His Glorification; Not Ours!

2 Thess 1:9 These will pay the penalty of everlasting destruction, away from the Lord's presence and from His glorious strength, 10 in that day when He comes to be glorified by His saints and to be admired by all who have believed, because our testimony among you was true."

One of the biggest misunderstandings in the church today is what it means to be "glorified." Many have taken this passage in Second Thessalonians and applied it to the 1 Corinthians 15 passages concerning change. They take it to mean that the saints will be changed into "glorious" bodies akin to the resurrection body of our Lord, and the world will see it, because the wicked and the righteous are raised.
However, what Christianity seems to miss here, is the context of this glorification. Starting with, it was not the saints that would be glorified, but Christ, "by His saints." Some translations say "in His saints." So lets look at this word "glorified."


ejndoxavzomai
from (1741)
Transliterated Word TDNT Entry Edoxazo
en-dox-ad'-zo
Verb
Definition glorify, adorn
From Endoxos
held in good or in great esteem, of high repute
illustrious, honourable, esteemed
notable, glorious
splendid, of clothing
fig., free from sins

Looking at the context, where being glorified in His saints results in being admired because of their testimony being proven true, we can see which aspect of the definition of glorification fits best. Christ, because of the testimony and vindication of the saints, would be lifted up, held in high esteem, viewed as honorable, etc. It is the context of the chapter that must be viewed before we go around assuming that the "glorification" is anything other than this. Why apply this glorification to 1 Corinthians 15, when the context of this glorification is not about resurrection, but about the world who heard their gospel, heard their testimony, seeing their vindication, and believed, lifting up Christ!

Look at what Peter says about this very same subject.

"1 Peter 1:4-9 and into an inheritance that is imperishable, uncorrupted, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who are being protected by God's power through faith for a salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 You rejoice in this, though now for a short time you have had to be distressed by various trials 7 so that the genuineness of your faith-more valuable than gold, which perishes though refined by fire-may result in praise, glory and honor at the revelation of Christ. 8 You love Him, though you have not seen Him. And though not seeing Him now, you believe in Him and rejoice with inexpressible and glorious joy, 9 because you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls."

"1 Peter 2:12 Conduct yourselves honorably among the Gentiles, so that in case where they speak against you as those who do evil, they may, by observing your good works, glorify God in a day of visitation."

Verse 12 says it exactly. The glorification of Christ, by His saints, is due to their vindication. Evil was done to them all around the empire, most notably by or because of the Jewish persecution. With the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70, which 2 Thess 1:9 references, the victims of persecution would be vindicated, their testimony proven true, and Christ glorified as the true Messiah.

"1 Peter 4:13 Instead, as you share in the sufferings of the Messiah rejoice, so that you may also rejoice with great joy at the revelation of His glory."

Peter encourages those being persecuted to rejoice. He says they would rejoice with "great joy at the revelation of His glory." The revelation of the glory of Christ would produce "great joy." How could it not produce joy when those who were being persecuted had been relieved from that persecution through the judgment and affliction on those who had "afflicted" them (2 Thess 1:6-10)? How could they not have exceeding joy and thanksgiving when they had just witnessed Christ revealed in glory as He came in judgment against those who the Christian received unending persecution? With the vindication came a relief from persecution. This was a result of the salvation of their souls. It is the inheritance that we can know if we understand what really occurred in AD 70. It gave them "great joy," as likewise it should give us great joy, if we truly understand the results of the consummated kingdom of God.

IT IS GOD'S GLORY, not ours, that the second coming would produce. I do not dismiss the teachings of a new body (be it covenant or personal) . However, the context of glorification, which we can see surround the vindication of the testimony of the saints, gives us the means by which we can see the glory of the new ministry outshining the glory of the old.

2 Cor 3:7 Now if the ministry of death, chiseled in letters on stones, came with glory, so that the sons of Israel were not able to look directly at Moses’ face because of the glory of his face, a affliction is producing for us an absolutely incomparable fading glory, 8 how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious? 9 For if the ministry of condemnation had glory, the ministry of righteousness overflows with even more glory. 10 In fact, what had been glorious is not glorious in this case because of the glory that surpasses it. 11 For if what was fading away was glorious, what endures will be more glorious…

Their testimony was of grace, a new covenant of God with man. Their vindication, which lifted up our Lord as the true Messiah, has indeed had an everlasting glory. The spread of Christianity throughout the world proves this. Christ was glorified by His saints when He returned in the glory of His father, judged Jerusalem for the blood of the saints, punishing them for their persecution of the church, and proved Himself true to His word, lifting Himself up as the one, true Messiah!

God Bless
Nate

A Summary of the Gospel

The Stage:

Adam walks with God in the garden. They have a relationship with each other, which tells me that Adam is a "perfect" being before God. Innocent at this time. Some facts about this story are interesting to note.

1. Adam was perfect, but he was clearly still in a "body" where he was capable of sin.

2. Adam was still lonely, so God made him woman. Clearly Adam still had needs, apart from God Himself, that God attended to.

The Sin:

Adam disobeys God. God finds him hiding in the garden. After questions were asked, God expels Adam from the garden, to return at a later date when the curse is fixed. More facts.

1. Adam ran from God. The first separation of man from God, was guilt!

2. Though Eve tempted Adam, the sin and guilt passed on for all time is attributed to Adam.

The History:

God tells us of His plan to restore mankind. Stories like Noah, etc. show us that God has a plan that goes beyond one lineage, and will affect all mankind.

God calls apart one man to separate himself. This was for God to do a few different things. He wanted to separate for Himself a lineage by which He would bring about the Messiah who would deliver the world from the power of the curse. He also wanted to reveal Himself to mankind through this time period of His covenant with the Jews. Facts.

1. God is extremely patient. It took about 4000? years for Him to reveal Himself to the world, and bring about the Messiah

2. God's overall plan was to include all people of all races, not just one race of people. It was this way from the beginning. No one was to have a monopoly on God.

The Redemption:

God delivers Christ on time. He walks the earth as a man, perfect in the form of the first Adam. Only this "Adam" does not sin against God. He pays the penalty for sin anyway on the behalf of those who believe on Him. His death is only part of the mission. For Christ to have complete victory over the curse, He needed to eradicate the thing that first separated Adam from God...guilt. In a climate where one people had the monopoly on God, in order to prove Himself the true Messiah and His people the true children of God, He needed to vindicate His word by coming back when He said He would, to deliver those He said He would, to prove He was not just a false prophet. This second coming did a few things.

1. Proved the cross was legit, God had accepted His perfect sacrifice, and showed the world that He was the true Messiah.

2. Vindicated those who believed on Him. They now had perfect confidence that He was the true Messiah. So all the claims for forgiveness, grace, and truth, were real. They no longer had the old covenant to answer to. Their seared consciences (which they inherited from Adam, emphasized by the law) were perfected before God, because they were perfect).

The Rest of the Story:

Christ is the true Messiah. Ad 70, more than any point in history, shows us this fact. What we know now is that He defeated death. He reversed the curse. Those who believe on Him have a relationship with God similar to that of Adam (if not exactly the same). Because Christ covered our sin from the presence of God, we can go to God directly as Adam once did. Can we still commit sin? Yes! Do we still feel lonely? Yes!

Even though we are not in a perfect world, we are not perfect beings in all aspects, we still benefit from the reverse of the curse because Christ bridged the gap for us. This is the gospel.

What the Gospel is NOT:

1. It is not about YOU! It is not YOUR glorification that is the end result of the Gospel. It is GODS glory, and Christ who is GLORIFIED because He did what He said, when He said. So now He is lifted up to the world as the one, true Messiah!

2. It is not all-inclusive! There is no place in scripture that says every man will be restored. What is says is those in Adam died, and those in Christ will be made alive. If the sin of Adam, and the glory of the death covenant were great, how much greater is the salvation of Christ? If Adam's sin caused great death, then cannot we be even more assured that Christ's salvation will bring an even more glorious life? All men in Adam died, all men IN CHRIST are made alive. Rest assured.

God Bless

Nate