Ezekiel 8 reveals the power of the glory of God. The Spirit lifted Ezekiel between heaven and earth and brought him into a vision. The prophet saw the seat of the image of jealousy as well as the “glory of the God of Israel.” God then showed Ezekiel the great abominations in the temple that the priests were hiding while they were still continuing in their religious forms of worship. How can it be that the glory of God can be where abominations take place? The function of the glory of God is to expose that which is an abomination to Him and remove it from His dwelling place.
Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. Liberty from the flesh is the denying of ourselves and the works of the flesh (Galatians 5:19-21), where we can now pick up our cross and follow Jesus. Denying ourselves sets us up to receive the Spirit of self-control (Galatians 5: 22-23). It is obvious when someone is in bondage to carnality, because there is no control. The God-given will is forfeited to the passions of the world. And this is where the power of the glory of God must be appreciated and cultivated. When the glory of God rises in us there is control, because the will is submitted and lined up with God’s will, where the fruits of the Spirit will manifest. The fruits of the Spirit are proof that Jesus has conquered the sins in our life, and of the world. In order to walk in this freedom, there must be a revelation of the glory of God that is inside of us.
The Glory’s triumph over carnality can be powerfully seen in 1 Samuel 6. The Philistines begin to be judged by God, because they had stolen the Ark of the Covenant. They decided to return the Ark on two nursing cows to prove the legitimacy of their decision, to determine if what was happening to them was by the hand of God or by chance. In verse 13 it says that “the cows headed straight for the road to Beth Shemesh, and went along the highway, lowing as they went, and did not turn aside to the right or the left” (NKJV). The cows’ nature was to nurse their calves, yet the glory of God overrode the carnal nature and set that which carried the presence of God on the right path. When there is an awareness of carrying the glory, there is no distraction that can hinder us from fulfilling God’s will in our lives. In the Glory, there is no turning to the left or the right, but a steadfast pursuit of following Jesus to the Father.
Our solution to addiction, distraction, and any attack of the enemy is the revelation of Christ in us the hope of glory (Colossians 1:27). The solution is a permanent one that brings the lusts of the flesh to an end. That which we carry, like the nursing cows, is greater and more powerful than any carnality or bondage. When the greater rises, it destroys every work of the enemy in our lives. God has called us out of the grave, and now has endowed us with power from on high to put off the old nature and walk in the Spirit, thus overcoming the desires of the flesh once and for all.
Today there are too many well-meaning Christians that are focused on heaven, or changing locations, than they are with being conformed to the image of the Son. Our focus is the Christ and being forever changed here and now. When we are focused on anything else but the Christ, we are susceptible to being cheated “through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world” (Colossians 2:8). The following verse in Colossians assures us that the fullness of the Godhead bodily dwells in Christ and that we are complete in Him. Christ in us enables us to hope in the glory of God above all else.
When our focus is Christ-centric, our environment becomes dominated with the glory of God which produces a greater knowing of who He is. When Jesus is speaking to the Samaritan woman in John 4, He says: “You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship.” Jesus reveals that eternal life is to know God and Jesus Christ whom He sent (John 17). This is the foundation of our relationship with God, to know Him and believe that He lives within us. Furthermore, developing a relationship with God, or “walking in the Spirit,” will leave no room in our temple for anything short of the glory of God. There must be a volitional decision to set ourselves apart from the world, unto God which removes the possibility of contaminating our temple with idols and secret sin. This is why it is vital that we wash ourselves in the Word, so that we may be consumed with a life that worships the Father in spirit and truth. The glory of God enables us to preserve the Word of God, and when we preserve the word of God with a pure conscience, we will not sin. Psalm 119:11 says: “Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You.” If the glory of God overrides carnal desires, then even the possibility of temptation is overridden, because the Bible says that we are tempted when we are drawn away by our own desires (James 1:14). This is the very thing that Christ in us conquers. This walk with God is about knowing Christ in you. The point is for Christ to be manifested through you. The real solution is Christ in you.