3 Christmas Women

Photo credit: Visitation of Mary to Elisabeth, Giotto

Basilica di San Francesco, Lower Church, Giotto di Bondone (1267-1337), 

The Visitation of Mary to Elisabeth, fresco

La Visitazione

Since being asked to take over the ladies ministry leadership at our church, I began sending out a weekly short devotional comment. Last week I decided to do one on the words of the first woman in the Christmas story - Elizabeth. However, all three women have something in their story worth teaching us this Christmas….

1st Woman - Elizabeth

"Thus the Lord has done for me in the days when he looked on me, to take away my reproach among people' Luke 1:25

The first woman in the Christmas story was Elizabeth - wife of a Priest (Zechariah), but…old and barren.

Then the angel Gabriel told her husband they would have a child (John the Baptist).

Barrenness brought deep cultural shame, (as also with Jacob's wife Rachel in Gen 30). Thus Elizabeth praised God for removing her reproach (disgrace/shame) before people. God cares about our circumstances, and a baby is cause for joy! Yet God doesn't always remove our shame before people. For Mary's part in the Christmas story, God gave her shame before people by having a baby outside full marriage. God's ultimate goal isn't acutally to remove earthly shame, but to bring us a Saviour to remove eternal spiritual shame. Elisabeth correctly said God had done this…but God also did what Mary experienced…because God also did what was needed to remove our shame before him, by sending his son as a baby to then die as our shame-bearing substitute. As Christmas approaches, let's praise God for what he has done for us!

2nd Woman - Mary

"he has brought down the mighty from their thrones, and exalted those of humble estate" Luke 1:52

The news Mary received about being the mother of the Messiah, would have been an incredibly humbling privilege. Yet it also put her in cultural shame because of having a baby in the betrothal time before being fully married. Yet, she knew she was part of a far greater honour that could not even compare to the loss of earthly honour. She knew God chose her in her lowly earthly position and gave her a high position in his eternal plan. The honour hierarchies of this world are not the ultimate measure of what is exalted or diminished. God's kingdom honour-code turns the world's honour-code upside-down. Those who think they are high can quickly be brought low. When God is at work, those who considered themselves humble and low can receive honour beyond measure. This is the same for us as Christians. Even more than Mary, we have the great honour of being 'in Christ'…no earthly honour even comes close. Though the world may rate you as insignificant or shamed, if God has chosen you, you have been exalted to being 'in Christ'. Like Mary, then live with courage in this world, knowing the God of all Creation has called you and made you his own.

3rd Woman - Anna

"…she began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem" Luke 2:38

After only 7 years of marriage, Anna—now 84—probably tragically became a widow in her 20s. But instead of being bitter or resentful of her circumstances she devoted herself to faithfully serving the Lord with prayer and fasting in the temple, as a prophetess. Thus, she was right there when Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to be presented at the temple and Simeon was giving a blessing as he held baby Jesus in his arms. May we, like Anna, not wallow in self-pity of sad or shameful situations but see them as opportunity to serve the Lord. Little did she know it would give her the amazing privilege of being one of the first ones to see this baby that had come for God's redemption of his people. But what did she do with this amazing privilege?…she didn't keep it to herself, but gave thanks and spread the news of Jesus' arrival into the world, to everyone she could. The honour she had in having access to the Saviour who had come, was not for boasting or personal pride but for the honour of sharing. Let's be like Anna, the prophetess-evangelist, and tell the world about Jesus!

The King Prayed with the Pope - Reformation Day, Romans 5:1-2, and 8 steps to a greater understanding of glory in Justification

credit - akg-images CC

 

Something happened this past October, that was rather momentous in church history.

 

It is particularly significant because it is on the 31st of the same month of October that we usually remember the significance of the Reformation just over 500 years ago, when in 1517 Martin Luther posted his 95 theses to the church door and then refused to recant his belief that Justification (Romans 5:1) was by grace alone, through faith alone in Christ alone, and it was not based on the Roman Catholic church and its Pope leadership. Those who have followed Luther's stand down through the centuries against the beliefs and ultimate authority of the Roman Catholic church became known as 'Protestants'.

 

Yet in the same month, King Charles along with the Bishop of York, went to the Vatican to pray with the Pope, giving a visual image of a 'return' of the 'Protestants' back to the Roman Catholic church who consider themselves the only true church outside of which there is no salvation. (This whole event and its implications was helpfully discussed on a recent 'Pastor's Heart' podcast.)

 

However, I am not wishing here to delve into this event specifially, but to look a bit further at the word at the crux of the matter of the Reformation; the word 'Justification'. 

 

Justification is not only one of those 'big words' of Christian theology, but it is a pivotal, or key word of the gospel as given to us in Scripture. It is the English word used in places such as Romans 5:1 since the earliest translations even from Tyndale's of 1526, in giving English meaning to the Greek δικαιόω, transliterated as dikaioó. (Only a few more modern translations change the English word 'justification' to such words as 'declare righteous'.)

 

Much has been written over the centuries on this matter of justification, and a few words here cannot even begin to cover the full depth of it. But it is a topic we can't exhaust in discovering the significance of its meaning, or in re-discovering what was once more prominent which we may have missed recognising in more recent years. In recently reading Romans 5:1-2 yet again, it spurred on my further 'digging deeper' on this issue of justification.

 

Romans 5:1-2:

 

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, 

and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

The Word and The Verse

Firstly I want to simply bring a typical definition of the word itself, and then explore that a bit further by looking at the context of this verse in which the word sits.

Definition of the word:

In explaining this verse, Biblehub.com defines justification as: 

Justification is a legal term signifying acquittal. In the context of Paul's letter, it means being declared righteous before God. This justification is not through works or the law but through faith, echoing Genesis 15:6, where Abraham's belief in God was credited to him as righteousness. This concept is central to the doctrine of salvation and is a cornerstone of Christian theology.

The Wider Verse:

Verse 1 tells us that the purpose of this justification is 'peace with God', and Biblehub goes on to explain that this means:

Peace with God implies a cessation of hostility and the establishment of a harmonious relationship. This peace is not merely a feeling but a state of reconciliation with God, who was once estranged from humanity due to sin. This echoes the prophetic vision of peace in Isaiah 53:5, where the suffering servant brings peace through his sacrifice.

 

Similarly, Romans 3:28 and Galatians 2:16 tell us that we are 'justified by faith'.

 

As I looked at Romans 5:1-2, I realised that if we step through it slowly and carefully, we can come to understand it's main word of 'justification' more deeply, and maybe more accurately. Hopefully by the end of the further explanation below of these 7 sections of the verse, you will be able to rejoice with greater awe and thankfulness for the glory of justification.

 

1.Since we have been justified

2. by faith

3. we have peace with God

4.through our Lord Jesus Christ. 

 

Through him

5.we have also obtained access 

6.by faith 

7.into this grace in which we stand

8.and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

 

 

1. Since we have been 'Justified'

This word is almost 'THE' word on which all that happened at the Reformation hangs. What justification is and how it happens, is what matters. On this rests the true meaning and right understanding of salvation.

 

In order to help us remember what it means, 'justified' has been explained in simple terms as 'just-as-if-I'd' never sinned.

 

Yet within this, it has primarily been defined just the same as Biblehub defined it on the Romans 5:1 page, as a legal term for acquittal. 

 

However, if we go deeper (even on Biblehub) to Strongs concordance and 'Helps Word Studies' we learn more about this word translated from the Greek δικαιόω (transliterated as dikaioó).

Strongs not only describes the meaning as:

 'free and to be righteous', but also notes it is from a Greek root (dikaios) meaning to render or regard as innocent or righteous. 

 

Helps Word Studies explains a bit more and says: 

'dikaióō (from dikē, "right, judicial-approval") – properly, approved, especially in a legal, authoritative sense; to show what is right, i.e. conformed to a proper standard (i.e. "upright").'

The NAS Exhaustive Concordance defines it as:

 'to show to be righteous, declare righteous'

 

SO

to be justified is not that we are 'made' righteous, but we are declared righteous. We are 'regarded' as righteous, as having 'approval' and having met the 'standard' we were set. It is a declaration we don't deserve, and thus it is a status that is also an undeserved gift of approval. 

 

Curiously, despite us thinking of justification only as a legal guilt-innocence related term, those three words I have underlined are all words that are related to honour language and dynamics. Behind this word we think of only in legal terms, is something deeper and more significant.

 

To 'regard' something is to give it the honour of acknowledgement. To 'approve' of something is to give the honour of acceptance and inclusion. When we meet a standard we have the honour of meeting it. But when we fail to meet it and we 'fall short' of it, we feel and are in a place of shame, unacceptability, of insufficient status, value, achievement, or attainment for not measuring up to expectation.

 

Furthermore, when we scroll down the Biblehub page to Thayer's Greek Lexicon we learn more when it says that justification means:

 'to declare, pronouce, one to be just, righteous or such as he ought to be….ἀξιόω, which never means to make worthy, but to judge worthy, to declare worthy, to treat as worthy;'

 

Here again we have a strong honour-dynamic word used - 'worthy', and there is no mention of the positive legal term 'innocent' at all.

 

Thayers goes on to focus on the negative then the positive side of the word by saying:

 '...with the negative idea predominant, to declare guiltless, one accused or may be accused, acquitted of a charge or reproach'. 

and

'...with the positive idea predominant, to judge, declare, pronounce righteous and therefore acceptable'

 

Thus we see that even when some quick reference to a 'guilt' context is mentioned in the negative, it is still followed up with being associated with the concept of 'reproach', and then 'acceptable' which are other honour language terms. Any 'guilt' of actions of wrong-doing is simply exposing the evidence of the prior shame of our unacceptable standing of wrong-being.

 

In particular, when it says 'therefore acceptable' the implication is that the whole 'justification' purpose is to restore acceptance. I would suggest that justification is not merely a legal declaration, but it is a 'regal' restoration. It restores honour so as to bring reconciliation, peace and harmony in the relationship. 

 

Yet, across our world in the 21st century, the generally understood context of Justification is legal, in relation to guilt.

 

The legal emphasis is also emphasised by Wayne Grudem in his Systematic Theology, where even in the title of the chapter dealing with the topic, he doesn't just have the word 'Justification' but: 'Justification (Right Legal Standing before God)'. Then later he says that Romans 8:33-34 contrasts justification with condemnation, thus justification must mean 'to declare someone not guilty'. His reasoning is because he defines 'condemn' as to 'declare that person guilty'. However, I would suggest that declaring someone guilty might precipitate a condemnation, but would not define condemnation or equate with it. This is seen in court trials where for example the guilty verdict of murder is declared by the jury, but then in another separate court session the judge brings the sentence of 'condemning' the person to the death penalty or whatever other punishment has been determined such as time in prison in shameful separation from the society. In our modern world particularly in the West, we tend to observe and interpret through the limits of the 'guilt' lens and we may be conflate one concept with another. Our highly legalised cultural context pushes us to inevitably see life as made up of almost entirely of guilt-innocence elements and view points. 

 

However, when we look at Scripture in relation to condemnation we don't see it being equivalent to guilt, rather we see that:

Whoever believes in him [Christ] will not be condemned - John 3:18

Whoever believes in him [Christ] will not be put to shame - Romans 9:33

 

It is interesting to note that in studying this topic more and more over recent years, despite the held views that are toward guilt oriented perspectives and meaning, I am actually surprised just how much non-'guilt' and honour-context meaning is actually still acknowledged in the theological literature, and without reservation. Maybe we have become so soaked in 'guilt' thinking, that we don't even understand the honour context that words actually have.

 

The popular but strongly biblical website 'Got Questions' makes several points to help explain justification including -

 

2) The restoration to God's favor, which had been lost due to our sin (John 3:36). So, justification is more than an acquittal; it is full acceptance. We are now friends of God (James 2:23) and co-heirs with Christ (Romans 8:17).

(... adapted from Henry Thiessen's Lectures in Systematic Theology, revised by Vernon Doerksen, Eerdmans, 1979, pp. 275–277).

Notice, it says that justification is 'restoration to God's favor, which had been lost due to our sin'. Favour is an honour concept; it is being given honour. And if justification is a restoration of receiving honour from God, it is what we need when we had lost that honour. And that is exactly what Romans 3:23 says when it explains that we have all 'sinned and fallen short of the glory of God'. 

 

The point goes on to say: 'Justification is more than an acquittal; it is full acceptance. We are now friends of God..and co-heirs with Christ'… Again 'acceptance' is an honour word. So…therefore, justification is a status-changing, and regally-status-elevating situation in Christ, bringing acceptance where there was separation, exclusion, and enmity. Our 'falling short' of glory which meant separation from God has been dealt with at the cross, and with the punishment for that 'sin' paid for, our justification is finished, and restoration to relationship with God enabled.

 

2. by faith

The receiving of this restored honour position is not a matter of trusting in our own ability and working to gain honour, but by putting our trust/faith in something/someone outside of ourselves. Who we trust in is evidence of whom we honour. We lean totally on Christ who has paid all that was due for our justification to be accomplished. Scripture tells us we can easily put our faith in all kinds of things that we should not put our faith in—from chariots and horses for strength (Psalm 20:7), to human ability for strength or wisdom (Jeremiah 17:5; 1 Corinthians 2:5; 2 Corinthians 1:9), to human leaders for power and security (Psalm 146:3), or to even mighty foreign powers to rescue or provide for us (Isaiah 31:1; 36:6).  God has given us the ability for trust/faith/belief/dependency (all the same word in Scripture), because we were meant to put it ultimately in God. 

Our problem comes when we put our ultimate faith in places other than God, because we will also then ultimately suffer—with additional unnecessary painful issues now and ultimate eternal pain beyond the grave. All human beings are people of faith, because we all—as part of 'common grace' and being created human—exercise trust at multiple levels every day of our lives. But where we put our ultimate faith declares to whom we give our ultimate honour, and then determines our ultimate peace and our ultimate destiny. We all need a change of mind in regard to where we put our faith (Acts 16:31). It is not works of our own ability, or the status or ability of church leaders that saves us, but faith in the only One who has the ability to pay the debt we owe. 

3. we have peace with God

This gift of restored honour in justification that comes only by faith not works, brings an outcome of new peace between us and God. No longer does the shame of sin separate, but instead the relationship with God is in harmony with his will and purposes and with the honour of his holy nature once again.

4. through our Lord Jesus Christ

British preacher Charles Price once gave an illustration about justification in a sermon that goes like this:

When capital punishment was still in force in Britain, Scottish law is different to English law and when somebody was hanged in Scotland, they would announce it by pinning a notice outside the prison.  It was a tradition; it was done every time somebody was hanged.  And the wording was the same and it would say this – it might say:  

 

"On such and such a date at Barlinnie Prison, Glasgow, so and so (naming the criminal) was justified at 9 a.m."

 

What do they mean?  He was justified at 9 a.m. – that's the moment he was hanged.  Did it mean it was as though he hadn't done it?  No, of course he had done it.  But it meant the case closed at 9 a.m. this morning.  

 

The judge took off his wig and went home.  The lawyers assigned to his case had to find a new job, a new case.  It's over.  There is no ground in which this incident for which this man has been hanged can ever reappear in a court of law.  He has been justified.  He has paid the price and satisfied the law.  

 

What does it mean for you and me to be justified?  It means the case is over.  You weren't hanged; you were crucified.

We are justified because Jesus was crucified, and like Paul the Apostle, we can say 'I was crucified with Christ'. It is often said that Jesus died our death to give us his life. He bore the shame and reproach of our sin on the shameful cross and endured the separation of being forsaken by God the Father, so that we could be given the amazing totally undeserved gift of honour of being justified 'joint-heirs', with him forever. This justification doesn't remove us from existence, but removes us from deserved punishment, and is what actually enables us to re-join into relationship with God, because all wrath due to us was already dealt with at the cross.

 

Through him...

5, 6. we have also obtained access by faith

The first part of the verse told us we are 'justified' 'by faith', and this part tells us something else that comes 'by faith'. It is 'access'. This implies that before we placed our faith in Christ as our sin-bearer, we didn't have access. The rest of the verse explains more of to what this access is, and I'll cover that in point 7. But, access is a word that tells of coming into, of inclusion in contrast to exclusion. It tells of acceptance rather than rejection. It tells of welcome rather than separation. It tells of belonging rather than alienation. It is an access that comes only 'through Him'…through Christ. This justification that provided full payment for the sin that separated us from God, has enabled 'access'. The purpose of justification, is not just a legal standing, but the restoration of a regal access as part of the family of the King of Kings.

7. into this grace in which we stand

Our faith in Christ for all he has given to us to enable our justification, is so that we have access to 'this grace'…this undeserved favour, this gift of honour and glory that we could never attain by anything we could do. Instead of the shame of our sin, we are given the gift of his honour put to our account, and thus we are justified.

Romans 3:24 says we

 "are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus."

 

Grace is a gift of honour…if we are not sure about 'grace' being 'honour' that we are given. Just think about when we say someone 'fell from grace'…we mean they no longer have the honour that they previously had in relation to whatever honourable status they held.

This justification that comes by faith in the one who has given us new honour as a gift, enables us to have a new 'standing' or status or position or privilege before God. We have a restored relationship with God and his 'family', and can now call to him as 'Our Father' anytime, anywhere. Our physical situation might still be here on this sin-saturated earth, but our spiritual standing is the honour of citizenship in heaven, seated with Christ at the Father's right hand (Eph 2:6).

 

 

8. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God

Thus we come to the culmination of this justification…that of eternally restored glory. We have the spiritual glory status which we continue to grow into from one degree of glory to another. Our hope is no longer in our own efforts or ability to try to find 'glory' on this earth, but our hope of the glory of God, is Christ, in whom we have our new heavenly identity of glory instead of shame, and through whose life in us which enables activity that honours God and brings glory to his name…

...and by whom we will one day awake to the full experience of glory received and given for all eternity!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Does God share his glory? - And Other Matters to Consider About Glory from the Botswana Relay Team's Gold.

In September Botswana became the first African nation to win a Gold medal at the World Athletics Championship for the mens 4x400m relay…and they did it with a spectacular finish, running in the rain, with it being described as one of the best relay races in history. 

The nation celebrated with them, and the President declared a special one-off extra public holiday.

There are so many lessons related to our Christian life race that we could learn from this victory, yet I was prompted to ponder some 'glory' and 'honour' lessons as well.

Living in Botswana in particular, and Africa in general, for the past almost 1/4 century, has grown and changed how I look at life…in a way that I believe has given a far greater insight and appreciation of biblical truth in so many areas. Most of all, has been a paradigm shift from seeing life—and thus the words of Scripture—in a Western world-view that has a very individual-law-guilt oriented context of deciding what is honourable and acceptable, to a world-view which is oriented to a more collective-relationship-shame context that decides and prioritises what is honourable and acceptable. In other words it has been a perspective change from seeing the world primarily as most importantly individuals purposed for individual success, flourishing, and dignity, to a world that is focused on a community of people who as individuals are knit together for a purpose of collective survival, support, success, and honour. 

As I reflected again recently on these issues and the matter of glory-honour in Scripture, I found myself doing so with the context of the relay team's win still in the back of my mind, and some particular considerations started to open up again for me .

Let me explain…by asking a few questions in regard to the relay team.

Who exactly won the Gold?

1.Was it each member of the team?

2.Was it the team as a whole?

3.Was it Botswana as a country?

So who exactly got the glory?

I am hoping you had to pause momentarily to think, but also were fairly quick to say 'yes' to all three answers. They all won, and all got glory. 

However, there is a 'but' or two in all this. 

They all won and had the honour of that win, but while it is true that the team only won because of the individuals, it is also true that the individuals only ended up with Gold medals around their necks because the team won. The country of Botswana only received the glory of the win because the team of individuals won, yet the team of individuals only got to even compete and have access to such glory, because their country of Botswana firstly gave them the honour of being chosen and sent to the World Athletics Championships as part of the Botswana team.

Life is full of metaphors from which we can learn, and biblical writers often used metaphors as teaching tools. I realise that we have to be careful to not build a doctrine on a metaphor and miss or distort the truth behind the metaphor. However, I think we can also easily miss the extent and power of life's metaphors because we come to life from perspectives that are more limited than we realise. I also acknowledge that the 'glory' topic is not only huge but it's inexhaustible because true glory is rooted in God and God is infinite and eternal. But if we are going to understand who as Christians we are meant to be—as new creations in Christ—we are also called to more deeply seek to grow in the knowledge of what this glory and honour means and calls us to.

So here are the 4 'glory' lessons I gleaned from this race event...

Glory lesson 1

True glory is not self-focused

In our individualistic and self-focused world, we are sold the lie that our dignity is something that we decide by keeping other people out of our way who we feel are hindrances to our path and not perfectly enabling our ability for success. 

However, in the team, in order for any individual to stand on the podium with gold around their neck and the flag over their shoulders, they had to run as part of the team. Yet, again, the last runner did not give up when his team-mates didn't put him in first position at the start of his run. He didn't complain and take on the victim mentality, or give up, or just cry 'poor me', or blame them for not giving him a better start to his run and hope everyone in the crowd would feel sorry for his situation. No, he just did the part he was called to do and did it with all his individual effort and energy. Yet, while he was not reliant only on the team for his focus and personal effort, he was also not eligible to even run his race at all without his team members running the race with him. 

Similarly, we as individual humans and Christians have no glory or even existence completely on our own. From birth we are part of the human family running life's 'race' from Creation till now, and into the future of eternity. In Genesis, God didn't say his Creation was 'good' until the humanity of Adam became the community of Adam and Eve together. 

'Man' is not complete on his own. As human beings we are created individually separate but yet together inseparable. We come into this world only through the coming together of two other human beings. From Adam to Noah to now, we are biologically and relationally connected to one another.

In our world we do a lot of looking to ourselves for glory, but when we do that we become shackled to our own limits for glory that are mere shadows of what we were made for, and those are distorted shadows at that. And in the process we become more prone to complain about or blame others and see them as hindrances, oppressors, or haters and ourselves as victims if we don't gain the glory we desire and think we deserve.

In 'grabbing' glory and setting ourselves up as the ones to define and determine what we believe we can do to achieve or gain glory, we actually are going to quickly be driven to despair, when we realise we are not capable on our own, of being, or doing, what it takes to gain the glory we crave. The lies we believe set ourselves up for eventual failure in the area of glory satisfaction. Our attempts will never truly satisfy. And while consumed with our own efforts, we easily become blinded to the other capabilities we have been created with, and the ultimate source of true glory. Eventually we deprive ourselves of the true eternal-heavenly-gold kind of glory. Self-focused glory is never true glory. It is only illusion…like a shimmering yet disappointing mirage of an oasis in a hot desert. True glory is only found outside ourself, from our Creator and Redeemer.

Glory Lesson 2

Gaining true glory is through giving glory

As an extension of the first point….For any team member to gain gold, they had to be willing to not only have it for themselves but share it with other team members. Although four names are be mentioned as team members, it was the team itself as a whole that won. Each runner had to share the podium with the other runners. No individual team member got all the glory for themselves. The winner of the Gold was the Botswana relay team. After the race, one of the team even said "They brought me onto the final and I wanted to make sure that I perform well and get THEM a medal" (emphasis mine).

None of the individual runners would have even been on the track in Tokyo without being chosen as part of the Botswana team. They had to be willing to share glory with their team, but also give ultimate glory to Botswana in order to gain any glory for themselves. It was part of the purposes of Botswana who enabled their training, to train them to showcase Botswana's talent and make Botswana's name great in international athletics.

As they ran they were wearing the Botswana national colours and the Botswana team uniform, just as they had photos draped in the Botswana flag together.

Similarly, I will shortly show in Lesson 4, how this teaches us that our true glory (that we were created for and all seek, although often in wrong ways from wrong sources), is only received or gained when we are willing to give glory to another rather than try to 'grasp' it for ourselves. This is seen in Philippians 2:6-9 that describes Jesus' example to us, who didn't selfishly 'grasp' or grab or hold onto the glory of his heavenly status, but came to earth so that we could share in it, and most of all so that he could give ultimate glory to the Father by doing the Father's will. But in doing so he was then given by God the most exalted status to the highest place and a name above every other name. Verse 5 preceding this prefaces it with the statement 'let this mind be also in you…'. We are to do the same in being willing to give up glory and give glory to Another, in order to gain glory. We are given glory in order to give greatest glory to God and make his name great to a watching world. In that, we then find our true glory.

We are called in Hebrews 12:1-2, as we run our race with endurance, to keep our eyes on Jesus who as our example, endured what he came to do, by setting his focus on the joy of the glory that was his to come, at the place of glory at the right hand of the Father.

Glory Lesson 3

True glory is from a derived identity

Any win for those relay team members, was only because they were there under the primary identity first of 'Botswana' and then of the '4x400 relay team'. The 'secret' to their gaining glory, was to be 'in' the glory of something greater. They couldn't just wake up one morning and decide on their own to try to go to something like the World Championships or the Olympics, and submit their own name and nothing else. Their eligibility was subject to being a Motswana and part of the Botswana relay team. When the finalists lined up at the start of the race, and then who is in which lane was announced, a person's name would have been mentioned, but it was secondary to the fact that the identity of the althlete in that lane was running for 'Botswana'. 

Each one was running 'in the name of' Botswana. They were part of a greater identity. They entered the race in the name of the greater identity of Botswana, and any win was ultimately in the name of the greater identity of Botswana. Running for Botswana gave them glory on the world stage - a far greater glory than if they even ran the same time in a practice session on a track here in Gaborone. When the team arrived home, they didn't just get off the plane and go each one to their own homes to celebrate their own personal win with their own local village or family. They were welcomed and celebrated and praised and honoured by the nation, because they ran in the identity of the nation for the glory of the nation. It was through that and that alone, that they then also gained their honour and glory.

True glory is thus also gained from glory that is already given. They each firstly received the honour of being chosen to be in the Botswana relay team, and as part of that team, if the team won they each were pre-destined to gain a gold medal around their necks, and receive the praise and honour from the nation, not simply because they ran and won an individual race, but because they were part of the Botswana team that won. We too are pre-destined to eternal heavenly honour, not because of our individual efforts but because we are part of the collective who source their identity in the identity of a greater other identity - 'in Christ'. Our metaphor is not perfect in this regard as, no, our own efforts in running the race are not what get us entry into that final heavenly prize…However, our access to glory is found only beyond ourselves in the greater glory of being part of the the body of Christ.

All these three lessons come together beautifully in the 4th lesson...

Glory Lesson 4

True Glory is that we are given 'vessel' glory so as to give 'victory' glory back to the One who enabled that glory and has Ultimate Glory…and in the doing so is our true glory!

This 'Lesson 4' title is a long one, but it is an important one that wraps elements of the first three together.

We rightly say that from Scripture that 'God does not share his glory with another' (Isaiah 42:8). As Theologian Wayne Grudem says "God is jealous for his honor" (Systematic Theology p505). He is rightly jealous for his glory to be given to him as it should, and the glory due to him is to be given to him.  The glory meant for God is to go to God alone, and it is never acceptable for it to go instead to someone or something else, like Herod was doing in Acts 12:23 which tells us: 'immediately an angel of the Lord struck him down, because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by  worms and breathed his last.' However, we have to be careful how we use the Isaiah 42:8 verse. There is a sense where I have heard it often mis-used to infer that as humans we then should never want glory at all in any way. We can then believe that any desire for any level of glory is 'sinful'. But is it?

As you read that, you might be thinking I have just gone entirely heretical! But please hear me out.

First let's recall some Scripture…

Words of Jesus  - John 17:22

"The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one,"

Who is the 'them'?….it is us - Christians!

We have been given glory - Jesus said so, and Jesus has given it to us. 

Jesus says that this is the key to Christian unity, to being 'one'. And without it, it seems we cannot ever attain true unity. He prays in John 17 for the church to have unity. We have no problem agreeing to that part. But have we ever thought that the key to the unity is actually the need to acknowledge and understand that the means to the unity, is that we have been given glory? Our problem as humans is that we lost glory - "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). "Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Col 1:27) is not merely about the hope of going to heaven (which of course will be glorious), but about enabling the glory of heaven (the life of God himself) to re-indwell the creatures made in his image, by Jesus Christ, as the gift of the Holy Spirit. Finding our  glory in Christ, equally—with contentment and without competition between ourselves or seeking it in the eyes of the world or by its style of 'glory'—is the secret to finding unity rather than experiencing enmity and strife in the body. Finding our glory in Christ, is the key to true humility in life. We don't have to fight for glory when we have already been given it as an undeserved gift of grace. 

The relay team members were not in a fight with each other for greater glory than another team member, but were content and eager to share the equal glory that came from their greater unified team glory.

Earlier in John 17:1 we are again given the example of Jesus, 

"When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, "Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you"

Jesus desired that he received glory from the Father, but for the purpose of the Son thus glorifying the Father. The glory wasn't sought for himself to stop with himself, but sought in order so as to be able to rightly and fully glorify the Father in the full outworking of the Father's plan and purposes, for His Son, and then for all those who would be graced with the glory of Sonship in His Son (Ephesians 1:5,6). 

The team received glory in order to give glory to Botswana.

Then the words of the Apostle Paul  - Romans 2

"...to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life;"

Did you know that there is a sense in which we are meant to 'seek for glory'?

Let's clarify….

You see, there are different 'levels' of glory. 

Scripture talks about this in 1 Corinthians 15:40, 41

"…but the glory of the heavenly is of one kind and the glory of the earthly is of another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory."

We must be careful how we use the word 'glory' or 'honour'. 

Scripture also talks about the problem of failing to give 'honour' to God (Romans 1:21), yet we are commanded in Exodus 20 to 'honour your parents', or in 1 Peter 2:17 to 'honour the king' and even 'honour all people'. 

Each of these is a different 'kind' or 'level' of honour. 

Giving ultimate honour to God doesn't mean we as God's people don't have to give any honour at all to people or authorities.

And to give God highest glory isn't to reject all glory ourselves, but ultimate glory must go to God.

Psalm 115:1 

"Not to us O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory" 

However…..Part of giving God glory is to give thanks and to rejoice in the undeserved glory we have been given as a gift (grace) in Christ, and through Christ living in us (and acknowledging God as the ultimate giver of that). This then, through Christ the perfect image-bearer, enables us to once again be the image-bearers we were meant to be and thus be the God-glorifiers we were meant to be. Being God's creation as image-bearers was how God created us to give glory to Him. When that full image-bearing status was marred and lost, we lost our intended 'glory' and thus our 'glory-giving' ability. We could no longer thus glorify God by fulfilling our original created purpose. We give God glory when we humbly find our source of glory in Him. True glory begins with humility ( ). We acknowledge our humility and dependency on him for the glory, the dignity, the value, the significance, the worth that we seek that was gained for us through the fact that Christ was willing to endure humiliation in order to give us restored glory. In fact, Charles Spurgeon in recognition of the rightness of our desire for honour and dignity, has said ('Daily Help' 22 October) that 'if we want to rise to dignity, we must reflect on His humiliation and sorrow'.

True humility is not a rejection of all glory as if we are nothing and we stop there. True humility is accepting we are nothing apart from Christ so "that God may be all", as Andrew Murray says in his book 'Humility'. He also noted that 'when we see that humility is deeper than contrition, and accept it as our participation in the life of Jesus, we shall begin to learn it is our true nobility, and that to prove it in being servants of all is the highest fulfilment of our destiny, as men created in the image of God.'

It's only in Christ that the full glory is restored, and we are meant to seek that full glory to be restored to us…as we grow from one degree of glory to another (2 Corinthians 3:18), so that we can be growing into those who give greater and greater glory to God as we submit to Christ, and thus quench and grieve His Spirit less, and allow the light of Christ and the gifts and fruit of His Spirit to be more and more lived out…and furthermore so that others would see our good works and what…???…"give glorify to your Father in heaven"  (Matthew 5:16). One day in the resurrection we will be in our fully-completed and physically restored glorified state.

The difference between 'wrong' glory and 'right' glory is that: 'wrong' glory pays no attention and honour to God and does not take into account that true glory is divinely sourced and rooted in the reality of immortality and eternity. Wrong glory seeks in some way to take what glory should go to God and give it somewhere else, and it fails to acknowledge that the true satisfaction of our hunger for honour and glory is God through Christ alone (Col 1:27).  

I would therefore suggest that we could say that: 'Right' glory acknowledges God in all our ways as the source and satisfaction for our significance as image-bearing human beings, and thus seeks for that glory through Christ alone coming to live in us and through us, so that we become more and more into who we are in Christ who is our glory. Our glory is found in the glorious identity of another, and in living for the glory of another who is greater than us.

This glory is not for boasting except in Christ in whom is our glory (1 Cor 1:21, 2 Cor 10:17, Gal 6:14, Phil 3:3). It is not for self-exaltation but for willingness for earthly shame, for eager humility, thankfulness and rejoicing, and for giving ourselves fully over to the will of Him through whom we have been given such a great gift of glory—totally undeserved and thus full of grace. It is only as we cease striving for exaltation in itself, but strive for humbling ourselves that we discover true exaltation (Matthew 23:12). This glory is to enable us to fully participate again in the one great theme of God and of Scripture, and of creation's purpose - the Glory of God. As Jonathan Edwards said "That one phrase, the glory of God" [includes] "all that is ever spoken of in Scripture as an ultimate end of God's works."

In Conclusion….Let Botswana's Gold metaphor lead you to new life-giving lessons about God's Glory

The purpose of Botswana sending this team was not only to allow individual talented guys to display the glory of their ability, but to work together in their glory as a team, in order to bring honour and glory to their country. 

Those Botswana relay team members' glory gained a glory which was far beyond themselves…not only did they bring home Gold medals, but these were the first Gold medals in the 4x400 mens relay for Botswana…and for the whole of Africa! And so the team not only received honour and praise from others in the stadium on the day, and from their country on their return to Botswana, but also from Africa as a whole.

They gained their greatest glory because they were willing for the ultimate glory to be for their country and not themselves. Their level of glory was amazing, from getting into the team to winning the Gold, but their goal was to bring glory to the flag/name/nation of Botswana.

When we run our race by humbly letting go of immediate earthly glory and rather seeking for glory of eternal crown prize winning (which we again in Scripture are encouraged to aim for), it is ultimately for God's glory and to lay crowns of thanksgiving and honour at His feet. In us seeking that kind of glory, we don't seek ultimate glory for ourselves, but in the greater name and identity of another - Christ Himself for the supreme glory of the Father, which is where we actually find the glory that truly satisfies and brings our greatest joy beyond our wildest dreams, and out of this world!

NOTE: The Botswana 4x400 relay team won Olympic bronze in 2021 and then silver in 2024, and two team members also won 400m Gold and Bronze in this years Tokyo World Championships, and one of the team members Letsile Tebogo had already won Botswana's first Olympic Gold medal (and Africa's first in the men's 200m) in 2024 in Paris, and set other world records. For more of the story of Botswana world champion sprinters see this link, and If you are interested to watch Tebogo's story and see some more of Botswana check out this link to the story 'Built for Speed' and Part B here.