At Christmas, glory is on our minds. The angel of the Lord came down and glory shone around. Glory to God in the highest. A light to lighten the gentiles and the glory of your people Israel (Luke 2:9, 14, 32).
What is glory?
France’s King Louis XIV (1638–1715) was especially interested in glory. Living in outrageous opulence, he claimed to be semi-divine, calling himself the ‘Sun King’ after the Greek god Apollo, and split his time between starting wars and taking mistresses. On being king, he once wrote:
"When one has the State in view, one is working for oneself. . . When the State is happy, eminent and powerful, he who is cause thereof is covered with glory, and… has a right to enjoy all that is most agreeable in life in a greater degree than his subjects, in proportion to his position and theirs".*
Being a glorious king was, for Louis, an opportunity for self-indulgence. He wanted his people to be happy so he could build his own (much greater!) happiness and comfort upon theirs. He was using his people to glorify himself. He didn’t truly care about them, but he did need them. It’s not an attractive picture.
The glory of the King of kings at Christmas couldn’t be more different.
The glory of God
The word for ‘glory’ in the Old Testament has to do with the weight or substance of a thing; especially in Scripture glory is something or someone shining out in brilliant light and splendour. It is God revealing and showing himself as he truly is – the ‘substance’ of his character. And Hebrews 1:3 tells us directly: Jesus Christ is the radiance of the glory of God. In other words, Jesus is God shining out, beaming on us, pressed into our hands. Think of the radiance of the sun communicating all its light and warmth on a chilly winter’s day.
Jesus is the glory of God! He expresses to us the true nature of God in heaven.
How? He comes into the darkness of sin and sorrow to save and rescue. He comes not with a fanfare and parade, but as a little baby so that he can truly sympathise with us in our weakness. He willingly goes to the cross for us, not asking to be served but only to serve us and love us to the end (John 13:1).
Unlike King Louis, and unlike all human glory, God’s glory is not about taking and filling himself up, because he doesn’t need anything! His glory is his eternally full and overflowing generosity in Christ. He is not interested in calling our attention to his excellence to win our applause but rather in shining out his life-giving love. This is the glory he has promised will one day fill the whole earth (Hab. 2:14).
Giving gloriously
When we are united to Jesus Christ, the glory of God, we are filled with his Spirit to become more like him. Naturally we are driven by selfishness. We are sometimes suspicious of those who are in need, and we often struggle to give freely. But when we come to Jesus, we see that we ourselves are empty and need a Saviour from heaven, and we have been given God’s own Son! We are to be partakers in the glory then that is to be revealed (1 Pet. 5:1).
When empty ones are filled by the God of glorious fullness, we become bright and glorious like him. Seeing and sharing in the glory of Jesus means that the fullness we have received spills over. Believers become shining lights in the world, as he is the light of the world (Matt. 5:16), shining with his light as we hold him out to our generation (Phil. 2:14–16).
Giving gifts has been a Christmas tradition for a long time and it surely has to do with attempting just an echo of the self-giving of Jesus. But as we face a cost-of-living crisis with soaring bills and more, many of us are having to cut down on Christmas celebrations and presents this year.
Financial giving to charities or churches may be among the last things on our mind after gifts, gas and gravy. Each of us has to budget and plan with care and wisdom and that is between us and the Lord. But as you consider what and how you might give this Christmas and into 2023, remember that the Christian life is a life in the light of God’s glory. You share the eternal love of God as you receive from Jesus, and when you are generous and sacrificial, it is an overflow and expression of his giving to you.
Just as the very nature and glory of God is to spill over from eternal fullness of love and light, so it is the very nature of his people to give freely (Matt. 10:8). In whatever way you are able, give generously this Christmas: it is glorious.
*From On the Craft of Kingship, 1679, quoted in Blanning, T. The Pursuit of Glory: Europe 1648—1815, 562—563.
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Dr Daniel Hames
Daniel is Associate Vice President of Union and author, with Michael Reeves, of God Shines Forth: How the Nature of God Shapes and Drives the Mission of the Church. He also leads worship at St Aldates Church, Oxford.
