Luke 11:1
Once Jesus was in a certain place praying. As he finished, one of his disciples came to him and said, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”
Luke 11:2
Our Father in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
God’s will is heaven on earth.
How do we, as the people of God, carry out this calling?
How can we pray for and pursue, “on earth as it is in heaven,” if we don’t actually understand heaven?
Without a clear vision of the end product, the process can become aimless and the purpose can feel pointless.
Isaiah 6:1-3
In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said:
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!"
Revelation 4:1
After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, "Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this." At once I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne.
Revelation 4:8
"Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come."
The primary occupation of Heaven is the glory of God.
- Heaven is filled with God’s glory.
- Glorifying God is the work of heaven.
Wherever you are, whatever you do, God’s glory is meant to fill that space.
John 17:1
Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you.
John 17:4
I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do.
John 17:5
And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.
The glory of God is the fullness of God, everything God is—His love, grace, power, and character—put on display.
Through the cross, Jesus doesn’t just make salvation possible—He makes the invasion of God’s glory into this broken world inevitable.
Because of the cross, the fullness of God’s glory can fill earth, just as it fills heaven.
John 17:22-23
I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one,
So that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.
When God’s glory comes near, it doesn’t leave things as they are. The manifest presence of God is disruptive because it reveals the gap between our world and His holiness.
“God’s glory is the active, shining forth of His nature, challenging us to abandon worldly values and be transformed into people who reflect His righteousness.” — A.W. Tozer
Two reasons why we don’t experience the fullness of the glory of God:
#1. We Don’t Actually Want It
Isaiah 4:1
In that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, ‘We will eat our own bread and wear our own apparel; only let us be called by thy name to take away our reproach.’
- Bread in scripture = Sustenance
- Apparel in scripture = Covering
Church #1 - The Church of Forgiveness Only
The church of forgiveness only says:
"Give us Your name, Jesus, and clear our record. Take away our shame. But beyond that? We don’t want You. We’ll live our own way, by our own rules."
John 6:35
I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry.
"Whoever comes to me” — To take Him in completely—embracing His teachings, His life, His death, and His resurrection as the sustaining force of your entire existence.
The “church of forgiveness only” wants a gospel that doesn’t ask too much and that doesn’t challenge them to surrender or turn away from anything. A gospel that tastes good but doesn’t require them to chew on anything hard.
2 Timothy 4:3-4
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.
When we trade transformation for comfort, we’re not following Jesus—we’re following a version of Him we’ve made up to fit our preferences.
Church #2 - The Church of God’s Glory
Isaiah 4:2-4
In that day shall the branch of the Lord be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely for them that are escaped of Israel. When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning.
The Church of God’s Glory is after Jesus Himself, not just His name or a feel-good version of Him.
Isaiah 4:5
And the Lord will create upon every dwelling place of Mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night.
The Church of God’s Glory is led by God and covered by God.
#2. We Want It Wrongly (Motives Are Off)
Matthew 17:1-3
After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus.
Matthew 17:4
Lord, it’s good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters—one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.
The Glory of God isn’t here to give us warm feelings, to boost our reputation, or to cosign our agendas.
The glory of God is here to transform us and the world, and it's about revealing the fullness of who God is and making Him known in a way that changes everything.
How do we step into the ultimate calling of Heaven—glorifying Jesus?
It starts by coming back to the simple, powerful reality of the Gospel. And at the very heart of it all is the cross!
John 13:31
Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in Him.
His miracles showed His power, His words conveyed His wisdom, but only His death on the cross fully revealed the heart of God—a heart willing to go to the depths of suffering for the sake of redeeming us.
Galatians 6:14
God forbid that I should glory, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The cross wasn’t just the start of the Gospel—it is the Gospel.
The message of the cross isn’t an entry point into the Christian faith—it is the Christian faith.
1 Corinthians 1:18
For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
“It is to the cross that the Christian must always come back. You will never exhaust its meaning. You will never fully comprehend the height, the depth, the breadth of the love that flows from Calvary. The cross is a well of grace that has no bottom.” — Charles Spurgeon
