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RESTORED TO GLORY
A. Introduction: There’s no such thing as a problem free life in this world. You can do everything right and
things still go wrong because that’s life in a sin cursed earth. Because of sin (going back to the first man,
Adam) this world is infused with a curse of corruption and death (Gen 2:17; Gen 3:17-19; Rom 5:12-14; etc.).
1. However, God offers us peace of mind in the midst of life’s troubles. For several weeks we’ve been
making the point that to have peace of mind in this world, you must have an eternal perspective.
a. An eternal perspective recognizes that we are only passing through this world in its present form,
and that what is ahead in the life to come far outshines life’s hardships. I Pet 2:11; I Cor 7:31; etc.
b. An eternal perspective realizes that everything in life is temporary, and eternal things (things that
will outlast this life) matter most. An eternal perspective understands that all the loss and pain of
this life will be reversed, if not now in the life after this life.
2. Paul the apostle had an eternal perspective, and we are considering some things he wrote about his view
of his troubles, because his perspective lightened the load of his many hardships
a. II Cor 4:17—For our light, momentary affliction (this slight distress of the passing hour) is ever
more and more abundantly preparing and producing and achieving for us an everlasting weight of
glory—beyond all measure, excessively surpassing all comparisons and all calculations, a vast and
transcendent glory and blessedness never to cease (Amp).
b. Rom 8:18—For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared
with the glory which shall be revealed in us (NKJV); with the glory that is about to be revealed to us
and in us and for us, and conferred on us (Amp).
1. Note that Paul talked about a glory that is ahead for those who stay faithful to Jesus. Paul made
it clear that living with the awareness of this coming glory lightened the load of his life and gave
him hope for the future and peace of mind in the present.
2. Before we say more about developing an eternal perspective, we need to talk more about what
the coming glory is and how it affects our lives. That’s our topic tonight.
B. The word glory has many shades of meaning. The word is used a number of ways in the Bible in connection
with God and in connection with the salvation that God has provided for us.
1. Let’s begin with glory in connection with Almighty God. Glory means splendor, magnificence, and
honor. God is by nature glorious. Glory is the essence of God Himself.
a. Almighty God is infinite, matchless, transcendent, celestial beauty and splendor. He is worthy or
deserving of all glory or honor and praise because of who He is and what He does.
b. The glory of the Lord (His glory) is a manifestation of His person or power in any way He chooses
to show Himself. The Bible gives numerous examples of God revealing Himself through His
visible glory. (We’ll say more about this in another lesson.) For now, consider these passages.
1. Ps 19:1-4—The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork
(ESV). Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make him known. They
speak without a sound or a word; their voice is silent in the skies; yet their message has gone out
to all the earth, and their words to all the world (NLT).
2. Rom 1:20—From the time the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky and all
that God made. They can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine
nature. So they have no excuse whatsoever for not knowing God (NLT).
c. Almighty God reveals Himself because He wants to be known by the creatures He created. He
reveals Himself because He wants relationship with us. But there is more to it.
1. God sees the excellence of His own attributes and reveals Himself, His glory, so that we can
glorify (honor, esteem) Him. Almighty God is not an ego maniac. He does this for our good.
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2. We were created to glorify God, to bring honor and glory to God through praising Him and
through reflecting and expressing His glory. God created us with the capacity to be indwelled
by His Spirit and then express His moral excellence by the way we live. That is the place of
supreme joy and happiness for us.
3. We have been fore-ordained (chosen and appointed beforehand) in accordance with His
purpose, Who works out everything in agreement with the counsel and design of His [own]
will. So that we who first hoped in Christ—who first put our confidence in Him—[have
been destined and appointed] to live for the praise of His glory (Eph 1:11-12, Amp).
d. In the pages of the Scriptures we see that God has progressively revealed Himself (His glory, His
displayed excellence) to men and women until we have the full revelation of His glory in Jesus.
1. Jesus is the living embodiment of the glory of God. John 1:14—And the Word become flesh
and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full
of grace and truth (ESV).
2. Heb 1:3—(Jesus is) the brightness of God’s glory, and the express image of His person
(NKJV); He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he
upholds the universe by the word of his power (ESV).
2. We’ll say more about God’s glory in a later lesson, but for now, let’s connect the word glory to the
salvation that God has provided for us through Jesus’ death and resurrection. God has called us to
glory through Jesus.
a. Remember the big picture. Almighty God created human beings for a position of glory—to
become His sons and daughters through faith in Him—men and women who not only live in
relationship with Him, but reflect His glory by the way that they live.
1. Israel’s prophet Isaiah wrote: Isa 43:7—All who claim me as their God will come, for I have
made them for my glory. It was I who created them (NLT).
2. Israel’s King David, in the context of being awed by God’s creation wrote: Ps 8:4-6—What is
man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? Yet you have made
him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You have
given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet (ESV).
b. But men and women have chosen to not glorify God. Beginning with Adam, we’ve all chosen
independence from God through sin. That’s why the world is filled with suffering and pain.
1. Rom 3:23—For all have sinned; all fall short of God’s glorious standard (NLT); All have
sinned and are falling short of the honor and glory which God bestows and receives (Amp); All
have sinned and have lost the divine glory which they were meant to have (Barclay).
2. Note that you can’t fall from something or lose something you never had. Jesus came to earth
and died as a sacrifice for sin in order to open the way for all who believe in Him to be restored
our created position of glory—sons and daughters of God who live in loving relationship with
our Father as we glorify Him. I Pet 3:18
3. Paul wrote that God calls us into His purpose or plan for us (Rom 8:28). Then Paul stated God’s plan:
For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, in order that
he might be the firstborn among many brothers (Rom 8:29, ESV).
a. God wants sons and daughters who are like Jesus in character and behavior—For God, in his
foreknowledge, chose them to bear the family likeness of his Son (Rom 8:29, J. B. Phillips). Jesus,
in His humanity, is the pattern for God’s family.
1. Then Paul stated how God accomplishes His plan and purpose for us—Moreover, whom He
predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He
justified, these He also glorified (Rom 8:30, NKJV).
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2. Note these translations of the word glorified in Rom 8:30—and then lifted them into the
splendor of life as his own sons (J. B. Phillips); raising them to a heavenly dignity and condition
[state of being] (Amp); has shared his glory with them (CEV).
b. When we repent of sin and bow our knee to Jesus as Savior and Lord, on the basis of Jesus’ sacrifice,
Almighty God can justify us (declare us not guilty) and bring us into His family. John 1:12; Rom 5:1
1. Once we are justified (restored to right standing with God through faith in Jesus) God can then
indwell us by His Spirit and impart His eternal life to us, making us His sons and daughters.
This is the beginning of the process of glorifying us, restoring us to glory.
2. To be glorified means to be made alive with eternal life in every part of our being, by the Spirit
of God, so that we fully reflect God’s glory, his moral attributes (many lessons for another day).
A. The end result is that we will be fully glorified or fully conformed to the image of Christ,
Christ-like in character—restored to glory in every part of our being, including our bodies
raised from the grave and made immortal and incorruptible, like Jesus’ resurrected body.
B. Phil 3:21—For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the
Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed
to his glorious body (NKJV).
4. Paul taught and wrote that Almighty God’s purpose in salvation was to restore those who believe on Him
to the position of glory that God intended for His sons and daughters. Note these statements:
a. Paul wrote about God’s plan, kept secret from the foundation of the world, the fact that through the
sacrifice of His Son, He would redeem His family.
1. I Cor 2:7-8—I speak God’s secret wisdom, which he has kept hidden. Before the world began,
God planned this wisdom for our glory. None of the rulers of this world understood it. If they
had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory (NCV).
2. Heb 2:9-10—What we do see is Jesus, who “for a little while was made lower than the angels”
and is now “crowned with glory and honor” because he suffered death for us. Yes, by God’s
grace, Jesus tasted death for everyone in all the world (NLT). It was only right that God, who
creates and preserves all things, should make Jesus perfect through suffering, in order to bring
many sons to share his glory (Good News Bible).
b. Paul wrote to believers in the city of Thessalonica that God has “called you into his Kingdom to
share his glory” (I Thess 2:12, NLT). He told them:
1. II Thess 2:13—Brothers and sisters, whom the Lord loves, God chose you from the beginning
to be saved. So we must always thank God for you. You are saved by the Spirit that makes
you holy and by your faith in the truth (NCV).
2. II Thess 2:14—God used the good news that we preached to call you to be saved so that you
can share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. (NCV).
c. When Paul was jailed and facing execution for his faith he wrote to his son in the faith, Timothy—
II Tim 2:10—I am willing to endure anything if it will bring salvation and eternal glory in Christ
Jesus to those whom God has chosen (NLT).
C. We have barely scratched the surface of our topic—what the coming glory is, how it affects our lives, and
how it helps us view our troubles as momentary and light (II Cor 4:17). We’ll say more about it in the next
few lessons. For the rest of this lesson I want to address some questions that may come up at this point.
1. Possibly you are thinking: Doesn’t the Bible say that God won’t share His glory with another? Yes it
does. Isa 42:8—I am the Lord; that is my name! I will not give my glory to anyone else (NLT).
a. But when we read this passage in context we find that God spoke those words to Israel when they
were deep in idolatry and worshipping other gods. God is saying that He will not share the glory
due to Him as God with idols. It has nothing to do with the glory that God intends for His family.
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b. The prophet Isaiah, in chapters 44-46, contrasts God’s Omnipotence and Omniscience (All Power
and All Knowingness) with lifeless blocks of wood (idols) that cannot walk, talk or predict the
future, to show Israel the foolishness of idol worship.
1. Let’s read all of Isa 42:8—I am the Lord; that is my name! I will not give my glory to anyone
else. I will not share my praise with carved idols (NLT).
2. Isa 48:11—I will rescue you (Israel) for my own sake…That way the pagan nations will not be
able to claim that their gods have conquered me. I will not let them have my glory (NLT).
2. Perhaps you’re thinking: I know that I fall far short of glorifying God and bringing honor and glory to
Him. This information further discourages and condemns me.
a. That is why we need to know that we are finished works in progress. We are fully God’s sons and
daughters through faith in Jesus, but we are not yet fully conformed to the image of Christ (fully
glorified) in every part of our being. But He who has begun a good work will complete it. Phil 1:6
b. The process will be completed when we see Jesus face to face. I John 3:2—Beloved, now we are
children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is
revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is (NKJV).
3. The fact that we are finished works in progress doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t work on growing in
Christ-likeness. God redeemed you to restore you to glory, to restore you to your created purpose as His
son or daughter who is like Jesus in character and behavior.
a. Paul wrote to Christians: We begged, encouraged, and urged each of you to live in a way that
would honor God. He is the one who chose you to share in his own kingdom and glory (I Thess
2:12, CEV).
b. When urging Christians to avoid sexual sin Paul wrote: Do you not know that your body is a
temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you
were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body (I Cor 6:19-20, ESV).
c. Paul prayed for Christians: That your life and conduct will be worthy of the Lord and such as will
be altogether pleasing to him. We pray that your will be productive of all kinds of good action, and
that you will continue to come to know God better and better (Col 1:10, Barclay).
1. We get to know God through His written Word, the Bible. The Living Word, the Lord Jesus, is
revealed through the written Word. God, the Holy Spirit, changes us (glorifies us) as we read
His Word.
2. II Cor 3:18—And all of us, as with unveiled face, [because we] continued to behold [in the
Word of God] as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are constantly being transfigured into His
very own image in ever increasing splendor and from one degree of glory to another; [for this
comes] from the Lord [Who is] the Spirit (Amp).
D. Conclusion: We have more to say about the glory that awaits us and how knowing what is ahead can help us
look past life’s hardships and lighten the load. But consider these thoughts as we close.
1. Lessons like these don’t necessarily seem practical because they don’t address specific problems in our
lives. But when you know that God is working out His plan of redemption, His plan to recover and
restore His family—including you—it helps you see your value and worth. He will restore you to glory.
2. When you look at the Lord through His Word, you see His glory (His majesty, His holiness, His
greatness) and it affects and changes you. Not only does it help you grow in Christ-likeness, you see
how big and wonderful God is, and your trust, faith, and confidence in Him grows
3. As this world gets crazier and crazier you realize that you are part of God’s plan for a family that will last
forever, He will complete His plan, and He will get you through whatever comes your way until He gets
you out. Much more next week!
