We have seen his glory
We have seen his glory
We continue our introductory lesson examining two statements in John chapter 1, about the Word which show him to possess fully the natures of both God and man:
John says, "We have seen his glory —the glory of the Unique One, who came from the Father full of grace and truth." Just as the disciples saw the human nature of Jesus, they also saw, and bore testimony to, another side of Jesus, his divine nature. They called this his "glory".
Those who believed in Jesus, did not regard him as half man, half God. If Jesus were half man, half God, he would be neither man nor God but a composite of both, a hybrid creature somewhere between the two. This idea found acceptance in some quarters, but it is not taught in the scriptures by those who knew Jesus. There is no half man, half God about it. On one hand, Jesus was wholly human, as complete a person of flesh and blood as was his human mother. On the other hand he was wholly divine, no less God than his heavenly Father. As we said, this latter aspect, his divine nature, is called his "glory".
Jesus manifested his glory in many ways. On the mountain he was transfigured (Lke 9:28-36) . Peter was "an eyewitness of his majesty" on this occasion (2Pe 16-18) . Jesus's first miracle in Cana "manifested his glory" (Jhn 2:1-11) . More than any other miracle, his resurrection from the dead demonstrated his glory (Eph 1:18-24) .
The glory of Jesus Christ, which he manifested during his life in the flesh, is nothing less than the glory of God. If his glory were less than that, we could not worship him.
In 2Tm 4:18, Paul mentions "the Lord" and then says, "To Him be glory forever and ever, Amen!". At the start of the same letter Paul mentions "God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord" (2Tm 1:2) . Note, that the title "Lord" is attributed to Jesus. If Jesus is not God, then it was blasphemy to call him "our Lord" and give him the glory which belongs to the Father alone. In the throne room of heaven (in John's vision) the Lamb (that is Jesus) received the same blessing and honour and glory as the One (that is God) who sat on the throne (Rev 4:10-11 5:12-14) .
Having introduced you to these ideas, we now proceed to go into detail in the following five lessons. Each lesson is based upon an element of the accrostic set out for you below. You should study this chart carefully to help you take in the ensuing lessons.