Intro
1. The OT and NT words translated
“glory” both refer to impression or impact someone
has on another.
2. We usually think of God’s glory
as an attitude someone has about him; like honor.
3. In this study, we’re seeing
that God’s glory is more than what someone thinks about
him; rather, they think of God a certain way
because of his awe-inspiring presence.
4. Is not an attempt to reduce
God's deity, but to show reality of God and his glory.
5. Science: study of physical
world and its phenomena
6. Today's lesson: explanation
of scientific phenomena that help us understand some of
Bible's statements about God.
7. I want to impress you with
the literal power of God's presence.
Theory of Relativity
1. Today’s astronauts travel about
18,000 mph, 5 miles per second
2. If you accelerate an astronaut,
as he approaches the speed of light (186,000 miles/sec):
a. he notices no changes to himself & his vehicle
b. but from our perspective, he undergoes major changes
c. his physical dimensions decrease toward zero
d. his time slows down to a stop
e. his mass changes to energy, E = mc2.
f. In other words:
i. his time stands still, he is eternal to us
ii. he radiates energy/glows, his physical presence would destroy
us
g. Sound like anyone you know?
3. Other implications & observations
a. time is a dimension; theoretically is possible to move "forward"
and "backward"
in time, or
to stand still.
b. may be 12 or more dimensions; height, width, depth, time
are only 4 of them.
c. speed of light is not even constant, according to recent
evidence; scientific
evidence over
recent centuries demonstrates that speed of light is decreasing.
d. If astronaut traveled at 99.995% speed of light (185,990
mi/sec), one day of his
time would be
equivalent to 1,000 years of our time.
e. Sound familiar? 2 Pet 3:8, "With the Lord a day is like
a thousand years, and a
thousand years
are like a day."
f. As our astronaut approached speed of light, from our perspective
he would
change to pure
energy; visible portion of energy spectrum is light.
g. 1 Jn 1:5, "This is the message we have heard from him and
declare to you: God
is light; in
him there is no darkness at all."
h. I'm not suggesting that God zips around our universe at
the speed of light.
Accelerating
an object to the speed of light is one way we know of to do what
I'm saying;
certainly is not necessary for God.
i. Visible portion of raw energy is light. When we speak of
God’s power, not just
authority, but
literal power/energy.
j. My point: the Bible is very factual; is only mysterious
to those who don't
understand and
those who reject what it says.
4. Other biblical statements with
new meaning
a. Heb 12:28-29 “let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably
with
reverence and
awe, for our God is a consuming fire.”
i. his personal energy state would destroy anything at our
level
ii. God is a consuming fire, is light; not just poetic language,
but accurately
describes the literal power of God’s being.
b. 1 Tim 6:16 Refers to God, "who alone is immortal and who
lives in
unapproachable
light, whom no one has seen or can see."
i. immortal: time does not affect him
ii. lives in unapproachable light: light is visible form of energy,
we cannot
physically survive at his energy level.
iii. we would need new bodies to be with him; when he takes us to be with
him ("rapture of the church"), he'll give us new bodies.
c. Eze 1:27 "I saw that from what appeared to be his waist
up he looked like
glowing metal,
as if full of fire and that from there down he looked like fire;
and brilliant
light surrounded him."
i. seething with energy.
ii. Dan 7:9-10 "His throne was flaming with fire, and its wheels
were all
ablaze. A river of fire was flowing, coming out from before him."
iii. fire all around the throne, in front.
d. Rev 1:14-16 "His head and hair were white like wool, as
white as snow, and his
eyes were like
blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and
his voice was
like the sound of rushing waters. In his right hand he held seven
stars, and out
of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like
the sun shining
in all its brilliance."
i. Awesome description of power of God's presence; molten metal,
brilliant light like the sun, blazing fire.
ii. Authors refer to "fire," probably to describe appearance of seething
energy; not typical fire that consumes fuel to produce energy.
iii. Power of his presence so strong his voice sounded like a roar like
Niagara Falls, rushing waters.
e. Rev 15:8 "And the temple was filled with smoke from the
glory of God and
from his power."
i. God's presence in OT often described as fire and smoke:
column of fire
and smoke led Israelites through wilderness; top of Mt. Sinai covered
with smoke.
f. Rev 21:23 describes New Jerusalem: "The city does not need
the sun or the
moon to shine
on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its
lamp." — radiant
energy from Jesus will illuminate the New Jerusalem.
g. God's "glory" includes the fact that he literally exists
at an awesomely high
level of what
we call energy; he literally shines like the sun.
h. When Jesus transfigured before his disciples, they had a
glimpse of his real
nature:
i. Mt 17:2 "His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became
as white as
the light."
ii. Lk 9:29-30 "The appearance of his face changed, and his clothes
became
as bright as a flash of lightning. Two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared
in glorious splendor, talking with Jesus."
iii. Notice that two men who were no longer alive on earth "appeared."
iv. "glorious splendor" — they were in same state as Jesus.
v. How did they "appear"? Possibly the same way Jesus appeared
to the
disciples after his death.
vi. Jn 20:19 after Jesus died and ascended into Heaven, "On the evening
of
that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the
doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and
said, 'Peace be with you!'"
vii. I love this! Jesus appeared out of nowhere and said, "Peace!"
viii. Remember: time is a dimension; Jesus can
"step into" our time frame,
and he can "step out of" it.
ix. Because time is a dimension, past and future are as real as the
present.
(1) If you were freed from our time constraint, as God is, you could
see and experience past and future events at will.
(2) This partly explains how God can be so specific about the future.
i. If you look at photo of a high-energy source, such as sun,
often see corona,
halo, luminous
ring of light surrounding it like rainbow.
i. Eze 1:28 "Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds
on a rainy
day, so was the radiance around him."
ii. Rev 4:3 "A rainbow, resembling an emerald, encircled the throne."
— I
wonder about significance of the color.
iii. God's "body" is source of so much energy, a halo of light surrounds
him.
iv. Paintings from Middle Ages depicted a halo around person's head,
or as
a circle hovering over their head; in reality, should be a glow around
entire body.
j. Consider the effects God's presence has on those who experience
it.
i. Eze 1:28 "This was the appearance of the likeness of the
glory of the
Lord. And when I saw it, I fell facedown."
ii. Rev 1:17 "When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead."
iii. People passed out
(1) Partly out of fear, but also due to the awesome power of his
presence.
(2) Your brain is an electro-chemical device; presence of a high-
energy source emitting high levels of electro-magnetic radiation
causes your brain to stop functioning normally.
(3) Similar to effect a bulk tape eraser has on magnetic devices,
such
as recorded tapes.
iv. Remember Ex 33:20 "No one may see me and live."
(1) God's presence overpowers humans.
(2) Humans would die unless preserved.
v. Another effect of experiencing God's presence: Ex 34:29
"When Moses
came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the Testimony in
his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had
spoken with the Lord."
(1) Moses was literally charged with power in God's presence, so
he
glowed.