Isaiah 43:7: “Whom I have created for My glory; I have formed him, yes, I have made him.”
I. God’s Intrinsic Glory
God’s glory exists eternally in His divine nature — unchanging, unapproachable, and beyond the comprehension of created beings. This intrinsic glory belongs to God alone and does not depend on His creation.
God’s name is I Am – the very essence of existence; self-existing and forever-existing.
Exodus 3:14: “And God said to Moses, ‘I AM (that) I AM.’ And He said, ‘Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, “I AM has sent me to you.”’”
Isaiah 42:8: “I am the LORD (YHWH), that is My name; And My glory I will not give to another, Nor My praise to carved images.”
1 Timothy 6:15–16: “He who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and everlasting power. Amen.”
It is the fullness of God in Himself, shared between the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
This is the eternal glory the Son had with the Father before the foundation of the world:
John 17:5: “And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.”
Without manifestation, this glory would remain hidden, and we, the creation, would have no part, no relationship with this glory.
II. God’s Manifested Glory
But our God loves to reveal Himself. His glory is not only intrinsic to himself but also manifested. It is in the manifestation of God’s glory where we find our story and the meaning of our existence.
However, it is important for us to understand that God does not simply show His glory. The manifestation of God’s glory is an essential part of God’s eternal plan.
God manifests His glory in two stages:
- Through the old creation
- In the new creation
The old is temporal. The new is eternal. The old is transitional. The new is ultimate. The old exposed sin. The new terminated sin. The old was corruption, but the new is redemption.
This is the plan for creation according to God’s counsel.
1. God’s glory manifested in the Old Creation
The creation of the heavens and the earth is the first manifestation of God’s glory.
Psalm 19:1: “The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork.”
Psalm 72:19: “And let the whole earth be filled with His glory.”
Habakkuk 2:14: “For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, As the waters cover the sea.”
The old creation was formed by His spoken word and shaped by His sovereign power.
Note the difference between the heavens and the earth. While the heavens simply declare, the Earth is under a mandate. God’s Word declared a specific purpose and a responsibility of the earth.
That responsibility falls on man, who was made in His image, was entrusted with dominion — a kingship under God meant to reflect His rule. This foreshadowed the greater authority given to Christ in the Kingdom.
2. Sin entered the old creation through the fall of man
However, what we see today in the old creation is not the same as what God originally made. Something terrible happened to the old creation. It came under the subjugation of sin and death. It suffers corruption and decay. Apostle Paul says the whole universe is groaning.
It started because something terrible had happened to man:
Sin entered man, and the world.
Romans 3:23: “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.“
Romans 5:12: “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned.”
and creation was subjected to futility:
Romans 8:20: “For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope;”
The self-centered man does not acknowledge the problem of sin and indeed cannot understand the nature of the problem. Even when we have humbled ourselves to God, our confession often goes only as far as this: “Yes, I have come short of the glory of God because I am not perfect, unable to reach the highest standard set by God.”
But we don’t realize how inadequate that confession or understanding is. We don’t know what a tragedy it was for mankind, starting from Adam. We don’t know what great loss we have suffered! We don’t know how much we have lost in Adam, the first man, and how much God lost in him. Man falling short of the glory of God isn’t a mere regretful or imperfect condition. It is losing everything for man. And it is sabotaging everything in God’s plan for man.
God’s glory concerning man is His highest purpose and plan for the universe. God wants to build a kingdom and a family, to share His glory. He entrusted that to Adam. When Adam failed, he betrayed God and let God’s enemy triumph over God’s plan, blaspheme God’s name, trample over God’s heart, and slander God’s love.
And at the same time, man destroyed his own future. Man who has fallen short of God’s glory is without a purpose. He is futile and useless as far as God’s eternal plan for him is concerned.
With the first Adam, the old man, the representative of the old creation, not only was the man himself lost, but with him also a kingdom lost.
But God had a plan of redemption all along from the beginning.
3. The prophetic revelation about man
About 3,000 years ago, a shepherd in Israel, who later became the king of Israel, received a revelation which he recorded in a psalm:
Psalm 8:3–6: “When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained, What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You visit him? For You have made him a little lower than the angels, And You have crowned him with glory and honor. You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet.”
The shepherd king’s name was David. David gazed upon the heavens, but wondered about man and his responsibility and purpose. The Holy Spirit led him to a profound inquiry about the deep purpose and meaning of man in the heart of God. He sensed that it was far deeper than the mysterious moon and the stars and the splendor of the heavens that he was gazing upon. But the answer was not explicitly revealed to him.
David’s deep inquiry was only answered a thousand years later. The answer was a response to David’s profound and prophetic inquiry in the spirit. The Word of God points to something astonishingly deep.
Before we get into the root answer, let’s look at a revelation in the book of Hebrews in the New Testament.
Hebrews 2:6–9: “For in that He put all in subjection under him, He left nothing that is not put under him. But now we do not yet see all things put under him. But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone.”
The author of the book of Hebrews first quoted David’s prophetic vision about man, and followed up with the above statement, the importance of which is very often overlooked by Bible readers.
First, the author of Hebrews pointed out that what David wrote was a prophetic vision, not merely beautiful poetry. David saw that everything is put under the feet of man. But at the time of the Hebrews, which was about 1000 years later, and 2,000 years before the present time, it seemed that the prophecy had not been fulfilled yet, because it appeared that everything had yet to be put in subjection to man.
It is a condition that we recognize even today. Perhaps especially today, because despite the technological progress, man today is losing control, rather than being in control. We live in a world that is more and more out of control by humans. Man is having less and less control over even himself, much less everything else.
But David saw that vision in which everything is put under subjection to man. And he marveled at the vision.
The author of the book Hebrews then pointed to the true answer to David’s vision: there is one, just one, only one Man, whose name is Jesus. He was indeed ascended to heaven and was crowned with glory and honor.
Do you see what God’s word is telling us? In David’s vision, he saw one man. The Man. That man is the real man. He is the fulfillment of God’s plan and God’s glory. One must be in that Man to be a true man in glory, to enjoy the freedom of man God has promised.
Several hundred years later, Daniel, a prophet in Israel, saw an even more complete vision:
Daniel 7:13-14: ““I was watching in the night visions, And behold, One like the Son of Man, Coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, And they brought Him near before Him. Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, That all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, Which shall not pass away, And His kingdom the one Which shall not be destroyed.”
He saw the same man that David saw in the vision. That man is a king. He ascended to the heavens and received a kingdom. Blessed is the Man, whose name is Jesus Christ! And blessed are those who know Him and who are His people, the citizens of His kingdom.
That was not some surprising fortune that fell upon man. That was God’s plan. Even before the foundations of the world, God had a special plan for man.
What a glorious vision! What a glorious ending for man!
But all this was at a great cost. It cost the life of the Son of God. It’s the cost of the new creation.
4. The second and the last man, Jesus
The cost of the new creation was unthinkable. Kept as a secret until it was fulfilled.
God would become man. He takes upon himself the sins of the first man (Adam and his race), terminates him by dying on his behalf, but rises again and brings everyone who believes in him into the new creation – the new man.
When the second Adam, Jesus, came, he stood in the position of the first Adam. It is the position that the Son of Man must take, and he did take. In the wilderness, Satan tempted him to come out of that position, and in Gethsemane, tempted him again.
After Satan had failed, he dumped all the evil of sin on the Man, Jesus, in order to terminate him.
But Satan and his evil forces did not know: the second man dying for the first man was precisely how God would accomplish redemption and solve the unsolvable problem of sin.
Jesus Christ died on behalf of the first man to bring the old man to an end (so that he is no longer subject to the power of sin); but he’ll rise again in resurrection as the new man to usher in the new creation.
In the gospel, we meet with him and witness the Man.
John 19:5: Then Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. And Pilate said to them, “Behold the Man!”
Pilate introduced the humiliated Jesus to the people, after Jesus had gone through the unfair trials of the court of human religion, the court of humanity, and the court of politics.”
We beheld Him all the way to the cross. It was there that the Son of God and the Son of Man terminated the first Adam, through death. Jesus is the last Adam.
Death is the ultimate separation and the ultimate solution to the problem of sin and the problem of the first man, the old man. Without death, the sinful man cannot separate himself from sin. This is exactly why, “Without bloodshedding, there is no remission.” (Hebrews 9:22)
But his death was not only his own. He was the last Adam, the end of man. When he was lifted up, we were all drawn to him, so that our old man all died with him.
John 3:14: “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up.”
John 12:32: “And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to me.”
Galatians 2:20a: “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live,”
But the resurrection of Jesus leads to the new creation—the New Man, in Christ.
Galatians 2:20b: “…but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”
5. God’s glory manifested in the New Creation
God has all along had a complete plan that is kept a mystery until the end. The plan is the last Adam. Jesus the Man. Redemption through his blood and new creation through his resurrection.
Romans 8:21: “…because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the sons of God.”
The purpose of redemption is to bring the sons of God into glory.
2 Corinthians 5:17: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”
For the purpose of redemption, Christ emptied Himself, took the form of a servant, humbled Himself to the point of death — even death on the cross:
Philippians 2:7–8: “But made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.”
Through His resurrection, He brought forth the new creation, which is the true and ultimate manifestation of God’s glory.
Only the new creation — in the New Man and in the Church — can be glorified in Christ and with Christ. The old man of the old creation cannot glorify God; God’s judgment against it was made clear on the cross:
Romans 6:6: “Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.”
6. God’s glory manifested in the Son — the Radiance of His Glory
Having finished the work of redemption, Jesus returned to the glory which the Father shared with him before the foundation of the world. Having emptied his divine glory in humility in order to accomplish the salvation, regaining the Son’s divine glory in the Godhead is a matter of his right. But that is not all that happened after the ascension of Jesus. He ascended into glory as the Man!
He was God. But he is now God and Man.
There is a Man in the glory. He is our hope and glory, because we are placed in Him.
Hebrews 1:3: “Who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.”
Christ is the Redeemer who connects heaven and earth.
7. God’s glory manifested in the Church
But the Man is not going to be alone. As the prophets saw in the vision, the Son’s glory isn’t merely in himself. He will receive a Kingdom. He will have His Bride, the Church, whom he loved and died for. It will require separate topics to describe this part of the glory.
III. Man’s Glory in Christ before God
1. The Man
Jesus, the Man, the last Adam, is the true answer to David’s inquiry. He is the Man who truly glorifies God. And he is also the Man who truly received glory from God.
Therefore, all the talk and hope of man’s glory in God is strictly in Christ Jesus, the Man who is now glorified. Outside of Christ, all the talk of men receiving glory from God is not only a fantasy, but a satanic deception.
2. Our Real Hope
Our real hope rests on the eternal glory — to glorify God and to receive glory in Christ. Without the eternal glory, a Christian is no different from anyone else in the world, and in fact would be more miserable.
1 Corinthians 15:19: If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.
2 Corinthians 4:17: For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.
Colossians 3:4: When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.
This eternal glory is not an optional extra — it is the fulfillment of God’s purpose in Christ for His people.
3. The Call of Faith
For the preparation of the new creation, “the God of glory appeared to our father Abraham.”
Acts 7:2: “… The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Haran.”
God established a different principle for this work — the principle of faith.
Faith is planted in man by God and tested through trials.
1 Peter 1:6–7: In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
These trials are not accidents but the intended path for the sons of God. From God’s side, all is accomplished in Christ; from our side, we receive His life and walk by faith.
4. The Path of the New Creation — The Way of the Cross
The old creation’s glory is through an unhindered display of majesty; the new creation’s glory is revealed through the way of the cross.
Philippians 2:8–9: “And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name.”
John 12:24: “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.”
Christ’s glory came not merely through the dazzling light of transfiguration, but through the dark shadow of Calvary. Through His suffering, death, and resurrection, the Kingdom of light defeated the kingdom of darkness,
Colossians 1:13–14: He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.
and the Kingdom of righteousness overcame the kingdom of evil.
1 John 3:8: “He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose, the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.”
This victory is real, ongoing, and unstoppable — and will be consummated when:
Revelation 11:15: “Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, ‘The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!”
IV. God’s Glory in the Kingdom of Christ
God’s glory in Christ and the saints’ glory in Christ meet in God’s Kingdom. The Kingdom is an open expression of glory from two directions — divine and human — mutual, reciprocal, and familial, for God’s Kingdom is God’s family.
The Kingdom is both the present reality in which His people live under His lordship, and the future consummation when He will reign visibly over all the earth — completing the restoration begun in the new creation and fulfilling the purpose of the old.
1. Christ as King and Ruler
Psalm 2:6–8: “Yet I have set My King on My holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree: The LORD has said to Me, ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You. Ask of Me, and I will give You The nations for Your inheritance, And the ends of the earth for Your possession.”
Isaiah 9:7: “Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end, Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, To order it and establish it with judgment and justice From that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.”
2. The Kingdom Announced and Given to Christ
Daniel 7:14: “Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed.”
3. Fulfilled in Christ, who was given the throne of David
Luke 1:32–33: He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.
and who declared:
Matthew 28:18: “And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.”
4. The Kingdom’s Nature
John 18:36: “Jesus answered, ‘My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here.’”
Romans 14:17: “For the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.”
It is entered by those delivered from darkness into His reign:
Colossians 1:13: “He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love.”
5. The Kingdom in the Present Age
Matthew 4:17: “From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ “
Mark 1:15: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”
Matthew 13:44–46: “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.”
6. The Kingdom in Its Fullness
Ephesians 1:20–22: “Which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church.”
1 Corinthians 15:24–25: Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet.
Romans 8:22: For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now.
7. The Eternal Kingdom
2 Peter 1:11: For so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Revelation 11:15: “Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, ‘The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!”
V. Our Calling — Witnesses and Servants
Isaiah 43:10: “You are My witnesses,” says the Lord, “And My servant whom I have chosen, That you may know and believe Me, And understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, Nor shall there be after Me.”
A testimony always has a subject, a topic, and an object, that is, who is testifying about what, to whom?
1. Who?
As far as ‘who’ is testifying, there are two different levels of testimony.
1 Corinthians 15:48-49: “As was the man of dust, so also are those who are made of dust; and as is the heavenly Man, so also are those who are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man.”
Colossians 1:19-20: “For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.”
1 Corinthians 1:29: That no flesh should glory in His presence.
2. What?
Luke 2:52: “And Jesus was advancing in wisdom, and in stature, and in favor with God and man.”
John 19:15a: “But they cried out, ‘Away with Him, away with Him! Crucify Him!’”
John 15:18: “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you.”
Why such contrast? It is because, before Jesus came out to testify to God’s kingdom publicly, he lived under the law and testified to the wisdom which God expected of man. The sinful man may not understand him, but they have no reason not to like him. But when Jesus came out to preach, he proclaimed God’s kingdom, which means war. The whole kingdom of darkness was stirred up and took along the sinful men and their sinful motivations.
They couldn’t bear with him.
The same goes with the children of God today. Am I merely trying to live a lawful and good Christian life, or am I fighting for God’s kingdom? If the world likes me so much, and the evil forces of Satan’s kingdom have no objections to me, I may not be truly following the Lord and testifying and serving His kingdom.
It’s not that we will always go out to find and pick a fight. We seek peace – more than anyone. But the new man in us does not find home here, and he cannot stop attracting the attacks of the enemy if he is truthful to his inner man and his Lord.
2 Corinthians 4:5: “For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your bondservants for Jesus’ sake.”
To be created for the glory of God is not merely to exist — it is to live as a witness and as a servant, to walk the way of the cross, and to display the triumph of God’s Kingdom in the midst of a fallen world.
The witness proclaims who Christ is and what He has done; the servant enacts His will, channels His life, and manifests His grace. Only the life born of the Spirit can glorify God in this respect, for only it has passed from death to life, from darkness to light, and from sin to righteousness.
Today, we as Christians strive to give a good testimony to the world. It is the Lord’s command that we do so. But we must remember: our testimony can only come from our new life, not the old life. Our testimony is also only about Christ Himself, not man — only the new creation, not the old creation.
If God’s purpose was merely to call a race to testify for His old creation, the angels are far more qualified than we are. Remember, in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth — He created the heavens first, and then the earth. He created the spiritual realm first, then the physical. When God created the visible universe, angels were already there, witnessing the entire creation.
And do we think we would be qualified to testify to the glory of the old creation in the face of angels? Even Adam before the fall was not fit for the role — let alone the fallen race. Any fanciful idea that we could glorify God in our flesh is not only foolish but essentially under a satanic deception.
But in Christ, we are a new man. The new man is a heavenly being temporarily living on earth, not an earthly being hoping for a better future.
3. To whom?
As far as ‘to whom’ we are testifying, there are two different dimensions of the testimony.
From God’s point of view in Christ, our testimony on earth is not merely in Christian behavior, Christian morality, Christian ethics, or Christian performance in the eyes of people. More importantly, it is a living testimony that is only visible to God Himself, to the spiritual senses of the saints, and to angels.
1 Corinthians 4:9: For I think that God has displayed us, the apostles, last, as men condemned to death; for we have been made a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men.
Ephesians 3:10: To the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places.
We must carefully discern both the distinction and the connection between these two dimensions.
A. The Visible Testimony — In this aspect, we must pursue a victorious life against sin and evil. We must distinguish between spiritual defeat and suffering for Christ — they are not merely different, but opposites. Spiritual defeat should never be disguised as humility. The earth is a battlefield, and we are not here by accident. We are called and placed in a spiritual war. Against the obstacles or difficulties in this life, it may not be God’s will for the sake of our benefit that these be removed immediately, but against our true enemy we are called to be victors against him and his evil forces of his kingdom.
Ephesians 6:12: For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
1 Timothy 6:12: Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
B. The Invisible Testimony — This aspect is often unseen by the world and can appear humiliating or despised. This is no surprise, for the world has hated those who follow Christ because they are not of the world.
John 17:14: I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.
Although Christians should live ethically and morally, and when honored should give glory to God, the ultimate testimony is in the new life, walking the path of Christ through suffering.
Philippians 1:29: For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake.
We must not despise the moments of everyday life, even in small things, if they are lived in Christ through the cross. They have immeasurable value before God.
Matthew 18:18: Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.
This life on earth is an opportunity for eternal investment.
Colossians 1:27: To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
Hebrews 11:16: “But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.”
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