GROWTH TALK | THE GLORY OF GROWTH I

[00:00:02] Hello World of podcast listeners and mark 820's audience. Thank you so much for leaning in to listen to the Mark 827 podcast today. [00:00:11] I am so glad that you have leaned in to listen to the podcast for this episode of Growth Talk. [00:00:20] And before I get started on this episode, those of you who are part of the World of Podcast listeners, but you're not yet a part of the regular listeners of the Market 20s audience, I invite you to please, on whatever platform you are listening to this episode that you would click the Follow button or on some of the platforms it may be the subscribe button so that you will be notified each time that I produce and publish an episode such as this. Also, before we get started, if now or sometime later in the recording or after the recording you are so inclined to do so, please click on the support link and share with us A Financial Gift this endeavor is not a free endeavor. It is the endeavor that I was called to and so I will continue to do this and I will continue to invest my resources to so that we can benefit from the information that is presented to us through this podcast. But if you can share that expense with me, I would be more than appreciative. [00:01:36] So I'm looking forward to the information that we're going to share today and whatever revelation God is going to give us from our efforts today. So let's kind of jump right into it. So today I'd like to talk about the Glory of Growth. If you don't already have your Bible, please grab your Bible so that you can flip pages with us. You may also want to grab a pencil and paper and make some notes because it turns out that there are quite a few scriptures that we're going to look at and you may want to make a note of them so that you can review these in your own personal devotion time. [00:02:21] Now, if you don't already have a personal devotion time, it is important that you get one. We have time that is set aside for everything in our lives from what time we wake up, to what time we get dressed, to what time we go to work, to what time we eat lunch, to what time we eat dinner, to what time we go to bed. But for a mass majority of us, we don't have a prescribed time for devotion, a prescribed time for praying, for talking to God, and a prescribed time for study, for reading God's Word where we can hear what God has to say to us. [00:03:07] It is important that you have time for prayer and time for reading and study. [00:03:13] Because when you pray, you talk to God, you make him aware of what is on your heart. Not really, because God knows everything. But there is a healing, there is a benefit that you get in making your requests known unto God. But then when you read the Word of God, then you allow God to speak to you. [00:03:39] And how rude it is in any relationship if all you want to do is talk to a person and make your needs and requests known to them, but you never give them time to speak back to you. [00:03:56] So we definitely don't want to do that to God. That's rude, that's disrespectful, it's definitely not reverent. And he does deserve our reverence. Correct. [00:04:08] So anyway, let me get off of that soapbox. [00:04:11] But if you don't already have a devotion time, please think about that and get a devotion time. So let's look at a few things here as we talk about the glory of growth. I want to begin by talking about glory. And what is glory? [00:04:28] What is even the glory of God? And you're going to find, as we look at a few scriptures here, that not only does God have a glory, but that men have a glory, and that there are other items and other beings, other animals that also have a glory. [00:04:53] So what is glory? [00:04:57] So let's look at first Genesis, chapter one, and beginning at verse 26, Genesis, the first book of the Bible, chapter one, and verse 26. [00:05:13] And there you're going to find that the Scripture says, and God said, let us make man in our image after our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the foul of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. [00:05:44] So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him, male and female created he them. [00:05:55] And God blessed man, he blessed them. And God said unto them, be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the foul of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. [00:06:16] And so what is glory? And more specifically, what is the glory of man? [00:06:26] So when we look at this text right here, glory is what are your evident characteristics? What are your evident qualities? What makes you who you are? What makes people recognize you as you being you instead of someone or something else? So what is man to be recognized as? [00:06:56] That no one else or nothing else can be recognized as your glory, your glory, your glory, the glory of man. And so what is that? [00:07:11] Interestingly enough, the Bible tells us here that our glory is that we were created in the image and the likeness of Almighty God. [00:07:27] Wow. [00:07:28] That. That is quite a glory. [00:07:32] That is quite a quality, quite a characteristic to be in the image of God. And then he tells us a little bit more of what is that glory. [00:07:46] And he says, let them have dominion. And so part of our glory is that we have dominion over the other creatures that God created. The other items that God created, such as trees and insects, we have dominion over. It says here, everything that creepeth upon the earth. So our glory is our likeness to God. [00:08:18] Our glory is our image of God. For instance, part of our glory is that we are creative. [00:08:28] God is creative. [00:08:30] He created all that has been created. He's creative. And so part of our glory is that we too are creative. And so our glory is that we were created in the image of God in the likeness of God. We are creative. [00:08:54] We have dominion. So we should take dominion. [00:09:02] And so let's go now to Romans chapter 3 and verse 23 and see if we can gain even some further insights of what our glory is. So that's back to the New Testament. [00:09:19] And I say back to the New Testament because before I began recording and I was engaged in my devotion, I was in the New Testament. So let's go to the New Testament, chapter or Romans chapter 3 and verse 23. [00:09:36] So Romans chapter 3 and verse 23 in the New Testament. And there it says, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. [00:09:56] And so the Bible says that we have all sinned. And therefore, because we are sinners, we have all sinned. We have all made mistakes. We have all. We have all stumbled, we have all transgressed, decided in our mind at particular times to go against what we know God has commanded us to do. We have all sinned and come short of the glory of God. [00:10:26] And so us becoming short means that we have engaged in behaviors we have conducted ourselves. We have shown qualities and characteristics that are less than the glory of God. [00:10:47] Because remember, our glory is that we are created in God's image. Our glory is that we are created in the likeness of God. [00:10:58] Our glory is that we are creative and that we have dominion. [00:11:06] That's our glory. And so anytime that we fall below, anytime we look like less than God and God's likeness and God's image, then we're falling short of God's glory and falling short of our glory. Now, we're not going to get into it in this episode, but we have addressed it in previous episodes, which I invite you to go back and listen to the entire Library of Mark 8:27 episodes and then continue to listen to Mark 8:27 episodes because we will get into that even more. That is the reason that we all need a savior is because we all have fallen short in Adam of God's glory. And then we all, because of our own shortcomings, weaknesses, proclivities, bad habits, we fall short every day of our lives of God's glory, of our likeness to God, of our image of God. We're showing something else other than the image of God when we fall short of his glory and our glory. So look at your own behaviors. I'm not really interested in pointing any fingers because all of my fingers are currently pointed at myself. So as I do and am doing do the same for you, think about that. [00:12:48] You can figure it out. You know your behaviors, you know your attitudes, you know your. Your language towards others. [00:13:00] That is falling short of the image of God. Does that look like God? [00:13:06] Really? Does that look like God? [00:13:08] Is that what God would do? Our glory is that we are to be a representation, an image bearer of God's image. [00:13:23] And so we fall short on a regular basis. We need a savior. I hope you're getting an understanding of what our glory is. God has a glory. [00:13:35] We have a glory. [00:13:37] And God has been so good to us that our glory is that we were created in his image, in his likeness, that he gave us dominion and that we are creative beings, we are intelligent beings. So we have a glory. [00:13:57] Look with me at John, the Gospel of John in the New Testament, chapter one and verse 14. [00:14:06] John, chapter one and verse 14. [00:14:11] And there it says, and the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. [00:14:20] And we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. [00:14:33] And so look, Jesus, the Son of God, the Savior. And here John refers to him as Word of God because in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. [00:14:57] And verse 14 again tells us that that Word, God, Jesus was made flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father. So what did Jesus's glory look like? What emanated from Jesus while he was here? [00:15:25] What image did he show when. When he was here? [00:15:31] He showed the image that can only be shown by the Son of God. And the scripture says here that that image that that glory was full of grace and truth. [00:15:49] So, so Jesus showed grace and he continues to show grace, by the way. [00:15:55] So let me tell you this, that if you've messed up, no matter how bad you have messed up, there is grace for that. [00:16:03] If you have stumbled, no matter how hard you fail when you stumbled, there is grace for that. [00:16:13] I mean, no matter how horrible any act is that you have committed, there is grace for that in Jesus. Jesus will show you grace because that is part of his glory. Another part of his glory is truth. [00:16:36] That's why I spend a lot of time in the Word. And I've encouraged you to have a devotion time where you can spend time in the Word. Because in the Word is truth. The Word itself, it's God's word. [00:16:52] And so it is a truthful word because God cannot lie. This is ultimate truth. And Jesus, his glory was that the truth emanated from him in everything that he said, in everything that he did, in how he treated people and how that he responded to people. Not only did they see grace, but they also saw truth. And it's very interesting that the Word in the original that is used for grace and the Word in the original that is used for truth. Here those words can be used interchangeably. [00:17:39] It almost seems repetitive to say that he was full of grace and truth. Because Jesus's glory of grace is also, it is truth, it cannot be undone. [00:17:54] It is truth. [00:17:58] And then he, as he is being the truth, he's gracious with that. [00:18:09] Many times we get concerned about a relationship with God. What's going to happen with our eternal existence? Are we going to be punished by God? We have some feelings of discomfort over what the truth is about us and our existence. All of you, you know what is true. [00:18:32] Even those things that you have kept hidden very well, the things that you have been most secretive about, your second life, that you may have all of that, you know what is true. [00:18:47] You know the truth about yourself. [00:18:51] But what I love is that Jesus will apply grace to that truth. [00:19:01] That that is better than good news. Turn to Ephesians chapter one, Ephesians chapter one. [00:19:14] And I'm going to look at quite a few verses here. So thank you so much for your patience and I hope that this is being a blessing to you. Because if it's being a blessing to you, it won't seem so tedious that we've gone over our normal 15 minute time limit. Ephesians chapter one. I'm going to begin reading at verse six. [00:19:35] And verse six says, to the praise of the glory of his grace, talking about God here, wherein he have made us accepted in the beloved. And so we're talking about God's glory here now. So we talked earlier about God's glory and that God has dominion, of course, because he is sovereign, God is creative. That's God's glory. But then another part of God's glory is his grace. Listen, what did that sixth verse say? It says, to the praise of the glory of his grace. Somebody told me when I was a child, when I asked, what is grace? She said, well, when I talked to Pastor Servine, he told me, when I asked him, what is grace? He basically said, God is grace and grace is God. [00:20:30] Now listen, for the longest, I did not quite understand that because I thought grace is grace, God is God, God exercises grace. But I don't know how you can say God, that God is grace and grace is God. But listen, the longer I've lived and the more I have studied God and studied God's word, I understand what Pastor Servine was saying more clearly now. And that is that grace is part of God's glory. It emanates from Him. It is a part of his actual being. [00:21:06] It is a part of what you see. Whenever you see God, what you hear, whenever you hear something from God, what you experience, whenever God treats you in a particular way, it's going to be characterized by grace. [00:21:25] Grace is one of his qualities. It's. It's who he is. [00:21:32] So be comfortable in establishing a relationship with God if you don't already have one. He's going to treat you graciously. [00:21:44] He's going to treat you kindly. [00:21:47] He's going to treat you with gentleness. [00:21:52] He's going to treat you with loving kindness. That is hesed in the original language. [00:21:59] That's just who God is. It's his modus operandi. [00:22:06] It's his glory. Grace is part of his glory. Wow. [00:22:11] Let's go down to the 12th verse of that same chapter in Ephesians, chapter one, verse 12 of Ephesians, that we should be to the praise of his glory who first trusted in Christ. [00:22:31] And if you go on, verse 13, it says, in whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also after that ye believed ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise which is the earnest of our inherits, until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory. So listen, he says here that those of us who have fallen short of his glory, that we are to the praise of his glory, which is grace. To the praise of the glory of his grace. [00:23:14] When he saves us, when he communes with us, when he has anything to do with us, when he blesses us. [00:23:25] The fact that he provided Jesus as a source of salvation for us is a praise to the glory of his grace. Now, grace is not the only glory that God possessions possesses, but it is definitely the one that benefits us when we want to come into his presence. Because we are so covered with sin, except that the blood of Jesus has cleansed us of that sin and of that unrighteousness. [00:24:03] That God wouldn't want to have anything to do with us because we've fallen short of his glory. But to the praise of the glory of his grace, he will have something to do with us. [00:24:16] He will save us. [00:24:18] He Will redeem us. He will rescue us from the clutches of evil and from the clutches of the devil. [00:24:28] To the praise of the glory of his grace. I get it. This is kind of a very deep topic and it can be a topic that is not easily understood. I just feel that. And I'm trusting that you are getting this right. Now go down to verse 20 of that same chapter and I'm going to read through the third verse where it says, which he wrought in Christ when He raised him from the dead and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come, and hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the Church, which is the body, the fullness of him, that filleth all in all. [00:25:30] We previously looked at God's glory, that is grace. But then the Apostle Paul, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, shows us some things about Christ's glory here also, that is, that he has been placed far above all principalities and power and might and dominion. [00:25:55] His name is part of his glory. He's been given a name that is above every other name, his glory. Understand that. Also the church believers, those of us who are saved, those of us who have been born again, those of us who have been adopted into the family of God, those of us who have been grafted into the true vine. Remember Jesus said that I am the true vine, you are the branches. Unless you abide in Me, you cannot abide. So listen, the Church, he says right here, is a part of Christ's glory. The Church is, we are his body. [00:26:38] Listen, verse 22 and have put all things under his feet and gave him to be the head over all things to the church. [00:26:48] He gave. He gave Christ to the church in that we are the body of Christ. [00:27:02] We're part of his glory. [00:27:05] We're part of his glory. [00:27:07] We are over 30 minutes so far. So this will be the first part of the glory of growth. So we've talked about our glory, God's glory, the glory of Jesus Christ, other glories. [00:27:25] So that is part one. And then I'll come back later today or at some time and we'll talk about growth. [00:27:34] And then we'll link those up for the glory of growth. Wow. I hope that you've gained as much as I've gained today by spending time in God's word. And I'll look forward to you coming back for part two of this episode. In the meantime, be blessed and stand out because of your excellence.