What was the greatest manifestation of God’s glory in human history? Some might assume that it was when the glory of the Lord appeared on Mount Sinai. Others might say that it was perhaps when the glory of God filled the Temple upon its dedication. Still others might say that it was revealed in some of the marvelous visions given to Isaiah, Daniel, or Ezekiel.

Indeed, Isaiah, Daniel, and Ezekiel did see marvelous displays that demonstrated the glory of God. But far greater than all these tremendous expressions was the manifestation of God’s glory revealed in the coming of His Beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. In describing Christ’s incarnation, the Apostle John recorded, “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).

For a few wondrous years, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of Glory, lived and walked among men. During His incarnation, the earthly was privileged to behold the Heavenly. When Jesus was born in the village of Bethlehem, the shepherds were astonished as “the glory of the Lord shone round about them” (Luke 2:9). On that particular night, the starry skies above the Judean fields were illuminated with a glory far brighter than the brightest star as the heavens were filled with a tremendous army of Heavenly messengers saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men” (Luke 2:14).

When the infant Christ was placed into the arms of the aged Simeon, Simeon called Jesus “A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel” (Luke 2:32). Throughout His earthly ministry, Jesus constantly was aware that He was the ultimate manifestation of God’s glory to men.

At the beginning of His public ministry, Jesus performed His first miracle in Cana of Galilee. According to John 2:11, “This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him.”

Jesus often spoke of God’s glory. He was fully conscious of the fact that His mission on earth was to glorify His Father. According to John 8:50, Jesus said, “I seek not mine own glory.” He taught His disciples to pray, “Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory” (Matthew 6:13). Even in prayer, Jesus desires us to keep the glory of God constantly in our hearts.

After the healing of the palsied cripple who was let down through the roof into the crowded house, the recorded response in Scripture was typical of so many of the miracles of Jesus. According to Matthew 9:8, “But when the multitudes saw it, they marvelled, and glorified God, which had given such power unto men.”

On the Mount of Transfiguration, Peter, James, and John were privileged to witness the visible transformation of the lowly carpenter from Nazareth as He was transfigured before them. Matthew recorded that “his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light” (Matthew 17:2). According to Luke’s Gospel, these three disciples “saw his glory” (Luke 9:32).

The glory of the Lord manifested in Christ on the Mount of Transfiguration was a sight that these men never forgot for the rest of their lives. Many years later, the Apostle Peter recorded, “For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount” (II Peter 1:16–18). A man who once sees the glory of God is forever transformed by the event.

When Lazarus died, Jesus said, “This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby” (John 11:4). Jesus taught in this event a very practical lesson: In every circumstance, whether good or bad, we should be seeking the glory of God. When a loved one dies, do you seek God’s glory in that sad event? Understanding the glory of God lifts our eyes from our own loss to see the way that God might be glorified in this sorrowful time. When Martha, weeping over the death of her brother Lazarus, objected to removing the stone from his tomb, Jesus asked her, “Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?” (John 11:40). Christ then proceeded to reveal God’s glory by restoring life to the dead man!

Where is the glory of God found? It is found wherever Christ is. Even the dark, gloomy tomb can be a place of glory when Christ is there! We should learn to view every sickness, every sorrow, every burden, every stormy sea, and even death itself in the light of God’s glory. After all, it was in the storm that the disciples saw the Lord walking on the troubled waters. In that dark night and the threatening danger of the storm, they beheld the glory of the Lord!

Did you know that Jesus prayed that you would see and share in this same glory? According to John 17:24, He prayed for you: “Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.”

One day, we will see the Son of Man in His glory. Jesus often encouraged His disciples with the knowledge that one day, although He was despised and rejected on earth, He would be seated in the glory of His Father. He told them, “When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory” (Matthew 25:31).

Take a moment now and thank God for sending His Son to reveal His glory to us. The writer of Hebrews expressed well this revelation that we have been given of God’s glory: “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, 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; 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, emphasis added). Just as the disciples were changed by beholding the glory of God revealed in Jesus Christ, so we also should be transformed by His abiding presence today.