God's Glory, His Standard
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Romans 3:23-26 (KJV)
Before mankind sinned, he enjoyed God’s glory, His manifest presence. Glory in Greek is doxa, meaning the manifested perfection of the character of God, particularly His righteousness, of which all of us fall short.
Man’s sin stole the glory of God from mankind. Before the fall, they were naked yet unashamed because they were covered with God’s glory. When they fell, their eyes were opened and they became conscious of their nakedness. They fell and lost the glory, so they covered themselves with fig leaves, a cheap imitation of God’s covering.
Sin caused mankind to come short of God’s glory, of His glorious, perfect standard for man. But, in Christ, all is restored. We can now again enjoy God’s presence because Christ made us righteous when we were born again (II Corinthians 5:17, 21). We’ve been clothed in robes of righteousness (Isaiah 61:10), and we’re covered once again with His glory. We’ve returned to God’s original intention for mankind: to fellowship with God and enjoy His glorious presence.
The glory of God is His glorious standard for us: to enjoy God, fellowship, to walk, and talk with God, to obey Him out of a willing heart of love for God. The more we obey God, the more we enjoy Him. Of course, there is grace for our failures. Grace restores us to His glory, to His standards for us written in His Word and on our hearts.
We can now give glory to God for Who He is and what He does because of Christ, the One who is the glory of God manifested for us and to us (John 1:1-3, 14). Because we have received Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, we no longer fall short of the glory of God. Jesus’ sacrifice has made us perfect in God’s sight, and God’s glory covers us.
