ABSTRACT: No biblical theme is grander than the glory of God. The entire biblical storyline, in fact, is the drama of God’s glory: In the beginning, God crowned his image-bearers with glory and honor. In the fall, we exchanged God’s glory for idols. In the cross, Jesus unites his people to himself, the Lord of glory. In the age to come, God’s people will walk in the freedom of the glory of the children of God.

For our ongoing series of feature articles by scholars for pastors, leaders, and teachers, we asked Christopher Morgan, professor of theology and dean of the School of Christian Ministries at California Baptist University, to trace the theme of God’s glory from Genesis to Revelation.

Is there a grander and yet more overlooked biblical theme than the glory of God? God’s glory appears in every major part of the Bible and affects every major doctrine. It is also notoriously hard to define. In general, God’s glory is the magnificence, loveliness, beauty, and grandeur of his perfections. Sometimes, the glory of God designates God himself (Psalm 24:7–10). More often, glory communicates God’s special presence, as in the pillars of cloud and of fire (Exodus 13:21–22) or the glory that filled the tabernacle (Exodus 40:34–38).

Scripture tells of God’s glory in at least six senses. First, only he has inherent (intrinsic) glory (Isaiah 42:8). Second, God discloses his glory in creation (Psalm 19:1), providence (Psalm 104:31), making humans in his image (Psalm 8:4–5), and deliverance (Exodus 14:13–18; Acts 3:13–15). Third, believers glorify God (Psalm 115:1; Revelation 19:1). Fourth, God receives their glory (Psalm 29:1–2; Revelation 4:9–11). Fifth, God shares his glory with his people in redemption (2 Corinthians 3:18; 2 Thessalonians 2:14). Sixth, all this redounds to God’s glory (Romans 11:36).

The biblical story is, in large part, the drama of God’s glory: “The triune God who is glorious displays his glory, largely through his creation, image-bearers, providence, and redemptive acts. God’s people respond by glorifying him. God receives glory and, through uniting his people to Christ, shares his glory with them — all to his glory.”1

We will trace this drama of God’s glory through the Bible’s story line.

In creation, God reveals his glory in the things he has made, especially in humanity, his image-bearers. But even before creation, the eternal Trinity exists, glorious in perfections, needing nothing. A key distinction in the doctrine of the glory of God is between his intrinsic and extrinsic glory. God’s intrinsic glory is the inherent glory that belongs to him alone as God, independent of his works. God’s extrinsic glory is his intrinsic glory partially unveiled in his works of creation, providence, redemption, and consummation.

Whether by using the term itself or not, Scripture revels in God’s intrinsic glory:

God discloses a portion of his intrinsic glory extrinsically in creation. God is central in Genesis 1–2, for he is the Creator, not a creature. The creation is neither God nor a part of God. God is absolute and has independent existence, whereas creation derives its existence from him and continually depends on him as its sustainer (Colossians 1:17; Hebrews 1:3). “The heavens declare the glory of God” (Psalm 19:1). Humans have seen God’s “eternal power and divine nature . . . ever since the creation of the world” in the things he has made (Romans 1:20). The transcendent Creator shows his sovereignty in creation, for as divine King he effects his will by his mere word (Genesis 1:3). God also reveals his goodness in creation, as the steady refrain testifies: “And God saw that it was good” (Genesis 1:4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25). Creation’s inherent goodness precludes a fundamental dualism between spirit and matter, in which spirit would be good and matter bad. Instead, material creation reflects God’s goodness, wisdom, and glory, evident in his provision of light, land, vegetation, and animals. In creation, God reveals his glory in the things he has made.

When God forms man from the dust of the ground, the man is more than dust, for God personally breathes into him the breath of life (Genesis 2:7). Most importantly, God, the divine person, especially reveals his glory in his creation of humans as persons made in his image (Genesis 1:26–28). In doing so, God invests his image-bearers with glory, honor, and dominion. David is amazed at how God made man: “You have . . . crowned him with glory and honor. You have given him dominion over the works of your hands” (Psalm 8:5–6).

When Paul speaks of humans as divine image-bearers, he implies the idea of God’s glory, as Sinclair Ferguson explains: “In Scripture, image and glory are interrelated ideas. As the image of God, man was created to reflect, express, and participate in the glory of God, in miniature, creaturely form.”2 While all creation testifies to God’s glory, humans are unique as they bear God’s image and glory to the world, serving as his representatives and stewards over the land, plants, and animals.

In Genesis 1–2, God blesses Adam and Eve with an unhindered relationship with him, intimate enjoyment of each other, and delegated authority over creation. God gives only one prohibition: not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Sadly, Adam and Eve disobey God’s command (Genesis 3) and tarnish God’s glory-image. As a result of their sin, they and their descendants fall short of God’s glory and even exchange it for idols. A “crafty” tempter questions God and deflects the woman’s attention from the covenantal relationship with him (Genesis 3:1–5). The woman’s inflated expectations in eating (the fruit is edible, attractive, and gives insight) are dashed (Genesis 3:6), for the first pair’s eyes are opened, they know they are naked, and they hide (Genesis 3:7–8). The contrast is arresting: the forbidden fruit does not deliver what the tempter had promised but brings dark realities of which their good and truthful Lord had warned them.

Their rebellion brings God’s justice, as Allen Ross observes: “They sinned by eating, and so would suffer to eat; she led her husband to sin, and so would be mastered by him; they brought pain into the world by their disobedience, and so would have painful toil in their respective lives.”3 The couple feels shame (Genesis 3:7) and estrangement from and fear toward God, and they try to hide from him (