The Glory of God

John 17:22 "And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one."

Jesus prays for His disciples and asks for unity among them. This unity is to be a witness to the world of the God nature of Christ. But this unity is not naturally achieved in men, but needs godly intervention to come about. God the Father gave Jesus His glory when He came to earth. Jesus had the glory of God in heaven as part of His nature, but He humbled Himself and came as a man, not as God, so He needed the Father's glory. What is that glory? God is perfect. He is holy and righteous. He never makes a mistake, never sins, never regrets an action or is surprised by the outcome of an event. He knows the end from the beginning and is sovereign in all matters of the universe. He is in total control and reigns with all power, knowledge and wisdom. He can create something from nothing and is good in all He does. His very nature is love and no evil can be found in Him. And that is the basis of His glory. His very nature gives Him glory. We praise and worship God, and rightly so, for He is the only worthy one. Jesus, as God, had that very same nature and was worthy of our worship. When He came as a man, He had to walk in perfection and never sin, in order to be that perfect lamb of God who can die in our place. He was obedient in all things, holy in His conduct here on earth, and thus the glory that belongs to the Father also was given to the Son while here on earth. No sin could be found in Him. He said of Himself that when we see Him, we see the Father. When we see Jesus, we see the glory of God, perfection in Human form. Jesus was glorified while on earth.
As His followers we will not be completely glorified until we get to heaven, but right now we are being sanctified and we are in the process of glorification. As we obey and do as Christ commanded we put on Christ's righteousness and we are being transformed into the image and likeness of Jesus. As we are being changed, we have more and more of His glory shining in our lives. In our walk with God, we die to our selves and resemble Jesus more each day. It is that process of transformation that allows us to display the one aspect of the Godhead that is impossible to achieve any other way: unity. As we become more like Christ, we are able to live in harmony and fellowship that glorifies God. Amazingly, as we glorify God, we are being glorified ourselves. The more we lose and give up, the more we gain that which was unattainable before. Praise God for His miraculous workings in our lives.

Application
I want the glory of God to shine in my life, as I surrender to Him each day and let Him live in me. Therefore today, I will take on Christlikeness and continue to speak with kindness and gentleness in all my interactions.