Glory Be

The other day I referenced 2 Corinthians 4:4. "in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God." We got the "blinded" and we got the source -- "the god of this world." Did we get the target? Satan blinds people for a specific reason: "so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ." Now, maybe, like me, you might tend to focus on a shorter version -- Satan blinds them to the gospel. True enough. But not complete enough.

We know the gospel. "Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve" (1 Cor 15:3-5).The gospel: Christ died that we might live. The gospel: saved by faith apart from works. All true. All ... part. In that 2 Corinthians text, Paul adds a specific component of the gospel that we often miss. The gospel specifically is about "the glory of Christ." Satan doesn't want you to see that.

Moses asked to see God's glory, and God had to shield him from it. God said, "I am YHWH, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another, nor My praise to graven images" (Isa 42:8) In Romans sin is defined as falling short of God's glory (Rom 3:23). God's glory, it seems, is very important to God ... so it makes sense that God's opponents would seek to obscure His glory. Keep that in mind when you encounter people opposed to God ... even if it's you. The point is to hide His glory. That's not small or insignificant. And when we sin, we do just that.

Be exalted above the heavens, O God; Let Your glory be above all the earth. (Psa 57:5)