When Glory Fades: The Emptiness of Life Apart from Jesus
How our pursuit of self leads to emptiness—and how God restores our glory
There is no glory for man separate from the glory of God.
What do I mean by “glory”? The glory of something is its splendour. Its substance. That for which it is recognized and honoured. It may seem egotistical of God, then, to inextricably link our glory to His own, as though He is saying, “You don’t get to be strong and lifted up unless you recognize My strength and honour Me for it!”
But consider this: there is no glory for an oak tree separate from the glory of the sun. Is it egotistical of the sun to be the source of warmth and energy for all plant life so that they may grow in their majesty? Of course not. Rather, the trees gladly turn their faces towards the sun, absorbing the light and benefiting from it.
The sun does not selfishly hoard its power, but freely gives to any that would receive. (I trust you can see that I am only using personification to emphasize the analogy—the sun doesn’t make a cognitive, magnanimous choice. It is only performing as has been designed by the Creator.) Now, let me say it again: there is no glory for man separate from the glory of God.
When humanity attempts to lift itself up and find its way, apart from the order and presence of God, we fail. We fall. Like a sun-starved tree, we wilt. Our glory fades. The first chapter of Romans lays this out for us:
“For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but because futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.”
What is it about us as humans? Why are we so resistant to rely on the presence and substance of God? Like a stubborn child, we stiffen our shoulders and turn away from the One who has the most wisdom. We have our mind “set on the flesh”, determined to do things our own way—often bowing to our physical impulses—doing whatever we can to fulfil the desires of our own body and mind. We exchange the worship of God for the worship of our selves.
And what does the Creator do for a culture that is determined to detach from its dependence on God? Oh, He sends messengers—prophets of many shapes and sizes—to implore the people, “Come back! Turn your face once more to the glory of the Son! There is no life apart from Jesus!” He allows circumstances that will stir hearts to come to Him once again.
After a while, if the people refuse to listen and humble themselves, we read that God will give,
“them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonoured among them. For they exchanged the truth of God for a life, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women enhanced the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another…and just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper.”
What does this mean? Essentially, that God will eventually let us do the things that we are so determined to do, knowing that in time, the consequences of those very choices will cause a level of suffering—in the hopes that those who are stubborn will humble themselves before God.
This portion of Romans is often used in the church to talk exclusively about God’s opposition to homosexual behaviour, but please do not miss the context of the chapter. This is less about the various ways that humans sin and more so about the reality that the sin at work in our being has caused men and women to detach themselves from the person, and therefore the glory, of their Sustainer. And so we fail. We fall. Like a sun-starved tree, we wilt. All the ways in which we break God’s moral laws are the evidence of this reality.
Did you catch the verse in Romans that acknowledges the consequence? It says that they receive “in their own persons the due penalty of their error”. In the original language, this would be understood as “the recompense for their wandering”. In this unique work that my husband and I do, we have spoken with countless men and women who tell us of the painful consequences that they have endured for separating themselves from the design and therefore sustenance of God. They have walked the road that their flesh said would bring them pleasure. They bought the messaging of culture that said unhindered sexual encounters was the path to liberation. They sold themselves, they hooked up, they got rid of unwanted ‘fetal tissue’, they clung to fantasies, they ‘followed their heart’—into and out of marriages, they chained themselves to explicit content and felt real relationships suffer.
And they kept their mouth shut about it for a long time. Maybe for self-preservation of their reputation. Maybe in stubbornness, hoping they could find a way to keep their mind “set on the the flesh”. Maybe in despair, wondering if there was hope of another way to live.
In some ways, they are now cultural defectors. By their own confession, they expose the flawed system of this world that we are surrounded by. They have now seen that there is no glory for mankind apart from the glory of God.
But the beautiful truth is that for anyone who would believe, for anyone who would yield their hearts to the Lordship and Provision of Jesus Christ, there is abundant life available. Jesus has done everything necessary for us to be reconnected to the Father of Life. He came and lived on earth as a man for 33 years, going throughout his homeland healing the sick and broken, casting out demonic forces, and preaching a message of truth, calling people to follow Him. He was falsely accused, faced an unjust trial and then was brutally murdered. All of it was a part of a divine plan—that the shedding of His innocent blood could provide the forgiveness for our sins. He was buried, but then on the third day, was resurrected back into a glorified body! All so that those of us who are sinners, who were dead in our trespasses, could be made alive too.
This is what Romans 6:23 is talking about when it says, “The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
If you are ready to begin following Jesus, to turn your heart to your Creator and Heavenly Father and allow His life to come into the places where you know you are dead, I invite you to pray out loud and tell Him, even right now! If you know someone who follows Jesus too, I encourage you to reach out and let them know about your decision. They can help guide you to take more steps in this new direction. If you don’t know anyone who is a believer, please contact us and we can try to help you find a Bible-believing, truth-preaching, loving church community in your region!
If you are reading this today and you know that though you have received salvation through faith in Jesus, you have had your mind set on doing things your own way—your mind has been “set on the flesh” as it says in Romans 8:5-8:
“For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”
If that is you, and you are ready to begin walking in more complete surrender to the Spirit of God, obeying Him according to what the Scriptures lay out—today is a new day for you as well. Tell the Lord your intentions, then text or call a fellow Christian and tell them about your realization, asking them to pray for you right then and there! You will be amazed at how the Lord will begin to direct your steps, teaching you to walk in the right paths that you are made to thrive in!