Jack Rendel

J & Z Publications

HIS GLORY

John 1:1-2:12

Jack Rendel

Twice the word ‘glory’ appears at the beginning and at the end of the Introduction (1:1-2:12) to John’ Gospel.

John 1:14 We saw his glory. And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth (NASB95).

John 2:11 He manifested his glory. This beginning of His signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory, and His disciples believed in Him (NASB95).

John, the disciple of Jesus, testified that “the only begotten from the Father” came and lived among them and they saw his glory. At the wedding in Cana he did his first miraculous sign, demonstrating his glory and his disciples believed on him.

Blinded

The glory of the sunshine on a morning in May 2005 flooded through the window and blinded me. I had to close the curtain halfway. The leaves were out after the winter and the sun gave a gilt edge to the blades of grass. But as I enjoyed the sunshine I remembered that it is a created glory. God made all this beauty and he is the one to be worshipped!

Ransacked And Faded Glory

The glory of the Egyptian pharaohs is the subject of programs on various TV channels. The pyramids are monumental works of engineering. The wealth discovered in the tombs and the history found in the inscriptions, are impressive. As these TV channels unfold the stories of ancient Egypt we are reminded that that these human glories have faded; the tombs have been robbed; some of the inscriptions have been ground to dust; and we are left with so little of the wealth buried with the pharaohs. What they might prevent while alive they could not prevent in death. Their glory has been ransacked! It has faded away! In the Bible we are reminded that to God the nations are like a drop in the bucket. He is the one who puts breath in the nostrils of man according to the following statements in the Bible.

God identified himself in Isaiah 42:5. This is what God the LORD says—he who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and all that comes out of it, who gives breath to its people, and life to those who walk on it …(NIV).

This prophecy referred to the valley of dry bones in Ezekiel 37:9  Then he said to me, "Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe into these slain, that they may live.’" Ezekiel 37:10  So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army (NIV).

Daniel prophesied to Belshazzar in Daniel 5:23.  But hast lifted up thyself against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of his house before thee, and thou, and thy lords, thy wives, and thy concubines, have drunk wine in them; and thou hast praised the gods of silver, and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know: and the God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified …(AV/KJV).

Paul spoke on Mars Hill in Acts 17:25.  And he (God) is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else (NIV).

He Invented Oxygen

In Daniel 5:23 God rebuked the Babylonian ruler Belshazzar for not glorifying the Lord who gave him breath. Rather he gave glory to idols. Some of us may be somewhat successful in our careers and we are proud of it, but how many of us could claim to have accomplished what the Babylonian rulers had accomplished by conquering vast areas of the world around them? Yet in spite of all that God reminded Belshazzar that it was to the Lord he owed his very life and breathe. Belshazzar did not invent oxygen! God did!

The Glories Of the Kingdoms

Satan tempted Jesus by showing him all the glories of the kingdoms on earth and promised him he would have those if only he would bow the knee to Satan (Matthew 4:1ff). Anyone of us might have looked at the miles on dusty roads, the jostling crowds in the burning sun or frigid cold, the work of healing and feeding so many, the hours of teaching and preaching, the rejection by ‘those who mattered’ in society, betrayal by a friend, the hours of prayer, beatings, being spit on, and the cross … and have accepted the devils offer! Jesus rejected these ‘faded glories’ of earth for the joy and glory that was set before him.

Glory On The Pitch

Some athletes and their teams bathe in glory. Some have enormous reputations…and egos! Salaries such as those of the football (soccer) players of Real Madrid, Spain seem to match the glory! Recently I told a friend that I thought I remembered attending my first live football match in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He asked which teams had played. I said, after pausing for a moment, I thought one team had been Boca Juniors and the other River Platte. He looked at me wide eyed and said with a laugh, “Those are two of the biggest names in world football!” At some of the football, basketball and baseball games I have watched on TV I have seen fans actually bowing to the team! That can change quickly if the team starts loosing regularly, then the fans start “ragging on them”. The gods topple from their pedestals!

A Glorious Flight

I had spent weeks that summer in Nigeria designing and building a model airplane which I painted red and white and named 'Sparky'. It had a tiny gasoline engine and had the longest wing span of any model I had built to date. We took it out to fly accompanied by my dad, two brothers and African friends. It flew beautifully on the first flight flying in large circles above us. Eventually the wind made it drift about a half mile over the town of Andarai and beyond. I was thrilled, in fact, in my glory. We three brothers loved building and flying model planes. I had never attempted such a large project of my very own design before and there it was flying up and almost out of sight!

One man in the town later told us he thought the village was being attacked because he had never seen a plane circle above the town. Sparky did land out of sight but a young man on his way home from his farm had seen it come down and brought it into the main square of Andarai where we were all talking about where it might have landed. I was very fortunate. Searching through the bush country would have been a formidable task! We might never have found it.

Four Score And Seven Years Ago, our fathers brought forth on this continent …

So began Abraham Lincoln to give one of the shortest and yet most famous and glorious speeches ever given! It has stirred the hearts of many Americans over the years. But can anything compare to the fame and glory of Psalm 23, the 'Good Shepherd Chapter'; Isaiah 53, the chapter of the 'Suffering Messiah'; 'The Beatitudes' of Matthew chapter 5; 1 Corinthians 13, the 'Love Chapter'; or Philippians chapter 2, 'The Exaltation of the Lord Jesus'? The appeal of each of these Scriptures is universal and much further reaching and glorious than Lincoln’s address at Gettysburg. Lincoln uttered his words on a battle field between two sides in a civil conflict while these other utterances were given in the context of a universal stage on which all mankind, the angels both good and evil, and God the Father, Jesus the Son and the Holy Spirit are involved! It is a conflict in which the Son of God laid down his life on behalf of his enemies! For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life (Romans 5:10 NIV)!

Glory, The Hot Potato!

A young person in high school that we know won over 10 awards for grades and sports. Will these awards turn that person’s head or will the person give the glory to God? Many have not been able to handle the notoriety. They are overwhelmed by pride. It seems that this has happened to movie stars and recording artists, as well as people in sports, who decide to follow the Lord and are given too prominent a place in the church too quickly. It “rakes” their spiritual life. Glory is like a hot potato. It needs to be returned urgently or you get burnt! Give the glory right back to God and you will be left unscathed.

His Glory

The glories of Jesus Christ in John 1:1-2:11 (The following verses are from the NASB-u)

1. Creation – verse 3  All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.

2. Superior to Moses - verse 17  For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ.

3. Superior to John Baptist - verse 27  "It is He who comes after me, the thong of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie."

4. Takes away the sin of the world - verse 29 The next day he *saw Jesus coming to him and *said, "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

5. Preexistence - verse 30  "This is He on behalf of whom I said, ‘After me comes a Man who has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.’

6. Anointed by the Holy Spirit - verse 32  John testified saying, "I have seen the Spirit descending as a dove out of heaven, and He remained upon Him. 33  "I did not recognize Him, but He who sent me to baptize in water said to me, ‘He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, this is the One who baptizes in the Holy Spirit.’

7. Declared to be the Son of God (A statement never contradicted by Jesus and supported by his absolute holiness of character, great signs such as his own resurrection, and his teachings) - verse 34  "I myself have seen, and have testified that this is the Son of God."

8. Lived with ordinary people - verse 38  And Jesus turned and saw them following, and said to them, "What do you seek?" They said to Him, "Rabbi (which translated means Teacher ), where are You staying?" 39  He said to them, "Come, and you will see." So they came and saw where He was staying; and they stayed with Him that day, for it was about the tenth hour.

9. Prophesied by Moses and the prophets (A statement never contradicted or “corrected” by Jesus) - verse 45  Philip found Nathanael and said to him, "We have found Him of whom Moses in the Law and also the Prophets wrote —Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph."

10. He knew the heart character of Nathanael - verse 47  Jesus saw Nathanael coming to Him, and *said of him, "Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit!"

11. Not bound by physical limitations - verse 48  Nathanael said to Him, "How do You know me?" Jesus answered and said to him, "Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you."

12. Declared the Son of God and King of Israel (A statement Jesus did not deny) - verse 49  Nathanael answered Him, "Rabbi, You are the Son of God; You are the King of Israel."

13. He prophesied - verse 50  Jesus answered and said to him, "Because I said to you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You will see greater things than these." 51  And He *said to him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see the heavens opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man."

14. Miracle of turning water for washing into the best wine – chapter 2:8-11  8  And He said to them, "Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter." So they took it to him. 9  When the headwaiter tasted the water which had become wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the headwaiter called the bridegroom, 10  and *said to him, "Every man serves the good wine first, and when the people have drunk freely, then he serves the poorer wine; but you have kept the good wine until now." 11  This beginning of His signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory, and His disciples believed in Him.

The Path of Human Glory

There is an interesting monument carved in granite by the Wilna road, on the western border of Russia. It has two inscriptions in Russian. On the side that faces the east are the words, “Napoleon Bonaparte passed by here in 1812 with 410,000 men.” On the other side facing west, it says, “Napoleon Bonaparte passed by here in 1812, the same year of his defeat, with 9,000 men.”

How many families had to weep because of the ambition of one man, Napoleon!

This is what happens with human glory and ambition. Unlimited ambition, which does not consider others, reaps categorical failure, even in this life. How much more in the next! (Samuel Vila, Enciclopedia de anécdotas e ilustraciones, vol. 2, Terrassa, Barcleona: Libros CLIE, 1992, 125)

Glory And Ministry

In John 2:11 Jesus manifested or demonstrated his glory by changing water for purification into good wine at a wedding feast, but he did not simply put on a show, in fact some of those present did not know he had done a miraculous sign (2:9)! Jesus did not put on a “circus” in order to glorify himself and entertain people. He performed a miraculous sign which ministered to and helped people in their need. What an example of humility and love! This is true glory!

No One Else!

No one has ever done the things that Jesus did! No one has ever said with authority the things Jesus said! You have heard or read in this message something of the glories of Jesus. Dig into the Gospel of John! Keep reading the Bible and searching out these things … and believe!

 Other Scriptures referring to the Lord’s glory (NIV)

Psalm 19:1, The heavens declare the glory of God …

Psalm 96:3, Declare his glory among the nations ...

Isaiah 6:3, … the whole earth is full of his glory.

 Isaiah 48:11, I will not yield my glory to another.

 Acts 7:2, The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham …

 1 Corinthians 10:31, So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

2 Corinthians 3:10; 3:18; 4:17, speak of his glory in us.

 Colossians 1:27, … which is Christ in you the hope of glory.

Hebrews 1:3, The Son is the radiance of God’s glory ...

Hebrews 2:7, … you crowned him with glory and honor ...

 Revelation 4:11, "You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being."

 Revelation 21:23-26, 23 The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. 24 The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. 25 On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. 26 The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. 27 Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

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