The Threefold Glorifying of the Servant
And I have put my words in thy mouth, and I have covered thee in the shadow of mine hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and say unto Zion, Thou art my people. (Isaiah 51:16)
There are three aspects of the glorifying of Christ:
- Planting the heavens.
- Laying the foundations of the earth.
- Saying unto Zion, "Thou art my people."
Christ is one Person - Jesus, the Lord, the only begotten Son of God.
It is the will of God that Christ be glorified. All the saved persons, creatures, and things of the heavens and the earth will one day be part of Christ. They all will be a reflection of His Person, His will, and His way. This is the eternal purpose of the Most High God (Ephesians 1:10).
The city of Jerusalem has a special role to play in the glorifying of Christ in that Christ always will rule the creation from Jerusalem. Today the spiritual nature of Jerusalem is in the heavens while the body of Jerusalem is on the earth. In the age to come the Jerusalem in Heaven that now is being perfected will come down from Heaven and be installed for eternity on the new earth.
Those who are called to be saints, that is, who are of the true Israel of God, are the members of Christ's Body. They are called to reveal Christ's glory in a special way. They are the ruling priesthood of the world to come. They are the center of government of the Kingdom of God. They are the eternal Temple of God.
One day the Throne of God and of the Lamb will enter them in fullness. They are the new Jerusalem , for Christ's Presence always is centered in Jerusalem. Jerusalem is God's choice for the capital city of the earth.
The first aspect of the glorifying of Christ is the planting of the heavens with the spirits of righteous men made perfect - righteous because Christ has been formed in them. The planting of the heavens, of the heavenly Zion, is the perfecting of the inhabitants of the eternal Jerusalem. When the citizens of the heavenly Jerusalem have been brought to perfection they will descend to abide forever on the new earth.
The reborn spiritual nature of the believer always ascends to Christ at the right hand of the Father in Heaven. Then, as the believer submits on earth to the program of crucifixion and resurrection, his spiritual nature is perfected in Heaven by means of the tribulation he experiences on the earth.
In the Day of the Lord he will descend with Christ. His perfected spiritual nature will then be joined with his body whether it is asleep in the ground or still living on the earth.
The second aspect of the glorifying of Christ is the laying of the foundations of the earth. Civilization is in chaos today, being built on lies. Only Christ is the truth of God. Only He is the Answer to the problems of living in the world.
The Kingdom of God is God in Christ in the hearts of the saints and finally in the hearts of all those who inherit the new earth. The outward manifestation of the Kingdom of God began on the Mount of Transfiguration and will continue in great power and glory at the appearing of Christ and His saints in the clouds of the heaven.
Then will Christ be crowned King on the Throne of David in Jerusalem. Jerusalem and the nations of the earth will be governed by the Lord Jesus Christ. He will delegate His authority and power to His princes, His mighty men, His victorious saints. They are those in whom He and His Father are dwelling in restful union (Revelation 3:21; 20:4).
Jesus will come from Heaven and set up His government in Jerusalem. Then the Word of God will flow from Him to the farthest reaches of the earth. Every person left alive on the earth at that time will experience the way, the truth, and the life that are in Christ and in the members of His Body.
Although there will be resistance at first, the nations having to be ruled with a rod of iron, order eventually will come forth from chaos. The peoples of the earth will go up to Jerusalem to hear the Word of the Lord. Peace will come to the nations as they accept the Person and Word of Christ. In this manner Christ will lay the foundations of the earth.
The heavens are being planted now as the Holy Spirit is calling out the members of the Body of Christ, taking them from many nations. The Holy Spirit is causing them to be built up in the Head, in Christ. They are being brought to unity and maturity in the Spirit of God.
After the conquering saints have been prepared to the Lord's satisfaction, Jesus will return and lay the foundations of the earth. When the Lord builds up Zion, that is, the heavenly Zion, He will appear in His glory. Now will the material creation be released into the liberty of the glory of the children of God.
The third aspect of the glorifying of Christ is the saying to Zion, "You are my people." Zion refers to God's elect - those individuals from among mankind whom God foreknew and whom He elected to be justified and glorified.
In particular, Zion represents the victorious saints, the Lord's warriors, His mighty men, beginning with the Jews. These are persons whom the Father has given to Christ to be with Him where He is forever (Revelation 14:1). They are not of the world, having been called out from the world by the Lord Himself. The Father's name is written in their foreheads.
Even though all the members of the elect Israel have been called to be part of the royal priesthood, the holy nation, many of God's chosen people find it difficult to be reconciled to God. To be reconciled to God to the extent God requires of one of His chosen priests is a totally demanding experience. God deals with each of His elect day and night, night and day, perfecting him or her in righteousness, holiness, obedience, faith, trust, patience, and love for God.
Because the chosen saints (holy ones) have so much trouble being reconciled to God in the supremely holy, fiery union the Father requires of every living stone of His eternal Temple, it is the task of Christ to exhort and comfort continually each person who has been called to be a saint.
Christ will say, over and over again, "You belong to Me. You are not of the world. I have chosen you from the creation of the world to love Me, to become an integral, eternally indivisible part of Me, to be with Me forever where I am."
The process of instilling in the chosen saints, in God's elect, the concept that they belong to God in a unique way, that God Himself is their Salvation and their Inheritance, will continue without letup until every member of true Israel knows the Lord and loves the Lord above everyone and everything else of his being and existence.
And they (the house of Israel and the house of Judah) shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest. (Hebrews 8:11)
We understand, therefore, that the glorifying, the enlarging of Christ is taking place along three dimensions:
The populating of the spiritual Jerusalem that is in the heavens, with the spirits of righteous people who have been perfected in obedience to God through the things they have suffered in Jesus' name. The spiritual heavens always have been the source of the chaotic, wretched conditions on the earth. Until there is victory in the heavens there cannot be victory on the earth.
The establishing of the peoples of the earth and their environment on the foundations of the Person and Word of Christ. The nations will know neither truth nor justice until they have been founded on the Christ of God.
The reconciling (marrying) of God's chosen people to God's Lamb so all of them are one in Christ in the Father as Christ and the Father are One. The oneness of the saints in Christ in God is the Divine means of magnifying the Incarnation, of bringing into bodily form the invisible God. Christ, Head and Body, is Emmanuel - God with us.
When all persons and things have been brought into subjection to Christ, and each saved person and thing has found his or its place in Christ, then Christ will give the Kingdom to His God and Father so the Father may be All in all.
The total glorifying of Christ is described briefly in the last two chapters of the Book of Revelation. The Throne of God and of the Lamb are at rest in the Body of Christ, which is the new Jerusalem. Also, the nations of saved peoples of the earth are in subjection to Christ who is dwelling in Jerusalem, and will bring their glory and honor into God's city.