The restoration of lost glory to man

The original intention of God in creation is that man, His highest creatures, should function as God in glory. It is because of this that in the creation process God commanded and spoke things into existence. Light, the very first thing He created came into existence as He said: “Let there be light,” (Genesis 1:3). In the same manner the land and waters, the heaven and earth, the animals, the fish and all other water life; the wild life were all spoken into existence by God. They were all perfect in His sight in both their nature and their existence.

When it was time to create man, God convened an executive meeting of God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, and raised the agenda according Genesis 1:26-27: “And God said, let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 27: So, God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.”

After the resolution of making man in the image, nature and likeness of the creator, Godmoulded man from the dust, breathed life into him and covered him with glory and gave him charge to dominate all other creatures both animate and inanimate dwelling on the face of the earth, and beneath the earth. Man was placed to dwell in the Garden of Eden where he met with God on regular basis for fellowship, training and further blessings. Man was hearing directly from God, who spoke to him mouth to mouth. As a result of the fact that man was clothed in the glory of God, he did not see himself as naked though he was. Man was managing the resources of the Garden of Eden with ease. There was no sweating and feelings of hard work. As a result of the glory of God covering him, man was in love with God, happy with himself and his labour in the Garden of Eden.

It is rather unfortunate that the devil struck and deceived man into disobeying God by eating the fruit he was instructed not to eat and instantly lost the glory of God that was covering him from the outset of creation. The loss of glory has effect on all the descendants of Adam, the first man in creation, which is the reason Romans 3:23-24 says: “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. 24: Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.”

The sin of Adam affected all living because all human beings came through Adam and Eve, the first parents of the dwellers of the earth. When they sinned and lost the glory, God turned His back on them, but promised to send a deliverer who will redeem man from the bondage of sin. As stated above, our Lord Jesus Christ came for the redemption of mankind and the restoration of the lost glory. The explanation on the meaning of sin has been dealt with in my previous write-up on this page; therefore, the focus today is on redemption.

From the original Greek word, redemption means to deliver by paying a price. There are three principal Greek words:
• ‘Agorazo’ meaning to buy in the market; man is viewed as a slave sold under sin and under sentence of death, but subject to redemption by the purchase of the blood of the Redeemer, Jesus Christ (1Cor. 6:20).
• ‘Exagoraza’ meaning to buy out of the market and remove from further sale. This is the finality of the work of redemption.
• Lutroo means to loose or set free or redeem. It is commonly used as an indication of the released of a slave. Redemption, therefore, is by sacrifice and by power (Ezekiel14:30).

Our Lord Jesus Christ paid the price, but the Holy Spirit makes the deliverance manifest in the life of the victim (Rom.8:2). Deliverance is essential in the life of every human being, if he/she must make heaven or have encounter with God. In order to make the deliverance of the Israelites complete, Moses called for God’sglory, as seen in Exodus 33:14-18: “And he said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest.15: And he said unto him, if thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence.16: For wherein shall it be known here that I and thy people have found grace in thy sight? Is it not in that thou goest with us? So shall we be separated, I and thy people, from all the people that are upon the face of the earth.17: And the Lord said unto Moses, I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken: for thou hast found grace in my sight, and I know thee by name.18: And he said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory.” Moses requested for the presence of God to go with them and the glory of God to cover the people because he knew the danger trekking with the multitude in the wilderness for that long journey. The presence of God and His glory covering them will provide the needed hedge in the wilderness.

The evidence of the glory was manifest in their journey because they did not lack, for forty years in the bush; there was no change of clothes, their shoes did not tear nor wear off. It was, indeed,a mystery.

The coming of our Lord, Jesus Christ, is for the restoration of that lost glory in the Garden of Eden. Jesus Christ started His ministry with a call for repentance. Repentance from sin to embrace God fully through Jesus Christ will restore the lost glory. He, who has the glory of God, will manifest the true nature of God of love and His humility as recorded in Apostle Paul’s letter to Galatians in Galatians 5:22-23: “But the fruits of the spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith. 23: Meekness, temperance against such there is no law.” The full acceptance of our Lord Jesus Christ and following His teachings and putting them into practice will restore these to man. Christ came to deliver man from the bondage of sin and to restore the lost glory to him. When these are fulfilled man will once more return to the full nature of God and begin to function like God in whose image and likeness he was created.