"God of... glory"

    As our study continues, we are now getting to terms that appear only one to two times in the Bible. This week we will look at the description “God of glory” mentioned once in the Old Testament and once in the New Testament.

In a psalm of David, Psalm 29:3-4, and in Stephen’s sermon, Acts 7:2-3

    ‘Glory,’ in this Psalm 29 passage, is the Hebrew word, ‘kabod’ (Strong’s #H3519), meaning abundance, honour, glory, and splendor, and in the Acts 7 verses it is the Greek word ‘doxa’ meaning a good opinion that determines value, its use in reference to God tells us of His infinite worth and value that has always been and will always be.

    Stephen had seen the fruition of God’s plan; separated from Abraham by over 2000 years, Stephen knew from the Scriptures all that God had promised AND fulfilled to Abraham, he knew the history of Israel, the people descended from Abraham (the twelve sons of his own grandson, Jacob/"Israel"). Stephen was living in the time when “all families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:1-3) through Jesus’ coming. Stephen proclaimed Jesus as the Just One, who came to save, but whom the Jewish people rejected, betrayed, and murdered (Acts 7:51-53). Stephen was, with his good opinion of God, desperately trying to remind the Israelites of God’s unsurpassable value; that His word did not, does not fail. The promise given to their esteemed patriarch, Abraham, WAS fulfilled – they could have been blessed, they still CAN be blessed, but like they did with Jesus, they turned on him.       

    As the crowd showed anger at his words, Stephen looked up into heaven and “saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God” (Acts 7:55) and even as he lay dying from the rocks hurled at him, Stephen prayed to God that He would not charge the people with this sin (Acts 7:59-60) – even in his last breaths he wanted the people to know of God’s value in their lives – that He was trustworthy, that His words are trustworthy, that they need to turn to Him and give Him the glory.

“Give unto the LORD, O you mighty ones, give unto the LORD glory and strength. Give unto the LORD the glory due His name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness. The voice of the LORD is over the waters; the God of glory thunders; the LORD is over many waters. The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is full of majesty.” (Psalm 29:1-4 NKJV)

    David, who lived halfway between Abraham and Stephen, proclaimed God’s glory to all, not only through his psalms, but through his complete trust in God, shown by his words and conduct throughout his lifetime. He, too, had seen the fulfillment of God’s promises to Abraham (of a land, Canaan, and a name, Israelites), and assured of God’s abilities he looked toward the future when the promised Messiah would come (Psalms 22, 110).  

    This man of the Old Testament, David, and this man of the New Testament, Stephen, proclaimed God to be the God of glory: God, the author and personification of all that is splendourous and honourable; God, whose value and worth is beyond compare.

    Do you see Him, think of Him; speak of Him in this way? Do you value Him? His Word? More than all others, more than all other things? Be confident, like David, in the God of glory and proclaim His goodness and greatness (1 Peter 2:9). Be concerned, like Stephen, and tell others of God’s incomparable value and all that His has supplied for them to know the truth and be forgiven of their sins!

    We serve the God of glory!! Let’s give Him the glory!!

You can do it! So can I!!