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TruthTalks: The Glory in The Lord’s Prayer Doxology

The glory

I bet most of you can recite “The Lord’s Prayer” in your sleep, but here are some pertinent thinking points that you may not have considered.

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The Glory

The Glory in The Lord’s Prayer Doxology

The Glory

 

Most Christians are familiar with the Lord’s Prayer because most traditional churches routinely include it in their Sunday services. While I was a local church pastor, I dropped it from our order of service simply because it had become a litany spoken or sung with very little thought to what it meant.

I have written about The Lord’s Prayer before, but in this article, I want to focus on the last phrase, the doxology (a liturgical formula of praise to God), of Matthew 6:13: “Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.” In particular, I want to zoom in on the word ‘glory’ because I believe that we need to grasp the fuller meaning of this divine attribute.

The Missing Doxology

Of the various modern translations of the bible, only the New King James and the Holman’s Christian Standard Bible show the doxology in the main body of the text. The others relegate it to a footnote with the comment that only some early manuscripts include these words. The line taken by most commentators is that the ‘best’ Greek manuscripts do not include the doxology. However, the Codex Washingtonianus, and the Textus Receptus (The Received Text), derived from it, included the doxology. John Chrysostom, a late 3rd century father of the church expanded on the doxology in his writings. Even before that, the Didache (The Teaching of the Twelve) of the late 1st century included a slightly truncated form of the doxology. On these grounds alone, I would certainly include the doxology in the main body of the biblical text, and 1 Chronicles 29:11 adds weight to this: “Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty.”

Things that Dull the Light of Glory

The Westminster Shorter Catechism was written in 1646/1647 by a synod  of English and Scottish theologians and laymen intending to bring the Church of England into greater conformity with the Church of Scotland. This catechism  still represents the heart of Reformed Theology, and by this, I mean the Calvinism of the last 75 or so years.

Question number One of this catechism is phrased as: ‘What is the chief end of man?’ The answer is then given as, ‘Man’s chief end is to glorify God and enjoy him forever’. A more modern way of phrasing this as a statement would be ‘The purpose of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever’.

For me, this begs the question, “How do we glorify God?” Is it through praising and worshipping him? Obeying him? Testifying to others how glorious God is? It is surely all these things… but it is more. My understanding of God’s purpose for all people is ‘to come to know Jesus; to become like him in this lifetime; and to help others to do likewise’ and I will explain later how I connect this to ‘glorifying God’. This is how we glorify God.

Behind the Reformed statement of the purpose of humanity is, I suspect, an implied contention that we glorify God most by submitting joyfully to his meticulous control of our lives. Of course, this would only be sincere if we believed this core Calvinist doctrine – I don’t. I hold that we glorify God most by knowing him in and through the Lord Jesus Christ and by testifying, through words and lifestyles, to what we have come to know of his glorious nature. God’s glory has more to do with his nature than the manifestation of his presence.

On the Pentecostal/Charismatic end of the spectrum, teachers commonly understand the glory of God as his awesomeness or even as the radiance that issues from him. Yes, God is awe-inspiring and radiant, yet I doubt that this describes the essence of his glorious nature and being.

God’s Glory is Best Displayed in His Goodness

A key scripture that sheds light upon God’s glory is Exodus 33:12-23 which reads:

Moses said to the LORD, “You have been telling me, ‘Lead these people,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. You have said, ‘I know you by name and you have found favour with me.’ If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favour with you. Remember that this nation is your people.” The LORD replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” Then Moses said to him, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?” And the LORD said to Moses, “I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name.” Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory”. And the LORD said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the LORD, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.” Then the LORD said, “There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen.” NIV

This account is very well-known and mainly self-explanatory. However, here are two things to think on:

  • God’s response to Moses’ request to “show me your glory” was that he would cause all his goodness to pass by. The two words he then used to amplify this were ‘mercy’ and ‘compassion’. Therefore, a central idea here is that God displays his glory to humans through his goodness, mercy, and compassion.
  • Human beings cannot fully experience the manifestation of God himself in the physical realm. His appearance is described as ‘the sun shining in all its brilliance’ (Revelation 1:16) and we all know that we cannot look into the physical sun without blinding ourselves. So, in the Exodus account, God spared Moses this sort of damaging experience by covering him up until only the after-glow of his presence was visible. In the heavenly realm, we will be able to meet with God face to face, but we cannot do this in the present physical life: “…you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.”
Jesus, the Manifestation of the Glory of God

In this world, we cannot behold God’s glorious presence yet we can ‘see’ him indirectly in his goodness, mercy, and compassion.

However, this has never been enough for material-obsessed humanity, so God incarnated on Earth as Jesus of Nazareth who said, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.” (John 14:9)

I have written and spoken on the nature of Jesus so many times, but just in case someone is reading my work for the first time, then just consider the following:

  • He is the image of the invisible God… for God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him. (Colossians 1:16-19)
  • For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form (Colossians 2:9)
  • In the past, God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being. (Hebrews 1:1-3)

So, if we want to know what the glory of God is like we need only look to the life, ministry, and teachings of Jesus. There we find wisdom, grace, mercy, kindness, compassion, forgiveness, and any other noble quality we may think of. Divine glory in bodily form!

Human Purpose Revisited

Going back to the Westminster Shorter Catechism’s statement that: ‘Man’s chief end is to glorify God and enjoy him forever’, a bigger and more glorious picture now emerges. To ‘glorify God’ is to contemplate and testify to Jesus’s nature and character. It is also to live out these qualities in our world because our testimony to his glory must surely transcend just words and emotions. To ‘enjoy him forever’ is to enter into a living and eternal relationship with him in this life and the next. From glory to glory!

This is why my theological focus centres on Jesus and why I have promoted Christocentricity and a Jesus-centeredness for over four decades. It is so easy to get lost in an intellectual appreciation for God and a mind-centred witness to our world. It is just as easy to get lost in the emotional and sensory wonder of the manifestation of God’s glory in our world. But, if we look to Jesus then everything falls into place.

“Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory, fading though it was, will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious? If the ministry that condemns men is glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness! For what was glorious has no glory now in comparison with the surpassing glory. And if what was fading away came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which lasts!

Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from gazing at it while the radiance was fading away. But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” (2 Corinthians 3:7-18)

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TruthTalks: His Amazing Wisdom

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Last week, Dr Christopher Peppler wrote THIS article on the amazing wisdom of Jesus. Listen as he talks us through the examples of this as well as his personal experiences with Jesus’ wisdom.

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Until next time, Admin

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His Unimaginable Glory

So far in the series ‘Captivated By Jesus’ we have presented an interview with Alexander Venter in both audio and text forms. What follows in this post is an article on one of the many attributes of the Lord Jesus Christ and picks up on some of the features of the interview.

After that, we will present the podcast version of this article and this will be followed by an interview with another international Christian thought leader… and so on throughout the series.

 

His Unimaginable Glory

This series is called ‘Captivated by Jesus’ and the title of the article is ‘His Unimaginable Glory’, but who is this Jesus, what is his glory, and why is it unimaginable? Is he the Jesus of religious paintings carried in pomp and ceremony on special occasions? No. Is he a historical wise man and healer who lived in Israel two thousand years ago but who is now just an icon? No! The Jesus who captivates us with his unimaginable glory is the one of whom the Apostle John wrote: ‘In the beginning was the Word… Through him all things were made… In him was life and that life was the light of men… The Word became flesh and lived for a while among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.’ (John 1: 1-14)

The Transfiguration

This same John who wrote the Gospel that bears his name is the one who Jesus chose to accompany him, together with Peter and James, up Mt. Hermon. ‘There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light.” (Matthew 17:2)

Can you imagine this? I can’t. I know what bright light looks like but the only time I tried to peep at the sun I was temporarily blinded. I don’t know how I would react if I saw someone, especially someone I knew well, turn into a being of pure light right there before me. It is unimaginable.

In the Old Testament, a bright light was often associated with divine appearances. When God descended on the Tent of Meeting (Tabernacle) to talk with Moses, it looked like a bright shining cloud filling the tent. Moses could not immediately enter the tent because ‘the glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle’ (Exodus 40:34) Also when Moses ‘went up on the mountain’, to receive the Ten Commandments, ‘the cloud covered it, and the glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai’ (Exodus 24:15-16). The three disciples who accompanied Jesus up Mount Hermon would have been taught these Exodus accounts from early childhood. Jesus was allowing them to see that he was the very same one who gave the Law to Moses and who talked with him, face to face, in the Tent of Meeting.

This is the Jesus who captivates us but whose glory we just cannot adequately imagine.

This is the one who said to his critics, “before Abraham was born, I am!” (John 8:58) This is the one who Paul called ‘the image of the invisible God’ and the ‘fullness of the deity permanently established in bodily form’. (Colossians 1:14, 2:9). The author of Hebrews wrote concerning this Jesus that he is ‘the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his Being’. (Hebrews 1:3). Now, again I ask, can you imagine this? Can you understand just how glorious he is? I believe this but I cannot imagine it because my mind is just too limited.

I read the words of Jesus, this glorious one, saying “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Matthew 28:18) and then I look at graphic representations of the extent and wonder of the cosmos and I try to imagine what ‘all’ is. All authority in every planetary system and every dimension of the unfathomably big creation… and Jesus has all this authority? Wow! My mind short-circuits at this point and I am left gasping for words.

Peter’s Response

On mount Hermon, Peter, James and John saw Jesus transfigured before their eyes, but then, as if this were not shocking enough, things became even more glorious. Moses and Elijah appeared to be speaking with Jesus. Two men who they knew to be in Heaven were talking with their teacher right there before them. Peter’s response seems so very silly because he offered to build religious shrines for each of them, but it is what came next that is important to note. ‘While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from heaven said, “This is my son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him.” (Matthew 17:5) Peter and the other two now responded appropriately because they fell to the ground like people who had been struck by lightning. Now this I can imagine.

John’s Experience of Jesus’ Glory

The three Synoptic Gospels record the account of the Transfiguration, but John omits it from his Gospel. He opened his Gospel by writing of how he had seen the Lord’s glory, so what then did he have in mind? The omission from John’s Gospel has been pondered on by many theologians but the only proposed reason that resonates with me is that the whole of John’s Gospel is a presentation of the glory of Jesus. This makes sense because John recorded the first glorious sign performed by Jesus as

  1. The turning of the water into wine at the wedding in Cana, right at the beginning of his ministry. John wrote that ‘He thus revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him.’ (John 2:11) This first marvellous sign revealed Jesus’ kindness and consideration for the wedding host, but John recorded more glorious signs.
  2. The second sign is recorded in John chapter four when Jesus displayed his mercy and the power of his spoken word by healing a man’s son even though the boy was in a different location.
  3. The third sign was the healing of the lame man at the pool of Bethesda.
  4. The fourth was the feeding of the five thousand which was triggered by Jesus’ compassion for the hungry crowd. John went on to record the display of Jesus’ mastery over the elements of nature by walking on water, recreating the eyes of a man born blind, and raising Larazus from the dead.

Now I have never seen someone turning water into wine or multiplying a few small loaves of bread into thousands of pieces. I have not witnessed the healing of a man born blind or one who had not walked for most of his life. Nor do have personal experience of walking on water and things of this nature. I am unable to even imagine them with any clarity, but I believe them because I have come to know Jesus over my lifetime… and he is glorious!

His Glory In And Through The Church

Now, just how does Jesus’ glory manifest in and through the church? In the context of the gathered church, a Sunday service for instance, I think that we can still experience his glory in a  similar way to the disciples on the Mount of Transfiguration. When the glory-cloud appeared and they heard the voice of God the Father, the disciples ‘fell facedown to the ground, terrified’ (Matthew 17:6). The word ‘terrified’ evokes feelings of horror, fear, and panic and I think a better translation in the context of this text would be ‘very much in awe’. They didn’t curl up into a fetal position, or throw themselves behind the nearest rock; they fell forward with their faces to the ground in the universal response of awe and reverence.

When Jesus manifests his glory in a church meeting, the response of all Spirit-filled believers present is unmistakable. Some stand still with faces tilted up and eyes closed, arms raised high, and an expression of reverent attention on their faces. Others kneel with bowed heads, and some fall face down full length on the floor. The glorious presence of the Lord is almost physically tangible to all but the most spiritually insensitive. When Jesus is preached with anointed power and authority, the signs are also easily observed. People sit forward on their chairs in rapt attention, their faces alight. Some cry quietly although their faces reflect no sadness. These are just some of the things that I have observed and experienced, but whatever the particular human manifestations are, the glorious presence of Jesus is unmistakable to all who are born of the Spirit.

His glory also manifests through the church, particularly when disciples of Jesus minister healing, deliverance, or prophetic words to unbelievers. When Jesus performed works of grace in the power of the Holy Spirit, the people were very aware that he was someone exceptional. A great example of this is Matthew 8:27, which records that ‘the men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!“’. Similarly, when believers obey Jesus’ command to proclaim the Gospel in word and deed then “these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18) they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.” (Mark 16:17-18). In this way, Jesus’ glory is manifest not only in the church but through the church.

This is Jesus

This is the Jesus of scripture. This is the Jesus who is the focus and subject of the ‘Captivated by Jesus’ series. This is the Jesus that the people we interview will speak of, and this is the Jesus whom I will lift up in further articles.

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The hope of glory

When I was ten my parents decided to give my older sister piano lessons. I asked them why I too could not be taught to play the piano, but they dismissed the idea out of hand. This really upset me! My parents were often out in the evenings for business or church functions and so every time they went out I executed a cunning plan. One of their favourite LP’s was Tchaikovsky’s piano concerto number one, and so each time I was alone I put this record onto the turntable, sat at the piano, and laboriously learned to play two minutes of the first movement. One evening after supper I asked if I could play something on the piano. They smiled indulgently at each other but their smiles turned into open mouthed surprise when I flamboyantly played the first few bars.

Now the truth is that I was no child prodigy, just a brat with a good ear and perseverance. I can’t help wondering what would have happened if my parents had mistakenly believed that I was a master musician in the making, and insisted on three lessons a week and endless hours of practice. How frustrating and heart-breaking that would have been for everyone.  No matter how many hours I practiced I could never be like Tchaikovsky; it just isn’t in me.

I suspect that many Christians feel frustrated and defeated by constantly trying to be LIKE Jesus and failing time and again to imitate Him.
They never say so out loud, but inside they often say; “I just can never be like Jesus! I try and try but I keep falling short and it’s frustrating me terribly. I love Jesus and its breaking my heart that I can’t be like Him as He expects me to.” Some people give up when this realisation dawns on them and become closet-Christians, or they lapse into living the Faith life in guilty failure. To make matters worse, these folk often have to endure a regular Sunday dose of moralistic preaching which just serves to make them feel even worse about themselves.

Len Sweet and Frank Viola write the following in Jesus Manifesto; ‘the “good news” is that Jesus doesn’t want us to be “like” Him. He wants to share His resurrection life with us. He doesn’t want us to imitate Him; instead, Christ, the Unspeakable Gift, wants to live in and through us. The gospel is not the imitation of Christ; it is the implantation and impartation of Christ. We are called to do more than mediate truth. We are called to manifest Jesus’ presence. That “we” means you’ (http://www.thejesusmanifesto.com). Are they right? Actually, they are not alone in proclaiming this message. Dr Jim Fowler writes in one of his essays that ‘the Christian life works by the out-working of the life of Jesus Christ. Christians must give up trying to make the Christian life work by their own efforts and orientations, and allow the life of Jesus Christ to be lived out through them.’ (http://www.christinyou.net)

Instead of examining the theology of this, I want rather, in this short article, to touch on some practical implications. If we are oriented to imitating Jesus then will we not end up practicing just another form of works-oriented religion?  It sounds a noble idea to imitate Jesus in our daily lives but success will surely depend largely on how well WE can do this. However, if we understand that it is Christ within who seeks to manifest His life through our lives, then the criteria for success will be His initiative and our yielded cooperation. Instead of putting on our faith life from without, we manifest it from within. This is closer to what Jesus himself taught, modelled and prayed for (see John 17:20-23). It seems that we are not called to perfectly imitate Jesus Christ, but to manifest His life through our lives – not imitation but incarnation.

Jesus’ life is loving and kind, and so to manifest His life is to be loving and kind. His life is holy, and so to manifest His life to be holy. Jesus’ life is anointed and miraculous, and so to manifest His life is to live in the anointed miraculous. His life is a life of giving and sacrifice, so to manifest His life is to live a life of giving and joyful self-sacrifice.

For the last 30 years I have taught that the purpose of life is to come to know Jesus, to become like Him, and to help others to do likewise. It is time I amended it to read;

‘the purpose of life is to come to know Jesus, to manifest His life through our lives, and to help others to do likewise’.  Know Him and show Him.
 

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About Me

My name is Christopher Peppler and I was born in Cape Town, South Africa in 1947. While working in the financial sector I achieved a number of business qualifications from the Institute of Bankers, Damelin Management School, and The University of the Witwatersrand Business School. After over 20 years as a banker, I followed God’s calling and joined the ministry full time. After becoming a pastor of what is now a quite considerable church, I  earned an undergraduate theological qualification from the Baptist Theological College of Southern Africa and post-graduate degrees from two United States institutions. I was also awarded the Doctor of Theology in Systematic Theology from the University of Zululand in 2000.

Four years before that I established the South African Theological Seminary (SATS), which today is represented in over 70 countries and has more than 2 500 active students enrolled with it. I presently play an role supervising Masters and Doctoral students.

I am a passionate champion of the Christocentric or Christ-centred Principle, an approach to biblical interpretation and theological construction that emphasises the centrality of Jesus

I have been happily married to Patricia since the age of 20, have two children, Lance and Karen, a daughter-in-law Tracey, and granddaughters Jessica and Kirsten. I have now retired from both church and seminary leadership and devote my time to writing, discipling, and the classical guitar.

If you would like to read my testimony to Jesus then click HERE.