‘Day 332

“I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illuminated it, and its lamp is the Lamb.” Revelation 21:22,23. (NASB)

What will it be like when we meet Jesus (the Lamb) in the Holy City? What thoughts will run through our minds? What will we feel? I suspect if we have a true picture of what He went through for us that we will feel a deep well of gratitude that will swell more and more throughout eternity. We can only begin to feel it now, but we can at least make a start.

When the Bible speaks of light in the context of God, it uses the word “glory.” The very last reference in the Bible to the glory of God is found in our text for today. The term “glory” has a number of meanings in the Bible. But when we narrow the focus to manifestations of God, glory designates something quite different than “beauty, ornament, pride, or boasting.”

In the Lord’s Prayer Jesus says, “Thine is the glory” (Matt 6:13). Glory is not an accidental feature of God’s character, but an essential quality. But this glory is much more than just a radiant brightness. In Exod.34:6-7 the glory of God is defined as His character. God is “slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion, and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished. . .” 
The glory of God expresses the fullness of His character, including both justice and mercy. That character was clearly manifest in the words and the actions of Jesus (John 17:1-5).  As we have reflected our way through Revelation, we have beheld His glory!

In practical terms, the place where we see the glory of God today is in His Word. It is the Bible that opens up the character of God to us in Jesus Christ. We may be distracted by other claims to glory, but the true glory is found in Jesus Christ through His Word. In the Word, God allows us to experience His glory, a foretaste of our experience in the New Jerusalem. There, what we have taken hold of here by faith, will be visible to our sight.