Living According to the Fullness of God's Glory

There are many religions in the world. According to some religious data, there are over 10, 000 religions in our present world. What makes Christianity one of her kind, unlike anything else among these myriads of religions? The answer to this question transcends Christianity as a movement or a living organism. It is who Christ is as the embodiment of the fullness of God, as God with us, as a perfect human being. It is the nature of the power of Christ’s transformational relationship and fellowship of Christians into His image through the fellowship of the Holy Spirit in the believer. To be in relationship and fellowship with Christ is to live, move, and have your being in the fullness of God’s glory, grace, and truth. John 1:1-3, 14-17 is key to understanding this truth, which to the world is a mystery.

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not [a]comprehend it. 14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.’” 16 And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. (NKJV).

From the above text, we learn that Christ is the living Word, that He is God, that He is the life from whom humanity can have the light of life, that He became a perfect human being, full of the glory of God’s only begotten Son, and that this glory is full of grace and truth.

The word “beheld” in the above text is more than just looking. It carries the idea of contemplation, intentional observation to grasp the significance, to become, to live and manifest what you observe. It is meditatively looking into to reflect or embody or represent what you observe. To behold Christ’s glory, as John states, is to become and live who Christ is. John says that “we beheld His glory, the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth and of His fullness we have all received grace upon grace” (paraphrased). Was this glory meant only for the disciples? Absolutely no! Christ’s high priestly prayer is for all believers past, present and future. His prayer makes the divine glory a state of existence for all believers. In this prayer, we hear Him informing the Father that “the glory that you gave me I have given to them” (John 14:22-24); that is to all believers including you and me and not only the early apostles or the first century church. It is our God given state of being to live in. We are called to Christ’s glory and excellence according to 2 Peter 1:2-3. This is Christ’s ability to relate to the Father as a Son, to intimately fellowship with Him in the fullest capacities of the Father’s Spirit, and to willingly submit to the Father’s will. It is Christ’s ability in the Spirit of the Father to make known and perfect God’s will for all people. It is Christ ability to accomplish the very things the Father called, chose, and appointed Him to do. This is why Christ presence is the very visible presence of God and manifestation of the fullness of God’s grace and truth to all humankind. It is this glory that we as believers have freely received from Christ to live as God’s very image and visible presence on earth. To relate and fellowship with the Godhead as sons and daughters. This glory is full of grace in which God leans toward us, makes us His preference, identifies Himself with us and enables us to live our true humanity as His image with full access to every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.

How can the believer live this truth? This actualizes when we continually behold the glory of Christ according to 2 Corinthians 3:17-18, “17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom (liberty). 18 And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit (NIV).”“But when the Helper (Comforter, Advocate, Intercessor—Counselor, Strengthener, Standby) comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of Truth who comes from the Father, He will testify and bear witness about Me” (John 15:26, AMP). See also John16:13, “However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.” From these preceding scriptures, we learn that the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Christ, who gives us complete evidence of who and what Christ is and guides us into in-depth understanding of the gospel of Christ into intimate relationship, fellowship, and union with Christ. Our union with Christ makes us one with Him in spirit according to 1 Corinthians 6:17. The Holy Spirit as the Spirit of truth and Christ in us liberates us from the bondage of sin, spiritual death, works of darkness, the curses of the law and fear (John 8:32; 2 Timothy 1:7 ). He enables us to partake of the fullness of the very life of God as heirs of the Father and co-heirs with Christ through His fellowship (Romans 8:14-17). Christ in us is the radiance of God’s glory, the exact representation of His being and the fullness of the Godhead. According to Colossians 1:9-10, we are complete in Him. For as He is, so we are on earth (1 John4:17). This is the mystery of Christianity: Humanity’s reconciliation to God through the knowledge of Christ by the inward working of the Holy Spirit. As we contemplate on the truth through our intentional devotion to Christ and behold His glory, our minds become renewed, and we are progressively transformed into His image by the Holy Spirit in us. This knowledge of truth is foundational to what we believe in, what we think, what we say, what we do; to our values and worth (see 1 Cor. 1:3-5; Hosea 4:6; Eph. 1:15-21).For what you behold is what you think, what you think is what you believe, what you believe in your heart is what you say, what you say is what you do, and what you do is who and what you are. We are the products of what we behold and contemplate. Hence, the need to behold Chris, the living Word, daily.

We all have the glory of God but not all of us live it and defuse the glorious fragrance of God’s glory. Why? It’s because we have limited the transforming power of the Holy Spirit in us to human abilities, to flesh and blood; always beholding ourselves in the mirror of our old fallen nature, of the world system, of what the social media sells, instead of the mirror of our new creation which is full of the glory of Christ.

We are in fact one in Spirit with Christ, and it is time to live accordingly and make known God’s manifold grace and wisdom to all people according to 1 Peter 4:10 (NKJV).

What must we do as believers in Christ? Let us diligently:

• Seek to obey God’s commandment in Joshua 1:7-9. It is an all-time truth applicable to all believers.

• Intentionally behold yourself in the mirror of the Word according 2 Corinthians 3:17-18.

• Seek total dependence on and fellowship of the Holy Spirit in you. For Zechariah 4:6 emphasizes the indispensability of the Holy Spirit in our growth and sanctification in the Lord.

What must we pray for? Let us pray:

• That the Church totally yields to the acts of the Holy Spirit in and through us.

• That our lives demonstrate the Spirit and power of God.

• That the rivers of living waters begin to flow from all believers as members of the royal priesthood of God.

• That we live a life in fellowship of the Holy Spirit to be able to love and glorify God with all our heart, soul, and mind.

God richly bless you.