“I gave them the same glory You gave me so that they may be one, just as You and I are one.” – John 17:22, Good News Bible

I have always been utterly flummoxed by the words Jesus said about His Church.

I think some of the most outstanding ones were those He said in His prayer in John 17, only days before His crucifixion.

“I have given them the same glory that you gave me,” He prayed, referring to His disciples. In essence, Jesus is saying that He passed on to the Church the same glory that He received from the Father!

That means that His Church – believe it or not – does carry the same glory that Christ had when He was on earth in a physical body and before the foundation of the world. 

In reference to God, ‘glory’ refers to what God is and does as exhibited in the character and acts of Christ.

In John 2:11, we read that He “manifested His glory” after changing dirty water into wine in Cana.

By doing what was naturally impossible, grace and power to do the impossible constituted His glory.

Describing what he saw on the Mount of Transfiguration, the apostle Peter wrote: “For He [Jesus] received from God the Father honor and glory, when there came a voice to Him from the excellent glory, ‘This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased’” (2 Pet.1:17).

The glory of God is the revelation and manifestation of all that He has and is.

This truth is worth emphasizing: When the Church is glorious, it means that you, who is a member of it, also carry the same glory – exactly as Christ received it from the Father.

That’s what Christ represented to the world and what He meant by the words “the Father being glorified in the Son.”

The glory and honor Christ received from the Father is the same glory and honor that He has passed on to you and me.

In other words, He has made His Church as glorious as He is! Hallelujah!

When He walked the dusty roads of Galilee and Judea, not many people would describe Christ as glorified.

To many, He was as ordinary as everyone else. But He did carry an innate glory in Him, the same glory that the children of God carry today.

When many look at the state of the Church today, they would probably laugh when you say that it carries God’s glory.

But it does carry the same glory that Christ carried. That explains why the Church has remained and will forever be the most important institution in the entire universe.

So, whether the world believes it or not, whether the devil likes or not, the Church of Christ is glorious and it will always be throughout eternity. 

This truth is worth emphasizing: When the Church is glorious, it means that you, who is a member of it, also carry the same glory – exactly as Christ received it from the Father. 

You’re glorified so go ahead and manifest that glory, like the whole universe does (see Psalm 19:1, 2, 4).

Prayer:

Almighty God, thank you for the glory that you have passed on to your Church. May our existence on earth always reflect the same glory to the world. For the glory of Your Name, Amen!