The Glory Of God In The Church

Written by Lim Sui Hui

God’s glory can be manifested in many forms. In the Old Testament, the book of Isaiah tells us that the glory of God is displayed in the beauty and splendour of God’s temple.

“The glory of Lebanon shall come to you, The cypress, the pine, and the box tree together, To beautify the place of My Sanctuary, And I will make the place of My feet glorious”
- Isaiah 60:13

What is the glory of Lebanon?

Lebanon is a country situated in East Mediterranean. The glory of Lebanon is found in its cedar trees. In the ancient days, Lebanon housed large forest of Cedar trees. These trees were highly prized because they are tall, strong, straight and wonderfully scented.

The book of 1 Kings also talks about how cedar wood were used to build the temple of the Lord. During King Solomon’s reign, cedar trees were carefully cut and used as beams and boards in God’s temple.

“So he built the temple and finished it, and he panelled the temple with beams and boards of cedar”
- 1 Kings 6:9

God’s personal involvement in beautifying His temple

“…To beautify the place of My Sanctuary, And I will make the place of My feet glorious.”
- Isaiah 60:13b

God declared that He will use the finest woods such as the cedar, cypress, pine and box trees to beautify His Sanctuary and to make the place of His feet glorious. It is indeed astonishing to know that God will be personally involved in building His church.

God devotes effort and time to beautify His House. As His children, we ought to cultivate a sense of care and love for the physical building of the church. At Bethany, we strive to use the finest materials for our church. For instance, we specially selected the shiny beautiful blue glass panels for the church exterior (shown in the images below). Bethany’s glass building is meant to reflect the glory of God, the beauty of His house.

The pews in the main sanctuary are made of solid wood from Indonesia.

Much thought was put into the design and architecture of the building. For instance, the two silver pillars at the front of Bethany (image below) represents Bethany’s twin pillars, which are the Word of God and Prayer. 

Our church was built to reflect the glory of God in the same way that Solomon’s temple did. We want to regard God’s house with utmost respect and give our best in caring for the church.  Let’s not take for granted this physical building that we’ve been so richly blessed with.