Jesus's Glory Now in the New Era

Jesus’s Glory Now—in the New Era

David W Palmer

(John 1:14, 16 NKJV) And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. ... {16} And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace.

Jesus has always said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you,” “I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Heb. 13:5, Mat. 28:20 NKJV). Ever since we were born again, Jesus is always with us and in us by his Spirit. However, at times he appears to his disciples personally and tangibly. Although this wasn’t an every day happening, it is quite scriptural for Jesus to appear to his New Testament followers:

(Luke 24:36, 39 NKJV) … Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them, and said to them, “Peace to you.” ... {39} “Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have.” (See also: John 20:10–30, 21:4–14, Acts 1:4–8)

The resurrected Lord Jesus Christ stood with his disciples in person. They could feel him and hear him talking to them. He also ate in their presence, and the food went into his body like any human being. Jesus was crucified in the flesh, died, and was buried; but he rose again—in his physical body—which is now glorified and can operate in both the physical and spiritual realm as he chooses. We note that he suddenly stood in the room, without entering through the door, but when he ate fish, it didn’t fall through as though he was a spirit:

(Luke 24:36, 41–43 NKJV) Now as they said these things, Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them ... {41} But while they still did not believe for joy, and marveled, He said to them, “Have you any food here?” {42} So they gave Him a piece of a broiled fish and some honeycomb. {43} And He took it and ate in their presence.

Jesus appeared to his disciples and followers at other times after his resurrection, so it is quite scriptural for this to happen—although it hasn’t occurred very often for most of us, if ever. (See for example: John 20:19, Acts 9:5, 22:17–18). Yet, we shouldn’t be surprised that it has happened for others or even to ourselves.

More regularly, we may see Jesus in a vision or dream and have him talk to us; but even this is not usually a daily occurrence. However, Jesus promises the following to any of us, and it is available daily—but only to those who fulfill its conditions:

(Revelation 3:20 NKJV) “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.”

(John 14:21 NKJV) “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.”

Jesus gave these special promises to all of his born again family, but only those who obey them become the privileged people who enjoy his closeness, companionship, family friendship, and conversational communion—intimacy with him. He feeds them spiritually as they honestly and lovingly open themselves to the truth and application of his word. They also obey what he says, and allow him to lead them as both Lord and Shepherd.

This experience is always available to those who love him, draw near to him, who love and obey him. This is always available in the spirit realm and can readily be experienced by those who receive it by faith.

The apostle John, who walked with Jesus in the flesh for three years, and who saw him in person on the Isle of Patmos—where he received the book of Revelation—spoke of him in this way:

(1 John 1:1–4 NLT) We proclaim to you the one who existed from the beginning, whom we have heard and seen. We saw him with our own eyes and touched him with our own hands. He is the Word of life. {2} This one who is life itself was revealed to us, and we have seen him. And now we testify and proclaim to you that he is the one who is eternal life. He was with the Father, and then he was revealed to us. {3} We proclaim to you what we ourselves have actually seen and heard so that you may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. {4} We are writing these things so that you may fully share our joy.

John said, “He is the Word of life”; “He is the one who is eternal life.” He also explained why he wrote this in 1 John: “So that you may have fellowship with us. … with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. … so that you may fully share our joy.”

John mentions the word, fellowship with Father, and fellowship with Jesus; part of his objective was so that we could all experience the joy and life of Jesus, without having been with him in the flesh for three years like John was. We can all have fellowship with Jesus in his word and by his Spirit—provided we respond to his voice and knocking, lovingly obey him, and come confessing he is Lord, our Lord. Then, after we enjoy life-giving fellowship and spiritual nutrition from him, we can enjoy the most amazing fellowship with other like-minded people of the same heart, and who also prioritize love and humble fellowship with him.

Today, you can experience Jesus in person at any time, and you should draw near in loving submission to his magnificence and absolute lordship. Additionally, you could also experience him in a tangible way, as many others have—if he sees a need to. And in these days of his worldwide manifested glory, this will certainly be more frequent. However, we shouldn’t depend on this to be our only means of fellowship with him. After all, we can always enjoy fellowship with Jesus—the Living Word of God—over a satisfying spiritual banquet. This is ours any time we respond to his knocking and voice; open the door to him in loving surrender, and prioritize time with him in his word.

John said that when Jesus was manifested in person, “We beheld his glory.” So be ready and expectant; you are going to start to experience greater and more frequent manifestations of Jesus’s glory—His manifested presence—with you now and on into his next era of operating in the earth. He will manifest to individuals and he will be manifested in his church until the whole earth is filled with his glory:

(Psalm 72:19 NKJV) And blessed be His glorious name forever! And let the whole earth be filled with His glory. Amen and Amen.

(Isaiah 6:3 NKJV) And one cried to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!”

Our reigning Lord will not return until his bride is fully glorious and his gospel is preached to all nations:

(Ephesians 5:27 NKJV) That He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.

(Matthew 24:14 NKJV) “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.”