Bible Ballistics: BBs  #391   Glory To God In The Highest???

 

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” Luke 2:14

I know it’s just September, but any time is the time to praise God for the gift of HIS Son Jesus, who came that we might have salvation and abundant life; but “peace on earth”? And what about “good will toward men”? What about the “glory”? We see strife, hatred and conflict on every hand, and unequalled disasters going on all about us. Where’s the “peace”? Where’s the “glory”? Where’s the “good will”?

Well, the answer is simple—it is all found IN Jesus! He is the “glory” of God; He is the “peace” of God; He is the “good will” of God toward a lost and sinful people! He is all of this and more; it is why Jesus came, to purchase eternal life for man at Calvary, to offer the ‘new birth’ to all who will believe! Let’s peruse just a few of the scriptures that remind us of HIS glory, grace and love toward us, so you can rejoice with me today!!!

“God, who at sundry times

and in divers manners

spake in time past

unto the fathers

by the prophets,

2 Hath in these last days

spoken unto us

by his Son,

whom he hath appointed heir

of all things,

by whom also he made the worlds;

3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things

by the word of his power,

when he had by himself purged our sins,

sat down

on the right hand

of the Majesty on high;”    Hebrews 1:1-3

This very Son of God, came and took on flesh to pay the penalty for sin, for all who will come to Him in repentance and faith—trusting to His finished work on the cross to not only pay our ‘sin debt’, but also to impart to us the new birth, new life IN Him! Jesus came that we might “….have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” (See John 10:10) This one, who IS God, came to die for you and me. Even the prophet Daniel foretold of His position and glory, this ‘Son of Man’ and ‘Son of God’ who was promised by God The Father.

“I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. 14 And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.”   Daniel 7:13-14

He has the glory, and He shares His ‘glory’, His ‘peace’ and His ‘good will’ as ‘God with us’—with all who will believe and receive Him and His sacrificial, atoning death for sin.

“Grace and peace be multiplied unto you

through the knowledge of God,

and of Jesus our Lord,

3 According as his divine power hath given

unto us

all things

that pertain unto life

and godliness,

through the knowledge of him

that hath called us to glory

and virtue:

4 Whereby are given

unto us

exceeding great

and precious promises:

that by these

ye might be partakers

of the divine nature,

having escaped the corruption

that is in the world

through lust.”     2 Peter 1:2-4

Amen and Amen! What glorious gifts of grace and love The Father has bestowed upon us through The Son. But there’s even more—He gives us peace. Not only the peace ‘of’ God, but peace ‘with’ God, the restoration of relationship and fellowship of fallen mankind with The Holy God Almighty of the universe!

“Therefore being justified by faith,

we have peace with God

through our Lord Jesus Christ:

2 By whom also we have access

by faith

into this grace

wherein we stand,

and rejoice in hope

of the glory of God…

…5 And hope maketh not ashamed;

because the love of God

is shed abroad

in our hearts

by the Holy Ghost

which is given unto us.

6 For when we were yet without strength,

in due time

Christ died

for the ungodly.

7 For scarcely for a righteous man

will one die:

yet peradventure for a good man

some would even dare to die.

8 But God

commendeth his love

toward us,

in that,

while we were yet sinners,

Christ died for us.”    Romans 5:1-2, 5-8

Oh what a glory! Oh what joy we ought to have in our hearts and on our faces—Jesus has given us new life, the ‘hope of glory’, He has given us ‘peace with God’ and He has given us the ‘good will’ of God Almighty in His love:

“toward us,

in that,

while we were yet sinners,

Christ died for us.”

So friends, I rejoice again today and will repeat it endlessly, regardless of the season!!!

“Glory to God in the highest,

and on earth peace,

good will toward men.”

Amen and Amen. Won’t you rejoice with me today?