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October 22

The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. — John 1:14 BSB

The glory of Christ in His suffering humanity was hidden from the eyes of all except those enlightened by the Holy Spirit to see it. Even today, there is a glory to be seen in the incarnate God by those with believing eyes. The grandeur of Deity, softened by the weakness of humanity, shines through like the noonday sun shining through clouds—veiling His rays enough so that He can be seen without blinding or dazzling the eye. The Son of God in the babe of Bethlehem; the “only begotten of the Father,” sweating great drops of blood in Gethsemane and hanging on the cross at Calvary; yet even in His lowest state, covered in shame to human eyes, glory streams from every pore of His sacred body, majesty and beauty shine forth from every line of His marred face, and love and mercy pour from His faint lips. No one will see the glory of a risen, ascended, and glorified Christ in heaven unless they first see Him on earth in His suffering. It is His suffering glory that is so precious and so fitting for a guilty sinner. To see this glory of the Son of God revealed in the soul by divine power, to have it made ours as our salvation, and to recognize that it holds the essence of our present and future happiness—this is the glory that every redeemed and regenerated saint longs to see and feel.

What glory can the world offer compared to the glory of the marred countenance of the suffering Son of God? Beside His cross, all earthly glory pales, withers, and dies, for death brings an end to all that is naturally bright and glorious. God has spoken of the end of all human glory: “Therefore hell has enlarged itself and opened its mouth beyond measure; their glory and their multitude and their pomp shall descend into it” (Isaiah 5:14).

But the glory that begins at the cross ends with the crown, for “if we suffer with Him, we shall also be glorified together.” To see this glory of a suffering Christ with the eye of faith, to have it penetrate and possess the heart, to have it as our daily bread and drink, to come, led by the Spirit, to the ever-spread table of Christ’s flesh and the ever-flowing fountain of His atoning blood, and to hear the Lord Himself say, “Eat, O friends; drink, yes, drink abundantly, O beloved,”—here is food for the immortal soul. Here are streams of pardon and peace. Here are rivers of eternal life. “Let him who thirsts come. And whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely.” To see, enjoy, feel, and experience this in our dry, thirsty, and weary hearts is to see the glory of God as revealed in the Person, work, blood, obedience, and love of His dear Son.


Daily Blessings - October 22

Public domain content taken from Devotional Writings by J.C. Philpot.


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