Introduction

Despite numerous attempts to promote Christian unity as a key to revival[1] the general spiritual condition of both Church and culture in Australia keeps going progressively backwards[2].  Operational unity in the Body of Christ does commonly precede a spiritual awakening, but my own personal reflections lead me to conclude that contemporary appeals for such oneness are largely confused.

At the foundations of such confusion lies failure misuse of the Bible. I have commonly heard preaching from John 17:20-21, “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.”, but I cannot remember anyone teaching on the words of Jesus that follow immediately afterwards. “The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.” (John 17:22-23 ESV).

The failure to proclaim shared glory as the basis of unity reveals that the teachers and preachers of the Church are deprived of the experience of glory[3]. As tragic as this may sound, this means that the Body of Christ must be plagued by shame. The possibility of significant numbers of Australians coming to believe that Jesus was sent by God depends on a restoration of Christ’s glory in the Church (Eph 3:21).

The glory of God cannot be limited to the phenomena much loved by revivalists- deep repentance, mass rallies, and miraculous healings. God’s own radiant presence is intimately connected with two deep divine realities that are foreign to today’s popular spirituality, the holiness and rest of God. The theme of God glorying in a finished work is fundamental to the whole story of God’s plan for humanity; that is why I have titled this talk Rested Glory.

Sharing in the Beginning

At the climax of the narrative of the creation of life on earth Adam and Eve are fashioned in the image of God with a great commission to ““Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it…” (1 Cor 11:7; Gen 1:28). The apex of the creation story as a whole however is not a word about humanity, but a word about God.  “And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.” (Genesis 2:2-3 ESV). These two peaks are intimately related, for Adam and Eve could not fill creation with God’s glorious presence until they shared his holy rest.

The warning of judgement, “of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”” (Gen 2:16-17), made it completely clear to Adam that his glory was incomplete. As long as death remained a real possibility the consciences of the first couple testified to them that they had not entered into the fullness of God’s own blessed rest.

This made the temptation in Eden a necessary part of the plan of God for our perfection. The prohibition against eating from the tree of knowledge was a God-given opportunity for humanity to enter into the fullness of his own work by faith in his sovereign Word (Gen 1:31; Heb 4:1ff.).  If Adam and Eve made a decision to separate themselves from all evil by clinging to the Word of God they would have matured in holiness and been delivered from the threat of evil and the fear of death (John 15:3; 17:17). They and their descendants would have filled the whole world with the rested glory of God.

Lost Glory

God’s absence from Eden at the time of Satan’s entry was part of a strategy to mature humanity.  The glory of the LORD can only be imparted to those who love him in a holy way, for who he is rather than what he gives. The purpose of God can be summed up by the insight that “Holiness is glory concealed and glory is holiness revealed”. The revelation of the fullness of the glory of God to Adam and Eve depended upon their holy obedience. If by faith Adam had obeyed the command, “you shall not eat”, he would have entered God’s own heavenly immortal rest (1 Pet 4:14; James 4:7, 10).

The Satanic promise, ““You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”” (Genesis 3:4-5 ESV) offers three unlimited rewards. Immortality through personal achievement, spiritual insight on the level of God, and a mastery of the moral sphere that will abolish all uneasiness of conscience. Everything however turned out to be the opposite of what humanity had hoped for. Instead of a sense of immortality our eyes have been opened to the knowledge that we are evil people who deserve to die (Gen 3:7, 22)[4]. To lose the glory of God through sin is to be filled with a sense of shame and a terror of the divine presence (Gen 3:10). To lose the gift of holiness is to be handed over to an inner restlessness. “But the wicked are like the tossing sea; for it cannot be quiet, and its waters toss up mire and dirt. There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.”” (Isaiah 57:20-21 ESV). This is a tragic story about everyday life in Australia.

The all consuming shame which drives our culture to ever deeper levels of useless consumption and unrestrained pleasure-seeking is nothing other than a sense of the loss of the glory of God for which we were created(Romans 3:23). The guilt which manifests itself so often in depression, anxiety and purposelessness is nothing but a deep inner spiritual knowledge that unity with the commandment of God has been broken. The daily rest-lessness of the human conscience is a constant sign of the loss of the splendour for which we were created. Perpetual busyness is a symptom of a culture under judgement. We are ceaselessly uneasy because we are dominated by a sense of what we do not have – never enough love, money, popularity, affection, influence, power, sex, or even spiritual experience…. Our capitalist and consumer society is based on reminding us of what “we do not have”. We are trapped in a seemingly inescapable net of satanically inspired bondage and shame (1 Ti 3:7).

Instead of surging forth from Paradise in the power of the kingdom of God fallen humanity has been cast unwillingly into a hostile world dominated by the inescapable evils of conflict, sickness, aging and death (Gen 3:24). Humanly there seems to be no way to advance into the rested glory for which we were created (Isa 42:8). There is however a divine plan to take us forward into the final purposes of God.

Glory Restored

The plan of God to revive his glory in humanity comes is illustrated by the call of Isaiah. Isaiah is busy with his normal priestly ministry in the temple when something totally unexpected breaks lose:

“In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke.” (Isaiah 6:1-4 ESV).

There can be no revelation of the glory of God which does not first proceed from a revelation of the holiness of God. Only  a confrontation with the purity of God can shock our blinded eyes into acknowledging that the divine glory is already present in the creation which surrounds us (cf. Rom 1:19-20). Only when Isaiah has been traumatised by the utter sanctity of God can he share in the discernment of the holy angels, only then can he see what they see of the inner glory of the LORD[5]. Isaiah is about to be transformed into a prophet[6].

“And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!””(Isaiah 6:5 ESV).  Surrounded by the holy splendour of God Isaiah’s conscience condemns him for his total unlikeness to what that he sees, and he feels he is about to be crushed by the divine presence[7]. Such a terrible experience of sheer spiritual unworthiness is the necessary prelude to an act of absolute grace (cf. Acts 9:1-19). The explosive divine holiness that traumatises Isaiah’s soul will carry him as prophet beyond the safe hallowed precincts of the temple, because through it the central impediment to our human obedience of God is about to be exposed and taken away.

“Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.””(Isaiah 6:6-7 ESV). Guilt is a sense of utter emptiness and impotence before God. When however a revelation comes that the demands of God’s holiness are satisfied, guilt is wiped out and a majestic spiritual image opens up before our eyes. This is the vision that transforms Isaiah into a prophet, for he instantly sees that all God’s purposes in creation will come to pass; flashing before the eyes of his understanding (Eph 1:18) is the vision that “the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.”(Habakkuk 2:14 ESV).  Isaiah has become one with the original call of God upon us all; he is now a prophet of the divine glory. His heart knows for sure that nothing can frustrate the divine purpose of filling every sphere of creation with glory. Nothing now stands in the way of the fulfilment of the original divine command to go forth and bring the knowledge of God to the world.

Since the holy and glorious God has laid claim to his entire inner life Isaiah knows that he and his Lord are now one. What concerns the LORD now totally concerns the prophet. When he hears the call, ““Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?”” he invariably replies, “Here I am! Send me.”” (Isaiah 6:8). An experience of union with the rested glory of God brings us into the all sufficiency of his heavenly power and presence and always finds its outworking in mission. Yet however powerful the experience of this prophet and however mighty Isaiah’s ministry, the fulfilment of all that this encounter with the Holy One of Israel[8] means awaits the coming of Jesus.

Jesus

In the coming of Jesus the Holy One of God enters into the midst of human history (Mark 1:23-24); yet who recognises the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ (John 1:9-14; 2 Cor 4:6)? The spiritual blindness of God’s people is a theme laid out with great clarity in the twelfth chapter of John in a manner that links it intimately with Isaiah’s vision and unlocks the meaning of Jesus’ intercession for our unity in John 17.

““Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again….Jesus answered…Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die.””(John 12:27-28; 31-33). The shameful possibility of Jesus being “lifted up” to die on a cross scandalises the crowds, “We have heard from the Law that the Christ remains forever. How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?” (John 12:34 ESV) In a dramatic response to such unbelief, “Jesus … departed and hid himself from them.” (John 12:36 ESV). Could Jesus ever hide himself from us?

[I have very clear memories of using this passage amongst a group of pastors some years ago. I felt provoked in the Spirit that this was God’s reply to their mood of anticipated revival. I was warning those present that the Lord was hiding from us. This word polarised the meeting because the truth that Jesus might conceal himself in holiness had never entered the minds of these spiritual leaders before[9].]

John goes on to expound the spiritual dynamic between Jesus and the unbelieving crowds by quoting God’s words about Israel which he spoke to Isaiah when he was his commissioned as a prophet. ““He has blinded their (Israel’s) eyes and hardened their heart, lest they see with their eyes, and understand with their heart, and turn, and I would heal them.” (John 12:40; Isa 6:10 cf. Mark 4:12). Then John truly surprises us, “Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke of him.” The glory that Isaiah saw in the temple (and which fills the whole world) was present to Israel in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Cor 4:6). Yet the hearts of those who saw Jesus in the flesh were so hardened and their eyes so blinded that they could not see what was right in front of them. John concludes this story with a terrible indictment that is a warning to us all.

“Nevertheless, many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.” (John 12:41-43 ESV). As far as I know, no major revival movement has ever been initiated by leaders in an established religious system. Given the absence of the manifest presence of God in our midst, it must be the case that the majority Church as we know it in Australia today is more in love with the praise of man than the praise of God (Rom 2:29). We have turned aside from the true way of glory, the only route to glory is the one established in Christ, the way of the holy cross. For us to be able to fully enter into this most difficult way we must be grasped by the prophetic nature of Jesus’ prayer in John 17[10].

At the commencement of this great prayer comes a remarkable statement, “I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.” (John 17:4-5 ESV). Jesus prays as if all the work is already done because he is possessed by a total awareness of the holiness of the Father; “All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one.” (John 17:11 ESV). Christ’s assurance that all his prayers were answered was the invincible power of the holiness of God that must surely prevail over every evil power. Jesus’ final words from the cross confirm this insight.

“Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said…, “It is accomplished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.” (John 19:28, 30). In his innermost being Jesus knows that he has completed the work of God for by the shedding of his sacrificial blood he has “taken away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). The Son knows that the demands of God’s holy justice have been satisfied, and that the heart of the Holy Father is now perfectly at peace[11]. Christ’s own spirit is released into the blessed state that was always God’s plan for us from the beginning (Gen 2:1-3). Now seated at the right hand of God the Lord Jesus is enthroned in the Sabbath rest of the glory of God (Acts 7:55; Heb 1:3) and ever seeking to draw men and women into unity with himself so that they might go forth into all the world and reveal the full measure of God’s love.

 

Living in the Fullness

This exhortation of Hebrews sums up much of my message, “Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.”(Hebrews 10:19-22 ESV). Entry into “the holy places” in heaven means sharing a vision of the same glory of Christ that Isaiah was granted in the earthly holy place long ago[12]. The portal to this vision is a confrontation with our guilt, shame and fear before God that moves our hearts to appeal to the Holy Father for a blood cleansed conscience. Such a conscience can be completely one with God through the accomplished work of the cross. When through Jesus we meet our Creator, Judge and Father in this way, our hearts enter his own deep rest. The eternal glory which Christ now enjoys with God in heaven is now in us (John 17:11; Col 1:27).

It is no accident that it is this same letter (Hebrews) which has most to say about the importance of entering into the rest of God and holy living. It in fact commands these things in a way which seems self-contradictory; “strive to enter that rest so that no one fall by the same sort of disobedience”, “strive…for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord (Heb 4:11; 12:14). These appeals are not self-contradictory but a serious recognition that once our consciences have been put at ease by the blood of Christ we must seek to actualise the reality which he has won for us by his finished work (cf. Col 1:29).  Holy and rested glory is a state of life (Heb 3-4).

C.S. Lewis once remarked that people are busy because they are lazy. The Church is so often full of activities, conferences, programmes because it lacks the spiritual energy to come to terms with God. It is the deeper things of the kingdom of God, his holiness, glory and rest that are commonly being avoided by the clamour for prayer, unity and revival! We need to stop “trying to make things happen” and instead of speaking about principles of successful Christian living, health, prosperity, supernatural power and so on seek holiness and glory from Jesus alone. We are deprived of the manifestation of the glory of God because our actions, ideas and programmes rather than the LORD himself have become the object of faith; we are idolaters with whom he will not share his splendour (Isa 42:8; 1 John 5:21).

None of this is mere theory; or as some unwise folk might say, “theology”. I can know in myself if I am impacted by the holiness of God and vibrantly sharing in the unity of Father and Son in their glorious rest. Isaiah’s response, ““Here I am! Send me.”” (Isa 6:8), Jesus’ prayer, “may (they) become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me…” (John 17:23), and the Great Commission, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations…” (Matt 28:19) are all expressions of sharing in the rested glory of God.  Where Christians have to be told to evangelise then we must acknowledge that our consciences are not at rest in the completed glory of God seated with Jesus at the right hand of power (Matt 26:64; Eph 2:6).

Conclusion

“Holiness is glory concealed, glory is holiness revealed”. All calls for church unity as a foundation for revival are doomed to fail unless they involve an encounter with the holiness and glory of God. Holiness is the painful way to glory because it illuminates our darkness and reminds us acutely that in ourselves we are impotent before God. Only when the LORD comes out of his hiddenness can we ever be transparent with one another at the deepest level about the pitiable condition of our hearts (Rev 3:17). We desperately need a revelation of the cross in its power to annihilate our religious idolatries that substitute for the true glory of God. The end of idolatry means the end of guilt and the end of guilt means entry into the rest of God. The excellence of such a state does not leave us passive but full of desire to communicate to a lost world the honour, praise and glory of our Holy Father. The fruit of all sufficient grace will always be vital proclamation of the good news[13].

Jesus “hid himself” from the popular religious crowds of him day, “for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.”(John 12:43 ESV).  Surely our Lord is hiding his glory in his holiness today. Do we want him to reveal himself as he is, or will we remain satisfied with the spiritual status quo to which we have become so accustomed?