The Glory of Heaven

Welcome to this edition of Power Point with Jack Graham. A little later in the program we'll tell you how you can get a copy of Dr. Graham's book, Heaven. But first here's the message, The Glory of Heaven. Today we're going to look at the glory of Heaven, the glory of Heaven. Verse 1 of chapter 5 of the book of Romans. Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. That's salvation in Christ. And through Him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace. We have entered into the grace of God now and forever in which we stand. We are saved by grace, we stand in grace.

And then watch this. And we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. We sing and speak of the glory of God often, but do we know what His glory is all about? The glory of God, if you just take it as a theological term, is described as the visible manifestation of God's attributes, His character, and His perfections. The glory of God also speaks of the beauty of His character, the glory of who He is. He is glorious.

He has always lived in His glory. Creation displays and declares the glory of God. All you have to do is walk outside and look around, and if you have eyes of faith, you can see and sense the glory of God. You see a glorious day, and that speaks of the glory of God. The Bible says in Psalm 19, the heavens declare the glory of God. The glory of God was expressed through His people Israel throughout their history and destiny. The glory of God dwelt among His people specifically and perfectly in the tabernacle and then in the temple.

It was His Shekinah glory, the presence of God that went with them throughout their days in the wilderness and then in the tabernacle and in the temple. The glory of God was in that most precious place, that perfect place, the holy of holies. The glory of God was in a people, the glory of God was in a place, but ultimately the glory of God was in a person.

The Lord Jesus Christ. And the Gospel of John tells us that as the disciples spoke, He said, we have beheld His glory, we have seen His glory, the glory of the Father, the only Son from the Father full of grace and truth. And perfectly in Jesus Christ, you see God's glory. The writer of Hebrews tells us that the radiance, the effulgence of the glory of God is in Jesus Christ. When Jesus was born, the angels exclaimed, glory to God in the highest.

Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, good will to all men. It's all about His glory. The glory of God can refer to His elevated and exalted status. When Isaiah saw Him high and lifted up on the throne in the temple in the presence of the angels there in heaven in glory, He was glorified high and lifted up. And often in the Scripture, glory speaks of weight. In fact, the Hebrew word for glory means weight or weightiness. And the glory means the weightiness of God.

It also speaks of the worthiness of God. His weight and His worthiness, the disciples saw it up close and personal and all who saw Jesus, though some refused to see His glory. Sometimes we think it would have been wonderful to see Jesus up close in His humanity, His deity inhabiting perfectly His humanity. How fantastic it would have been to have seen Him perform glorious miracles, glorious acts, ultimately to die on the cross and to lay aside never His deity but His dignity when He took on Himself our sin and died and then to see the risen Christ at the resurrection.

All of these are wonderful experiences of the disciples. They saw Jesus descend up into heaven and the angel said this saying, Jesus is coming again as you've seen Him go and He is coming. And when He comes again, it will be in His glory.

No, we did not see Him in His humanity, but we will see Him in His glory when Christ comes again. So heaven is often described as glory. I'm on my way to glory. The glorious heaven. Why is heaven called glory?

Because God and His glory is always there. His preeminent presence is there and around the throne of God worship ascends to the throne of God honor and blessing and glory and power. When we worship Jesus, when we worship God, we are glorifying God with our praise, with our blessing by giving Him the weight and the worthiness that He deserves, that He has. In fact, the Scripture says in 1 Corinthians 10, 31, whatever you do, whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God. It's the only way to live as a Christian is to always ask yourself, does this glorify God? Whether it is an activity, a decision you make, a behavior, does this glorify God? Does it exalt Him?

Does it please Him? So the glory of God is in Christ and that glory is in us by the Holy Spirit. And we're told in the Scriptures that the Holy Spirit who is God, God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, all glorious, all full of glory, the Holy Spirit in us is transforming our lives from glory to glory to glory.

That is making us more like Christ. And when we all get to heaven and we behold His glory, what a glorious experience it will be. We used to sing an old song, oh that will be glory for me. Glory for me, glory for me, when by His grace we will look at His face, that will be glory, glory for me. What a promise. Glory has a name and His name is Jesus.

This is your glorious future. Heaven is His glory. The truth is what makes heaven, heaven is Jesus.

Always and all about Him. And what puts us on our tiptoes with expectation and anticipation of that day when we see Christ is the thrilling and triumphant truth that we will share in His glory. Jesus, the glory of heaven.

And it is to His name and acclaim that we now live. That's glory. And here's the promise of heaven. This is glory. We will be glorified with Christ.

We will not only see His glory, we will share His glory. Thus Paul says here, we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God, having been justified by faith through our Lord Jesus Christ. We are glorified because we are justified. Salvation is a process. When we come to faith in Christ, we are immediately and eternally justified, meaning that we are made right with God legally. We stand in this grace, this justification. Then the process continues with sanctification. I, I said a moment ago that the Holy Spirit is within us, transforming us in the glory of Christ from glory to glory.

So here's the process. Justified, sanctified as we grow into His glory and ultimately glorified, made like Him. In life, we bear and share the glory of Christ. But in death and eternal life, we will live in glorified Christ-like bodies without sin, without suffering and pain and misery.

New life, new bodies, because we are made like Christ. You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and today's message, the glory of heaven. Even in life's heaviest moments, the promise of heaven holds out an encouraging hope for you today. And when you understand what your future with God will be like, the burdens of the present fill lighter. That's what Pastor Graham's book heaven is all about.

And it's why we want to get a copy into your hands today. Heaven is our thanks for your gift to help share the truth of the gospel to more people around the world. So call now to request your copy of heaven when you give. Call 1-800-795-4627. That's 1-800-795-4627.

You can also text the word PowerPoint to 59789. And don't forget to visit JackGraham.org where you could shop our e-store, give a gift online or sign up for Dr. Graham's free daily email devotional. Our website again is JackGraham.org. Now let's get back to today's message, the glory of heaven. Philippians 3 verses 20 and 21.

Let's look at that one. Our citizenship is in heaven from which we await a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. But our citizenship is in heaven who will transform our lowly body to what? Like His glorious body by the power that enables Him to subject all things to Himself. We will have a body like Christ. We will be like Him for we will see Him as He is.

This will be a glorious body. His holiness transforms our humanity in heaven. And we are glorified. No wonder we look forward to that day with the Apostle Paul to be with Christ which is far better. And today and every day we should live in the glow of heaven's glory.

It's, you know, faintly now we see this glory. But it is shining brighter and brighter the psalmist said unto the perfect day. And the longer we live in Christ, the more we long for heaven. Sure we want to live.

Absolutely life is precious to all of us. And yet, the more we grow and the more we go towards heaven, the more we look forward to being with Him. So in closing this series, I thought what is the, you've heard of the orthodoxy of heaven. What about the orthopraxy of heaven? How then shall we live in view of the glory of heaven?

Let me mention several things. Number one, the glory of heaven expands our view of our glorious God and Savior. Expands our horizons as we see more of who He is. And I truly believe that what we've been hearing again and again and again in these five messages is what I just said, that it is for Him and by Him and unto Him for His glory. And so to contemplate heaven is to contemplate Him. Yes, there's beauty, there's streets of gold and ivory palaces and all those things that we sing about in its beauty but the beauty of heaven, the glory of heaven is our Lord. And it is mind expanding when you consider the weight and the worth of our God. Secondly, heaven's glory purifies our daily walk.

I should say purifies and fortifies our daily walk. Heaven for the Christian calls us upward, downward and upward in life so that we are no longer earthbound, living by earthly standards. Not loving this present world but we are loving our Savior and the future that He has prepared for Him and so we live lifted up. That's why the Apostle Paul said, I press on to the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Jesus Christ.

We're pressing on the upward way new heights we're gaining every day. And our goal is God's glory and that is therefore to prepare for heaven. Heaven is, God is preparing heaven for you and He is preparing you for heaven. That is when we share His glory. 1 John 3, 3, He that has this hope in Him purifies Himself. Therefore we live as verse 2 of Romans 5 says, enjoying the hope of glory. To pray for heaven to come here and now, His kingdom, and then and there when we are with Him. Thirdly, the glory of heaven's hope heals our broken hearts. What a precious promise, the promise of heaven to give us comfort in life's most grievous and miserable moments. That we will be in the presence of Christ and comforted there forever and we are comforted now in knowing that one day He'll wipe away every tear from our eyes. Is your heart broken?

Is your life torn apart? Pain and suffering is real. But let me tell you something else, heaven is real.

And that's why the Apostle Paul said in Romans chapter 8 and verse 18 that the sufferings of this present age or world are not worthy to be compared to the what? Glory that is before us. And so when we are broken hearted, when our lives are shattered we look to the glories that are ahead and we are encouraged to keep going.

To fight on, to fight through and finish the race and the journey that God has given us. The glory of heaven heals our broken hearts and then the glory of heaven motivates us to share our faith. John 15 and verse 8, by this is my Father glorified that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. Fruit can be spiritual character, it is. Fruit can be giving and it is. But fruit is also sharing our faith and bearing spiritual fruit by bringing others to Jesus.

Think for a moment about your spiritual harvest. We believe in heaven and we also believe in hell because the same Bible that tells us there is a heaven that is real tells us there is a hell that is real. And people's lives are in the balance. Their eternal destinies are at stake. And we don't want to go to heaven by ourselves because we want to take our family and our friends and as many people as we can with us to heaven. So we live to tell, to fulfill the great commission. That's why we as Christians are still here because in heaven there will be no soul winning in heaven. There will be no witness of salvation in heaven other than the worthy praise that God has given. But no soul winning in heaven.

Whatever we do, we must do now. Some of us are going to wait too late to bring that loved one to Christ, to share our faith, to boldly and urgently share our faith in Jesus. We know, Paul said, knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men. We can't be casual or cavalier about sharing our faith.

It's not an add on to the church. It is what we've been called to do. And heaven, the glory of heaven motivates us in this way. People without Jesus are one heartbeat away from hell.

Go tell. Heaven should motivate us all to share the love of Jesus Christ as salvation in Him. And then the glory and the hope of heaven encourages our generosity in giving. Giving our time, giving our talent, giving our treasure, our time. We only have so much time.

A short time on earth. And what we do, we need to do now. What did Jesus say? Listen to Jesus' words in John chapter 9 and verse 4. Jesus said, we must work the works of Him who sent me while it is day because night is coming when no one can work. So the time that we have must be invested in the work and the witness of the gospel, His works. We live to give because we're laying up treasures in heaven. And yes, there are trophies and rewards in heaven given to faithful witnesses and soldiers of the cross. Listen to the words of Jesus in Matthew 6 verse 20 and 21.

I suspect they are familiar words to you. Don't lay up treasures on earth but in heaven where neither moth or rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. What we give now has eternal impact. And then there's one final thing, the glory of heaven. The hope and the glory of heaven will fill your life now with great happiness.

That's why Paul said in Romans 5 verse 2 that we live in this joy of the hope of glory. Heaven is enjoying your life to the fullest and then one day seeing Him face to face. The happiest day in your life will be the day you die and see Jesus face to face. I know that seems counterintuitive but the Scripture says precious to the sight of the Lord is the death of His face.

It will be the happiest day of your life and your life forever. You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and today's message, the glory of heaven. No matter what struggles you're facing today, you have hope in the promises awaiting you in heaven and God calls you to share that hope with others today. That's why we want to encourage and inspire you today by sending you Pastor Graham's book, Heaven. This exciting book takes you straight to Scripture to help you see all that awaits you in the life to come and how it impacts your life today.

You'll find hope for today and courage to share that hope with others. So don't wait to request your copy. Heaven is our special thanks for your gift to help boldly proclaim God's Word through PowerPoint. So request your copy when you call today. Call 1-800-795-4627. That's 1-800-795-4627.

You can also text the word PowerPoint to 59789. And don't forget to visit JackGraham.org where you can shop our e-store, give a gift online or sign up for Dr. Graham's free daily email devotional. Our website again is JackGraham.org. Pastor, what is your PowerPoint for today? I want you to know how grateful I am for you. None of this would happen without the consistent support of listeners just like you. Through your gifts and prayers, PowerPoint broadcasts the gospel in over 800 cities and on TV in 113 countries. Those numbers are exciting, but the best part is that each one of those broadcasts is an opportunity to share the love of God with someone who needs it. You are helping get the gospel into homes and cars and headphones all over the world to the ends of the earth.

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You can be sure that God will use your support to proclaim the gospel till the whole world hears. Thank you for your generosity. And that is today's PowerPoint. Remember, when you give a gift to PowerPoint, we'll send you Dr. Graham's book, Heaven as Our Thanks. Call 1-800-795-4627. That's 1-800-795-4627. You can also text the word PowerPoint to 59789. Join us again next time when Dr. Graham brings a message about what it means to live with an eternal perspective. That's next time on PowerPoint with Jack Graham. PowerPoint with Jack Graham is sponsored by PowerPoint Ministries.