THE LORD OF GLORY

Which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the LORD of GLORY – 1 Corinthians 2:8

Our Lord Jesus Christ is the God of Glory, the King of Glory, and the LORD of GLORY, titles that are much too great for any creature. The Lord of Glory implies the inseparable connection of Christ’s humanity and divinity. Only the Creator is worthy of this unique title! As the Lord of Glory, Jesus possesses all glorious perfections, and is the brightness of His Father's glory, and the express Image of His person (Heb.1:3). He is the “Image of the invisible God” (Col.1:15). The same honour and glory are due to Him as to the Father; and the same ascriptions of glory are made to Him by angels and men. However, Jesus is described by this title in two specific portions of the Scripture.

First, Paul wrote concerning the mystery of Christ’s incarnation and crucifixion: “Which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the LORD of GLORY (1Cor.2:8). The “Lord of glory” stands in striking contrast to the ignominy of the crucifixion! If the princes of this age had so known it, as to have believed and been persuaded of it, they would never have nailed to the cross the Head, Fountain, and Lord of Glory. Not one of the many spiritual principalities, powers or demonic rulers would have empowered and emboldened the religious leaders of the Jews or the emissaries of the Roman government to crucify the Lord of Glory, if they had known the great and eternal victory that His death would have over the spiritual and natural realms. By His sacrificial death and glorious resurrection, He defeated sin, Satan, death and hell forever. Even now, He is the unparalleled Author of Glory to those who believe.

The second use of the term is in an unusual sentence construction in which James linked the word glory with the name of Jesus: “My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality” (Jam.2:1). Here, the words “Lord of glory” have assumed alternate renditions, either as “Our glorious Lord” or as “Jesus Christ, who is the glory.” In Jesus we see the full manifestation of the majesty of God. According to this second viewpoint, Jesus is the Shekinah, which in the Old Testament, was the visible manifestation of the invisible God. The Shekinah was a radiant cloud or brilliant light within a cloud that signalled the immediate Presence of God. For Jesus to be identified with the Shekinah was to be equated with the Presence of God Himself.

The greatest and ultimate display of God’s Glory on earth is demonstrated in the Person of His Son – the LORD of GLORY! At His birth, angels proclaimed ‘Glory’ as they hovered over shepherd’s fields in Bethlehem: “Glory to God in the highest…” (Lk.2:14). At the age of thirty He came to the Jordan to be baptized and there His Father declared audibly, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Mt.3:17b). Later, Jesus took Peter, James, and John into a mountain and there His face was transfigured and shone with the Glory of the Father. Matthew described this transcendental glory in his account of the transfiguration, saying, “His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light” (Mt.17:2b).

"God, who at various times and in different ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through 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 words of His power…” (Heb.1:1-3a). The angels sang “Glory to God” at the Saviour’s birth. The heavenly elders give glory to God around His throne (Rev.4:9-11). It is your turn to access the mysteries of Glory and the reality of Jesus as the LORD of GLORY!