Let us,
then, examine some of the texts setting forth God's precious promises
relative to the glory and honor that shall be the portion of the church
in his great arrangement.
[497]_Glory_ is the term used to describe Jehovah's presence. It
suggests the brightness of the divine person and character. Glory is
associated with God's holiness. (Isaiah 6:1-4) Our Lord Jesus is
mentioned as the 'brightness of God's glory'. He is also spoken of as
being 'the express image of the Father', and we are told that he is at
the right hand of the Father. (Hebrews 1:3) The 144,000 members of his
body are to be with him in his throne and in the Father's presence, thus
in glory. (Revelation 3:21) This glory that they shall enjoy will be so
transcendently more wonderful than all the things of earth that could be
glorious, that St. Paul describes it as a "far more exceeding and
eternal weight of glory". The members of the church while undergoing
development bear the image of the earthly. Imperfect human beings they
are, with imperfect bodies and minds. But the promise to them is: "As
we have borne the image of the earthly, we shall also bear the image of
the heavenly".--1 Corinthians 15:49.
[498]From the time of Pentecost until the coming of the Lord, those
dear and faithful saints who died in Christ slept and waited for his
coming; but as the Apostle says, these would be the first to be honored
with an awakening from the dead.
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