The Manifestation of The Almighty God
13/05/2013 22:06
In the NT, doxa is a fairly common (and light-weight) word which basically means someone has respect for another. So as far as the Bible goes, the true significance of doxa is drawn from how the Hebrew's used kabod.
When King Solomon's Temple was finished and dedicated, during that ceremony, a moment came when it says that the "shekinah glory" of God "came down", and all the priests collapsed to the floor -- none able to stand for a period of time. This again was a "manifestation of the Almighty God" or "glory". This time, the priests directly felt God's "heaviness" or "WEIGHT" in an overwhelmingly physical sense. (And when the Roman soldiers came into the Garden of Gethsemane, when Jesus acknowledged they were looking for Him, all the soldiers fell to the ground -- a similar manifestation of the Almighty God as had been felt by the priests centuries before. When King David waited for God's "release" to go into battle against an invading enemy, he waited until he heard the sound of a marching army (quite a noisy affair) "in the tree tops" (meaning the "army" was "marching" about 20 -30 feet off the ground over King David's head... Do I hear the words "warrior angels"?) This time the SOUND was "glory" - the "manifestation of the Almighty God". When the Israelites were delivered from bondage in Egypt (i.e., Moses) and lived in the Sinai desert for 40 years, Moses set up an elaborate "tent" (the "Tabernacle of Worship") and "the Almighty God" manifested His Presence by placing a piller in front of the tent-flaps of the Tabernacle -- by day, a piller of smoke and by night, a piller of fire. This spoke to the Israelites that He still dwelt in their midst in a special way.
The greatest "glory" or "manifestation of the Almighty God" recorded in the Bible is God's dwelling in the Temple. The reason this "glory" surpasses all others mentioned in Scripture is because it speaks of God's "taking up His Residence" INSIDE a person. To the ancient Hebrews, God "humbled" Himself to "dwell" in a tiny, secluded room of the Tabernacle called the Holy of Holies (and later in the Holy of Holies inside Solomon's Temple.) But after Jesus came, everything changed. By dying on the Cross (as a Substitute for you and me), He took YOUR inescapably eventual death as well as mine (and everyone else's) and died FOR us. Since He died MY death, I never have to die, and am even now eternally Alive. But MORE THAN THAT, when I trust that what Jesus did for me on the Cross, God Himself "moves in" inside me. In His Spirit, He lives within me JUST LIKE HE DWELT IN THE TEMPLE. Everyone who has confidence in what Jesus accomplished becomes a "Temple" in which God lives. But what's important isn't trying to convince ourselves that God lives within -- but EXPERIENCING His Presence. And that's "glory" ("manifestation of the Almighty God") -- once He's dwelling within us, we're able to communicate with Him and simply enjoy His Presence. (No more loneliness!) When faced with a difficult situation, we can literally take a moment (nice, deep breath) and wait a mo to hear God's leading on how to best handle it. And in many other ways it becomes obvious that God has come alive within us. This is the greatest "manifestation of the Almighty God" -- the "glory" of His taking up a SENSIBLE (sensory) Presence within any person who trusts in Him and the work He accomplished on the Cross.
Actually, the biblical word for the "Manifestation of the Almighty God" is "glory" [in the Hebrew Scriptures, "kabod", and in New Testament Greek, "doxa".]
In the NT, doxa is a fairly common (and light-weight) word which basically means someone has respect for another. So as far as the Bible goes, the true significance of doxa is drawn from how the Hebrew's used kabod.
The group of Hebrew words to which kabod belongs basically center around a sense of "heaviness". Someone who has a "weighty reputation" or they have "tons of money" could be described with kabod.
Now to the Heart of what glory has to do with "manifestation of the Almighty God": Wiktionary defines biblical "glory" as "A visible manifestation of the Presence of God." This is inaccurate as sometimes in the Bible the Presence of God is manifested physically or audibly as well as visually. When some 4,000 years ago, Abraham received a "visit" from the Almighty God, the 1st martyr of the church (Stephen) said that God "appeared" to Abraham -- and the word Stephen chose for "appeared" [Grk. "optanomai"] means that God "allowed Himself to be seen"... A visible manifestation. And that's the meaning of "glory" -- any "manifestation" of the Presence of God that our body's sensory faculties (sight, taste, hearing, touch, movement, etc.) can sense. When King Solomon's Temple was finished and dedicated, during that ceremony, a moment came when it says that the "shekinah glory" of God "came down", and all the priests collapsed to the floor -- none able to stand for a period of time. This again was a "manifestation of the Almighty God" or "glory". This time, the priests directly felt God's "heaviness" or "WEIGHT" in an overwhelmingly physical sense. (And when the Roman soldiers came into the Garden of Gethsemane, when Jesus acknowledged they were looking for Him, all the soldiers fell to the ground -- a similar manifestation of the Almighty God as had been felt by the priests centuries before. When King David waited for God's "release" to go into battle against an invading enemy, he waited until he heard the sound of a marching army (quite a noisy affair) "in the tree tops" (meaning the "army" was "marching" about 20 -30 feet off the ground over King David's head... Do I hear the words "warrior angels"?) This time the SOUND was "glory" - the "manifestation of the Almighty God". When the Israelites were delivered from bondage in Egypt (i.e., Moses) and lived in the Sinai desert for 40 years, Moses set up an elaborate "tent" (the "Tabernacle of Worship") and "the Almighty God" manifested His Presence by placing a piller in front of the tent-flaps of the Tabernacle -- by day, a piller of smoke and by night, a piller of fire. This spoke to the Israelites that He still dwelt in their midst in a special way.
The greatest "glory" or "manifestation of the Almighty God" recorded in the Bible is God's dwelling in the Temple. The reason this "glory" surpasses all others mentioned in Scripture is because it speaks of God's "taking up His Residence" INSIDE a person. To the ancient Hebrews, God "humbled" Himself to "dwell" in a tiny, secluded room of the Tabernacle called the Holy of Holies (and later in the Holy of Holies inside Solomon's Temple.) But after Jesus came, everything changed. By dying on the Cross (as a Substitute for you and me), He took YOUR inescapably eventual death as well as mine (and everyone else's) and died FOR us. Since He died MY death, I never have to die, and am even now eternally Alive. But MORE THAN THAT, when I trust that what Jesus did for me on the Cross, God Himself "moves in" inside me. In His Spirit, He lives within me JUST LIKE HE DWELT IN THE TEMPLE. Everyone who has confidence in what Jesus accomplished becomes a "Temple" in which God lives. But what's important isn't trying to convince ourselves that God lives within -- but EXPERIENCING His Presence. And that's "glory" ("manifestation of the Almighty God") -- once He's dwelling within us, we're able to communicate with Him and simply enjoy His Presence. (No more loneliness!) When faced with a difficult situation, we can literally take a moment (nice, deep breath) and wait a mo to hear God's leading on how to best handle it. And in many other ways it becomes obvious that God has come alive within us. This is the greatest "manifestation of the Almighty God" -- the "glory" of His taking up a SENSIBLE (sensory) Presence within any person who trusts in Him and the work He accomplished on the Cross.