GLORIOUS STRENGTH FROM GOD

GLORIOUS STRENGTH FROM GOD    

"The might of His glory" Col. 1:11

                                                                                                                                                                    

That is a far more arresting translation than the old one, "His glorious power," and it is more accurate. The latter is a phrase in which the emphasis is laid on a quality of the power--it is GLORIOUS. The real thought of the phrase is that it lays an emphasis on a fact concerning His GLORY, and that is, that it is CHARACTERIZED BY MIGHT. The Apostle was recording his prayer for the saints that they might be FILLED WITH KNOWLEDGE in order to walk worthily, bearing fruit. The condition for all this is that they should be STRENGTHENED with all power. Of this power he gives a description in this phrase, "The might of His glory." God is essentially the God of might. The first great name by which the Hebrew people knew Him was ELOHIM, which speaks of that might in all its greatness. Everything of God has in it this quality of strength. In, no application is the fact more unusual than in this of His glory. Glory is splendor and with God speaks of a finished product with all the qualities of beauty and brilliance, whether material or mental; and one of the most marked qualities of human glory is that of its weakness. Sic transit glories mundi, is a proverb expressing this conviction. Glory fades, passes, and that because of its weakness in men. The GLORY of God knows no fading, no passing, and no perishing. It abides undimmed because of its STRENGTH. When the GLORY of God is seen, when to realize it becomes the passion of a life, it is found that in the vision there is STRENGTH, in the effort there is ENERGY. His GLORY not only captures the mind; it EMPOWERS all upon whom it shines and walks towards perfection, the finished product (2 Cor. 12:9; Jude 24). It not only lures—it lifts.