Have you ever thought about what thrills your soul the most? Perhaps it’s a great meal or maybe it’s watching your favorite team win a close football game. Now while these things are nice in themselves, as a Christian they simply can’t compare to meditating on the blazing brilliance of Christ’s glory. Pastor John MacArthur expressed this thought well when he said: “Why would we spend our lives being amused by the dim hue of the television when we could be breathlessly enraptured in the blazing brilliance of Christ’s glory? Let us keep our eyes on Christ, the Author and Perfecter of the faith. In so doing, we will have little appetite for the fading illusions of this passing world.”1
Just how awesome is this glory can be seen in the Old Testament from an amazing portion of Scripture. For we read:
“And it came to pass when the priests came out of the Most Holy Place (for all the priests who were present had sanctified themselves, without keeping to their divisions), and the Levites who were the singers, all those of Asaph and Heman and Jeduthun, with their sons and their brethren, stood at the east end of the altar, clothed in white linen, having cymbals, stringed instruments and harps, and with them one hundred and twenty priests sounding with trumpets—indeed it came to pass, when the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the Lord, and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and praised the Lord, saying: ‘For He is good, For His mercy endures forever,’ that the house, the house of the Lord, was filled with a cloud, so that the priests could not continue ministering because of the cloud; for the glory of the Lord filled the house of God.” (2 Chronicles 5:11-14).
Just what is this glory that was so amazing that the priests could no longer continue to minister, obviously because, in the words of John MacArthur, they were “breathlessly enraptured in the blazing brilliance of Christ’s glory.” This glory has been described by many as the visible appearance of the beauty, perfection, and holiness of the Lord reduced to blazing light. We see examples of this glory when Moses encountered God in a burning bush in Midian, when the tabernacle and temple were dedicated, and when the people were led by a pillar of fire and cloud. Clearly in these appearances God was revealing His righteousness, holiness, and grace. But the supreme manifestation of God’s glory is revealed in His Son – the Lord Jesus Christ.
My friends nothing can compare with coming face to face with the glory of the Lord. Creature amusements are nice and can entertain but when we encounter the glory of the Lord we sense something so out of this world that it will literally take your breathe away. God’s glory is the essence of who Jesus Christ is and when we enter into His presence in church or in private worship we will be “breathlessly enraptured in the blazing brilliance of Christ’s glory.”
1 Inspirational Quotes by John MacArthur – page 5 (bibleportal.com)