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The Glory of God; Christ In Us

to the extent of this we offer pray at all times so that our God esteems you worthy of calling and in power brings to fulfillment all goodness, good pleasure, and work of faith in order that the name of the Lord Jesus be glorified in you and you in Him according to grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.*

Paul is offering prayer so that God esteems us worthy to call us, and if he does he will bring to fulfillment all according to His good pleasure, and the work of faith and power in us so that Jesus is glorfied in us and we in Him. God chose us in Jesus, according to the good pleasure of His will, before he created the world to be holy, in his presense in love.* How is He accomplishing such a goal? According to that he purpose in Christ, that according to His good pleasure; he chose us and called us and is working out all goodness (through the work of faith and grace and his power) to whom he esteems worthy of calling (to those chosen, loved, blessed, favored in the Beloved) so to be conformed to the image of his Son.* Being conformed to the image of his Son so that Christ is glorified in us and we in him. The glory of God came in Christ and Christ in us reveals the glory of God.

Everyone who is called by my name, for my glory, I have formed, yes, I have made him.*

In the Old testament we read God created man in his image.* All that God created, spoke of His glory, “The heavens are telling of the glory of God and their expanse is declaring the work of His hands; day to day pours forth speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words; their voice is not heard. Their line has gone out through all the earth, and their utterances to the end of the world.”* But also we see in the same passage and in context of his glory, His word. All that God created speaks of His glory, thus including man, before the fall. Now, Adam was created in the image of God, for His glory, but man fell from glory, that created image of God which reflected God's glory became corrupted. Because of Adam's one act of disobedience all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. But the good news is God sent his Son.

God's glory in Christ.

The Son is the image and the glory of God.* This glory of God came as a Light to the world.* The devil who fell from glory, wants to blind the minds of the world so that they will not see the Light of the gospel, "of the glory of Christ."* God's glory shines in Christ. Jesus is the image of the invisible God, the first born (first bringing forth, there are other fruits of his that will experience glory) of all creation."*  By God's good pleasure he brought us into being through the word of truth, to the extent we exist kind of "first fruits" of that created.* Christ being raised from the dead is a "first fruit" of those fallen asleep, for in as much as death came through Adam the ressurection of the dead comes through Jesus, for as all died in Adam, so also in Christ all are made alive.* God's glory shines in Christ, and being a new creation in Christ is a kind of first fruit of that created, among many brethern, for those He chose, he predestined, called, justified so to be glorified.* 

Jesus is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact representation of His character.* Do we see how God is restoring His image, his glory in mankind? through the Son, conforming us to his image. According to the good pleasue of God, according to his plan and the manifestation of his will, he chose us in Christ through foreknowledge before the world was created, so we would be holy, in His presense, in love. He is accomplishing this through conforming us to the image of Christ. Through Christ God's plan was to restore that original image he created man in. The glory of the image of God is absolute love, purity and holiness, justice, and righteousness, it is who He is, his divine nature, the essence, the intrinsic nature or indispensable quality, of his character, which man fell short of. But God who was rich in mercy through His great love for us, when we fell short of His glory, from the riches of His glory he has blessed us in Christ. The Son, the Light, the radiance of the glory of God was sent to be life to men, so His life in us is a reflection of God's light and glory. God chose us as sons, and he diciplines his sons for this purpose, so that we are becoming like the glory of His image.*

...Jesus be glorified in you and you in Him...*

God's glory in us.

"For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers."* If the glory of God is in Christ and we are being conformed to the image of Christ, then God's glory is in us. The glory of God is shown in us when we are being conformed to the image of Christ who is the radiance of the glory of God. In other words God is glorified in us when we become like Jesus. When we bear fruit of being a new creation in Christ. "Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven."*  God formed Adam from dust and he became a living creature.* Adam was a living being but Christ was a life giving spirit.* Jesus said to enter the kingdom of God, which he said was now at hand, one had to be born a new, from above, for that born of flesh is flesh but that born of the Spirit is spirit.*

In Christ we are a new creation, the old fleshly creature is gone and the new is coming into existence.* Though the outward is wasting away the new is being renewed day by day.* Paul writes we are to put off the old man and put on the new man, which is created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.* The new is created in the image of God, his likeness, his glory. Paul writes in Christ we are no longer regarded as flesh but as spiritual, we are "indebted to righteousness," as partakers of his divine nature. We glorify God in our bodies, the body in which sin dwells and evil is near, when we outwardly display in character the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. This boasts of God's grace and power, of the Spirit of life through righteousness reigning in this body of death, which reflects our victory over sin and the evil one and the transforming work of Christ being accomplished, finished in us. This new man is the image and glory of God.*

"And put on the new man, the one renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator."* The new man is renewed in the image of God. Adam sinned and all men had fell short of the glory of God, the image of God that he was created in, but in Christ that image, of its creator, is being restored. This is what it means that God's glory is in us. No one has ever seen God, the only begotten Son of God has made Him known.*  This Light that came into the world, the word of God that became flesh, was the glory like as the begotten Son of the Father.* This was He who was in the beginning. This is the glory of God whom we proclaim, "Because the one God, said, 'from darkness light shines,' like as flooding our hearts with the light of the glorious knowledge of God in the face of Christ."* The glory of God shines in the face of Christ which enlightens our hearts to the glorious knowledge of God. It is such a profound statement. In Christ, like a light lights up a dark room, we are enlightened to the glory of God. 

It is God's Son who came as the Light and who is the Life to the world. In Christ, the Light, the glory of God is revealed, manifested, shining in his face. And for those in whom Christ dwells the glory of God is being revealed through us, like a light, to the world. "Now we all, with unveiled faces (enlightened into the glory of God) behold as in a mirror (also could mean reflect as a mirror) the glory of the Lord, being transformed into the very image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord's Spirit."* We are coming into existence, coming forth from the Spirit of the Lord, renewed, transformed into the glory of the Lord. The glory of the Lord is being revealed in us and the glory of God, Christ in us, is being revealed to the world.




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