WEBVTT 00:00:01.840 --> 00:00:09.679 The scripture reading this morning is found in the book of Exodus, chapter 19. 00:00:13.599 --> 00:00:16.719 I will be reading verses uh seven through twenty. 00:00:16.960 --> 00:00:19.679 I encourage you to turn there. 00:00:21.440 --> 00:00:28.640 It's uh if you happen not to have your Bible with you this morning, you can find it uh in the Pew Bible on page 60. 00:00:29.199 --> 00:00:42.640 And if you are with us this morning and uh you don't happen to own a Bible of your own, I want to encourage you, that Pew Bible that is there that you're holding, uh, to please take it home with you as our gift to you. 00:00:42.799 --> 00:00:56.320 Uh we want you to have a copy of the Bible for yourself to read and uh to be able to study and uh join us each Sunday and study throughout the week uh God's Word. 00:00:57.439 --> 00:00:59.840 Exodus chapter 19. 00:01:01.679 --> 00:01:07.920 So Moses came and called the elders of the people and set before them all these words the Lord had commanded him. 00:01:08.879 --> 00:01:13.439 All the people answered together and said, All that the Lord has spoken, we will do. 00:01:14.079 --> 00:01:17.519 And Moses reported the words of the people to the Lord. 00:01:18.079 --> 00:01:28.079 And the Lord said to Moses, Behold, I am coming to you in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you, and may also believe you forever. 00:01:28.879 --> 00:01:40.640 When Moses told the words of the people to the Lord, the Lord said to Moses, Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their garments, and be ready for the third day. 00:01:40.959 --> 00:01:46.799 For on the third day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. 00:01:47.599 --> 00:01:50.000 And drop down to verse sixteen. 00:01:50.400 --> 00:02:01.359 On the morning of the third day there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast, so that all the people in the camp trembled. 00:02:01.680 --> 00:02:08.400 Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they took their stand at the foot of the mountain. 00:02:08.639 --> 00:02:13.919 Now Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the Lord had descended on it in fire. 00:02:14.240 --> 00:02:20.159 The smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain trembled greatly. 00:02:20.479 --> 00:02:27.360 And as the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him in thunder. 00:02:27.759 --> 00:02:36.639 The Lord came down on Mount Sinai to the top of the mountain, and the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up. 00:02:38.560 --> 00:02:49.919 Kent Hughes in his comment in one of his commentaries on the book of Genesis reminds us of uh something that Chuck Colson wrote in his book, Kingdoms in Conflict. 00:02:51.199 --> 00:02:55.199 And uh Hughes comments on what Colson wrote. 00:02:55.280 --> 00:03:06.479 He said, Chuck Colson in his Kingdoms and Conflict describes how during his political career he used the aura of the White House to moderate and pacify visitors. 00:03:06.960 --> 00:03:12.080 Colson would begin by hosting his guests in the executive dining room of the West Wing. 00:03:12.319 --> 00:03:21.439 Colson would escort his guests past saluting guards and down a long corridor lined with dramatic photographs of the president in action. 00:03:21.759 --> 00:03:39.599 And then at the door of the dining room, he would pause and point to the door at the right and say in hushed tones, that's the situation room, conjuring up visions of map-filled walls, computer screens, and busy generals, when in reality those functions were at the Pentagon. 00:03:40.159 --> 00:03:54.400 The ambiance of the executive dining room was overwhelming with its rich, hand-rubbed mahogany walls lined with a waiting row of red-jacketed Navy stewards, and most of the cabinet and senior staff huddled around the tables. 00:03:55.680 --> 00:03:59.520 Usually, even the staunchest adversaries began to soften. 00:03:59.759 --> 00:04:06.319 If someone needed more prodding, they were treated to a walk upstairs and a reverend tour of the Oval Office. 00:04:06.800 --> 00:04:15.520 And if the president was in, there was a prearranged, impromptu greeting and a gift of gold-plated cufflinks with the presidential seal. 00:04:15.840 --> 00:04:18.240 Colson summarizes the effect. 00:04:18.959 --> 00:04:24.800 Invariably, the lions of the waiting room became the lambs of the Oval Office. 00:04:25.120 --> 00:04:27.600 No one ever showed outward hostility. 00:04:27.920 --> 00:04:32.399 Most, except the labor leaders, forgot their best rehearsed lines. 00:04:32.720 --> 00:04:45.839 They nodded when the president spoke, and in those rare instances when they disagreed, they did so apologetically, assuring the president that they were personally respected, they personally respected his opinion. 00:04:46.480 --> 00:04:51.199 Ironically, none were more compliant than the religious leaders. 00:04:51.600 --> 00:04:58.800 Of all people, they should have been the most aware of the sinful nature of man and the least overwhelmed by pomp and protocol. 00:04:59.519 --> 00:05:04.720 But theological knowledge sometimes wilts in the face of worldly powers. 00:05:06.720 --> 00:05:15.519 What Colson writes and what Hughes reminds us of is the fact that we are often impressed with human glory. 00:05:16.399 --> 00:05:37.279 When we think of people and politicians in their power, in this position that they have and presidents, we are, as Colson said, oftentimes those lions in the waiting room become the lambs in the Oval Office. 00:05:37.600 --> 00:05:44.160 We recognize human power and authority and position. 00:05:45.120 --> 00:05:46.720 And we're impressed by it. 00:05:46.800 --> 00:05:50.000 We are people that are so often impressed by it. 00:05:51.279 --> 00:05:55.360 Over the last several weeks, we've been looking at the glory of God. 00:05:56.000 --> 00:05:57.279 The glory of God. 00:05:57.439 --> 00:06:02.959 And this morning I want us to consider the glory of God and the person of Jesus Christ. 00:06:04.639 --> 00:06:07.120 Nothing compares to God's glory. 00:06:07.279 --> 00:06:14.319 In fact, in Isaiah 40, we're reminded that all of the leaders of the world are but dust on the scales. 00:06:14.480 --> 00:06:18.720 They are nothing, they are less than nothing in comparison to God. 00:06:20.720 --> 00:06:29.040 And we've been looking at this reality that Jesus Christ is Emmanuel, God with us. 00:06:30.079 --> 00:06:48.000 And I fear sometimes that we become so familiar with the person of Jesus Christ in the gospel accounts and seeing him in the humility of the incarnation that we forget that Jesus Christ possesses all glory as God. 00:06:49.600 --> 00:07:08.240 And so I want to remind us first of all, as we continue to consider the glory of God and now move to look at the glory of God and the person of Christ, to remind ourselves of what we've looked at and think through a few other passages in the Old Testament regarding the glory of God. 00:07:09.199 --> 00:07:12.319 We were reminded several weeks ago of the problem that we have. 00:07:12.480 --> 00:07:14.959 Our first parents, Adam and Eve, they sinned. 00:07:15.120 --> 00:07:18.879 And when they sinned, they were expelled from the Garden of Eden. 00:07:19.040 --> 00:07:30.639 They were in the presence of God, dwelling in God's presence, in unhindered relationship with God until the moment that they sinned, and that sin separated them from God. 00:07:31.519 --> 00:07:39.279 They could no longer be in the presence of a holy God in his glory because of their sinful condition. 00:07:40.399 --> 00:07:54.160 And God provided a covering for them, and God promised them that he was going to send to deliver, and yet they were expelled from the garden, and that state of separation is the state that we find ourselves in to this day. 00:07:55.360 --> 00:08:10.720 Because of the consequences of sin, this world and those who have not come to Christ find themselves separated from God, completely cut off because of sin. 00:08:12.160 --> 00:08:19.279 Sinful humanity cannot dwell in the unveiled presence of a holy God. 00:08:20.399 --> 00:08:22.800 In fact, in the New Testament, it says this very thing. 00:08:22.959 --> 00:08:36.559 Paul charges Timothy, Timothy, who had been saved by God's grace through forgiveness of sins because of the cross, he challenges him to live a holy life, reminding him that one day he is going to stand before God. 00:08:36.639 --> 00:08:39.679 And this is what he writes in 1 Timothy chapter 6. 00:08:40.000 --> 00:09:05.360 He says this keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, when he will display at the proper time he who is the blessed and only sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of Lords, who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. 00:09:05.759 --> 00:09:09.440 To him be honor and eternal dominion. 00:09:09.759 --> 00:09:10.399 Amen. 00:09:12.159 --> 00:09:18.320 Even now that we have a relationship with Christ, the Bible tells us that we see through a glass dimly. 00:09:19.039 --> 00:09:24.639 That even now we do not see the unveiled glory of God. 00:09:25.519 --> 00:09:30.799 We're going to talk in a couple weeks that that is a future promise that we have. 00:09:31.519 --> 00:09:36.080 But even now, God's glory is veiled. 00:09:37.279 --> 00:09:44.080 In fact, we're reminded of God's glory in this passage that we read in Exodus chapter 19. 00:09:44.320 --> 00:09:48.159 And I won't read the whole thing, but just the last few verses. 00:09:48.320 --> 00:10:10.639 And what's fascinating when you go through the Old Testament and you look at the manifest presence of God, when God makes his presence known, it is a cataclysmic event, and people cower and they cover themselves, and there is a recognition of the awesome reality of the presence of God. 00:10:10.720 --> 00:10:12.080 And it's no different here. 00:10:12.240 --> 00:10:17.919 There was thunder and lightning and a thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud trumpet blast. 00:10:18.399 --> 00:10:27.200 They stood at the foot of the mountain, and sm and and Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because of the Lord had descended on it in fire. 00:10:28.960 --> 00:10:34.639 And the smoke went up like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain trembled greatly. 00:10:49.519 --> 00:11:09.519 Think of even when God makes his presence known, and there are times that we're going to see, even with Moses, that God had a relationship with Moses, and in some ways was even more so than all of the other people, and yet it was still a veiled glory that Moses saw. 00:11:10.399 --> 00:11:18.320 Exodus 24, verses 9 through 11, it says, And then Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and we talked about what happened to them later. 00:11:18.399 --> 00:11:22.480 And seventy of the elders of Israel went up, and they saw the God of Israel. 00:11:22.720 --> 00:11:28.960 There under his feet, as it were, a pavement of sapphire stone, like the very heaven, from c for clearness. 00:11:29.120 --> 00:11:34.720 And he did not lay his hand on the chief men of the people of Israel, and they beheld God and ate and drank. 00:11:34.879 --> 00:11:40.240 And even here it says they saw God, and yet they only saw a glimpse of his feet. 00:11:40.559 --> 00:11:45.039 In fifteen through eighteen it says, Then Moses went up on the mountain, and the cloud covered the mountain. 00:11:45.200 --> 00:11:49.919 The glory of the Lord dwelt on the mount on Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days. 00:11:50.080 --> 00:11:54.879 And on the seventh day he called to Moses out of the midst of the cloud. 00:11:55.120 --> 00:12:04.159 Now the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a devouring fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the people of Israel. 00:12:04.960 --> 00:12:10.720 Moses entered the cloud and went up on the mountain, and Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights. 00:12:11.519 --> 00:12:19.200 And remember when we looked at Moses asking to see the glory of God in Exodus chapter 33. 00:12:20.240 --> 00:12:26.240 What's fascinating about that chapter in Exodus early there talks about the tent of meeting where Moses would go. 00:12:26.320 --> 00:12:28.320 There was a tent that was set up outside the camp. 00:12:28.399 --> 00:12:36.320 And Moses would go and he would meet with God and he would mediate between God and the people, and he would take his request to God there. 00:12:36.559 --> 00:12:44.639 And it says there earlier in Exodus chapter 33 of this of Moses speaking to the Lord, verse 11. 00:12:44.720 --> 00:12:49.519 Then the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face as a man speaks to his friend. 00:12:50.320 --> 00:12:55.840 When Moses turned again into the camp, his assistant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, would not depart from the tent. 00:12:56.000 --> 00:13:12.559 So it says here that the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, and yet we know that it was still, even in the intimacy of that relationship, was not the unveiled glory of God, because later, as you recall, Moses asked to see God's glory. 00:13:13.039 --> 00:13:15.440 He says, Show me your glory. 00:13:16.159 --> 00:13:18.799 That was the request that Moses had. 00:13:19.039 --> 00:13:19.840 Verse 18. 00:13:20.000 --> 00:13:22.240 Moses says, Please show me your glory. 00:13:22.399 --> 00:13:30.000 And he says, I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name, the Lord. 00:13:30.159 --> 00:13:34.399 And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, will show mercy, and whom I will show mercy. 00:13:34.559 --> 00:13:37.440 But he said, You cannot see my face. 00:13:37.840 --> 00:13:40.879 And here it's God in his unveiled glory. 00:13:41.039 --> 00:13:47.759 Even when he saw in the tent of meeting, it was still not the unveiled glory of God. 00:13:48.240 --> 00:13:51.600 He says, For man shall not see me and live. 00:13:51.840 --> 00:14:02.879 And the Lord said, Behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock, and while my glory passes by, I will put you in the cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by. 00:14:03.039 --> 00:14:08.559 Then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen. 00:14:08.720 --> 00:14:24.080 And so it's just a glimpse, as it were, of the back of the glory of God, just a veiled glimpse of God's glory, because nobody could see God's glory and live is what God tells him. 00:14:24.720 --> 00:14:35.039 In fact, we see the glory of God and in the created order, there are times when God manifests his presence. 00:14:35.279 --> 00:14:37.120 He makes his presence known. 00:14:37.360 --> 00:14:39.519 In an unusual way, we talked about this. 00:14:39.679 --> 00:14:40.960 God is everywhere. 00:14:41.440 --> 00:14:44.080 God is omnipresent, the theologians would say. 00:14:52.399 --> 00:14:57.519 God will make his presence known, manifesting his presence. 00:14:57.600 --> 00:15:04.879 And we saw that when Moses approached the burning bush and he was told to take off his sandals, for he was standing on holy ground. 00:15:05.039 --> 00:15:08.080 And we see it there in the tent of meeting. 00:15:08.159 --> 00:15:10.240 We see it now in the tabernacle. 00:15:10.320 --> 00:15:14.720 And later we would see it if we were to trace it through in the temple of God. 00:15:15.360 --> 00:15:31.360 The glory of God in Exodus chapter 40, and all of the description of how the temple was to be built, and that there was the holy place, and then there was a thick curtain, and behind that where the Ark of the Covenant and the mercy seat were, were the holy of holies. 00:15:32.720 --> 00:15:50.080 And we see in Exodus chapter 40, verse 34, it says, Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle, and Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. 00:15:50.320 --> 00:15:55.519 Throughout all their journeys, whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the people of Israel would set out. 00:15:55.679 --> 00:15:59.759 But if the cloud was not taken up, they did not set out till the day that it was taken up. 00:16:00.000 --> 00:16:07.919 For the cloud of the Lord was on the tabernacle by day and fire by night in the sight of all the house of Israel throughout all their journeys. 00:16:09.039 --> 00:16:16.879 And so we see here that the glory of the Lord rested there in the tabernacle. 00:16:27.440 --> 00:16:45.039 We saw, and again, not to be redundant, but in Isaiah chapter 6, and there's a greater point I want to make in looking at this passage again, in relationship to the glory of God in the person of Jesus Christ. 00:16:45.840 --> 00:16:52.000 In Isaiah chapter 6, we see King Uzziah had died. 00:16:52.080 --> 00:16:56.639 He had been reigning and co-reigning for over a half century. 00:16:57.039 --> 00:17:02.559 He was the only king that most of the people in Isaiah's day would have ever known. 00:17:02.879 --> 00:17:13.200 And the king was dead, and when a king died, there would have been absolute potential for chaos because there was no authority. 00:17:15.920 --> 00:17:17.680 The throne was empty. 00:17:17.920 --> 00:17:28.480 And so Isaiah, here at the beginning of Isaiah's ministry, he receives his call and he says, In the year that King Uzziah died, there was no king on the throne. 00:17:28.640 --> 00:17:32.400 And Isaiah is reminded that there is a king on the throne. 00:17:33.279 --> 00:17:42.079 He says, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of his robe filled the temple. 00:17:42.319 --> 00:17:45.279 And above him stood the seraphim. 00:17:45.440 --> 00:17:50.559 Each had six wings, with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, with two he flew. 00:17:50.720 --> 00:17:57.279 And one called to the other and said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty. 00:17:58.319 --> 00:18:06.640 Isaiah here is not in the in the earthly temple, he sees a vision of the heavenly temple of God and the presence of God. 00:18:10.240 --> 00:18:16.240 And he sees the glory of God and the train of his robe filling the temple. 00:18:16.480 --> 00:18:26.480 And the temple itself, it says in verse 4, the foundations of the threshold shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. 00:18:27.119 --> 00:18:35.680 Here Isaiah has a glimpse again of the glory of God in the heavenly temple. 00:18:37.279 --> 00:18:47.200 And Isaiah's reaction is the reaction of any one of us who would be in even a glimpse of the unveiled presence of God. 00:18:47.680 --> 00:18:50.960 Isaiah says, Woe is me, for I am lost. 00:18:51.119 --> 00:18:52.799 I am a man of unclean lips. 00:18:52.960 --> 00:18:58.559 I dwell among a people of unclean lips, for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts. 00:18:58.960 --> 00:19:01.519 Isaiah says here, literally, I'm coming undone. 00:19:01.599 --> 00:19:03.440 I'm coming apart at the seams. 00:19:04.000 --> 00:19:08.000 I'm disintegrating before a holy God. 00:19:11.759 --> 00:19:14.000 Now, how does that relate to the glory of Christ? 00:19:14.240 --> 00:19:17.279 Turn in the New Testament to John chapter 12. 00:19:19.759 --> 00:19:23.440 John chapter 12, but begin reading in the middle of verse 36. 00:19:27.519 --> 00:19:39.039 This was the unbelief of the people, and there was a judicial sovereign hardening by God because of the unbelief of these people and a confirmation in their in their ways. 00:19:39.119 --> 00:19:45.599 And John is writing here, he says, When Jesus had said these things, he departed and hid himself from them. 00:19:45.680 --> 00:19:52.480 Though he had done many signs before them, they still did not believe in him, so that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled. 00:19:52.720 --> 00:19:58.319 Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us, and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? 00:19:58.559 --> 00:20:08.400 Therefore they could not believe, for again Isaiah said, He has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts, lest they see with their eyes and understand with their hearts, and turn, and I would heal them. 00:20:08.640 --> 00:20:12.960 And he quotes from passages in Isaiah and 53 and in 6. 00:20:13.200 --> 00:20:16.079 And then look at what he says in verse 41. 00:20:16.559 --> 00:20:27.440 Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke of him, of Jesus. 00:20:28.160 --> 00:20:39.599 What we see in Isaiah chapter 6, John writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit said, Isaiah said these things because he saw Jesus' glory. 00:20:41.839 --> 00:20:52.079 The vision of Isaiah in chapter 6, John tells us is the glory of Jesus Christ. 00:20:53.119 --> 00:20:57.519 And that is what Isaiah saw. 00:21:00.720 --> 00:21:07.279 He says he saw the glory of Jesus and spoke of him. 00:21:07.839 --> 00:21:12.960 And so he quotes these passages in reference to Jesus himself. 00:21:13.759 --> 00:21:34.400 And what we need to understand when we when we come to the New Testament and we've been looking at Emmanuel, God with us, and what we need to recognize is that when we see Jesus in his humanity, that Jesus Christ is, was, and always will be fully God, and he is glorious. 00:21:36.160 --> 00:21:43.839 And that when we see Jesus, that we see God, and in one way, Jesus reveals the glory of God. 00:21:44.079 --> 00:21:51.759 And yet, even when we look in the person of Jesus Christ and his humanity, God's glory is yet veiled. 00:21:52.559 --> 00:22:07.039 In fact, and let me let me ex uh show you this in a couple passages in Philippians chapter 2, a very familiar passage to To many regarding the person of Jesus Christ and his humanity. 00:22:09.920 --> 00:22:37.519 And in Philippians chapter 2, it says this have this mind among yourselves who which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God, a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men, and being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 00:22:37.759 --> 00:22:41.920 Therefore, God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name. 00:22:42.000 --> 00:22:56.079 So at the name of Jesus, every knee will bow, and every in heaven and on earth, and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. 00:22:56.720 --> 00:23:08.960 Now, some people here look at this, and in verse 7 uh it tells us that he made himself nothing, uh, that he emptied himself, uh, some translations say. 00:23:10.000 --> 00:23:29.519 Uh that the word here that is uh translated, he emptied himself or he made himself nothing is a word that uh in the Greek is uh is uh kanao, which we they transliterate into the word kenosis, and some people they wrestle with, well, what did Jesus empty himself of? 00:23:30.319 --> 00:23:36.000 And some people have some mistaken ideas of what Jesus emptied himself of in his incarnation. 00:23:36.160 --> 00:23:38.079 What did he make of no effect? 00:23:38.960 --> 00:23:42.559 Well, which is literally what this word means, to be made of no effect. 00:23:42.640 --> 00:23:43.119 What was it? 00:23:43.200 --> 00:23:48.480 And some people mistakenly say, well, uh Jesus emptied himself of his divine power. 00:23:48.640 --> 00:23:56.640 Or some say that he uh emptied himself of the attributes of deity or he or he gave up his divine prerogatives. 00:23:56.880 --> 00:24:14.240 But there's a problem with saying any of these things, because to say that unwittingly is to undermine the full deity of Jesus Christ while he's on earth, if he gave up anything of that nature, if he gave up any of the nature of the attributes of deity, he would no longer be fully God on earth. 00:24:14.400 --> 00:24:16.880 So what was it that Jesus emptied himself of? 00:24:16.960 --> 00:24:24.000 It wasn't his power, it wasn't his attributes of deity, it wasn't his divine prerogative, it wasn't any of those things. 00:24:24.880 --> 00:24:35.119 What Jesus made, what was made of no effect, or what was veiled when Jesus was on earth was his glory. 00:24:37.519 --> 00:24:42.240 And in fact, Jesus himself says this in the Gospel of John, chapter 17. 00:24:42.640 --> 00:25:03.839 If you turn to John's gospel in chapter 17, beginning in verse 1 through verse 5, and this is Jesus' high priestly prayer right before his arrest and his crucifixion, and Jesus is talking here and he's praying for his disciples, and he says, When Jesus has spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, Father, the hour has come. 00:25:04.240 --> 00:25:08.000 Glorify your Son, that the Son may glorify you. 00:25:08.160 --> 00:25:13.440 And the glory of Christ in his humanity is the cross. 00:25:14.000 --> 00:25:23.119 So he says, Glorify the Son, that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all flesh to give eternal life to whom you have given him. 00:25:23.519 --> 00:25:28.480 And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. 00:25:28.640 --> 00:25:30.640 And then look what he says here in verse 4. 00:25:30.880 --> 00:25:35.279 I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. 00:25:35.519 --> 00:25:46.240 And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed. 00:25:48.799 --> 00:26:08.000 And so Jesus here tells us that even in his humanity, while he reveals the glory of God, even then, though, the glory of God is in some way veiled so that we are able to be in the presence of God. 00:26:08.160 --> 00:26:10.720 In fact, think of John chapter 1. 00:26:11.200 --> 00:26:15.759 The Bible says, in the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. 00:26:17.279 --> 00:26:26.640 In verse 14 of John chapter 1, it says, And the word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory. 00:26:26.799 --> 00:26:31.599 Glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. 00:26:31.839 --> 00:26:38.960 Now I pointed this out last time, but in light of what we have been talking about, I want to re-emphasize this. 00:26:39.200 --> 00:26:43.839 And it says, the word became flesh and dwelt among us. 00:26:44.000 --> 00:26:50.720 And I mentioned that the word there for dwelt is a word that the readers would have understood. 00:26:50.880 --> 00:26:54.880 It was a word that meant to tent or to tabernacle. 00:26:56.079 --> 00:26:59.039 It was a word that meant to tent or to tabernacle. 00:26:59.119 --> 00:27:07.279 And so it says, and the word became flesh and tabernacled among us, and we have seen his glory. 00:27:07.759 --> 00:27:10.799 The glory as of the only Son from the Father. 00:27:10.960 --> 00:27:12.559 Look at verse 18 now. 00:27:13.680 --> 00:27:22.960 In verse 18, it says, No one has ever seen God, the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known. 00:27:23.200 --> 00:27:37.359 And so Jesus came to glorify the Father and to reveal God's glory, but even then we recognize that God's glory, even in the person of Christ and his humanity, is not his full, unveiled glory. 00:27:40.400 --> 00:27:46.720 In fact, we we see this seeming contradiction, but it's not. 00:27:46.799 --> 00:27:48.319 It's a paradox in this sense. 00:27:48.480 --> 00:27:57.039 Jesus reveals exactly who God is to us, he reveals God's glory, and yet the glory of God is still veiled in the person of Jesus Christ. 00:27:57.119 --> 00:28:00.079 And let me show you some verses that explain that. 00:28:00.400 --> 00:28:04.240 Colossians chapter 1, and I'll just read them if you want to jot them down. 00:28:04.480 --> 00:28:05.759 Let me just read a few of these. 00:28:05.920 --> 00:28:08.559 Colossians chapter 1, verses 15 and 19. 00:28:08.799 --> 00:28:13.839 In Colossians 1, it says, He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 00:28:14.079 --> 00:28:18.799 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell. 00:28:19.440 --> 00:28:22.400 In Hebrews chapter 1, verse 3, it says this. 00:28:35.759 --> 00:28:39.680 He is the radiance of the glory of God. 00:28:40.000 --> 00:28:47.839 The glory of God that we saw in Mount Sinai, the glory of God that descended in the tabernacle and later in the temple. 00:28:49.200 --> 00:28:55.519 The glory of God that is veiled because of sin, that we cannot come into the full presence of a holy God. 00:28:55.680 --> 00:28:58.799 And yet Jesus is the radiance of the glory of God. 00:28:59.680 --> 00:29:04.559 In John chapter 14, verses 6 through 9, very again, a very well-known passage. 00:29:04.720 --> 00:29:08.720 The one when Jesus says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. 00:29:08.960 --> 00:29:11.039 No one comes to the Father but by me. 00:29:11.200 --> 00:29:18.799 And immediately after that, Jesus says, If you had known me, you would have known my Father also, for now you do know him and have seen him. 00:29:19.359 --> 00:29:23.920 And then Philip says to him, Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us. 00:29:24.079 --> 00:29:29.119 And Jesus answered him, Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? 00:29:29.359 --> 00:29:33.359 Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. 00:29:34.960 --> 00:29:49.680 So Jesus Christ, God incarnate, God in human flesh, reveals the glory of God to us, and yet we see that in his humanity this glory is veiled. 00:29:50.319 --> 00:29:54.480 It is glory in humility, veiled in the incarnation. 00:29:54.880 --> 00:30:01.279 And the glory of Christ is the cross where he glorifies the Father, and the Father glorifies him. 00:30:03.359 --> 00:30:07.839 And yet we're reminded in the Bible that we see glimpses of his glory. 00:30:09.119 --> 00:30:16.079 In Matthew chapter 17, when we see what is called the transfiguration, Jesus takes his disciples. 00:30:16.160 --> 00:30:20.160 He takes Peter, James, and John, and he takes them onto a high mountain. 00:30:20.319 --> 00:30:27.599 And it says there, and there he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. 00:30:28.400 --> 00:30:44.160 And so for just a brief moment in time, it's as if a corner of the veil is lifted, and they see a glimpse of the true glory of God in the person of Christ. 00:30:45.200 --> 00:30:50.640 And again, we see that in Revelation chapter 1, and I'll close with this. 00:30:52.079 --> 00:30:55.359 Revelation chapter 1, verses 12 through 18. 00:30:58.240 --> 00:31:00.240 John is there on the Isle of Pathus. 00:31:00.319 --> 00:31:03.200 It's the Lord's day, it's the 14th year of the reign of Domitian. 00:31:03.359 --> 00:31:06.640 He's exiled there, and he's and he sees this vision. 00:31:06.720 --> 00:31:12.240 It says, Then I turn to see the voice that was speaking to me, and he he realizes that it was Christ. 00:31:12.400 --> 00:31:15.119 It says, In turning, I saw seven golden lampstands. 00:31:15.279 --> 00:31:16.240 Verse 12. 00:31:16.400 --> 00:31:21.759 And in the midst of the lampstands, one like a son of man, hearkening back to Daniel. 00:31:22.480 --> 00:31:40.000 And the term that Jesus used so often to describe himself, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest, the hairs of his head were white like wool, like snow, his eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, his voice was like the roar of many waters. 00:31:40.160 --> 00:31:50.400 In his right hand held he held seven stars, and from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength. 00:31:55.279 --> 00:32:03.839 For those who have come into a relationship with Jesus Christ by faith, who have recognized their sinfulness and their need for Christ. 00:32:04.880 --> 00:32:15.359 The Bible tells us that even now, in 1 Corinthians chapter 13, verse 12, it says, For now we see in a mirror dimly. 00:32:16.240 --> 00:32:24.880 Even now, as we see the glory of God in Christ, we recognize that there is yet a greater glory that we long to experience. 00:32:25.440 --> 00:32:28.480 He says, For now we see in a mirror dimly. 00:32:28.960 --> 00:32:45.440 But then, in the future, but then, and we're going to talk about what this is, but then, face to face, now I know in part, then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. 00:32:46.720 --> 00:32:48.960 That is Emmanuel. 00:32:49.920 --> 00:32:54.079 Christ is God with us. 00:32:54.640 --> 00:32:58.000 Let me pray, and we're going to close and singing, O come all ye faithful. 00:32:58.240 --> 00:33:25.519 Father, help us to see the glory of Christ, the glory that he had with you for all of eternity, the glory in the humility of the incarnation, the glory of the cross where he is glorified and you are glorified, and the glory that he once again will have unveiled, and even now has. 00:33:26.160 --> 00:33:29.200 May we get a glimpse of the glory of Christ. 00:33:29.359 --> 00:33:30.000 Amen.