But above all these you saw his glory when by the highest vision of the mind, you contemplated him - I mean the Word - in his beginning, with his Father. There you saw the glory that he has "as the only begotten of the Father."

  - Eriugena, Homily on John 1.1-14 (Irish, 9th century)

For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

  2 Corinthians 4.6

Paul writes that those who are justified by grace through faith stand in the hope of the glory of God (Rom. 5.1, 2). Just what is the nature of that hope?

To hope for something is to anticipate it, dwell on it, pursue it, and, ultimately, know it - at least, that's what we hope. To hope in the glory of God is thus to anticipate that glory, to dwell on it, and to pursue it - going to where we might expect to meet the glory of God and preparing ourselves to engage it.

My sense is that "the hope of the glory of God" is just so much pious rhetoric for a good many Christians. If you ask them what it's like in the presence of God's glory, they'll likely stare back with a puzzled look and say they don't understand the question.

Don't think so? OK, ask yourself: What's it like when you're there, in the presence of God, and His glory is pressing and weighing down on you? What's that like? Where do you engage that glory? And how? And how often? Is this what you really hope for in your life of being justified by grace through faith?

The idea of "glory" carries a sense of weightiness (cf. 2 Cor. 4.17). When we encounter the glory of God we know it; it bears down on, surrounds, penetrates, pervades, and threatens to undo us. The glory of God, when we encounter it, shakes us to the depths of our being, so that we tremble with fear and soar with excitement. Trembling and thrilling, fearing and joying, wanting to flee but hoping to stretch it out more and more - that's what it's like to encounter God in His glory. It's like standing in the face of a storm, sensing you're in danger, but not wanting to leave.

Encounters with God in His glory can have powerful transforming effects in our lives (2 Cor. 3.12-18). The more we are exposed to God's glory, as His Spirit leads us there, the more that glory can change us into the very image of Jesus Christ, so that, in our everyday lives, He shines through us like the glory of God on Moses' face. Living from glory to glory is the Christian's hope and calling. If we're not seeking this, we don't understand our reason for being.

The glory of God can be known in many places. Paul points to the "face of Jesus Christ" as a good source. Eriugena encourages us to wrap our minds around that face - described, for example, in Revelation 1 and hinted at elsewhere (such as Psalm 45). It is an exercise in imagination to know the glory of God in the face of Jesus, but we're not imagining something that does not exist. We're engaging a spiritual reality with the "eye of the heart", and if we will do so faithfully, God will make His glory known to us.

And then we will grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Do you hope in the glory of God? Have you encountered His glory yet today?

You can. And you should.

Because once you do, you'll never be satisfied with anything less than that ever again.

T. M. Moore, Principal

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