There’s a Man in the glory
Whose Life is for me.
He’s pure and He’s holy,
Triumphant and free.
He’s wise and He’s loving
How tender is He!
His Life in the glory,
My life must be;
His Life in the glory,
My life must be.
Oftentimes when believers talk about the Lord, the most common descriptors given are words like “almighty,” “powerful,” or “creator” to name a few. Our God is almighty, powerful, and our creator — but what connection does that have to us? Though these words are fact, there are many layers of religious superstition and concepts that put us at a distance from God, giving us a partial gospel where God is abstract, untouchable and far away from His people. However, the Bible reveals to us that this is not the case. Actually, our God is not only an awesome creator but a man — the real man — according to His original design. And this Man has everything to do with us.
As believers, we are quick to recognize that Jesus was a man born of a virgin who walked on the earth. But this fundamental fact is only part of the gospel; our Lord Jesus Christ is also the expression of God, His glory: “Who is the image of the invisible God, the Firstborn of all creation,” (Col. 1:15). He is the embodiment of the Word, which is God, who put on flesh and became a man to walk and dwell with us (John 1:1; 14). The Lord Jesus carried a perfect humanity from the image and likeness of the Father, something previously unseen yet now made visible through Jesus Christ as the Son. What a wonderful fact that our God is a man with the glory of God. But still, what does this mean to us? How does this impact our lives?
The Man in the glory is not meant to only remain by Himself — His life is for us! But the life of this Man in the glory is not something without substance. Actually, the point of this hymn ties to the full gospel of the Bible: our God became a man and went through a process in order for us to live out this same life in glory. It is a process of restoration, recovery back to the status as true human beings we are meant to live; we are made for expressing Him. In our experience, our fallen humanity is being daily replaced with Christ so that today we can live out His life — the real humanity — on the earth. What makes our life meaningful? It is “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col. 1:27).
There’s no place here for our own poor sinful life or even religious life; we lose our identity and self-testimony and live His. Praise the Lord for His life as a man in glory so that we can experience this full salvation: “For [we] died, and our life is hidden with Christ in God. / When Christ our life is manifested, then you also will be manifested with Him in glory” (3:3-4).
What makes our lives different on the earth today is not that we are trying to live more moral lives or successful lives; we are daily receiving the life of Christ, the real man in the glory into us. As believers, we are not called to live according to anything other than Christ, the true humanity with divinity — a ‘Man in the glory.’” We, too, experience His life in detail: judgment, death, resurrection, and glory as part of our daily walk as the church. Today, we have a way to live as real humans, growing into the full stature of our Christ, which is also His earnest desire (2:28-29):
…He’s joyful and radiant,
Expecting to see
His Life in the glory
…Lived out in me.
(Above are notes of fellowship taken from a gathering on 12/17/2023, not reviewed by the speaker.)