I greatly enjoyed C.S. Lewis’ “Weight of Glory.” Lewis touched on so many interesting points and
tackles the concept of glory. Lewis identifies five scriptural promises regarding heaven. First, we will be united with Christ; secondly, we will be made like him; thirdly, we shall have glory; fourthly, we will be fed and entertained; fifthly, we will have an official position in the universe.
I appreciate that C.S. Lewis does not shy away from pointing out that these promises may seem somewhat odd to us from our standpoint. He brings up a very interesting question, which I have often wondered before: what is the glory that God promises us which is supposed to be so wonderfully appealing? I appreciated Lewis’ description of his initial understanding of glory, “Either glory means to me fame, or it means luminosity.” Yet Lewis goes on to thoroughly explore what Scriptures are referring to and how we currently see our longing for glory. He reaches the conclusion that glory means “good report with God, acceptance by God, response, acknowledgement, and welcome into the heart of things.”
If this is the glory that God is referring to, which I believe it is, then humanity is already desperately displaying its longing and desire for this type of glory. Man’s desire to be noticed, acknowledged, and valued is blatantly obvious in our relentless pursuit of success, recognition, and love in life. We seek to be known and loved in so much of what we do every day. I thought Lewis gave another insightful example that indicates that we are also destined for glory. He pointed out that we become enthralled with the beauty of this world, yet we feel limited. We do not want to merely observe glory and feel insignificant before it; we want to be a part of such glory ourselves. I think our desire to have recognition from God and man, and our desire to be a part of the beauty we see in the world reveals that we were created for glory. Yet we will never experience the fullness of the glory God intended us for until we reach heaven.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Your description of our zeal for glory in this life was insightful. I think you are right that we want to be participators in glory, not just standing around looking at it. I think this stems from us wanting a perfect glory in which to share. And as you point out, this glory will exist only in heaven.
ReplyDeletei think you made a great point about our desire to be appreciated and acknowledged, and how the eternal glory God bestows on us fulfills this desire. It is incredible that we have the opportunity to attain this!
ReplyDeleteI thought it was very interesting how you made the connection that all people are looking for recognition or praise in one form or another. It makes sense that the roots of peoples' desire can only be satisfied by God because when He acknowledges you, you will never have that desire again.
ReplyDelete