The Glory God Gave To Us

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VSPACE="0">Home</B></U></A></div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" BGCOLOR="#CCCC99" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="1bb94943.jpg"> <div> <I><B>The Glory God Gave To Us</B></I></div> <bR> <div> <I>John 17:22 "And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one."</I></div> <bR> <div> The first step is to determine what this glory is that he's talking about in John 17.</div> <bR> <div> John 17:1-4 (Read). Christ is talking about a greater glory of His father; talking about the future-- Heb.2:10 (Read). He's praying as a mediator--17:20 for us.</div> <bR> <div> <I>John 17:5: And now, O father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.</I></div> <bR> <div> This verse is to be admitted as being difficult--we must proceed carefully and allow scripture to interpret scripture.</div> <bR> <div>       <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#CC0033" FACE="Times New Roman" > A.) Determining the overall theme of John 17 is step one</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <B>     </B>      1.) The Theme Is Prayer</div> <bR> <div>                 a.) v. 1-5 for himself</div> <div>                 b.) v. 6-19 for immediate disciples</div> <div>                 c.) v. 20-26 for disciples yet to come</div> <bR> <div>         2.) It shows Jesus becoming our great High Priest, intercessor, and mediator. The one who was baptized in water for us, the one who would die for us, is the same who was praying for man here.</div> <bR> <div>         <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#CC0033" FACE="Times New Roman" > B.) With this in mind, we will turn to the verse itself</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <I>              1.) The word "world" is our first concern; the Greek involved is "kosmos."</I></div> <bR> <div>          The context shows the meaning to be, "the order of things on earth as determined by the people; man's world system which began after the fall of Adam." See John 17:6-9,14,21,23;3:16; 2 Peter 3:6--in each "kosmos" is translated "world", in KJV. The word is clearly speaking of people.</div> <bR> <div> <I>            2.) How then did Christ have glory before the people?</I></div> <bR> <div>                   a.) Apparently, Jesus is speaking as Adam--mankind, and asking God to restore that glory he, Adam, had with God before the fall and before the world system. Fellowship was broken at the fall and the glory was lost; Christ is praying as man for its restoration.</div> <bR> <div>                    b.) "Glorify me" = glorify mankind in and through Christ so that man can dwell in God's presence, in close fellowship with Him.</div> <bR> <div>                    c.) Christ is recalling to God's mind His original intent for man; it was for man to have God's glory, image and likeness.</div> <bR> <div>                    d.) Possibility: Christ is speaking here as logos (word or plan) made flesh, and this would show the logos seeking to be restored to the position of John 1:1, "toward God". The logos is God's plan, purpose and will that He purposed in the beginning before the fall of mankind--to be in unbroken fellowship with Him in His Glory.</div> <bR> <div> <I>         John 17:5 (Greek), "And now glorify me you Father besides yourself in the glory which I had before the world was besides you."</I></div> <bR> <div>          Jesus here prays for his disciples. He asks the Father to glorify him with the glory which he had besides the Father before the world was-- the world system, not the earth. What was the glory that Jesus had then? It was the glory of him being the prototype, the medium of the spiritual creation, the Lamb slain for the sins of the world, so that the saints will be born. He had the glory of the last Adam who is the head of mankind. He was the center of all existence, the center of the plan and purpose of God. He prayed this prayer so that what God foreordained him to be, and so, by foreknowledge, to come to pass which it did. Christ says, "AND NOW GLORIFY ME FATHER" and that was just prior to his crucifixion.</div> <bR> <div>          Christ was praying that the purpose and will which God made in him before the foundation of the world would come to pass just as it did. He was praying to become that Lamb slain before the foundation of the world. He was praying that he should become the beginning of the first born, the beginning of this new creation, that he will accomplish his role as the last Adam which God purposed in him. He was praying to be faithful to the end so that he would really be the character of the real self of God.</div> <bR> <div>          And God heard his prayer. Jesus suffered, was crucified, and died. He became the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world. He was resurrected and ascended on high so he was heard in that he became the first born, the image and likeness of God, the Word of God that accomplished the will of the Father.</div> <bR> <div>          Now when all are subject to the son, when all the saints have been made into his image and likeness which is the image and likeness of the Father, when all principalities and powers are subjected under his feet and even death is conquered, then the son himself will subject himself to the Father and</div> <div> ( 1 Cor.15:28) he will surrender all to God the Father so that He, God the Father, would be all in all.</div> <bR> <div> The First And The Last Adam</div> <bR> <div>          In Genesis 2:7 we see how God created Adam, the ancestor of all man, and Eve (Gen.2:21,22) Adam's wife who is the mother of all men. The first Adam is the physical, the first physical man whom God created, so that the rest of mankind will be born through them.</div> <bR> <div>          Adam was created with the capability of sin and so was Eve, but he was perfect when he was created, that is without sin or any bent to sin. He had perfect communion and relationship with God before he sinned and therefore the power to remain sinless. When Adam sinned, he sinned willfully against God so after that point the unbroken communication was lost, the power to remain sinless was lost (because there was not the pure connection with God anymore) so consequently, he became vulnerable to sin and separation from the Holy God.</div> <bR> <div>          As mankind increased, he inherited the bent toward sin so actually there was not one man to be found in the stage of communion and fellowship that Adam had before he sinned. Nevertheless God provided redemption through the lamb sacrifices, repentance, keeping of the Law, the shadows and the types, etc.. (which all pointed to the antitype who is Christ himself).</div> <bR> <div>          The first Adam was earthly and failed to keep himself sinless although he had the potentials. He was tried and failed and with him failed each and every man including us.</div> <bR> <div>          Now for God to buy back mankind from the grip of Satan, sin and death, there had to be a MAN to take the place of Adam again, and who would live perfect, holy, undefiled, without ever sinning against God, to die the perfect death in the stead of every man so then we by faith in his death, and by faith, and by faith to God that He accepted this sacrifice, we will attain salvation and total redemption from the power of Satan and the second death.</div> <bR> <div>          The point that we are interested in is this, that God had to somehow create a man with the exact potential that Adam had when he was created, so that mankind will have another chance, if we could say, to be tried in the face of this new Adam, so that the communion and the fellowship with God will be restored. (We must keep in mind that God by foreknowledge knew all this and He had already provided the solution before He even started to create.)</div> <bR> <div>          There had to be a pure man to do the job. It had to be a man that lived a holy life and to be an example for the rest. He had to have the potential to sin, have trials, difficulties, suffering, etc.. If not, how would we, puny little men with all kinds of bents toward sin, troubles, trials, difficulties, defects, spiritual and physical, be able to do what he did? How would we be expected to do the same things that he did and live the kind of life that he did?  James 1:13 (Read) God is not tempted, go through trials, etc. the man, Christ did, Heb.4:15.</div> <bR> <div>          So we see that God indeed created another Adam, the last Adam, the man Christ Jesus. He was born of God Himself and of the virgin Mary. God created the first Adam out of the dust, but the last Adam He created out of Himself. God created a seed out of Himself, with His own characteristics in it, and placed it, by His Spirit, in Mary's womb. At the same time, He selected the best genes and chromosomes out of Mary and combined them with the male seed which God created out of Himself and thus, the LAST ADAM WAS BORN.</div> <bR> <div>          This way Christ had the same potential that Adam had when he was created, because Christ's Father was God Himself, so he had the same characteristics as his Father. God could not create the last Adam out of the earth as He did with the first Adam, not just because God decided so (although this is sufficient reason) but also because Christ had to be born from the line of David. He had to identify perfectly with his brethren. He had to be accepted by his nation as a normal son of their own, and also he had to have a "normal" birth, just as everybody else, so that humility and trust to God will be maintained by those who heard him. The purpose was that the people would see God in the man Christ. If he was an extraordinary extra- terrestrial being, without birth, with no mother, father, brethren, he would be a stumblingblock against those who hated the truth, and the truth would not have been hidden as it was hidden by Christ (because they thought he was just a man), but rather he naturally would cause everybody's attention and there would be no trying of the spirits and of the hearts of men.</div> <bR> <div>          By this act which we read in Matthew 1 and Luke 1, God created the man Christ Jesus with an unfallen nature, to be tried, to be tested, in all points as we, who was found perfect and sinless as we read in Hebrews 5:7-9. Heb.5:7 "who in the days of his flesh whom he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save HIM FROM DEATH and was heard in that he feared."</div> <bR> <div>          Christ was crying with strong tears to be saved out of the second death. We know that because the verse says that "and was heard (Greek) because of his piety." If Jesus was praying to be delivered from the first death and he was heard because of his piety, he should not have died at all. So we see that he prayed to be delivered from the second death, and indeed God heard him and resurrected him the third day, so he never tasted eternal separation from God.</div> <bR> <div>          If Jesus cried with strong tears to be delivered from the second death, it means that he was truly facing the second death, and that was because he was going to legally become sin, to take all the world's sin upon him. The wages of sin is death, and eternal punishment, so Christ was really and actually facing this very thing-- because he was a true, actual, genuine man.</div> <bR> <div>          Now when we believe in Jesus and his work of redemption for us, we are born again (born from above)-- just as the last Adam was-- and we become a new creation in Jesus Christ.</div> <bR> <div>          This born again experience in people's hearts which started at the time of the apostles and later on, the birth from above, the new creation, is what God had planned from the beginning by His foreknowledge.</div> <bR> <div>          In God's plan and purpose the spiritual creation was first but in actuality God had to created the earthly Adam first that He might gain the last Adam and his followers at the end. So technically we would say that the actual creation started after people believed in Jesus Christ and were born again by the Spirit of God. That was the time when God started to create man in His image and likeness.</div> <bR> <div> The New Creation</div> <bR> <div> <I>         James 1:18 "Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures."</I></div> <bR> <div>          The begetting of the people of God through the word of truth, James calls it "A KIND of first fruits of his creatures." "First fruit" means the first to ripen which indicates the rest as well, but presupposes that in time these fruits that are ripe first are the first ones in time and then the later ones will follow.</div> <bR> <div>         <B> </B><FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#663300" FACE="Times New Roman" ><B>Let's See Now What Kind Of First Fruit Creatures We Are</B></FONT></div> <bR> <div> <I>         Galatians 6:15 (Greek), "For nor circumcision is anything, nor uncircumcision, but new creation."</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>         2 Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore if any man be in Christ he is (Greek) NEW CREATION. Old things are passed away, behold all things are become new."</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>         Colossians 1:18 "And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the first born from the dead."</I></div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Times New Roman" >         </FONT>Christ is the beginning of what?<FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Times New Roman" > Based on the scriptures, we know that he is the beginning of this new creation, because he is the first born from the dead.</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <I>         Hebrews 12:22,23 "But ye are come unto mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels. To (the general assembly) and CHURCH OF THE FIRSTBORN WHICH ARE WRITTEN IN HEAVEN and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect."</I></div> <bR> <div>          The whole church of Jesus Christ are the first born that we are talking about, this new creation is the creation of the firstborn after the last Adam now and not after the old Adam.</div> <bR> <div> <I>         Ephesians 2:10 "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them."</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>         Ephesains 2:15 "Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the Law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make (Greek = to build) IN HIMSELF OF TWAIN ONE NEW MAN, so making peace."</I></div> <bR> <div>          When did this happen? Upon the cross of Calvary actually, but as we read in Colossians 1 this new man was already foreseen by God in Christ Jesus before the creation of this world.</div> <bR> <div> <I>         Ephesians 4:24 "And that ye put on the NEW MAN which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness."</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>         Colossians 3:10 "And have put on the NEW MAN which is renewed in the knowledge AFTER THE IMAGE OF HIM THAT CREATED HIM."</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>         Revelation 3:14 "....These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, THE BEGINNING OF THE CREATION OF GOD."</I></div> <bR> <div>          God started this new creation from Jesus Christ. He is the beginning of this new creation.</div> <bR> <div> <I>         Colossians 1:18 "And he is the head of the body, the church, WHO IS THE BEGINNING, the first born from the dead."</I></div> <bR> <div>          He is the beginning of this body of believers, of the church, of the bride. He is the head.</div> <bR> <div> <I>         Romans 8:29 "For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son, that HE MIGHT BE THE FIRST BORN AMONG MANY BRETHREN."</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>         Colossians 1:15 "WHO IS THE IMAGE OF THE INVISIBLE GOD, THE FIRST BORN OF EVERY CREATURE."</I></div> <bR> <div>          Colossians 1:12-16:</div> <bR> <div>          Vs.12,13: "Kingdom of his dear son" This phrase speaks of God's accomplishment in Christ; without the man Christ Jesus, God's kingdom could not come into existence. There had to be a perfect man, the spotless lamb of God. In a limited sense, it is the son's kingdom, but in reality ultimately it is God's.</div> <bR> <div>          V.14: "In whom" = son of v.13. We see that the Father delivered us by manifesting Himself in the flesh (His son) and allowing the flesh to die as the sin sacrifice; then God raised it up and glorified it, i.e. he was God's permanent dwelling place, and now in his glorified body all the authority, power, and fulness of God are found.</div> <bR> <div>          V.15 "Image" = EIKON ( 2 Cor.4:4), "First born of every creature" is better rendered "first born of all creation."</div> <bR> <div>          Not first born in the sense of time. Notice, it says firstborn of all creation, and the creation was not born, but created. And if Christ was the first to be born of all creation, that implies the creation was born also, not created.</div> <bR> <div>          This emphasizes the figurative nature of the description-- time is not in view. We see clearly Jesus was not born before the creation of the world; he was born on earth as man in 6-4 B.C.</div> <bR> <div>          Psalms 89:26,27 "I will make"-- future tense-- first born still in the future at the time of Psalms.</div> <bR> <div>          First born refers to his position as man; in Bible times, the first born son received the birthright, took the father's position, authority, became head of the family, also had the greatest inheritance. See Matt.21:33-44; Eph.1:17-23.</div> <bR> <div>          Jesus, after giving himself to redeem man, was raised from the dead, exalted by his Father (Phil.2:9-11), and was given the power and authority of his Father. See also Psalms 118:16; Mark 14:62.</div> <bR> <div>          Jesus is called the first born among many brethren (Rom.8:29; John 1:11-13).</div> <bR> <div>          The first born refers to Jesus as man and then as God manifest in the flesh. As man-- first man begotten of God ( John 3:16,18; 1 John 4:9); as God-- God manifested Himself in all fulness in His son, and thus gave him power, authority, glory, and exalted him (Isaiah 2:10,11;42:8; Phil.2:9-11).</div> <bR> <div>          Therefore Jesus is in a position of preeminence over all of God's work; also shows Jesus as the first of a new creation-- it is a new race which proceeds from the last Adam, the first born of all creation. Read v.18.</div> <bR> <div>          V.16: "Him" refers to "son" of v.13; "By" = EN (in), second "by" = dia (through); "for" = eis (into). "For in him were all things created"-- he is the first born "Because" or "for" in him were all things created.</div> <bR> <div>          Since the reference is to the first born, we must note the creator is the one who gives the inheritance, not the first born who receives it. So God gave it to the son, Christ, the first born.</div> <bR> <div>          In the plan and purpose of God, it was in Christ that God could fulfill His plan of bringing man into His image and likeness. The whole reason God created the heavens and earth was to have sons of God through and in Jesus Christ; thus all creation was in him. Jesus = center of God's plan.</div> <bR> <div>          God knows the beginning from the end; before Adam was created, God knew he would fall, and God knew Christ was the only one who could and would redeem man-- all centers in him. God's plan is being accomplished in Christ. (Gen.1:26)</div> <bR> <div>          "Created through him and into him"-- further reference to the plan and purpose of God. Read and compare Romans 11:30-36 which speaks of the Father.</div> <bR> <div>          11:36: "Of him" = EK = "out of him"; "through him" is correct; "to him" = eis = "into him." Here is shown God as the source of all (out of him), but then the "through" and "into" can have definite reference to Jesus Christ. In the beginning it's God alone (out of), then with God manifest in the flesh it became "through" and "into."</div> <bR> <div>          One God, source of all things, carrying out his plan in, into, an through Jesus Christ, his only begotten son; the first born who is God manifest in the flesh. Now all things were created through him as God manifest in the flesh, because God created all things that He might have sons of God coming through Christ. See John 14:6 (by = through), 2 Cor.5:17; Eph.2:10; 2 Tim.1:9,10 (by in v.10 = through). Acts 2:23; 1 Cor.2:7 (Christ = wisdom of God--1 Cor.1:24-30; Eph.3:9-11), Titus 1:2,3; 1 Peter 1:19-21 (by in verse 21 = through).</div> <bR> <div>          "Into" emphasizes Christ as the mold into which we are poured (Romans 8:29).</div> <bR> <div> <I>         Colossians 2:10 "And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power."</I></div> <bR> <div> <I>         1 John 1:1 "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have see with our eyes which we have looked upon and our hands have handled, of THE WORD OF LIFE."</I></div> <bR> <div>          God wanted this new creation so much, He wanted saints in His image and likeness. In other words, He wants to reproduce Himself in us so when He sees us He will see Himself.</div> <bR> <div>          Christ is the beginning of all this. Before the world began even God created Christ already as the beginning and the prototype of His saints. By foreknowledge saw him, and loved him because he was going to be the only one to totally please His heart. He was the one through whom everything else would come to pass, and especially the saints. So Christ from the beginning before even the world began had his glory as the firstborn son, the perfect, prototype, as the medium, the cause of the spiritual creation in God's plan. God predestinated us to be conformed to the image of his son, marked out before hand, by His foreknowledge.</div> <bR> <div>          So in John 17 Christ is speaking as the last Adam, as a mediator, in the place of mankind, praying that man be restored and God's plan be fulfilled. That the plan of God, before the fall, be fulfilled through what Christ is going to do on the cross, etc.. That through Christ many sons be brought into the glory that God intended for man before the fall. I in them and thou in me that God and Christ make man into the image and likeness of God. Christ being produced in us to bring man back to the place God intended man to be; that unbroken fellowship with God. To have fellowship with the Father and son ( 1 John 1:3) that we may be one with them. That God the Father and His son dwell in us to manifest the glory of God.</div> <bR> <div>          The man praying for the glory to be restored, as it was before the foundation of the world, the world system-- the fall of the first Adam.</div> <bR> <div> Some Things Involved In This Glory That He Gave Us</div> <bR> <div>          1.) The power, authority, revelation, love, mercy, boldness and comfort that Christ received from God. Christ gave these to us through the power of the Holy Spirit.</div> <bR> <div>          2.) As man he receives something from God; he received from God that very essence and nature of God-- His love, authority, mercy, etc.. And we can receive this as we abide in Christ.</div> <bR> <div>          3.) This was the glory of Christ that he could love others as God-- be forgiving, merciful, etc... We can do the same.</div> <bR> <div>          4.) The glory of the resurrected power as we suffer with Christ (Phil.3:10). There is the glory of resurrected power. This is available to those that are crucified with Christ; he is the pattern to follow. This is the fulfillment of Gen.1:26 to have dominion, authority, God's heart, His likeness as we die to self and come to the cross of Christ. Being made conformable into his death or sufferings.</div> <bR> <div>          5.) But more than that it is the glory Christ received at his ascension. And we at our ascension-- the Rapture. The fulfillment 1 John 3:2; Col.3:4. We are made one with his suffering and one in his glory. If we suffer with him, we will reign with him in the Millennium and the new heaven and new earth ( 2 Tim.2:12; Rev.2:27). This is when Gen.1:26 will be completed, but remember there is a spiritual counterpart in the manchild in the last days.</div> <bR> <div> How Did He Find This Glory?</div> <bR> <div>          Phil.2:5-10: He did not use this for his own glory as they did in Matt.7:21-23. This is why it is important to have the likeness (the heart of God) with the image. If we have the authority, etc.. without the heart of God, we will use it for our own gain. Christ has prayed for us to make it as he did; he is our intercessor, our mediator (Rom.8:34). Christ is responsible for man, until he delivers up the kingdom that God may be all in all ( 1 Cor.15:24-28).</div> <bR> <div>          He has taken the place of Adam who was suppose to take dominion, but now Christ has the responsibility and will do so in the Millennium, but now he is doing it from heaven, in the church, as he works through man. Man was given dominion over earth but Adam fell-- God left it in man's hand.</div> <bR> <div>          This glory is yet to come 1 Cor.15:39-44; 2 Cor.4:17,18; Col.3:4. We can enjoy this right now by faith, by the joy in the Holy Spirit 1 Peter 1:8. Col.1:27 even now in the midst of the suffering of this life, we have the hope of glory in Christ.</div> <bR> <div>          God wants this glory in His church. His church is on earth, so this glory is for here on earth.</div> <bR> <div> Eph.3:16-21 (Read) This passes our knowledge. Heb.2:10-12 (Read) If we despise the suffering, we hinder the perfection process. Through Christ many sons can now be brought unto glory. It's through Christ that the fulfillment of God's plan will come into it's completeness. Rom.8:14-21 (Read) we will be glorified w/ him "if" we suffer with him. Christ made the way by what he did on the cross.</div> <bR> <div> Rom.9:22-24 (Read) God had afore prepared unto glory. Adam had the potential for this but he fell, now through Christ we are to receive this glory. This glory is God the Father dwelling in us as he was in Christ-- God wants the world to see the glory of Himself in us, as it was in Christ.</div> <bR> <div>          1 Thess.2:12 That ye would walk worthy of God, who hath called you unto his kingdom and glory.</div> <bR> <div>          1 Thess. 2:20 For ye are our glory and joy.</div> <bR> <div>          1 Tim. 1:11 According to the glorious gospel of the blessed God. (Lit. gospel of the glory) the gospel = good news, this is the good news that Christ has made the way back to the glory of God, His presence-- that unbroken fellowship and communion as we abide in Christ.</div> <bR> <div>          2 Thess.2:14 Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. So we are called to receive this glory that Christ had with his Father.</div> <bR> <div>          Heb.1:3 Christ was the brightness of his glory. We are in Christ, and we will become the brightness of God's glory to manifest throughout the earth as Christ did.</div> <bR> <div>          It's God and Christ working together to bring us into the image and likeness of God. Christ was the image of the invisible God (Col.1:15), and we are being brought into the image of the invisible God; as we are in Christ, we are changed from glory to glory ( 2 Cor.3:18) into the same image.</div> <bR> <div>          How is God going to get His glory in the church? Through the saints-- through the sanctified saints. Sanctified, to be holy, holiness is a state of God's essence expressed. This is a promise for us here on earth Matt.5:48 be ye holy as your father in heaven is holy-- be ye perfect. Having the Spirit of God operating through you, being like God to others-- being His representative.</div> <bR> <div>          1 Tim.3:16 great is the mystery of godliness or god-like-ness: God was manifest in the flesh,.... God wants us to manifest Him in the flesh, as Christ did. 1 John 3:1 Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Romans 8:19-23 the whole creation is groaning waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God. This is what Christ was praying about, that the sons of God would manifest God's glory or love, authority, power, mercy, etc.. in a fullness. All men will say, these are truly the sons of God. They will wonder what manner of love, etc.. this is that they have.</div> <bR> <div>          Eph.5:27 A glorious church without spot, etc.. Rev.19:7 His wife has made herself ready. When we become one with the love (agape) of God, the world will truly know the love of the Father. 1 John 4:18 our love needs to be perfected, how? By loving others with this agape, 1 John 4:12, for God is love, 1 John 4:16,17. How is God's love perfected? By us loving each other, His love is being perfected in us. This is the glory of God that He can get fallen man to love one another with an agape love-- unconditional, sacrificing love. This would be a miracle of God!</div> <bR> <div>          1 John 3:18,19 Let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth. He wants our love to be expressed in deed-- this is agape love. So this glory involves many things, but one important ingredient is the agape of God manifested through His saints. And this can only be done because of what Christ has done on the cross. So the last Adam finished the work that the first Adam was to do, and now we can do that work of perfecting God's love, mercy, authority, grace, etc.. through what Christ did on the cross. The last Adam has brought restoration (or at least the vehicle to bring restoration) to mankind.</div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div>   <SCRIPT language=JavaScript src="http://counter.mycomputer.com/get_counter.html?u=jshelton&c=18"> </SCRIPT> <NOSCRIPT> <a href="http://counter.mycomputer.com/"><img alt="Counter" src="http://counter.mycomputer.com/c.count?u=jshelton&c=18" border=0></a> </NOSCRIPT>   </div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="id42_m.htm" TITLE="The Glory God Gave To Us"><U>Back to Top</U></A></div> </td> </tr></table></body>