“But unless the weight of the burden is felt the gospel can mean nothing to the man; and until he sees a vision of God high and lifted up, there will be no woe and burden. Low views of God destroy the gospel for all who hold them” (A. W. Tozer).
2 Corinthians 4:4 “in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 4:6 For God, who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in our hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.” These verses are quite clear regarding the issue that we are discussing. One, the gospel is the gospel of the glory of Christ. Two, the Gospel of the glory of Christ is light. Three, Christ is the image of God. Four, the light that God commanded then and commands now is the light of the Gospel. Five, the light He shines is Himself because the text speaks of “the One who has shone in our hearts.’ Six, when He shines in our hearts that gives the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God. Seven, the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God is in the face of Christ.
But if all of these things distract and detract from the Gospel of God because of a low view of God (see previous posts), then what does it mean to preach the Gospel of the glory of God? What does it mean to have a high view of God? The first thing is that we preach and teach to where people will understand that they cannot completely understand God and His glory. Whatever can be comprehended (completely understand) in the mind cannot be the glory of God. To preach the Gospel is to proclaim the message of the Gospel, yes, but it is to point to the glory of God in such a way that the individual must depend on God to see the glory of the Gospel.
Second, we must always try to show the character and attributes of God in all that we preach and teach. The Gospel, then, must be proclaimed in such a way that the character of God is primarily on display. We are not preaching and teaching Christ unless we preach and teach Him in such a way that corresponds to what His purpose and intent was. He was the outshining of the glory of God (Heb 1:3) and the tabernacle of the glory of God (John 1:14). When He did a miracle, for example, He did it to display His glory. What was His glory? It was the glory of God shining through Him. Many preach about Christ and even wonderful things about Christ but when they fail to show the character and glory of God shining though Him, they are not preaching Christ.
We can also go on to say that many preach about the Gospel by preaching much of Christ but they are not preaching the true Gospel of the glory of God because they are not preaching the Gospel in such a way that shows how the glory of God shines in and through Christ. I know that this sounds weird but a lot of preaching Christ can be a hiding of the Gospel rather than a preaching of the Gospel. We must always remember that people are not saved by an intellectual belief concerning the factual contents of a message, but by seeing the glory of God in Christ. The devil does not need to hide the factual content of the Gospel from people if the glory of it is not being preached. As II Cor 4:4 sets out, he blinds them to the Gospel of the glory of Christ. If ministers and others are preaching a gospel in such a way that it is not the Gospel of the glory of Christ, then the devil has already blinded them to the glory of it and their preaching and teaching is not setting out the glory of the Gospel.
What is meant by the term “glory” as it relates to the Gospel? The term means a few different things. In one sense the glory of God is one word that refers to all of His character and attributes. In this sense the Gospel is all about the character and attributes of God in Christ. In another sense the word “glory” has the meaning of beauty. So the Gospel cannot be preached without setting out the character and attributes of God as beautiful and glorious. The Gospel consists in the display of the beauty and majesty of God in what He did and is doing to save sinners. The Gospel is to be taught with reverence and awe because it is about God and His glory.
Why does the Gospel need to be preached like that? Because sinners are caught up with how desirable the world is more than they are with God. He must be preached in such a way that sinners see that their own honor and glory is worse than nothing and that the things of this world are at enmity with God. Until the Gospel is preached with glory, sinners just think that God is all about them as they are. They need to see that God is all about Himself and they should be all about God and His glory too. They need to see His glory or they will see the world as better than God. Low views of God destroy the Gospel of the glory of God through Christ.
God Loves... Himself 
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