God’s Riches (2)
	Last week we looked at God’s Riches. We talked about the fact that “rich” indicates first that there is an abundance of something, and second that it is something desirable or helpful. If you have a million thorn bushes, I wouldn’t say you are rich, because I desire no thorn bushes, nor would even one be helpful to me. So we looked at three desirable, helpful things in which God is rich: goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering (Romans 2:4).
	Tonight I want to look with you at the riches of God’s glory. Romans 9:23 says that God wants to make known the riches of His glory on what Paul calls the vessels prepared beforehand for glory (i.e. those who are saved). The same apostle prayed for the Ephesians, that God “would grant you, acc’d. to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened w/ might thru His Spirit in the inner man” (Eph. 3:16). 
	The glory of God means, first of all, His splendor, majesty, and brightness. In the OT, when the presence of the Lord filled the Tabernacle, it was so bright that Moses couldn’t go inside (Exodus 40:34, 35). Later, that same visible glory filled Solomon’s temple (2 Chron. 7:1). Still later, at the birth of Jesus, the “glory of the Lord shone around” the shepherds as an angel announced the good news to them. And when Jesus was on a mountain with three of His disciples (Luke 9), He was transfigured before them – “the appearance of His face was altered, and His robe became white and glistening. And behold, two men talked with Him, who were Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory” (vv. 29, 30). Shortly before His crucifixion, Jesus prayed that the Father would glorify Him with that glory wh/ He had w/ the Father before the world was ever created (John 17:5); in that same prayer, He asked that His followers might be with Him and see His glory (17:24).
	Obviously the brightness of God’s glory is abundant – it was so great that Moses couldn’t enter the Tabernacle because of it; and Matthew 17:2 describes Jesus’ face at the transfiguration as being “like the sun.” Not only is it abundant, but it is desirable. Why wouldn’t we, as disciples of Jesus, want to be like He is? John says we don’t know exactly what we will be like, but when Jesus is revealed, we will be like Him. Paul says that “when Christ, who is our life, appears, then you also will appear w/ Him in glory” (Colossians 3:4). We get a tiny glimpse in Revelation 1:16, where we see that Jesus’ face is “like the sun shining in its strength.”
	But the visible appearance is only part of the riches of God’s glory. Even more meaningful to us, especially in the here-and-now, is that the brightness of His appearance is indicative of the quality of His character. His glory is manifested in what He does because of Who He is. Going back to Romans 9:23, God makes known the riches of His glory on the saved – that is, He makes known his love, mercy, and grace that has made our salvation possible. Likewise in Ephesians 3:16 Paul prays that God will grant them, acc’d. to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened w/ might thru His Spirit in the inner man. Again, this is not talking about God’s bright appearance, but His love, mercy, & grace wh/ motivates Him to give us strength. Certainly we need God’s love, mercy, and grace, and we will look at the fact that God is rich in those things in another devotional.