YOU'RE JUSTIFY AND GLORIFY.

GLORIFICATION

Glorification is a word used to describe God's glory, splendor, and beauty. The word for "glory" originally meant "weighty, heavy, or important." From there it moved to the idea of an influential, rich, or prominent person. In ancient cultures the wealthy and the powerful were marked by their fine dress and jewels. And fine clothes and jewels were items of beauty. Therefore, a person's glory meant the showy signs of wealth and power. The concept was then extended to God.

GLORY OF GOD

The book of Exodus is rich with references to God's glory. There was the fiery pillar and the glory that entered into the Holy of Holies in the tabernacle (compare Exodus 40:34-38).

In the making of the tabernacle (Exodus 25:1-27), the concepts of glory and beauty are joined. The "goodness" of the Lord that Moses saw (33:19) could also be translated as "beauty." Hence, God's glory is his beauty.

The New Testament continues the thought of the Old Testament that God is a God of glory. For example, look at the vision of God in his glory in Revelation 4. But the primary message in the New Testament centers on the glory of Christ. The transfiguration of Christ was a breaking out into the open of his glory (Matthew 17:1-8). The apostle Paul called Jesus the Lord of glory (1 Corinthians 2:8). He added that the glory of God radiated from his face (2 Corinthians 3:18). John's Gospel is uniquely the Gospel of glory. In the Incarnation, the Son of God showed the glory that was his as the One and Only who came from the Father (John 1:14). The raising of Lazarus revealed the glory of God in Christ (11:40). Jesus' prayer in 17 is filled with comments on the glory of Christ. He affirmed that the disciples of the Lord would share in that glory.

GLORIFICATION OF THE BELIEVER

In 2 Corinthians 3:18). spiritual transformation is described as a changing from glory to glory. Glorification is implied as the last event in the change from glory to glory. In the process of salvation Paul lists glorification as the last and final event (Romans 8:28-30). The verb used in verse 30 is in the past tense. Some have taken this to mean the certainty and finality of glorification. Glorification, then, is the completion, the perfection, the full realization of salvation.

Glorification is the perfection of sanctification as it relates to one's inner character. No one passage treats this theme extensively, but Ephesians 5:27 is a good example. In that passage Paul wrote about presenting the church to Christ. What he says of the church is true of each Christian. Jesus will present the church to himself in "splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she [the church] might be holy and without blemish." Or, in the language of 2 Timothy 2:10, "Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain salvation in Christ Jesus with its eternal glory" (RSV).

Just as the inner person undergoes glorification, so does the believer's body. Paul calls the resurrection of the body the redemption of the body (Romans 8:23). In Philippians 3:21 Paul speaks of the transformation of lowly bodies (that is, bodies wracked by sin and mortality) into bodies of glory identical to that of Christ. The power that shall do this is the power of God, who is able to subject all things to his reign.

The largest section on the glorification of the body is found in 1 Corinthians 15. More details can be found in 2 Corinthians 5. Paul's theme in 1 Corinthians 15 is that as Christians have borne the image of the mortal clay of Adam, they shall bear the image of the immortal Son of God. Paul contrasts the two bodies. The present body is perishable; the resurrection body will be imperishable. This body is one of dishonor; the resurrection body will be one of glory. This body is one of weakness; the resurrection body is one of power. This body is of the current physical order; the resurrection body will be of the future, spiritual, eternal order.

Salvation involves justification, regeneration, and sanctification in this life. In the life to come it means the glorification of the inner person and the resurrection of the body in glory. But such a glorified person must live in a glorified environment. Therefore, the course of salvation ends with a glorious new heaven, new earth, and a new Jerusalem.