Our God Is "Heavy"

"We were eyewitnesses of His majesty . . when we were with Him on the holy mountain." 2 Peter 1:16, 18

Remember when we used to say, "That' heavy," when we heard something awesome? Well, that's an appropriate response to the glory of God. His glory is the visible manifestation of His attributes, character, and perfections. The word glory in the Old testament is a very interesting word that means "to be weighted, to be heavy." Today we might respond, "Awesome!"

When we talk about glory, then, we are talking about someone with an awesome reputation because He has awesome splendor. God is glorious. You can see it in everything He has made. But His glory is most fully seen in the person of Jesus Christ. John 1:18 puts it this way: "No man has seen God at any time; the only begotten God (Jesus), who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained (revealed) Him."

In His earthly life, Jesus Christ was God's glory in human flesh. That's why He did what only God could do: heal the sick, raise the dead, read people's minds, know the future. Jesus was God in human flesh. His glory was veiled, though, because no one can look on God and live.

But in Matthew 17 Jesus took Peter, James, and John up to a mountain. There Christ zipped down His humanity, so to speak. He took off the veil of flesh for just a minute, and bursting out of His humanity was a bright light. The voice from heaven was so awesome the apostles had to hide their faces because the glory of God was revealed on that mountain in the person of Jesus Christ, who was God become man.

There are only two groups of beings who won't voluntarily glorify God: fallen men and fallen angels. Both will someday be discarded from His presence because throughout all eternity, God will only fellowship with those who voluntarily bring Him glory.

You see, your claim that you esteem God will be validated by how you respond to the God you say you esteem. The proof that you glorify God, that you recognize His intrinsic value, will be the value that you ascribe to His glory.

Think about it: We have the privilege of bringing glory to the most glorious Being in the universe! What are you going to do today that will glorify God?

By Tony Evans, taken from "Time to Get Serious"