Q4. Excluded from Christ's Glory

[Damary Alembi]

Q4. (2 Thessalonians 1:9) How might you describe Christ's glory?

How will his glory be terrifying to unbelievers? “They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power.

If heaven involves sharing this glory forever, what would it be like to be excluded forever from the glory? This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power.

[Reuben]

Q4. (2 Thessalonians 1:9) How might you describe Christ’s glory? How will his glory be terrifying to unbelievers? If heaven involves sharing this glory forever, what would it be like to be excluded forever from the glory? In what ways is the phrase “outer darkness” a helpful description of hell?

To describe Christ's glory can only be limited and restricted to what I have in my mind as a human. Even if I think of all the descriptions, awesome, glorious, breath taking, almighty, splendid, powerful, overwhelming, even frightening, I still can not get close to describing it. Unbelievers will be terrified because they will know that they are facing God, the one they rejected is REAL, and by seeing His glory they will realise His power.

To be separated from this glory, means you are separated from Jesus. I cannot think of anything worse than to be apart from God, forever, and have no love, or peace, but only hate and torment forever. God is light and it refers to it many times in the Bible, and to ne in darkness, means away from the light, away from God. I would not like to find myself in this position, and hope to be able to tell, and influence others that this is something that needs to be avoided at all cost.

[Jonathan Edwards]

The saints of God shall be like Christ; for they shall see Him as He is.   No more glass darkly; the children of God have a glory at this moment, but at the Parousia, the glory of God will shine forth in all it's splendour.  The numerous angels of heaven will wonder at the exceeding glory of the Lord shining in his saints.   We need to live in His presence now; we take up our cross daily and have watchfulness at all times.

Unbelievers who scoffed and persisted in rebellion cannot behold the glory of God.  God hates sin.    The unbelievers cannot behold the very holiness of God.   It will be too late to repent.   The Book of Revelation describes in great deal the overcoming power of God's glory over rebellion.

The absence of God's face !  No beatific vision.  No partaking of going from glory to glory in heaven.  No rewards for good deeds that were done here on earth.   Endless regrets for sins of omission, sins of commission and long forgotten sins.

Outer darkness will constitute the misery of hell, because the soul is then cut off from the source of all good and of all holiness. One can safely state that the wicked will be blasted by the face of the Lord. They will not partake of the joy and glory which will reign in the presence of Christ.

[Krissi]

I imagine the glory of God to be so overwhelming that it's "sensory overload." In the Bible, God's presence is so bright, so loud, so frightening ... that it defies explanatory words. Metaphors had to suffice and even the strongest of adjectives was not enough. Frankly, I think God's glory would be terrifying both to believers and seculars. It's just too much to take in ... even though believers are safe. Unbelievers would see it as a Hollywoodish depiction except in their hearts they would know the glory was real, not fake, and that would terrify them. Their lack of understanding, though, may cause seculars to see the glory as a natural disaster, nuclear bomb, or something like that. I don't think they'd associate it with God.

If "outer darkness" is hell, then "inner lightness" is heaven.

"Darkness as black as night covers all the nations of the earth,
    but the glory of the Lord rises and appears over you.
All nations will come to your light;
    mighty kings will come to see your radiance." (Isaiah 60:2-3 NLT)