WORSHIP NOTES
Volume 9, No. 11 (November 2014)
1. The Glory of God in Christ’s preincarnate state (John 1:1; 17:5)
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
“And now, Father, glorify Me in your own presence with the glory that I had with You before the world existed.”
2. The Glory of God in Christ foreseen (John 12:41)
Isaiah said these things because he saw His glory and spoke of Him.
3. The Glory of God in preparing the line of descent (Matthew 1:1-17)
So all the generations from Abraham to David were fourteen generations, and from David to the deportation to Babylon fourteen generations, and from the deportation to Babylon to the Christ fourteen generations. (1:17)
4. The Glory of God in preparing a forerunner (Luke 1:5-25,57-80)
But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, 1or he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.” (1:13-17)
“Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for He has visited and redeemed His people and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David.” (1:68-69)
5. The Glory of God in angelic annunciations (Luke 1:11-20,26-37)
And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great before the Lord. (1:11-15a)
In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!” (1:26-28)
And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call His name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to Him the throne of His father David, and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.” (1:30-33)
6. The Glory of God in Mary’s humble submission (Luke 1:26-56)
And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to Your word.” (Luke 1:38)
7. The Glory of God in a miraculous conception (Luke 1:31-35; Matthew 1:18,20)
And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call His name Jesus. (Luke 1:31)
And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. (Luke 1:35)
Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 1:18)
But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 1:20)
8. The Glory of God in Joseph’s humble obedience (Matthew 1:18-25)
When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called His name Jesus. (1:24-25)
9. The Glory of God in providential events (Luke 2:1-5)
In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be registered, each to his own town. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.
10. The Glory of God in prophetic fulfillment (Matthew 1:22-23; 2:5-6; Luke 2:4)
All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call His name Immanuel” (which means, God with us). (Matthew 1:22-23)
They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet: “‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’” (Matthew 2:5-6)
And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem. (Luke 2:4; cf. Micah 5:2)
11. The Glory of God in the shepherds’ wonder (Luke 2:8-9,15-20)
And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them. (2:20)
12. The Glory of God in the angels’ proclamation and celebration (Luke 2:9-14)
And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. (2:9)
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” (2:13-14)
13. The Glory of God in the beckoning of the magi (Matthew 2:1-2,9-10)
Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is He who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw His star when it rose and have come to pay homage to Him.” (2:1-2)
After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. (2:9)
14. The Glory of God in incarnation (John 1:14; Hebrews 1:3a)
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)
He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of His nature. (Hebrews 1:3a)
15. The Glory of God in divine kenosis (emptying) (Philippians 2:5-8; Hebrews 2:9)
Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. (Philippians 2:5-7)
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. (Hebrews 2:9)
16. The Glory of God in identifying with man (Hebrews 2:14-18)
Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, He himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death He might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. For surely it is not angels that He helps, but He helps the offspring of Abraham. Therefore He had to be made like His brethren in every respect, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For because He Himself has suffered when tempted, He is able to help those who are being tempted.
17. The Glory of God in the face of Christ (2 Corinthians 4:6)
For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
18. The Glory of God in divine exaltation (Philippians 2:9-11; John 17:5)
Therefore God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:9-11)
“And now, Father, glorify Me in your own presence with the glory that I had with You before the world existed.” (John 17:5)