After the apostasy involving the worship of the golden calf, as Moses was interceding before the Lord in behalf of Israel, a very interesting dialogue took place between the Lord and His servant.

“I beseech thee, shew me thy glory,” asked Moses.

The Lord answered him: “I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy” (Exodus 33:18, 19).

In the next chapter, we are told that “the Lord descended in the cloud, and stood with [Moses], there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. And the Lord passed by before [Moses], and proclaimed, The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation” (Exodus 34:5–7).

Two key words in these scriptures are: glory and name. Theologically speaking, both words mean character.

At creation, Adam and Eve reflected God’s character. After sin, humanity lost God’s glory (His character), and from thence they manifested their own glory, a sinful character.

When Inspiration says that “[justification by faith] is the work of God in laying the glory of man in the dust, and doing for man that which it is not in his power to do for himself” (TM 456), we are told that God’s purpose through the gospel is to replace human glory/character with His own glory (God’s character, His righteousness).

The apostle Paul sums up the whole process of salvation with the following words: “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom He justified, them he also glorified” (Romans 8:29, 30).

“Of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption” (1 Corinthians 1:30).

God’s final goal regarding His children (and this must be also our final goal) is the full restoration of His character. Only repentant sinners are justified; only justified believers are sanctified; and only sanctified people will be glorified. God’s children need to be restored to the same condition they enjoyed before sin.

May the Lord give us grace to fulfill His divine purpose to us, which is the final glorification!Bread That Endures