Our path begins with an introduction of glory in all its simplicity. Without attempting to color it up with images of Civil War soldiers and Revolutionary heroes, the Scriptures alone answer our simple question: what is glory? After laying out our most trusted and beloved gospel of salvation in Christ Jesus, Paul asks a rhetorical and yet highly popular question being discussed in Corinth.

"But some [man] will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come?" I Corinthians 15:35

Reasonable questions, right? Not exactly. Instead of acknowledging a higher power that works in the dead and the living, they begin asking themselves whether a buried body will be raised with the decayed flesh that it once had. Choosing to answer his own rhetoric, Paul answers with the following:

"[Thou] fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die: And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other [grain]: But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body. All flesh [is] not the same flesh: but [there is] one [kind of] flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, [and] another of birds." I Corinthians 15:36-39

The illustration here is that of a seed which has no form of beauty because it is only a seed. Not until that seed is dead (or rather, put into the ground as though it were dead) can it become something else much more grand than what it was originally. To be quickened is to be made alive. If a seed is sown, it cannot find a greater form until it first dies. In other words, the seed sowing process becomes a "type" of the resurrection. By no means will that seed be brought to life as a seed again. Instead, to every seed its own new body will be given as the Lord pleases.

Continuing this line of thought, we find ourselves reminded that there are many creations and each has a different flesh, or body.

"[There are] also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial [is] one, and the [glory] of the terrestrial [is] another. [There is] one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for [one] star differeth from [another] star in glory. So also [is] the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power:" I Corinthians 15:40-43

A celestial body is of a heavenly form while a terrestrial body is of an earthly form (through which we find common use of the phrase, "marking one's territory"). Both heavenly and earthly bodies have a certain glory attached to them. If we're speaking of men, beasts, fish, or birds (earthly), they all have their own individual glory. If we're speaking of the sun, moon, and stars (heavenly), they also have their own individual glory. What then, is glory, if every part of creation has its own?

Imagine for a moment that you've chosen to host an event for friends or family members in your home. In preparation for this dinner party, you take extra time cleaning and pay careful attention to detail so that you'll be proud to open the doors when guests arrive. Every picture frame is tilted to the best position and each finger swipe of dust is removed for fear that someone may think that the place they're in has been "lived in." Essentially, what you've now set up is the perfect house. Then you open the door and randomness begins.

Children come rushing in to visit with other children and run from one room to the next. Drinks are poured and full cups are set on counters that were once wiped dry. Discussions and fellowship may well be enriching, but your home naturally digresses from its most "perfect" state. To a degree, your house has descended from what was "good" into what is now dirty and unclean. Anything, be it a home, a car, a computer, or even a world that is left to its own purpose will gradually shift from its most exalted state to its own shame. That original state, a most exalted position, is what we refer to as "glory."

Each part of creation has its "most exalted state" and such is the case with us as human beings. The trouble is, we did not begin with glory… we are resurrected to glory. We must, therefore, be sown (buried) in our corruption, dishonor, and weakness in order to find ourselves raised in immortality, glory, and power.

This, my friends, is why we speak of glory as an explanation of majesty or splendor. There is nothing higher than one's own glory for that is their "most exalted state." A king will be spoken of as "coming in all his glory" for there is no one more powerful than he among the people. Yet, for all their glory as king, it is merely the title (not the man) that presses forward when they meet the grave. Even then, nations of kings eventually fall to the kings of nations and a downward spiral sends the most powerful country into its own whirlwind of decay and destruction (if it doesn't decay from within). Thus, the glory of a nation faces a corruption leading to death just as birds, beasts, fish, or men. No greater glory can exist, in this understanding, than a glory that does not face corruption, that does not decay, and one that does not have an end.