Turn on your Bible memory. If I drag in every Scripture reference that supports and explains this, we’ll be here all day. You are accountable to God for familiarity with His revelation.
As recorded in the Gospels, during those moments when Jesus and His Father spoke audibly to those around Him, a primary concern was the Father’s glory. Get a clue: There is nothing in this life of greater value to us than the Father’s glory. Not because He said so, but it’s because of what His glory does to us and for us.
When Ezekiel explained to us the nature of Lucifer’s Fall in chapter 28, he referred to the traffic and trade. In the Hebrew culture, trade would include all goods, services and information passed between people. That’s a parabolic image of something taking place in the Spirit Realm regarding Lucifer’s original position. He was the Covering Cherub; not covering God, but covering Creation to prevent it coming into direct contact with God’s divine Presence.
Scripture is quite clear that such contact dissolves Creation. All of this is far beyond our human understanding. It is not possible for the human mind to rise to such truth, but a certain portion of it can be indicated so that we can formulate a valid response.
So Lucifer’s position was to convey God’s requirements to conscious elements of Creation, or if you prefer, responsive elements in Creation. Scripture hints that includes an awful lot of stuff far beyond our comprehension. In return, glory returned to the Father, also passing through Lucifer. Ezekiel also makes reference to violence. Something in this went awry when Lucifer decided to grab some of that glory for himself. The Hebrew word typically translated as “violence” portrays the notion of unjustly taking something, of stepping outside your place. He stretched the envelope of his assigned dominion.
The fundamental nature of all sin is summed as arguing with God. Lucifer defied God’s command in some way regarding his assigned mission to transmit God’s commands to Creation and Creation’s glorification of God. So what glory was rightfully his in the first place was taken from him and he was confined to human space. He was no longer permitted to enjoy the direct Presence of God. He still reports to God, but does so indirectly when God calls the rest of Creation to account through other angelic beings. Satan reports dutifully from within human space.
He no longer receives the satisfaction of participating in that glory he once knew, but has to still give God a glory tribute. Whatever blessing and sustenance of his spirit he once gained from his position as Covering Cherub is now denied him and that can’t be pleasant for him. Whatever he stands to gain comes only from the pitiful remnants of fallen human glory. He has to devour human energies and it will never be enough to satisfy.
Again, all of this is parabolic. Literal description is simply not possible. Trying to pull this down to human reason results in things like the Manichean Heresy, Gnostic heresies, etc. It doesn’t have to make sense.
When humans achieve human glory, it’s not much more than the passing fame and adulation of other humans. When God gains glory, all Creation itself chimes in. Jesus spoke to His Father in those moments when human glory was not really much of a concern, and often not much there at all. However, God said He had most certainly glorified Himself in the Son. God wasn’t seeking human adoration on those terms. That is, He didn’t seek glory that originated in the human soul. Rather, He sought glory from something more fundamental in Creation itself, and a glory to which humans had some option to join themselves.
Our commission here is to develop a moral sensitivity that does not wait for emotion and human energy to build up to a level of outburst. Rather, we seek to discern whatever threads of glory we might find within Creation itself. It’s not singing worship songs with talent, but with a fervor that you cannot possibly generate from within yourself. It becomes a background song that no human voice can sing, and humming-thrumming rhythm and music that your mind can hardly appreciate.
The human soul is stretched beyond belief by spiritual awakening. It is called to reach out beyond itself and simply obey without evidence or substance. It’s that “leap in the dark” that we cannot make in our own power. All of this is somehow participating in His glory. It feeds our spirits and reduces the flesh. It is beneficial in ways no human mind can perceive, yet we are most assuredly aware of how much we like it when we touch it.
When we come to value His glory more than life itself, we understand why we are still here.
Amen!