That's pretty fascinating. I don't even know what to tell you today. That's God's definition of His glory. I'm going to be all over the place. Tell you what, just go to John 1. Stick your bulletin in there. There's a good chance we'll get there. And we turn our thoughts to the Christmas season. Aren't these decorations nice? Special thanks to Joyce and her crew for doing all that for us. occasions represents all he is, his reputation. But as we do turn our thoughts toward Christmas, it always calls up in my mind, one of the two greatest word pictures ever given to mankind. The whole Christmas narrative, obviously, the other being Easter. But for me, it's just so fun to revisit these compound names. Isn't that for you? Aren't you glad we do this? to stop and just to Abraham he called himself Jehovah-Jireh, which means the Lord will provide, or the Lord who provides. So when God says, I will let my goodness pass, all my goodness pass before you, and I will say my name in your presence, one of my favorite aspects, one of my favorite components of this, is all that God is. Everything that makes God, God. And we sang about it earlier in Go Tell It on the Mountain, So what does the glory of the Lord mean if we want to nail down a definition here? I put it down like this. It is an all-encompassing dynamic that displays who God is. It's everything that makes God, God. What does that mean, Zach? The glory of the Lord. I've been thinking about that this week, and it's declared what? The glory of God. And the earth is handiwork, and it goes on to say, you know, night after night they pour forth speech that can be heard in every language. The glory of God on display in what He has created, specifically in the heavens. So His glory, according to my summation of His definition, is that it is an all-encompassing dynamic that displays who God is in so many different ways. Can you live with that definition? It is. Do this. You remember when Moses was called up there and the mountain was enshrouded in cloud and there were lightning peals and thunder and the mountain shook and they stood and couldn't touch the mountain. They stood and watched it and it looked like their God was a consuming fire. The glory of God was manifest in that way. Then later, to me, after the debacle of the golden calf that Moses came down, as you recall, from the mountain of broken tablets and stone, And then He went back up again a second time and met with God once again. And in Exodus 33, verse 18, He says, please God, it is God's presence, Emmanuel, God with us. Back in Isaiah chapter 7, verse 14, God asks in God's response to that. What do you want? I'll give you a sign that I'm here in anything. Exodus, you name it. Heaven and Earth. I'll give you any sign to show you that this is not hopeless, that I am still in control. All my goodness to pass in front of you. And I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. So God says, therefore, That's a wow moment, at least for me. The next couple of verses go on to say, as you probably remember, that God said to Moses, you can't see my face. Because nobody can see my face and live. So here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to take you up and put you in a cleft of rock. And I'm going to put my hand in front of you. And after I pass by, I'll remove my hand because nobody can see my face and live. But you're going to see my back. Wow, that must have been an incredible thing. critics say this didn't happen. What's told about in Luke chapters 1 and 2, that she was just an unmarried girl who had gotten pregnant with a new stone tablets that contained the law. He had to put a veil over his face. He had seen the glory of the Lord. He had spent time with the Lord. The next 34, 29, and 30, it says, when Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of testimony in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken to the Lord. Wherein the Israelites saw Moses, his face was radiant, and they were afraid to come to him, to come near him. So he had to put a veil over his face. And then of course there was the tent of meeting where he would go to meet God and there was a cloud, a pillar of a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night representing God's presence. And every time Moses met with God he had to put a veil over his face because he was jealous over his glory. He deserves it. No one else is entitled to it. And then in Isaiah chapter 43 verses 10 and 11, he says, you are my witnesses, declares the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen so that you may know and believe in me and understand that I am he. Before me, no God was formed, nor will there be one after me. I, even I, am the Lord. And apart from me, there is no Savior. And I couldn't help but think about it. In Luke chapter 1 and verse 19, the angel is identified as him. Verse 6 goes on to say, this is what the Lord says, Israel's king and redeemer. Then he says, I stand in the presence of the Lord. Apart from me, there is no other God. Moses met with him and his face shone. Can you imagine what this dude looked like? And there's more. It goes on. I mean, it would have been horrific, terrifying, and wonderful at the same time to see God's glory manifesting that way. Over and over, God is jealous of His glory. Apart from me, there is no other. That's why it's so amazing. When you come here to John chapter 1, you can open that now. I made it mean. Is it just? John 1. 700 years after Isaiah was ready. It's used in a variety of different ways in Scripture. For instance, when they were wandering in the wilderness, after God had clearly said, apart from Me, there is no other. I am God. I don't give My glory to anyone else. There is no other Savior. Moses said to them, John, open to your tents tonight and in the morning you're going to see the glory of the Lord. And they got up and there was manna. That kind of terminology is used. And in Scripture, the word glory has a variety of applications. And the word was with God and the word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through Him all things were made. Without Him, nothing was made that has been made. The word here speaks of Jesus Christ. And you've heard me say before, but it's been a long time, And you forget so quickly that I'll say it again. When he uses this term, the word, the logos, it's a jaw-dropper for his listeners. Because in Greek, this meant the rational thought and power behind the whole universe. Something nebulous, something they couldn't understand, but they knew it was there. They knew there was an Almighty Being there. You've probably heard me say it. It's almost like the Star Wars, may the force be with you kind of thing. This is the force of forces. This is the logos. By the way, it says in Revelation 19 and verse 13 about Jesus Christ, His name is the Word of God. All of this power, all of this authority, all of this wisdom, In the beginning was the Word, Jesus Christ. And the Word was with God. And the Word was God. God didn't give His glory to another. It exists within the Trinity. Jesus Christ is fully God. It goes on. Skip down to verse 10. "...He was in the world, and though the world was made through Him, the world did not recognize Him. He came to that which was His own, but His own did not receive Him. Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right or the authority to become children of God." Children born not of natural descent nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God. Born of the Spirit. And then verse 14. the part that would have just blown their minds completely. The part that ought to cause us to sit back and reflect in awe and wonder as well. This Word, this all-powerful force behind the beauty and the intelligence and the design and the creation of the whole universe became one of us. I was reading C.S. Lewis this week, and he was trying to make an analogous picture. And he said, just think of it like if you could come back as a slug. But really, even that doesn't do it, right? Because this was the Creator becoming part of His creation. The Word. This Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. In the Old Testament with Moses and Aaron in the tabernacle, God's presence resided temporarily in that dwelling place. And here, this Word literally is tabernacle. He made His tabernacle among us. Dwelling among us. And we have seen His glory. The glory of the One and only who came from the Father full of grace and truth. Jesus Christ is fully 100% God. He always was and He always will be. In fact, Hebrews chapter 1 verse 3 says it like this, is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by His powerful Word. After He had provided purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in Heaven. The Son is the radiance of God's glory, the exact representation of His being. Jesus is God. He always was and He always will be. Do you remember In John chapter 14, after Jesus, at the end of chapter 13, told his disciples he was going away, chapter 14 opens up with him saying, don't let your hearts be troubled. I'm going to prepare a place for you. Verse 6, I'm the way, the truth, and the life. There's no way to get to the Father except by me. Are you with me there? You remember what happens a little bit later in verse 9? Philip says to Jesus, well, just show us the Father. Just show us the Father. And Jesus said, Philip, you idiot. He didn't say that. He said, don't you know by now if you've seen Me, you've seen the Father. I am God, the exact representation of God. We beheld His glory. All this power, all this majesty, all this brilliance and radiance and wonder and all of who God is came to a manger in the form of a baby. The most helpless a human being is at any point in their life. What does God's glory mean to us? It means God's presence. He came here. He came here. Not just to be with us, to be one of us. In our Wednesday night Bible study, we're going through the book of Zechariah right now, and we've seen several Theophanies or Christophanies where God pre-incarnate came to earth to minister as the angel of the Lord. And He came to us at that point But He wasn't one of us until this point. So first, God's glory means God's presence. Secondly, it means God's pardon. God's pardon. Because when we see God's glory, our glory doesn't look so good, does it? That's what it says in Romans 3.23, for we've all sinned and come short of God's glory. Isaiah 64.6 says all of our righteous acts are like what? Filthy rags. We're hopeless except for His pardon, His forgiveness. Romans 3.24 goes on to say, but we are justified freely by His grace. through the redemption that came by Jesus Christ. His pardon is available to us. There are some awesome verses in Scripture. Psalm 103.12 says that He has removed our transgressions as far as the east is from the west. Actually, I'm going north-south here. East is from the west. Stop and think about that. They never, ever, ever meet again. And if you're here and you're struggling with past sin, get ready for a blessing. Isaiah 43, 25 says it like this. I, even I am he who blocks out your transgressions for my own sake and remembers your sins no more. That means you don't have to either. They should never come back to haunt you once you've confessed them, once you've come to Christ and asked His forgiveness. They're gone as far as the east is from the west. And when He forgives you, the slate is erased. He doesn't remember them anymore. Isn't that awesome? Say yes. Say it like you believe it. Still don't believe you. It means God's pardon. None of us is perfect. We're all sinners. But this is a complete pardon. We are forgiven. Sins are forgotten. We are justified. Declared righteous justly so because of Jesus Christ. We're now a child of God as we saw here in John 1, verse 12 and following. on and on and on about the blessings that are ours in Jesus Christ and what this pardon means. What does the glory of God mean to me? It means God's presence. He came here. And when I accept Him as my personal Savior, it literally means His presence in my life. It means His pardon. He knew everything about me. before I came to Him, and He knew I'd behave even how I'd behave after I came to Him, and He still pardoned my sin. He doesn't remember it anymore. Numbers 3 and 4, I'm putting them together here. It means God's power and God's purpose. God's power and God's purpose. Quickly, we're going to go to Ephesians 3, verses 20 and 21. Paul says it like this, now to him, who is able to do immeasurably more than all we can ask or imagine according to His power that is at work within us. We've talked before in recent Bible studies about the fact that God is working in and through us. And when we trust His power, not ours, some incredible things will happen. They'll change us. You'll see a new dynamic in your life. New desires. New cares. New everything really. The whole outlook is new. We talked about that in 2 Corinthians 5.17. It says we're new creations in Christ. So we have His power available to us now. We'll talk more about that when we resume our studies in Ephesians after the first of the year. And then it goes on to say, to Him be glory in the church. and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations forever and ever. Amen. To Him be the glory. Wait a minute. We're talking about God's glory here. His glory is seen in the person of Jesus Christ. Revealed in Him. Radiated from Him. But we have the same privilege His glory radiated to us and it ought to be reflected from us. These new changes as we lay aside the old person and become this new person, we reflect His glory so that others can see it. So that others can be encouraged. It's God's power working through us. And God's purpose that others would see His glory in and through us. Wow. Others can see God through me. Bet you never thought that was possible. But as they see your changed life, your dedication to the Savior, the newness in you, it will create a hunger in them That's why the Bible says, let your light shine before men, that they might see your good works. Give glory to your Father in heaven, Matthew 5, 16. Finally, number five, what does God's glory mean to me? It means God's peace. It means God's peace. And we're back to our Christmas story in one of the best known verses ever. Luke 2 and verse 14. Glory to God in the highest. Someday, we're going to understand what that means. I'm really looking forward to that, aren't you? Someday, we're going to really understand what that means. And I'm really looking forward to that, aren't you? It's hard being in a Baptist church, isn't it? We're going to understand what it's like when the angels there burst out in song. We can join them. And all creatures that we can't even imagine that are there that we read about in places like Ezekiel and other places, they're going to praise them too. Glory to God in the highest, this angel said. And he knew firsthand what he was talking about. And someday we will too. And I can't wait. And on earth, peace to men on whom His favor rests. Not just peace on earth. We can look around and see that's not true and read Scripture and know it's not going to get any better. But those upon whom His favor rests can know peace. We talked about that last week. It's all here. And we've seen His glory. In Luke chapter 2, there is the account of a godly person who waited for decades to see the Savior. A man named Simeon. Luke chapter 2 verses 25 and following. He had been waiting for the consolation of Israel. And the Holy Spirit revealed to him that he wouldn't die before he'd seen the Lord's Christ. And in verse 27, he was moved by the Spirit and he went to the temple courts. And when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the law required, Simeon took Him in his arms and he praised God, saying, Sovereign Lord, as You have promised, now You dismiss Your servant in peace. for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you..." Verse 31, "...have prepared in the sight of all people a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel." 700 years before. In Isaiah 40 and verse 5, we see this. prophecy. And the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken it. The glory of the Lord will be revealed, and it was that first Christmas night, wasn't it? Simeon says, you prepared this in the sight of all people. It's right here. There's a written record of all of the prophecies leading up to this. And it's fulfillment in the person of Jesus Christ, who according to Galatians 4, when the fullness of time had come, Jesus came. It's awesome. The glory of the Lord in one person, one amazing night that first Christmas. What does the glory of God mean to me? It means God's presence. It means God's pardon. Means God's power and God's purpose in my life, and it means God's peace. It's gonna be okay He's in control the arm of the Lord has revealed this this person of Jesus Christ, and he's coming back That's awesome, and if he came back today, I would shout hallelujah, and I'd see if I could jump to get started My prayer for you this Christmas season is that you would know fully in your life, God's presence, His pardon, His power, His purpose, and His peace. It's all bound up in what Jesus Christ has done for us. It's not in the holiday spirit or Christmas presents or all the other warm fuzzies we're going to hear about. Warm fuzzies are good, don't get me wrong. We could use all of that we can get, right? But when you brush all of that away, you get the real The purpose behind all of this. The person of Jesus Christ who came for me and you so that we can know all of this. This is a great way to kick off the Christmas season, isn't it? Just like the shepherds so long ago. Just out there minding their own business. Watching their flocks by night. The angel of the Lord was there and the glory of the Lord shone round about them. Lord, we thank you for all you are and all you've done and all you will do as this story, this narrative continues to unfold in the lives of each person who still trusts you as Savior and how it will culminate in your return in power and great glory, the Bible says. To wrap all of this up, to put an end to sin, to move on to eternity. Lord, I pray if there are any here today or hearing this that don't know you as personal Savior, haven't surrendered to you, committed their lives to you, help them today to clearly understand the lengths to which you've gone to reveal yourself to them, to all of us, so they could know true peace, true joy, eternal peace, eternal joy that rises above circumstances here and now. They could know the pardon it means to have sins not only forgiven, but eradicated. Not even remembered anymore. So we commit all of this to You. For Your name's sake. For Jesus' sake. And in His name we pray, Amen. Passage. I don't even know what to tell you today. I'm going to be all over the place. Tell you what, just go to John 1, stick your bulletin in there, there's a good chance we'll get there. Today we turn our thoughts to the Christmas season. Aren't these decorations nice? Special thanks to Joyce and her crew for doing all that for us. But as we do turn our thoughts toward Christmas, it always calls up in my mind one of the two greatest word pictures ever given to mankind. The whole Christmas narrative, obviously, the other being Easter. But for me, it's just so fun to revisit the scene each year. Isn't that for you? Aren't you glad we do this? To stop and just focus on how God became a man? To picture in our minds this whole marvelous narrative, this wonderful story over and over again. One of my favorite aspects, one of my favorite components of this is, and for me, this is kind of where the Christmas scene starts. And we sang about it earlier in Go Tell It on the Mountain where the angel appears to the shepherds. In Luke 2, verses 8 and 9, the shepherds are in the fields watching their flocks by night and the angel of the Lord appears to them the glory of the Lord shone round about them." What does that mean exactly? The glory of the Lord. I've been thinking about that this week and it's sort of arrested my thoughts. And because of that, you get to be arrested too. I mean really, when you think about the glory of the Lord, was it just some brilliant luminescence? What was it? You know, I couldn't help but be reminded of Moses when he went up to meet God on Mount Sinai. In Exodus 24, verse 17, it said, "...to the Israelites the glory of the Lord looked like a consuming fire on the top of the mountain." You remember when Moses was called up there, and the mountain was enshrouded in cloud, and there were lightning peals and thunder, and the mountain shook, and they couldn't touch the mountain. They stood and watched it, and it looked like their God was a consuming fire. The glory of God was manifest in that way. Then later, after the debacle of the golden calf, Moses came down, as you recall, from the mountain and broke the tablets of stone And then he went back up again the second time and met with God once again. And in Exodus 33, 18, he says, please God, let me see your glory. That's an awesome request, isn't it? And God's response to that is fascinating. In Exodus 33, verse 19, the next verse, 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. That's a wow moment, at least for me. The next couple of verses go on to say, as you probably remember, that God said to Moses, you can't see my face because nobody can see my face and live. So here's what I'm going to do, Moses. I'm going to take you up and put you in a cleft of a rock. I'm gonna let and I'm gonna put my hand in front of you and I'm gonna pass by and then after I pass by I'll remove my hand because nobody can see my face and live but you can see my back Wow, that must have been an incredible thing That's a fascinating answer When he came back down from the mountain with the new stone tablets that contained the law and He had to put a veil over his face. He had seen the glory of the Lord. He had spent time with the Lord. In Exodus 34, 29, and 30 it says, When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of testimony in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken to the Lord. When Aaron and the Israelites saw Moses, his face was radiant, and they were afraid to come to him, to come near him. So he had to put a veil over his face. And then of course there was the tent of meeting where he would go to meet God and there was a cloud, a pillar of a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night representing God's presence. And every time Moses met with God, he had to put a veil over his face because he was radiated and they couldn't hardly stand to look on him. It was so bright. That's what the glory of the Lord did. So go back to our Christmas story now. to those shepherds in their field at night. An angel appears and gives them this glorious news. And they're terrified. And I couldn't help but think about it. In Luke chapter 1, in verse 19, the angel is identified as he came to give Mary the good news. It's Gabriel, the angel. And he says, I stand in the presence of the Lord. Moses met with Him and His face shone. Can you imagine what this dude looked like? I mean, it would have been horrific, terrifying, and wonderful at the same time to see God's glory manifest in that way. But we haven't answered our question yet. What does the glory of the Lord actually mean? Is it just? Radiance? It's used in a variety of different ways in Scripture. For instance, when they were wandering in the wilderness, the Israelites complained about not having enough food. And in Exodus 16, v. 7, Moses said to them, Go into your tents tonight, and in the morning you're going to see the glory of the Lord. And they got up and there was manna. That kind of terminology is used. And in Scripture, the word glory has a variety of applications. And my mind was just pinging all over the place as I thought about this. I mean, if you think about it in the New City, Jerusalem,