Question of the Week: What is Glory?

Some of the [Christmas] words have been worn out. Can you put "glory," "joy," "Messiah / Christ," etc. in today’s vernacular?
~ Don Kimrey

A wonderful Q&A theme for the Advent season is to revisit biblical definitions of these words. We'll insert the quintessential Christmas word "peace" for "etc.," and spread the answers out over four posts:

December 3: Glory
December 10: Joy / Rejoice
December 17: Peace
December 24: Messiah / Christ

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Photo courtesy of Sandra Heska King

Glory

The Bible uses no fewer than nine Hebrew and four Greek words which are translated "glory" in English. Both noun and verb forms of those words include familiar concepts such as splendor, majesty, grandeur, and especially dazzling light. But they also take in much more than the inherent beauty we commonly associate with glory.

The Bible's words for glory include praise, or boasting, as in the phrase "give glory." Some of the original language words' literal meanings include "ample" or "swell up"—because glory is always something huge. When we give glory, we are boasting in a showy way; we are magnifying God, or making Him bigger in the eyes of others.

Yet glory is even more than size. We think of it as abstract, but it has substance. The most common word for glory (Hebrew kâbôd) literally means "weight." However else we think of dazzling light and glory, we do not think of it as heavy. On the contrary, we attribute heaviness to the burden of suffering and affliction.

But the two usually go together. The greater the weight of affliction borne with faith, the greater the glory we give to God—and the greater the glory we lay up for ourselves. This is the concept described by Paul in 2 Corinthians 4:17:

For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.

Jesus exemplified this principle on behalf of us all. Yet He sought glory for only His Father, rather than for Himself, trusting that the Father would one day share that glory with His Son. It is this weight of glory—bound up in the weight of suffering—which we shall one day share with God.

But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone. For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.
~ Hebrews 2:9-10 (NKJV)

In the Old Testament, the presence of God was occasionally visible in His shekinah glory, or His visible glory. At Jesus birth, the glory of the Lord again became visible: God became man to manifest the dazzling light of His love; His shekinah glory shone around the angels who heralded His presence; and their message carried the weight of the cross and all its suffering, bound up in the name "Savior."

"For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord."
~ Luke 2:11 (NKJV)

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This post originally appeared at Bullets & Butterflies. To see comments posted there click here.

What questions do you have about Christianity or the Bible? You're invited to leave them in the comments below (anonymous questions welcome), or email buildingHisbody [plus] @ gmail.com

© 2010, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.

Intercourse of Fellowship

This post is part of a blog carnival hostessed by Bridget Chumbley. You're invited to visit her at "One Word at a Time" and see what others are saying about today's theme: Fellowship.

And the LORD God said,
"It is not good that man should be alone ..."
~ Genesis 2:18 (NKJV)

It’s said that a small child’s greatest fear is abandonment. We understand that one of the most subtle yet devastating forms of torture is to inflict solitary confinement on a person. The human spirit can rise above nearly any shared suffering—but it withers in the vacuum of loneliness.

So God created man in His own image;
in the image of God He created him;
male and female He created them.
~ Genesis 1:27 (NKJV)

The Bible speaks of fellowship with the Greek nouns metochē ("hold amid"; participation; intercourse) and koinōnia (social intercourse; communion). The latter word can include the meaning of completeness.

The Lord spoke the animals into existence. But the Creator's fellowship with people began by forming man with His hands, and then intimately breathing His life into this creature made in His own image.

Our human attributes unique to God's image include a free will which discerns morality and the ability to communicate logic. We are not simply social, as many animals are, but our souls are bound up with one another in communion. We are incomplete without one another, because we are made in the image of a God who created us for fellowship.

And they heard the sound of the LORD God
walking in the garden in the cool of the day ...
~ Genesis 3:8 (NKJV)

We share with our Creator the need for fellowship.

If God simply wanted worshipers, He needed only the angels. Yet there is something about a perfect God which seeks completeness through communion with puny humans—something which seeks to love and be loved.

We enjoy social intercourse with our Maker through His Word in the Bible, through His Holy Spirit in prayer, and through fellowship with His body of believers. Such intercourse is only a foreshadowing of the union we shall one day share with one another and with Him.

God says,
"Who draws near to Me an inch,
I will draw near to him an ell; *
and whoso walks to meet Me,
I will leap to meet him."
~ Eastern Proverb

[*ell is the length from elbow to middle finger's tip]

Lord of Heaven and Earth, who are we that You should desire our love? How great is Your love for us! May we delight to spend our days learning to love You.

I appreciate hearing from you. Questions are welcome. Reply to BuildingHisBody.com comments or e-mail me—my address is
buildingHisbody [plus] @gmail.com.
Copyright 2010, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.
Image source: larsoninstitute.com

Four-Day Holiday

Note: there will be no "Question of the Week" tomorrow. May your Thanksgiving celebration be filled with the receiving and giving of blessing! ~ Anne

"The Pilgrims made seven times more graves than huts.
No Americans have been more impoverished than these
who, nevertheless, set aside a day of thanksgiving."
- H. U. Westermayer

"When you have gathered in the fruit of the land, you shall keep the feast of the LORD for seven days ... and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God for seven days... It shall be a statute forever in your generations."
~ Leviticus 23:39-41 (NKJV)

After the harvest, during the weeklong Feast of Ingathering (also called "Tabernacles" or "Sukkot"), the Israelites weren't compelled to give thanks. Perhaps the Lord simply set the stage with the intention that the people would spontaneously give thanks if given opportunity.

Our nation has officially declared a day for giving thanks, which has become an annual four-day holiday. Our founders haven't compelled us to give thanks, but simply provided the opportunity with the intent that we do so, and thereby procure continued blessing.

Amid the feasting and football and shopping—amid suffering and adversity and remembrance of deceased loved ones—may we remember with thanks the Giver of all our blessings. May this be an occasion to refresh the frequency and manner with which we thank our generous God.



Oh, that men would give thanks to the LORD for His goodness,
And for His wonderful works to the children of men!
~ Psalms 107:15 / :21 / :31 (NKJV)

I appreciate hearing from you. Questions are welcome. Reply to BuildingHisBody.com comments or e-mail me—my address is
buildingHisbody [plus] @gmail.com.
Copyright 2010, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.
Artwork image, "First Thanksgiving" by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris (1863–1930)
source: commons.wikimedia.org
Image source for cornucopia unavailable

God's Need

"Be persuaded, timid soul,
that He has loved you too much to cease loving you."
~ François de la Fenelon

Then Jesus said, "A man had two sons. The younger one said to his father, 'Father, give me my share of the estate.' So the father divided his property between them..."
~ Luke 15:11-12 (ISV)

Though this beloved parable has its application for evangelism, it also mirrors two kinds of Christians. The older son is evidently quite capable, has access to his father’s wealth, and does many righteous works. He sees himself as an asset to his father. But he calls his obedience "slavery" or "bondage" (Greek douleuō). His heart has long been distant from his father.

The younger son knows his father’s goodness. His brother’s achievement is painfully obvious. How can he measure up? The feeling of unworthiness surely started long before he first slept with prostitutes and then later with pigs. He is finally forced to confront his inability, destitution bred by squandered wealth, and many wicked deeds.

Both sons measure themselves by capability, resources, and works. Both believe their father uses the same standard. Neither lived a life of closeness to his father, though the father obviously desired it all along.

"So he got up and went to his father. While he was still far away, his father saw him and was filled with compassion. He ran to his son, threw his arms around him, and kissed him affectionately."
~ Luke 15:20 (ISV)

I’ve visited the place of both sons. There was a time when I had learned so many amazing things about God and His gifts to me that I thought I'd become an asset to God and could start coasting. When later confronted by how deeply-entrenched my sin is, I regarded myself as unfit to do or give anything worthwhile to God, and therefore unworthy to draw too closely to Him.

The Lord doesn’t regard us as assets or liabilities. He looks past what we have and sees who we are. Having been transfused with His Son’s blood, we've become our Father’s daughters and sons.

We can offer God nothing with our capability, resources, or works. He has sufficient might to create the universe, owns everything in it, and already did His greatest work at Calvary.

But we do have one thing outside the Lord's control and dominion. And He needs it.

Because God is Love, He needs relationship—He needs our freely given love.

God names Himself Father rather than Master. He asks us for relationship rather than service. Even if we encounter His occasional discipline or displeasure, mutual love prevails over all.

If ever at a loss for how to express love for God, a good place to start is giving Him thanks.

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Note: This Thursday, for Thanksgiving, I’ll share with both saved and unsaved women at the local county jail a similar message about feelings of unworthiness and how to draw closer to God by giving Him thanks. I’d be most grateful if you’d take just a moment right now and ask the Lord to use my words in their lives.

I appreciate hearing from you. Questions are welcome. Reply to BuildingHisBody.com comments or e-mail me—my address is
buildingHisbody [plus] @gmail.com.
Copyright 2010, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.
Image source: southern-orthodoxy.blogspot.com

Question of the Week: Can Marital Sex be Sinful? Part III

Is pornography adultery?
~ Anonymous
Am I obligated to sleep with a spouse who I do not think loves me anymore and is just using me for sex?
~ Anonymous


These were submitted as two separate questions. Both might receive a simple 'yes' based on Matthew 5:28 and 1 Corinthians 7:4-5. But addressing sin in context of marital sex deserves far more depth, and three posts are planned to offer some answers:

Part I: Sexual Immorality, Unique Sin
Part II: Sex Drive, Unique Motivation
Part III: Sexual Contrasts, Unique Solution

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SEXUAL CONTRASTS, UNIQUE SOLUTION

"In a relationship conflict,
crying is often a woman's response to feeling unloved,
and anger is often a man's response to feeling disrespected."
~ Dr. Emerson Eggerichs
Love and Respect Ministries, Inc.

Let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.
~ Ephesians 5:33 (NKJV)

The same contrasts between a man and woman which cause differences also have potential to bring distinction to their relationship.

The entire fifth chapter of Ephesians weaves back and forth in discussion of union between the believer with the Spirit, between a man and wife, between Christ and His bride. Paul blurs the lines throughout the section, so that all he says may be applied to marriages both spiritual and human. He ends on the emphatic point of love and respect—Greek agapaō and phobeō.

This verb phobeō (from which we derive the noun "phobia") is translated "fear" every other time it appears in the Bible. There is only one reason to justify the deviation of most translations, which render this verb as "respect" rather than "fear" in this exceptional verse.

Here, phobeō is coupled with love.

Men must be respected by their wives, or they will not feel loved. If a man thinks his wife does not convey respect—whether in her assessment of his judgments and capabilities, or by her words spoken to him and about him—he will not feel loved, and he will have difficulty conveying love to her. She may even think she intends respect, but what will matter to him is what he perceives.

Likewise, regardless of how a man actually feels about his wife, a woman who feels unloved will not only be utterly crushed, but will also have some difficulty showing her husband respect in a way which is meaningful to him.

Few things are as vulnerable as a man’s ego and a woman's heart.

The bedroom has more potential than anywhere else as a place for love and respect to be displayed or denied. Here, where a man and woman are most vulnerable and exposed, a marriage may be bonded or broken.

The man who wants a wife to respect his judgment and capabilities anywhere else will first demonstrate them here. When he unlocks her emotions with his love and tenderness, he finds the key to her passions and responsiveness.

If a woman struggles to show respect to a husband she feels unworthy of it, even that must be communicated with respect. If she would invite him to love her unconditionally, she will respect him unconditionally.

The soul of a man's ego and a woman's heart are where they are most easily injured—or where they find most exquisite delight.

When sin and immorality and injury persist via sex, without repentance, marriage breaks down.

When love and respect flourish via marital sex, they will likely bloom throughout the marriage—with her as his most passionate champion, him as her most devoted lover.

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For more on love and respect, see "For Guys Only."

This post originally appeared at Bullets & Butterflies. To see additional comments containing ongoing dialogue, click here.

What questions do you have about Christianity or the Bible? You're invited to leave them in the comments below (anonymous questions welcome), or email buildingHisbody [plus] @ gmail.com

© 2010, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.