When you think of what Desolation looks like, picture a barren desert. Desolation wants to make everything a wasteland.
So what is the opposite of a wasteland?
Eden! The paradise of God, our first home, with all its lush, glorious beauty overflowing here, there, everywhere!
If you follow the flow of Scripture and human history, you can see that our enemy wants to make everything a wasteland, and God wants to make everything a restored Eden. When it comes to the resilience we need against Desolation, part of our Father’s provision is his Eden Glory—the glory of God in you and around you, giving you supernatural resilience and guarding you like a shield.
What do I mean by Eden Glory?
In the book of Romans, Paul is trying to help us understand the availability of the power of God for us, in us. He turned to the resurrection and said, “Just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life” (Romans 6:4). It was by the glory of God that Jesus was raised from the dead. The glory of God—the regenerative, resurrecting Eden Glory of God.
Isaiah reminds us that “the whole earth is full of his glory” (Isaiah 6:3). Think of the sun, how absolutely wonderful the sun is! Its radiance, beauty, and cheerfulness, and how much life it gives! It is pulsating with the glory-power of God. Think of the oceans and the forests of the world, how vast they are, how filled with life. The whole world is filled with the glory of God. It is the life-giving, life-sustaining, generative power of God.
So, for our purposes here, when you think of the glory of God, think of the sun, the ocean, water turned into wine, Christ raised from the dead. Think of Eden.
Now for something truly breathtaking: you are meant to be filled with the glory of God.
Think back to the tabernacle and temple—in the Old Testament, the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle, then the temple. The manifest presence of God came and dwelt there, filled with radiance, beauty, and regenerative power. And where is the temple now? You are the temple. The New Testament makes that clear. This is why Paul wrote,
But we all, with unveiled faces, looking as in a mirror at the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit. (2 Corinthians 3:18 NASB)
The transformation of your character and the regeneration of your humanity is taking place in you because of the glory of God in you! (How else could it take place?) The New International Version adds, “with ever-increasing glory.”
Oh friends, please listen closely: We need the Eden Glory of God—the regenerative, life-giving, life-sustaining glory of God—in great measure right now. We need a greater measure of the manifest presence of Jesus in us. And we are meant to be filled with it. The glory of God is meant to fill our hearts and souls.
And that’s the Memo.
By John Eldredge from Resilient
