\u2018\u2026There’s glory for you!’\u00a0\u2018I don’t know what you mean by\u00a0glory<\/i>,’<\/b>\u00a0Alice said.\u00a0Humpty Dumpty smiled contemptuously. ‘Of course you don’t\u2026till I tell\u00a0you. I meant, “There’s a nice knock-down argument for you!” ‘ But\u00a0glory<\/i>\u00a0doesn’t mean “a nice knock-down argument,”‘ Alice objected. When I use a word,’ Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, ‘it means just what I choose it to mean, neither more nor less.’ So wrote Lewis Carroll in his,\u00a0Alice Through the Looking Glass<\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n The word\u00a0glory<\/i>\u00a0is complex in its meaning<\/b>, and not least in the Bible and its reference to the\u00a0glory of God<\/i>. In a Bible text that has been foundational for my ministry we read:\u00a0We do not proclaim ourselves; we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as your slaves for Jesus\u2019 sake.\u00a0<\/i>For it is the God who said, \u2018Let light shine out of darkness\u2019, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ<\/i><\/b>\u00a0(2 Corinthians 4:5-6).<\/span><\/p>\n Dr. Ashley Null, whose work involves high-level research into the life and work of Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury during the reigns of Henry VIII and Edward VI, makes this comment about Cranmer\u2019s understanding of humanity:\u00a0What the heart loves, the will chooses, and the mind justifies\u2026\u2019<\/i><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n In an interview in Sydney in 2001, he further noted that Cranmer said,\u00a0\u2018The trouble with human nature is that we are born with a heart that loves ourselves over and above everything else in this world, including God\u2026\u00a0<\/b>If left to ourselves, we will always love those things that make us feel good about ourselves, even as we depart more and more from God and his ways.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n Why we don\u2019t believe.\u00a0<\/b>In 2 Corinthians 4:3-4, Paul tells us:\u00a0The god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n While some say that\u00a0the god of this world\u00a0<\/i>is a reference to the powers of evil, it makes more sense to understand it as,\u00a0\u2018the god who consists of this age\u2019. To become preoccupied with the material things of this world blinds us to the spiritual realities of the next. Malcolm Muggeridge, a former editor of\u00a0Punch<\/i>\u00a0magazine observed,\u00a0men and women are trapped \u2018in a tiny dark dungeon of the ego\u2026 So imprisoned and enslaved, we are cut off from God and from the light of his love.\u2019<\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Surely we are all in the same boat as far as spiritual things are concerned \u2013 including the apostle Paul.\u00a0\u00a0We are all spiritually blind.<\/span><\/p>\n 2 Corinthians 4:6 tells us what God has done:\u00a0<\/i>For it is the God who said, \u2018Let light shine out of darkness\u2019, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ<\/i><\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n Paul\u2019s imagery here is a reference to Genesis 1:3:\u00a0And God said, \u2018Let there be light\u2019, and there was light<\/i>.<\/b>\u00a0It is a powerful and encouraging image. Turning from unbelief to belief involves an act of divine initiative as awesome and as powerful as the act of creation.\u00a0God says to our hearts, \u2018Let there be light\u2019 and there is light \u2013 and from that moment a new world begins.<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n We cannot truly love God unless he supernaturally changes our hearts.<\/b>\u00a0In the opening prayer in the Anglican\u00a0Book of Common Prayer<\/i>\u00a0there is a Prayer for Purity where we pray:\u00a0Almighty God \u2026\u00a0Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love you, and worthily magnify your holy name, through Christ our Lord.<\/i><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n To quote Dr. Ashley Null again:\u00a0\u2018For Cranmer, the glory of God is to love the unworthy \u2013 that\u2019s Cranmer\u2019s fundamental theological tenet\u2026\u2019<\/b>\u00a0The sign of God\u2019s mercy in our life is when we respond to the news of God\u2019s mercy found in the Lord Jesus Christ. In knowing Jesus, we see the glory of God and the light of his truth. We see meaning and purpose to our life. We experience the hope of the glory yet to come.<\/span><\/p>\n Furthermore, as we pray that God might be merciful to our friends, and as we play our part in introducing them to Jesus Christ, we can have every expectation that some at least will come to see the light of God in Jesus Christ. We need not despair.\u00a0God never forgets his promises.<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n \u00a9 John G. Mason<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" GLORY \u2018\u2026There’s glory for you!’\u00a0\u2018I don’t know what you mean by\u00a0glory,’\u00a0Alice said.\u00a0Humpty Dumpty smiled contemptuously. ‘Of course you don’t\u2026till I tell\u00a0you. I meant, “There’s a nice knock-down argument for you!” ‘ But\u00a0glory\u00a0doesn’t mean “a nice knock-down argument,”‘ Alice objected. When I use a word,’ Humpty Dumpty said in rather a scornful tone, ‘it means just […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1405,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1404","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-word-on-wednesday"],"yoast_head":"\nOUR PROBLEM<\/span><\/h2>\n
HOW THEN DOES ANYONE COME TO BELIEVE?\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n
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