July 06, 2025

How The Gospel Brings Us Glory

40 minutes

Topical Sermons / Speaker:Berry Kercheville

How the Gospel Brings Us To Glory

Introduction: The more I learn about what God has done for us in Christ, the more I am amazed at the Serpent’s answer to Eve when she quoted God’s restriction on eating the tree of knowledge of good and evil: “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…” There are two observations we might have from this text:

First, that Eve fell for this temptation, especially when she thought, “it is desirable to make one wise,” indicates human desire for greatness. I think it fair to say that when we identify human desires, we should realize that God placed those desires within us. It is Satan who perverted those desires. But God has an eternal and righteous purpose for those desires and intends to fulfill those desires in a right and proper way.

Second, have we not often read these words and thought how silly that Eve would have believed that she could be like God. That’s never going to happen! We are just lowly humans!

And yet, God created us in his image—“Well sure,” we say, “But we sinned, and that hope is all gone. Besides, we will never be like God, we are just lucky to get to heaven!”

That may be the common belief, but there are two verses that we have talked about previously that counter that belief.

2 Peter 1:3-4 “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature”

2 Corinthians 3:17-18 “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.”

Let’s explore what glory is and how the Gospel brings us glory.

God’s Intentions for Our Glory

“Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in the Christ, Jesus, with eternal glory” (2 Tim. 2:10).

“If we died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him” (2 Tim. 2:11–12).

“He called you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Thes. 2:14, NIV)

You will notice in the above text that the purpose of the Gospel is so we can share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

How the Gospel Brings Us to Glory (2 Corinthians 3:17–4:18)

2 Corinthians 3:17-18 We are already familiar with this text. With unveiled face we behold the glory of the Lord. This is in contrast to Israel who was so enamored with the shining of Moses’ face as he delivered the words of God, they could not see the glory of God embedded in his words.

4:4,6 connects with 3:18 showing that we, on the other hand, are able to see God’s glory “in the face of Jesus Christ.” In other words, we are able to see God’s glory by observing the life and death of Jesus. As when Philip asked Jesus to see the Father, Jesus said, “Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? (John 14:9).

Therefore, ask yourself the question: what do you see in Jesus, and how does that show you the glory of God?

John 13:31-32 “When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and glorify him at once.”

John 17:1 “When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you.”

Hebrews 2:9 makes the same point: “But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.”

What then do we learn about sharing in Christ’s glory? When we behold the glory of the Lord and are transformed from one degree of glory to another, what does that transformation look like? If it looks like Jesus and therefore looks like God, then it looks like self-sacrifice; it looks self-denial; it looks like suffering/sacrificing for the cause of the Lord. That is the path to glory that is further confirmed in the text. [Remember, the Corinthians were seeking glory in a present, earthly sense.]

4:7-12 Paul’s example confirms God’s design for our glory. In carrying the “treasure” [of the Gospel] as in clay jars, we are willing to be broken so the glory of God can be seen.

However, in spite of the afflictions that are endured in carrying the treasure, we are never defeated; we never lose heart (4:1, 16).

Notice in 10-12 how we carry the treasure. Besides teaching “the knowledge of the glory of God,” we live it by carrying in our body the death of Jesus. In doing so, the life of Jesus is made visible in us. Consider that this is the only way the life of Jesus can be demonstrated. It is made visible in our mortal flesh because we are always given over to death. Verse 12: “So death is at work in us, but life in you.”

Lest you think that Paul is only talking about his life and not intending all disciples to follow his path, consider 5:14-17. “Therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.”

4:16-18

Verse 16, “Renewed day by day” follows up on 3:18 and being transformed from one degree of glory to another.

Verse 17, Our present “affliction” is preparing us for an “eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.”

Verse 18, Therefore, our minds look to the unseen, to the things that are eternal and not to the present transient things that are seen.

The Result of Our Glory

It is significant to our understanding of glory to note that in Hebrews 2:5-10, when the writer speaks of the glory of Jesus and his intent to bring us glory, the words are crowned with glory and honor. To perceive it in a vivid way, think of being crowned, and think of being being honored. God wants to crown us. God wants to honor us.

Revelation 21:9–11 “Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb. And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal.”

Ephesians 5:25-27 Note especially the words, “…that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.” [“Splendor”: also translated, glorious, radiant. The Greek: “honored, notable, memorable, splendid, gorgeous”]

To give a comparison, C.S. Lewis book, The Great Divorce.

The story is pictured as a dream in which Lewis took a bus ride toward heaven, along with many others who desired to go to see this ethereal city. When they arrive, only some of the riders are willing to get off and investigate. Most seem to be uncomfortable with it and desire to return. Some get off only to find they are nothing but ghosts, while beautiful embodied spirits try to persuade them to pursue the goal further. But still, many see the price too high to make the trek to the mountain top. So they go back or wither into nothingness.

As one Spirit put it, “There is always something they insist on keeping even at the price of misery.”

Lewis takes the gamble and allows an embodied spirit to show him around. Soon he observes a stunning woman who is truly impressive. Her name is Sarah Smith. When he asks about her, the angel tells him she is from Golders Green, a typical London suburb in Lewis’s day. On earth, in terms of human fame, she was entirely nondescript during her lifetime—just ordinary. Yet the angel explains: “Aye. She is one of the great ones. Ye have heard that fame in this country and fame on earth are two quite different things.”

As the angel continues to speak, Lewis discovers that fame in heaven comes from helping others become glorious too. Lewis asks, “And who are all these young men and women on each side?” The angel replies, “They are her sons and daughters.” Lewis states, ‘She must have had a very large family, Sir.”

But Lewis is astonished when he discovers how Sarah Smith became famous with God: by sourcing her life in Christ’s glory, her own glory had begun to spill over to others. Sarah’s glorious fame did not detract from that of others. It only enhanced others’ glory.”

Conclusion: Have you ever thought about what it will be like to see each other again in that heavenly kingdom? In some ways it seems that it will be utterly shocking. In this life we will have followed our Savior in beholding his glory, gradually transformed from our old self to a new, glorious self. But it will never be complete until that final day when we are united with the Lord.

Each of us sees our flaws and are frustrated by them. As we grow and conquer some, we begin to see others, and other people see these flaws in us. But on that day, we will see each other in a new light – a person clothed in glory without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, holy and without blemish. Crowned with honor; crowned with glory!

Until that time, such hope should cause us to look at each other quite differently. There is a “glorious us” awaiting.

Berry Kercheville

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