All Glorious Within

In the Spring of l976, the Lord spoke a word to my heart from Psalm 45:l3 revealing to me that as His daughter, He was bringing me to a place of becoming “all glorious within”. From that day until this, my heart has been captivated with the glory of God and the concept of gloriousness. Although I now realize that through the process of regeneration, God made me gloriously beautiful; I also know there is a greater gloriousness yet to obtain. It is the passion of my heart, when this earth life is over, to stand glorious before the love of my life, my Beloved Jesus, having become a Bride transformed into His very Own image and likeness.


The House Wisdom Built

Several years ago I taught a series entitled “The House Wisdom Built”. When the Lord spoke to my heart to do this series, I assumed I would be teaching on the parable of the wise and foolish men and building of their houses (Luke 6:46-69). The Lord spoke to my heart, “That is not what I have in mind for you to teach. “You are the house that wisdom built!

As I began studying, I thought about the two great houses that God commissioned to be built for Him under the Old Covenant: Moses' Tabernacle and Solomon's Temple. God Himself gave very specific and detailed instructions on how these houses were to be built; everything had to be made exactly according to God's plan. What happened when these houses were completed? “The glory of the God filled the house” (Exodus 40:33, 34; 1 Kings 8:ll). God's way and His pattern is that when His house is finished, He fills it with His glory.

The Bride of Christ is currently in the greatest building project ever constructed. The Holy Spirit is hovering, brooding over the Church, preparing her a glorious Church without spot or wrinkle. She is becoming the finished product of the workmanship of God. When God has completed His 'work', the world will stand in awe of this radiantly, glorious being, for she will be a bearer of the glory of God.

As God's house in this earth, we are in the process of being filled with the fullness of God. The Apostle Paul confirms this in Ephesians 3:l9: ...that you may be filled (through all our being) unto all the fullness of God – (that is) may have the richest measure of divine Presence, and become a body wholly filled and flooded with God Himself!” Soon, God's building project will be completed, and He will once again come down and supernaturally invade this earth, filling His house with His glory. In Haggai 2:9 we read that “the glory of the latter house (us) will be greater than that of the former house” (Solomon's Temple). What a destiny we have set before us!


THE WEIGHT of GLORY

It is essential for the Bride of Christ to understand what the glory of God is and how His glory affects our lives and the vital role we, as the glorious Church, play in God's end-time plan of the ages. We will begin by looking at the Hebrew definition of the word glory. Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (Complete and Unabridged) defines glory as follows: #3519 “Kabod” splendor, copiousness; from the root #3513 “Kabad” to be heavy; to make weighty. Rather than dissecting the Hebrew and Greek words to discover all the nuances of the word “glory' (there are several), I want us to consider the root meaning of this word, for it truly is the foundational definition of this word. The root word for glory carries the meaning of being weighty or heavy with everything good. Is this not a marvelous picture of our God, He Who is laden with everything good? When Moses asked God to see His glory (“kabod”), God told Moses, “...I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim My name, THE LORD, before you...”(Exodus 33:l9). From this declaration, we can discern that the essence of the word glory is to be weighty; to have substance, worth and splendor.

Always bear in mind God and His glory cannot be separated; God's glory is part of the essence of Who He is – His beauty, splendor and perfection of character. He is the God of Glory (Acts 7:2).

When and where God shows up, so does His glory. For example, consider the following scripture:


God (approaching from Sinai) came from Teman...the Holy One from Mount Paran...His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of His praise. ...And His brightness was like the sunlight; rays streamed from His hand; and there (in the sun-like splendor) was the hiding place of His power”
(Habakkuk 3:3,4)
See also: Exodus 33: l8-34:7; Isaiah 6:l-5; Ezekiel 1.


Formed For Glory

The Apostle Paul, to whom God revealed the mystery of the Church and the glory she would possess, sums up the eternal purpose of God for the Church in Ephesians 3:2l, “To Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever, Amen – so be it.” God's plan and purpose is for His glory to reside in the Church. The concept of the Church being filled with God's glory is not some new design that God determined after the Church was formed. It has always been His intention for His people to possess His glory. Listen to God's declaration in Isaiah 43:7, “Even everyone who is called by My name, whom I have created for My glory, whom I have formed, whom I have made.”

We were created to be a container for God's glory; formed and fashioned to “house” the glory of God. Right now, at this very moment, in our earthen vessels, each of us is carrying within our being, a heavenly treasure – a measure of the glory of God. It is the same glory that filled Moses' tabernacle and Solomon's temple: the same transcendent glory that radiated from Jesus on the mount of transfiguration. Although it seems incredible that we could be recipients of this magnificent glory, it is absolutely true.

Our destiny, both in this life and for all eternity, is gloriousness. Forever, we are destined to shine with the brilliance of God's magnificent glory. It is part of our eternal inheritance.


Becoming Gloriously

We are in the process of becoming “all glorious within”. The process of glorification began for us the moment we were born again. Romans 8:29,30 states: “For those whom He foreknew – of whom He was aware and loved beforehand – He also destined from the beginning (foreordaining them) to be molded into the image of His Son (and share inwardly His likeness), that He might become the first-born among many brethren. And those whom He thus foreordained He also called; and those whom He called He also justified – acquitted, made righteous, putting them into right standing with Himself.

And those whom He justified He also glorified – raising them to a heavenly dignity and condition (state of being).”

Through regeneration, we experience a foretaste of God's glory as we are raised to a state of heavenly dignity; we become a new righteous creation in Christ Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:l7, 2l). However, this is only the beginning of our glorification process. It is God's plan that day by day we be transformed into the image of Christ, constantly changing from one degree of glory to another degree of glory. This is His highest purpose for the Church, for transformation into the image of Christ is what constitutes true gloriousness. The Apostle Paul writes of this concept in 2 Corinthians 3:l8: “And all of us, as with unveiled face, (because we) continued to behold ( in the word of God) as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are constantly being transfigured into His very own image in ever increasing splendor and from one degree of glory to another: (for this comes) from the Lord (Who is) the Spirit”.

As we behold our Lord, a supernatural, divine transformation is wrought within us through the inward operations of the Holy Spirit. We are becoming a Bride who has been transformed into the glorious image of her Beloved. Degree by degree we are changing right into the fullness of God's glory. We are growing up into the likeness of Christ and becoming a body wholly filled and flooded with God Himself. For this God passionately longs; for this He patiently waits!

I have determined in my heart that I will contend for gloriousness, whatever the cost. I say with the Apostle Paul: “(But what of that?) For I consider that the sufferings of this present time (this present life) are not worth being compared with the glory that is about to be revealed to us and in us and for us, and conferred on us!!” (Romans l2:l8)

My eyes are set on the prize of becoming a glorious Bride who has been transformed into the image of Christ. I will be a carrier and dispenser of His glory in this earth and when I stand before My Beloved in eternity, I will stand before His face glorious. This is my resolve. I will settle for nothing less! I urge you to make this same determination today. You will be forever glad you did.


Unless otherwise stated, all scripture quotations were taken from The Amplified Bible.


Author: Muriel Halverson

More articles can be found at GloriousBride.org


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