The Glory of Believers

The apostle Peter saw the prospect of the supernatural glory that is prepared for us in Christ Jesus. He wrote: "After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you." (1 Peter 5:10, NASB 1995)

The apostle Paul said that it has not “entered into the heart or man the things which God has prepared for them that love Him” (1 Corinthians 2:9). The glory of God is among these deep things God has prepared for His people.

The Hebrew word for “glory” originally meant “weighty, heavy, or important.” God’s glory is His beauty in holiness. He is the God of glory.

In His incarnation, the Son of God showed the glory that was His as the only begotten of the Father (John 1:14). The transfiguration of Christ was a breaking out into open His glory (Matthew 17:1-8). Jesus Christ is the Lord of glory (1 Cor. 2:8). The glory of God radiated from His face, and as we behold Him we become like Him (2 Cor. 3:18).

Sanctification of the believer is described as a changing from glory to glory. Glorification is implied as the lat event in the change from glory to glory. Glorification is the completion, the consummation, the perfection, and the full realization of salvation. It is a perfect, incontestable standing before God. Glorification is the perfection of our sanctification (Eph. 5:27; 2 Tim. 2:10).

The glory spoken of by Peter is the glory that belongs to God alone.