Question:
Could you please tell me when Christ was glorified?
Answer:
The understanding of the term “glorified” can vary. Certainly, glory is deserved by the one who completes their work in accordance with God’s will. Just before our Lord died on the cross, He said, “I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do” (John 17:4). On the cross, He declared, “It is finished.” His character reached its pinnacle in His willingness to die for what is right. Therefore, He was pre-eminently glorified when He ascended to heaven, as recorded in Acts 1:9-11 and foreshadowed in the twenty-fourth Psalm during the Transfiguration. This is what Ephesians 1:20-22 refers to: “Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church.” That was the moment Christ was glorified.
Philippians 2 also teaches this, speaking of our Lord’s humiliation as He gave Himself to death on a cross: “Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name” (see verses 9-11). However, when He returns the second time, He will be glorified in His saints. In them, the fullness of glory will be realized when “He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied,” (Isaiah 53:11) and sin will be banished from God’s universe forever.
