Brooklands Gospel Centre
Dundonald, Northern Ireland
Worthy is the LAMB that was slain
Revelation 5:12
Humanity Glorified
In John chapter seventeen there are seven requests from the Son to the Father. The first one, at first glance, may seem strange to us. It had to do with His humanity being glorified. Listen to His prayer:
“I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me
to do. And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which
I had with thee before the world was” -
As the eternal Son, one would think that His glory was beyond doubt. Why did He ask the Father for it?
A closer look reveals that He is referring to the glorification of His human nature
which He acquired on earth, the body which had been prepared for Him and in which
He lived. He is asking that it be received up and into the place of glory where He
had always been. He described this to Nicodemus, “he that came down from heaven,
even the Son of Man who is in heaven" -
Was the prayer answered?
Forty days after His resurrection His disciples witnessed a bodily ascension. Let
us hear and ponder the words of the Angel: “this same Jesus which is taken up from
you into heaven, shall so come in like manner (that is in a literal body) as ye have
seen him go into heaven” -
What did Stephen see as he was being stoned to death? ”He, being full of the Holy
Ghost, looked steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and JESUS, STANDING
ON THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD” -
His humanity WAS glorified. The prayer was answered. AND -
“Father I will that them thou hast given me may be with me where I am that they may
behold my glory “ -
In this last request, He now asks the same for His disciples and all who would believe on Him, sons of a fallen Adamic race. He asks that they should be glorified with Him. This surely stretches the boundaries of human understanding.
Yet, this is what He wants. It is His final request. To see this accomplished will be the zenith of His work.
As part of the prayer, he adds “you have loved me from before the foundation of the
world”. What a plea to the Majesty on high! This must mean that the redemption and
reconciliation of the Cross will be reflected in uncountable myriads of changed human
beings -
The hymn writer as aptly put it:
And is it so we shall be like Thy son,
Is this the grace which He for us has won;
Father of glory!,( thought beyond all thought),
In glory to Thine own blest likeness brought.
The Apostle Paul, in his dissertation on the resurrection says “…as we have borne
the image of the earthly, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly” -
Not we alone, Thy loved ones all complete,
In glory, round Thee there with joy shall meet,
All like Thee, for Thy glory like Thee Lord,
Object supreme of all, by all adored.”
The heart is satisfied, can ask no more,
All thought of self is now for ever ore,
Christ, its unmingled object, fills the heart,
In blest adoring love the endless part.
DREW CRAIG