By the time Paul wrote Ephesians, he had had new revelations of God the Father and our calling. His prayer was “17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of Glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, 18 the eyes of your [f]understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling (for you) and, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints. Describing His things we have access to now.
Our focus here is, who and what is a Glory, or what are Glories that God would call them His offspring to have parented them. The Father of Glories?
You see this is a newer concept for Paul as evidenced elsewhere in Ephesians where he says “made known by way of revelation” showing us that Paul was getting new insights from God for his own transformation to relay to us. You know what is new for him as seen in his progressive writings. So you know this concept of Glories was not commonly known.
Paul who earlier on “set out to lay hold of the resurrection” had gone way past that.
And that is another grey area from the translators not to distinguish more clearly the resurrection from the ascension. The resurrection is gifted to us as fruit of the cross, confessed at Baptism that we now being raised in His likeness, we walk in newness of life. But the ascension becomes our new work of transformation of “being renewed in the spirit of your mind” to arrive “in full stature to a perfect man” as also Paul taught in Ephesians 4.13. And also that Paul sought to “lay hold of why God laid hold of him”, that he pursued the upward call of God in Christ. This is the ascension for the full acquisition of the gift that was given, that includes the Glory .
This is for us whose sights are now set on the Glory, a shared Glory. “The riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints.” The glory gifted to us through the Gospel, and not brought to us at the illusive 2nd coming as many suppose.
And since Paul was learning something new, we shouldn’t be surprised that the translators who carried forward these documents, who were learning from what they were translating, hadn’t had this revelation yet. So things may not come across as spectacular as it should, like we see here.
For God to be “The Father of Glory” means that is a description of His mature offspring. God doesn’t have multiple sorts of offspring or He would violate His own order of “kind begats according to kind and there is no cross contamination. As it says in John 3 of those born from above “that which is flesh is flesh and that which is spirit is spirit” so you know what form this Glory takes, “for no man can see Gods glory and live” because it takes on a form not recognizable to the carnal senses.
Just as God has many names, the names are just more verbiage of who God is and what God is about. Knowing these more clearly we then know ourselves better. The Glory is the acquisition of of the gift of God according to godliness, which is not religious piety, or a show of being kind. No, God was God in all His presentations and He wants His offspring to do and say what He does. To be godly is to be godlike of something that is not described with earthen features. This is why Christ appeared as a pauper but had in Himself “the fullness of the Godhead body, and you (we) are complete in Him who is the head of all principalities and powers”. This is The Glory,,, if you can receive it.
Each species is species specific, meaning dog begets doc, cat begets cat. So God being “The Father of Lights” and “The Father of Glory“, these are just two descriptions of those who are His. This Heavenly calling is not easy to except because God left us in our carnal bodies to grow into our new selves, to acknowledge who we are in Him. That “we have this treasure in earthen vessels so the Glory and the Excellency may be of God and not ourselves”, meaning our humanity respirated has Christ but not as something to brag about. But nevertheless we experience and participate in His Glory now as being a Heavenly Glory.
If this were not true, we could not be held in contempt or denial of the gift of God according to godliness as found “in Christ” but we are. Even as Paul said in Romans that “All have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God”. Meaning two things. We couldn’t be charged for a crime we couldn’t commit, and we couldn’t be held accountable to that charge if we were not expected by the accuser to accomplish the task. So where does that leave you, or lead you to today?
We are guilty to this charge, as rejecting the gift of salvation with eternal Glory if we haven’t achieved the Glory. So yes, God is the Father of glories, and this is the standard you will AGAIN be measured by as being the Glory to explore and experience while you are a sojourner and a pilgrim while you have your human instrumentation’s of the mind and of the spirit attached to your carnal vessel.
When Paul called God “The Father of Glory“, he was telling us where the gospel takes us, what to focus on and what to expect to get. This may seem pompous but really God see’s it as rejection if you don’t do so because it is a given.
It was Moses who demonstrated that by the law you could only see shadows of God’s Glory, being shielded as He walked by, only seeing His hind side. “But we with unveiled faces beholding the Glory of God are being transfigured into the self same image from the Glory to the Glory as by the Spirit”. This is the Glory we have in earthen vessels, showing us that Glorification is an acquisition accomplished in this age. All have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God? Not to the resurrected ascended saints who hotly pursued the goal. “The upward call of God in Christ” Paul sought to lay hold of. This is how God is “The Father of Glories” because when we look into the mirror of the Spirit and see Him unveiled there in Glory, He is looking back at us, seeing His image complete and He is happy. His word accomplished all His desire, it does not return void but returns with us in it. He who said “if you abide in Me and My words abide in you, the Father and I will come to you and make our home in you. And they did. Those in this Glory are His Glory’s and He is glad that we take ownership of it as “heirs, and joint heirs with Christ of the things of God. This Glory is your crown, and the book of The Revelation of Christ says “let no one steel your crown. The crown is the capstone of faith for those who have put off the wares of this age for our instrumentation’s of the things God has gifted to us to call our own. Glory to God for His (humanly) in describable gift” of gifting us Himself. “For even the angels themselves behold our Fathers face” in ours. Amen
Here are a couple more translation discrepancies about glory
The word Glory from the Greek is “doxa” and is always interpretated glory except for two places as seen here. Peter uses “doxa“, but it was translated into “dignitaries” of those “who (do not) walk according to the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise authority. They are presumptuous, self-willed. They are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries (meaning glories)”.
The other place in scripture that glory is interpreted into dignitaries, meaning; glory in a plural form is in the book of Jude saying “these dreamers defile the flesh, reject authority, and speak evil of Dignitaries “meaning Glories” as the body of the Elect and not officials elected at the polls as many suppose.
In both Peter and Jude they were referencing people of honor of those who are more accurately translated “Glories” of those of honor. Meaning stature in the spirit of those imaged like The Father of it. Had the translators been more consistent to use the word “glories, we would have a more clear picture of our calling with those two verses. That since God is our Father, and He begets (brings forth) Glories. He does not have another offspring according to the law of kind begets, but images of Himself. Glory is another description of His mature offspring and not politicians or people with earthly power, but those who develop the full gift, being the full likeness and stature of Christ our “prototype”. A word to mean “first in a series being produced”.
Even as Paul said “to which He called you by our gospel, for the obtaining of the Glory (and Grand Prize). To reach out to lay a hold of why Christ laid a hold of us. And of those who don’t? “Whose minds the god of this age has blinded? Who “do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them”. And how does Satan blind you? By keeping your sights ground bound and working in the flesh. But we know that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God, bringing down strongholds (mindsets) and every high thing that exalts (raises up) itself in competition with the things of God.
And we ask you, for what cause? For obtaining The Glory. This is the gospel.
So let us understand this more clearly so that Paul’s prayer for us would have more clarity. That “the God and Father of our Lord and Savior, The Father of Glories, would give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him” so you can see more clearly to make your calling and your Election sure. Because as we know Him, we know ourselves more clearly. And if you don’t grasp and lay hold of the Glory now through the gospel, we fall short from our full calling again. Because our full transfiguration for “the obtaining of Glory”, is the conclusion of the gospel and not something after life. “Father of Glories? Born again? We have our do-over.
To this you may think, Isn’t it blasphemy to claim godlike stature?
If this seams to lofty for you, we need to go no further than Christs own prayer to the Father on our behalf. In John 17 He said “22 And Father, the glory which You gave Me I have given (free gift) them, that they may be one just as We are one”. Meaning for us to be cohesively one, congruent and indistinguishable one from another. And to show you that it is possible, we remind you of the Book of the Revelation where after Heavenly Jerusalem was unveiled. That John bowed to worship that One and he tells John “ See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God.
That he encountered a completed saint before the end of the ages to spur us on to completion. Which is? The Glory. And again “And Father, the Glory you have given Me, I have given to them that they may be one with us”.
Can you receive this? Christ went to the cross to ensure that payment was rendered “paid in full” for you to strive to lay a hold of this upward call of God in Christ? Well, this is it.
We have this age only to do this, for the day is coming when it will be said “Those who are unjust, let them be unjust still; those who are filthy, let them be filthy still; those who are righteous, let them be righteous still; those who are holy, let them be holy still.” And of the others who had not acquired such? To the degree that they attained they remained for the window of time for development was over
Today is the day of salvation. Now is the age for us to acquire the gift of godliness, meaning: God likeness.
This is why Paul the Apostle said “when I was a child, I thought like a child and spoke like a child. When I became mature I put away childhood things. He traded his fixations from the carnal dimension to the things gifted to him in his new dimension, Eternal in The Heavens of being “in Christ” with God The Father.
And for now, The Kingdom of God is (still) at hand!!