At the top of the Mt of Transfiguration, Jesus is glorified. The Father and the Spirit transfigure him, altering his face and making his clothes brilliantly white. This glorification is a gift from the Father through the Spirit to the Son. This gift is a responsibility, a mission, that will entail Jesus taking up his cross and be raised so as to redeem the created order. Jesus will take this gift, make it more than it is in the present—glorify it—and then return it to the Father. This sequence is basically what Paul outlines in 1Corinthians 15.20-28.
What is happening between the members of the Trinity on the Mt of Transfiguration is a glimpse into the eternal life and family culture of the Trinity. This mutual glorification, this giving-glorifying-and-returning sequence, is not unusual or something specific only to the incarnational ministry of Jesus. What we see is the revelation of the character of the Trinity. In his words and works, God reveals his eternal, immutable character.
Paul understands this when he tells the Romans:
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. (Rom 1.18-20)
What God does, what he creates, is the revelation of his glory (Ps 19.1ff.). Through this revelation, we come to know God.
What we learn on the Mt of Transfiguration (and confirmed in other parts of Scripture) is that God’s family life is one of mutual glorification. That involves the gift of praise to one another, but that is not the sum total of what it means “to glorify.” Glorification, as I mentioned above, is to give to the other a gift that entails greater responsibility. Mutual glorification involves receiving the gift, making more of it, and giving it back. This is an eternal exchange between Father, Son, and Spirit.
Creation gives us insight into this exchange. Creation is a gift of the Father to the Son (Rom 11.36; Col 1.17). The Son receives that gift and, through, his Spirit, develops the creation, forming and filling it with the image of God, and then returns it to the Father when the work is complete (1Cor 15.20-28). The Father has glorified the Son, the Son has glorified the Father, and the Spirit has glorified the Son and the Father (and on and on it goes).
As Christians, we are a part of the new creation that is being glorified and being presented to the Father. We are the gift of the Father to the Son (Jn 17.6). The Son, through his Spirit given to us, is glorifying us so that we can be presented blameless before the Father (Eph 1.3-4). When the work is done in our resurrection, he will present us to the Father.
But our participation in God’s work is not merely being passively glorified. We are not spectators. When we are baptized into the Triune Name, we are a part of the family and are expected to join in the family culture of mutual glorification. This glorification includes praise for the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, to be sure. But it also means that God has given each of us gifts. These gifts are responsibilities that we are to take and develop so that we may present them back to God. In this way we glorify God. This is not glorifying a megalomaniac who needs our praise. This is responding to the glory given to us with love and gratitude that desires to give gifts back to God.
We are to glorify God in our bodies, not merely by avoiding sin (though that is a given), but also by presenting ourselves and our members as instruments of righteousness (cf. 1Cor 6.18-20; Rom 6.12ff.). When God gifts us with children, he is expecting that we cultivate them to be mature, Spirit-fruit bearing adults one day. When God gifts us with abilities, he expects us to develop them and use them to develop the kingdom (1Cor 12; Rom 12). When God gifts us with singleness, he expects that we cultivate that gift and present it back to him in service to the kingdom. When God gifts us with a spouse, our marriage is to be glorified and given back to him.
This is Trinitarian life, the life into which every baptized person has been called.
