The Glory of the Son

Jeffrey Hamilton — Mon, 03 Mar 2025 01:14:48 +0000

https://www.lavistachurchofchrist.org/cms/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/The-Glory-of-the-Son.mp3

by Jeffrey W. Hamilton

Text: Matthew 16:21-28

I. To the dismay of his disciples, Jesus began to speak of his pending death. (See also Mark 8:31-9:1 and Luke 9:21-27)

A. They did not realize how important that death was to the plans of God, and when Peter declared that God would not allow such a thing to happen, Jesus sharply rebuked him.

B. Immediately after announcing his death, Jesus tells his disciples they must be willing to give up everything as well.

1. Saving one’s life for the moment is small payment for losing eternal life.

2. Jesus was going to die, but he would be resurrected.

C. Jesus was going to come in glory with his angels

1. Every man’s deeds would be recompensed.

2. In other words, if you want to be on the winning side, start acting like it.

D. Then comes Jesus statement that some would live to see the day Jesus comes into his kingdom

E. This has caused people a bit of difficulty

1. Verse 27 sounds like Jesus’s second coming, but verse 28 speaks of it occurring within some of their lifetimes

2. Those of us who have been students of the Bible for a while probably recognize that verse 28 is speaking of the church, but then is verse 27 a totally different topic or related to verse 28?

F. One mistake many people make in regards to New Testament prophesy is to assume that most statements dealing with the future is talking about Jesus’s second coming.

1. The New Testament does speak at length of Jesus’s return, but it is not the only thing spoken of.

2. The best thing is to let the Bible define it’s terminology instead of our assuming its meaning.

II. Jesus coming into glory and a kingdom

A. The phrase seems to be an allusion to a prophecy in Daniel 7.

1. After seeing a vision of four terrible beasts, Daniel sees this – Daniel 7:9-12

2. It is a vision of God, and Daniel learns that the beasts, despite the boasts, would not last.

3. But the vision continues - Daniel 7:13-14

4. Portions of the vision are explained for us - Daniel 7:15-18

5. Yet Daniel was curious about the fourth beast and especially the horn - Daniel 7:21-27

B. This vision is similar to an earlier vision given to Nebuchadnezzar - Daniel 2:31-45

1. An everlasting kingdom would be established during the fourth empire, starting from the Babylonian empire.

C. Daniel 7:13-14 tells us who will rule the kingdom

1. One like a son of Man would receive dominion (rule), glory, and a kingdom.

2. It will be an eternal kingdom made of people from all nations.

D. Compare this to I Corinthians 15:23-28

1. Christ is ruling until all things are subject to him.

2. Compare verse 27 to Ephesians 1:22-23

a. Jesus’ kingdom is the church

3. But with that kingdom came the glory of the Father - Ephesians 1:18-21

E. Jesus has a kingdom, in which he holds the preeminent position - Colossians 1:18

1. I Timothy 6:16 - Jesus has honor and eternal dominion

2. I Peter 4:11 - To Jesus belongs glory and dominion forever

3. I Peter 5:11 - To Jesus belongs dominion forever

4. Revelation 1:6 - He made us a kingdom of priests. To him belongs glory and dominion forever.

5. Revelation 5:13 - To God and Jesus belong blessings, honor, glory, and dominion forever.

III. Jesus promised that he would come into his kingdom during the lifetime of some of his listeners.

A. Just prior to the statements in Matthew 16:24-28, Jesus promised to build his church, which he also calls the kingdom - Matthew 16:18-19

B. That coming would be with power according to the parallel account in Mark 9:1

C. After he was resurrected, he told his disciples that they would be clothed in power - Luke 24:49

D. Just before his ascension, Jesus said that power would come with the Holy Spirit - Acts 1:8

E. That promise was fulfilled in Acts 2:1-4 when the Holy Spirit came on the day of Pentecost and the Lord’s church was established - Acts 2:41

F. The Lord’s supper would be drunk with Christ in the kingdom - Matthew 26:29

1. Paul shows this is fulfilled in I Corinthians 11:23-26

IV. But what about the part with Jesus coming with his angels to render to each man according to his deeds?

A. Rendering to each man according to his deeds is another way of saying bringing judgment

1. Eternal judgment - Romans 2:5-6

2. When we appear before the judgment seat of Christ - II Corinthians 5:10

B. Similarly the phrase coming with angels also refers to judgment

1. Jude 14-15 - to execute judgment on the ungodly

2. Zechariah 14:5-8 - speaks of God coming to Jerusalem in judgment, yet not final judgment since people flee and living water flows from Jerusalem afterward.

3. In the description of the fall of Jerusalem - Matthew 24:29-31. I believe this is the same event described in Zechariah 14:5-8

C. Notice a similar phrase is coming on clouds

1. Jesus told the high priest he would see Jesus in power coming on the clouds - Matthew 26:64

2. The destruction of Egypt is describe as God coming on the clouds - Isaiah 19:1

D. The description is that when Jesus comes in glory and his kingdom, he will be bringing judgment.

1. It could refer to the final judgment at the end of the world

2. He could be referring to his judgment against Israel for rejecting him and his kingdom.

3. After all, since Jesus came into glory and a kingdom, he had the right to execute judgment

V. Jesus’s warning to his followers is that if they wish to share in his glory and avoid destruction, they must be loyal.

A. Jesus will only acknowledge his followers - Luke 12:8-9

B. The trustworthy statement - II Timothy 2:10-13

C. Will you not stand for your Savior this day?

Do you honestly think man is God’s most powerful creation?

Jeffrey Hamilton — Fri, 07 Jul 2006 23:14:17 +0000

Question:

Do you honestly think that man is God's most powerful creation? Just take a look at everything happening to man today, all the floods, all the storms; just imagine a brownish-black cloud consuming the visible sky and you will realize that man is not in control, that we are not superior. Moreover, you will realize that our little time of "dominion" has come to an end. You know exactly what I'm talking about. Our crimes have consumed us. In the end times, obviously, our rule will be replaced by the rule of the Lord.

Answer:

God gave men dominion over His creation:

"Then God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth."" (Genesis 1:28).
"What is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him? For You have made him a little lower than the angels, and You have crowned him with glory and honor. You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen - even the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea that pass through the paths of the seas" (Psalm 8:4-8).

"The heaven, even the heavens, are the LORD'S; but the earth He has given to the children of men" (Psalm 115:16).

Jesus currently rules:

"But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ's at His coming. Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be destroyed is death" (1 Corinthians 15:20-26).

When the end comes, this world and everything in it will cease to exist:

"The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat?" (II Peter 3:9-12)