The glory of God is the beauty and worth of all that God is. He is glorious because He is holy, wise, just, merciful, and the source of all life and goodness.
Glory is the quality something has when it is worthy of praise, radiant with beauty, and morally excellent. God has glory in every aspect of who He is. He is glorious in His holiness, His wisdom, His justice, His mercy, and in the fact that He is the source of all life and goodness. We could go on and on, because everything about God is praiseworthy.
Right now, in this fallen life, we do not share that glory. We are His children, but we are not yet holy as He is holy. We are not wise as we ought to be wise. We are not as merciful, generous, and forgiving as we should be. We are not yet morally beautiful. Sin and death have left their mark on every part of us.
But this is exactly where we are headed. The ultimate promise of the gospel is that God share His glory with us. Paul calls this glorification. Paul says that we all sin and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3), but we have hope that one day we will no longer fall short of that glory. One day, we will share in it (Romans 5).
That does not mean we become God. It means He will remake us so that all that is sinful, shameful, and corrupt in us is replaced by holiness, righteousness, and moral beauty. We will reflect His character. We will become the kind of people we were created to be: worthy, praiseworthy creatures who display the goodness of our Creator.
Glorification is the only real and lasting solution to our deepest problem. Our problem is not merely guilt, or sorrow, or suffering. Our deepest problem is that we are fallen and corrupted by sin. The final answer is that God Himself will transform us. He will fill our lives with His glory. That priceless glory is our hope: the confident expectation that God will finish what He has promised to do.
God's Glory in the Old Testament
Scripture speaks of God’s glory in more than one way. God is glorious because of who He is, but His glory is also revealed when He makes His presence known among His people. That theme becomes especially important in the Old Testament, where the glory of God is often tied to His dwelling with His people in a visible and dramatic way.
The Old Testament background helps make sense of Paul’s language in Ephesians 2. He says believers are being built together into “a holy temple in the Lord” and “a dwelling place for God by the Spirit” (Ephesians 2:21-22). That is not just a nice religious metaphor. Paul is drawing on rich Old Testament history.
So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God's household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit. - Ephesians 3:19-22
At the end of Ephesians 2, Paul gives three pictures of what believers have become in Christ. We are fellow citizens, members of God’s household, and a holy temple.
The first two are familiar. We understand citizenship and family. But temple can feel remote to us. Most of us hear the word and think, “That was the place where Israel worshiped.” True. But the temple was not important merely because religious activity happened there. The temple mattered because it was the place where God’s glory dwelt among His people.
So when Paul says believers are becoming a holy temple, he is saying something astonishing: through Christ, God is once again dwelling with His people.
the glory of God dwelt with His people. Paul is telling us that today He dwells with believers.
The Glory of God appears
One of the clearest places to see this is in the Exodus. After God rescues Israel from Egypt, He leads them through the wilderness in the pillar of cloud and fire. That visible manifestation shows that God is not distant. He is present with them, guiding them.
The glory of God is His visible and active presence in the midst of His people.
The LORD was going before them in a pillar of cloud by day to lead them on the way, and in a pillar of fire by night to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night. He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people. - Exodus 13:21-22
Later, when the tabernacle is completed, the glory of the Lord fills it. God’s presence settles on the place where He will meet with His people.
He erected the court all around the tabernacle and the altar, and hung up the veil for the gateway of the court. Thus Moses finished the work. Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud had settled on it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. Throughout all their journeys whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the sons of Israel would set out; but if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not set out until the day when it was taken up. For throughout all their journeys, the cloud of the LORD was on the tabernacle by day, and there was fire in it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel. - Exodus 40:33-38
The same pattern appears again when Solomon dedicates the temple. The glory of the Lord fills the house, so dramatically that the priests cannot continue ministering. God has taken up residence among His people.
It happened that when the priests came from the holy place, the cloud filled the house of the LORD, so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD. Then Solomon said, "The LORD has said that He would dwell in the thick cloud. "I have surely built You a lofty house, A place for Your dwelling forever." - 1 Kings 8:10-13
That is the key idea: the glory of God is His visible, active presence in the midst of His people.
The Glory of God departs
But Israel’s history takes a tragic turn. Because of persistent rebellion, Ezekiel sees a vision in which the glory of God leaves the temple. It moves step by step: from the inner sanctuary, to the threshold, to the east gate, and finally away from the city.
First, the glory of God moves from mercy seat in holy of holiness to threshold of the temple.
Now the cherubim were standing on the right side of the temple when the man entered, and the cloud filled the inner court. Then the glory of the LORD went up from the cherub to the threshold of the temple, and the temple was filled with the cloud and the court was filled with the brightness of the glory of the LORD. - Ezekiel 10:3-4
Then the glory of the Lord moves from the threshold of the temple to the east gate.
Then the glory of the LORD departed from the threshold of the temple and stood over the cherubim. When the cherubim departed, they lifted their wings and rose up from the earth in my sight with the wheels beside them; and they stood still at the entrance of the east gate of the LORD'S house, and the glory of the Godof Israel hovered over them. - Ezekiel 10:18-19
Finally the glory of the Lord departs to a mountain east of the city.
Then the cherubim lifted up their wings, with the wheels beside them, and the glory of the God of Israel was over them. And the glory of the LORD went up from the midst of the city and stood on the mountain that is on the east side of the city. - Ezekiel 11:22-23
That departure is not a random detail. It is a sign of judgment. The temple without the presence of God is only a building. Once God’s glory departs, destruction follows, and the people go into exile.
The Missing Return
After the exile, the Jews rebuild the temple. The people return. The temple is rebuilt. Surely the glory of the Lord returns as well.
But that is the striking thing: the dedication of the second temple is recorded without the dramatic return of God’s glory that marked the tabernacle and Solomon’s temple. The structure is back, but the old sign of God’s presence is not described. The story feels unfinished.
And that unfinished feeling is exactly the point.
and this house was finished on the third day of the month of Adar, in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king. And the people of Israel, the priests and the Levities, and the rest of the returned exiles, celebrated the dedication of this house of God with joy. They offered at the dedication of this house of God 100 bulls, 200 rams, 400 lambs, and as a sin offering for all Israel 12 male goats, according to the number of the tribes of Israel. And they set the priests in their divisions and the Levites in their divisions, for the service of God at Jerusalem, as it is written in the Book of Moses. - Ezra 6:15-18
The Glory Returns in Jesus
The next major appearance of the glory of the Lord comes at the birth of Jesus, when the shepherds are surrounded by the glory of the Lord.
In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. - Luke 2:8-11
That is not just Christmas atmosphere. It is a signal that God is acting again to dwell among His people. The return of God’s glory is tied to the coming of Christ. The long-awaited answer is not ultimately a building. It is a person.
This is why Paul’s temple language in Ephesians matters so much. Through the death and resurrection of Jesus, sinners are reconciled to God. Through the Spirit, believers are being built together into the place where God now dwells. The glory has returned, not to a stone temple in Jerusalem, but to the community of those who belong to Christ.
Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God. - Romans 5:1-2
Why this matters
Paul is not using temple language for decoration. He is explaining your identity if you belong to Christ.
You were once far off. Now you are brought near. You were once alienated from God’s people. Now you belong to His household. And together with other believers, you are being made into His dwelling place.
That means the story of God’s glory is not just ancient history. It explains what God is doing now. He is creating a holy people in whom He dwells by His Spirit.
That is why the temple imagery in Ephesians is so rich. It gathers up the whole biblical story: God dwelt with His people, His glory departed in judgment, and through Jesus He has begun to dwell with His people again. And His people will be made holy, good and morally beautiful as God is.
The main takeaway
So what is the glory of God?
The glory of God is God making His presence known among His people. And when Paul says believers are being built into a holy temple, he is saying that through Christ and by the Spirit, God’s presence now rests on His people once again, as He transforms them into morally beautiful, holy and glorious people, freed from sin.
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