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For some time now I have been pondering what the significance of this phrase is. That it is vitally important is becoming very clear but the implications seem to be growing more every day. I keep coming back to this phrase and then carry it in the back of my mind as I read the surrounding passages to see how it is connected. It is starting to appear in my mind to be something of a lightening rod, a focal point, a small slit in the wall through which intense beams of light leak into my consciousness alluring me to widen the opening and see more clearly the source from which it comes.
I also sense that I will never come to the end of excavating the significance of this phrase in the context of the book of Romans, but if I am willing to spend some time digging for awhile the rewards may be much more than I expected. It is like a source of light that, if I carry it with me and shine it on other verses they suddenly explode with new life and meaning that I could not see before. Though I have not gone very far with this study I feel that I want to capture in writing what I am beginning to see so far. I will ignore the taunting voices inside warning me of wild speculation and accusing me of pious conceit. I am ready for the adventure of new discoveries with the accompaniment of God's Spirit as I mine the Word.
For starters I decided to look up the original word for “glory” which was not a lot of help. Then I decided to search the Word to see where it is used and to see if that sheds more light on it, especially in the same book. That began to unveil more helpful insights. This is a work in progress, not an exegesis of a finished study, so it may appear a bit rough. I am simply recording in real time what I am learning and observing and the tentative conclusions that I come to.
One aspect of this phrase that alerted me to its importance was the way that it is used to illustrate how we are to live. Throughout this whole chapter (6) the death and resurrection of Christ is used as a parallel to how we are to think and view ourselves and relate to the problem of sin within ourselves. Since this has always been quite confusing to me and difficult to grasp I am very interested in following any clues that will help to clarify my mind in this area. This parallel implies that the more I identify myself with Christ's death the more likely I will experience the power that He experienced in His resurrection. But somehow that resurrection power is realized through the glory of the Father – whatever that means! And whatever that means is vitally important for me to understand if that is in actuality to be my own experience as well. I need to understand what is meant by “the glory of the Father”, especially since it is the very means by which Jesus was wakened from death and is the same means by which I am empowered to live a new life. I am not ready to settle for simplistic pat answers on this; I want to get closer to the bottom of this truth and feel the difference it will make in my own life.
Inherent in arriving at a correct understanding of this phrase is a more accurate concept of what the Father is really like, a better picture of God than most are familiar with. For whatever this “glory” is, it has a great deal to do with who God is and what He is like.
I have been seeking a better understanding of the word glory for many years now. I realized that the typical idea of a bright, physical light emanating from a powerful, supernatural being was far too limited to be a correct understanding of this word. While it may include that idea, it has to be much more than simply a bright light. It also is much more than raw power, which too many have become addicted to in their craving for spiritual control.
Glory, I have come to understand, has much more to do with the all-around influence emanating from what a person is like, their personality as well as their characteristics and preferences. We generally sense that the more attractive a person is the more glory they have. In fact, the very act of glorifying someone is to ascribe honor and affection and adulation toward them, to express our attraction to what they represent to us. If we step back just slightly from the intensity of the crowd at, say, an American Idol show and objectively consider what is going on in the minds and hearts of the adoring fans, we can observe that they are pouring out praise and intense feelings that even enter into the arena of worship for those on the stage who make them feel good inside. Their feelings of synchronization with the performers, the perfection of the music along with how much the performer expresses what seems inexpressible in the hearts of the listeners causes them to literally give glory to the people who represent them through their superior talents. It may well be that we might be able to learn a great deal about the idea of glory if we can objectively analyze how it is expressed even in wrong settings.
The reason it may be much easier to unveil the meanings of glory in these settings more clearly than in correct worship of God is that there is so little real worship of God around us to observe. There is a great deal of glory-giving going on that passes off as God-worship but too often it is just a religious label covering over more people-worship in the guise of glorifying God. If the truth be known, most of us are too often more fond of our forms and styles of worship than we are of God Himself. We use God's name and try to say all the right spiritual-sounding things, but when the symptoms in our lives are carefully analyzed we would have to admit that we are more protective of our “form” of worship than we are of our vital relationship with God Himself.
I want to take the time to check out all the references to “glory” in the book of Romans and see how their may be linked to each other. In my mind it seems like they might be like a giant organism that grows under the surface with deep roots that is only visible when it produces another visible growth above ground. This visible point may be each time the word “glory” appears in the text. Maybe that is not the case, but for now I am going to go with it and see what emerges from that line of thought. It is a study that will take a number of postings to cover and maybe even days or weeks to explore so I will not attempt to tackle it all at once. Any thoughts, suggestions and feed-back is much appreciated.
