Glory to God in the High St, that's how God meant it to be, according to 'ichthusbanjoman' on YouTube

Glory to God... everywhere!

I vividly recall a cartoon from the winter edition of a well-known Christian leadership magazine. It showed the outside of a church with illuminated letters which spelled out ‘Glory to God in the Highest’. Only, one of the letters had fallen off, and instead it read ‘GLORY TO GOD IN THE HIGH ST’.

I can’t help but think how we need and long for God’s glory to be openly displayed and declared not just within church services and buildings this Christmas but in every town, city and neighbourhood where we are.

That’s exactly what the Christmas story is about. As the Old Testament closes with the prophet Malachi, four centuries pass before the gospel of Matthew. Then, after those centuries of seeming silence, Heaven begins to break into earth. Not that Heaven had been absent. Prophecies hung over the people and the nation of Israel like a canopy. Heaven waited expectantly for the word of the Father’s command.

And then things began to move. In visions and dreams and revelations angels came. To a priest in Galilee, angels announced the birth of a son who would prepare the way. To Joseph, a carpenter in Nazareth, the promise of a son born of God to Mary, a young Galilean girl to whom he was betrothed. This child, the angel declared, would ‘save his people from their sins’.

In such a familiar story, it can be easy for us to miss the glory – to fail to see and take in the extraordinary drama unfolding. An epic of eternal significance was being released upon the world. As Heaven touched earth, God’s glory was seen and experienced by shepherds and wise men as a foretaste of what would be seen and experienced by multitudes as, years later, Jesus began his ministry and mission to the cross and resurrection.

My prayer is that we will all have a fresh experience of God’s glory this Christmas.

‘Glory’, even the word seems beyond us. In one sense, his glory is indescribable and indefinable. Yet, the Bible is full of accounts of ordinary people encountering and recognising his glory and being impacted and changed by it. Glory relates to the inexpressible attributes and atmosphere that surround him – he is holy, mighty, awesome, worthy of all honour and praise. He is eternal, unchanging, just and true. He is compassionate, merciful and loves us with an everlasting and pursuing love. And that’s just a glimpse of his glory.

So, let’s respond to his glory in wonder. Let’s come to him with fresh worship. Let’s ensure we are ready and open to welcome him as our personal Lord and Saviour and to receive the reality that Heaven came down into our hearts, our families, our churches and our communities.

Lord, let your Kingdom come this Christmas – Glory to God in the High St.

This article first appeared in Direction Magazine. For further details, please click here.

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