the Holy Spirit,
we are to be "to the praise of His glory"--
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Why are we chosen in Christ?
To be to His glory.
And so this is a concept I believe
that comes right out of this Principle--
or this passage, I should say,
here in the Old Testament.
And I love this great passage
that Paul culminates with
there in Ephesians 3:20-21, which I've called
"Glorifying God." Because read what Paul says:
Now to Him who is able to do
above and beyond all that we ask or think
according to the power that works in us-- ...
What is that power?
It's God's grace that has saved us.
...to Him be glory [to Him be glory]
in the church and in Christ Jesus
to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
Now here's a practical question,
I think that applies to us today as believers:
Is it possible that God
will remove His glory from local churches
that continually violate His will,
and if so, what will be
the status of these churches?
Now that relates back to the fact
that God removed His glory from the temple.
And He did so because of the evil
that was going on even in that temple.
The idolatry, the immorality, and all the evil.-
Even child sacrifice. It's just horrible.
And God removed His glory.
As we've seen, Ezekiel saw God
coming back in His glory in this new temple.
But what about the church?
Well I think if you go to the churches
in Ephesians, in chapter 2 and chapter 3,
where God refers to the candlestick,
as it were. Or to the lampstand,
which refers basically to the church.
And God says in these passages--
Jesus actually says to these churches
that are listed--the seven churches of Asia.
That He will, in a sense, remove His presence
if they continue to walk out of the will of God.
But the good news is, for example,
in the church of Laodicea,
which was one of the most carnal churches,
God said--Jesus said actually:
You're neither hot nor cold.
I'm going to spew you out of My mouth.
But He also said: I stand at the door and knock--
of your church, of your family, of your community.
And if anyone opens the door, I will come in.
So there's always hope.
God's grace extends to us today
in a marvelous way to be able
to worship Him in spirit and in truth.
But the great challenge is that we be
what God wants us to be.
Which brings us back
to the Principle of reflecting God's glory.
As God's living temple today,
we are to reflect His presence and glory
to the watching world.