SERMON OUTLINE

The Glory of God         Hebrews 1.3; John 17.4 

Jesus Expresses and Exalts the Glory of God

Introduction

-God’s Glory is God’s highest purpose. God’s Glory should be our highest purpose and the purpose of all God’s creation. To live for God’s Glory is to fulfill God’s purpose for which He created us. 1 Corinthians 10.31

-God Himself, and all that God does is His Glory. God’s Glory is His eternal Being, His Holy and Loving character, and the manifestation of His Being and Character and power to mankind.

1) Jesus expressed the Glory of God in his life, death and resurrection

-Jesus is the radiance of God’s Glory. OT words of prophets and works of God. NT words and works of Jesus. John 14.8-9

-Jesus is the exact representation of God’s Glory. Colossians 1.15; 2.9

-The miracles, healings, forgiveness and mercy, and rebukes of Jesus expressed the Glory of God. Matthew 15. 30-31

-The crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus expressed the Glory of God. John 7.38-39; 13.31

-Jesus will return in the Glory of God. Luke 9.26

2) Jesus also exalted the Glory of God through His life, death and resurrection

-The ultimate purpose of Jesus while on earth was to promote the Glory of God the Father. John 8.50; 17.4

-The present Lordship and Glory of Jesus is ultimately to bring Glory to the Father. Philippians 2.9-11

-It is in Jesus that we come to know the Glory of God. 2 Corinthians 4.5-6

-It is in God’s work in us in Christ, that God is glorified. Ephesians 1.4-6; 11-14

Conclusion        

–If want to know God, study Jesus. If you want to bring Glory to God, learn to live “in Christ”.

-As God’s people who are filled with the Holy Spirit you are to express the Glory of God by your life and death as you allow Jesus to live in you, and you are to exalt the Glory of God by your character and works done in the power of the Holy Spirit.

SERMON NOTES

The Glory of God         Hebrews 1.3; John 17.4   

Jesus Expresses and Exalts the Glory of God?

-God’s Glory is God’s highest purpose. God’s Glory should be our highest purpose and the purpose of all God’s creation. To live for God’s Glory is to fulfill God’s purpose for which He created us.

-When time comes to an end God will be Glorified by everyone and by everything, for God has purposed that all things will be to His Glory. For all eternity, God will be Glorified by those in heaven and by those who are not in heaven. All creation and all things will eternally Glorify God.

-God Himself, and all that God does is His Glory. God’s Glory is His eternal Being, His Holy and Loving character, and the manifestation of His Being and Character to mankind.

-This morning I want to show you how Jesus expressed the Glory of God and how Jesus exalts the Glory of God. In other words while Jesus was on earth he put the Glory of God on display by His character and works, and he also promoted the Glory to God in his life and death and continues to promote the Glory of God in His resurrection glory.

-As Spirit filled believers God calls us to glorify God in our lives. We are to express the Glory of God and we are to exalt the Glory of God by how we live and by how we die. Paul goes so far as to say, “whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God”. (1 Corinthians 10.31)

1) Jesus expressed the Glory of God in his life, death and resurrection

-Our verse in Hebrews tells us that Jesus is the “radiance of God’s Glory”. To radiate is to send forth light and in Jesus we see the light of the Glory of God. In the OT the people were shown the Being and character of God through the words of the prophets, and through the mighty works of God’s mercy and power. But in the NT we see the Glory of God manifested through the words and works of the incarnate Son of God, Jesus Christ.

-Jesus Christ is the fullest and most complete expression of God that we will ever know on this side of eternity. As we study the person and works of Christ we are studying God and the Glory of God. In John 14 Philip said to Jesus, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” Jesus replied to him, “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how do you say, ‘Show us the Father?’ ”

-This verse in Hebrews goes on to say that Jesus is, “the exact representation of God’s nature.” The word used here for “representation” means an exact copy, the impression left by a seal on wax or a stamp on a coin. In Jesus we see the character of God being lived out. As Michael taught us last week from Colossians 1.15, “Jesus is the image of the invisible God”. Colossians 2.9 teaches this same truth “In Jesus all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form”.

-Jesus is the complete expression of God’s Glory. If you are determined to know God, regularly study Jesus in the Gospels. John MacArthur has made it his practice to read from the Gospels every day in order to study Jesus and has spent a good deal of his time in preaching from the Gospels. If you want to know the character and works of God study Jesus. To study Jesus is to study the Glory of God.

-Jesus expressed the Glory of God in his preaching and teaching, miracles and healings, in forgiving and mercy, and in his rebuke of unbelievers. “A great multitude came to Jesus bringing with them those who were lame, crippled, blind, dumb, and many others, and they laid them down at His feat; and He healed them, so that the multitude marveled as they saw the dumb speaking, the cripple restored, and the lame walking, and the blind seeing; and they glorified the God of Israel.” (Matthew 15.30-31)

-Jesus expressed the Glory of God in his crucifixion and resurrection. “When therefore Judas had gone out, Jesus said, ‘Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in Him.” (John 13.31) “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water.’ But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was note yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.” (John 7.38-39)

-Jesus will also return at the end of this age in the full Glory of God. “Whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when He comes in His glory, and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.” (Luke 9.26)  

-The person, work, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ expressed the Glory of God to those who saw him and now to those who read about him in the Gospels. While Jesus was on earth He was the radiance of God’s Glory and the exact representation of His nature. If you want to know the Glory of God, study Jesus.

2) Jesus also exalted the Glory of God through His life, death and resurrection

-The ultimate purpose of Jesus while on earth was to promote the Glory of God the Father. Jesus said, “I do not seek My Glory”. Just before going to the cross Jesus prayed to His Father, “I glorified Thee on earth, having accomplished the work which Thou hast given Me to do.” (John 17.4) That work included the death on the cross he was about to endure.

-The present Lordship and Glory of Jesus is ultimately to bring Glory to the Father. “Therefore God exalted Jesus to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2.9-11)

-It is in Jesus that we come to know the Glory of God. “For we do not preach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, ‘Light shall shine out of darkness’, is the One who has shone in our hearts to give light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.’ ” (2 Corinthians 4.5-6)

-It is in God’s work in us in Christ, that God is glorified. “For God chose us in Christ before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love He predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will – to the praise of His glorious grace.” …“In Christ we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of Him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will, in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be to the praise of His glory. And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal the promised Holy Spirit, who is the deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption – to the praise of His glory.” (Ephesians 1.4-6; 11-14)

Conclusion

-If want to know God, study Jesus. If you want to bring Glory to God, learn to live “in Christ”.

-As God’s people who are filled with the Holy Spirit you are to express the Glory of God by your life and death as you allow Jesus to live in you, and you are to exalt the Glory of God by your character and works done in the power of the Holy Spirit.