John 17:5, 24 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.

Consider this if you would, God has made us sons and daughters by adoption for the purpose of giving us to His Son, as His Bride. Would God give His Son an unclean bride? No, of course not. However, we have not come to the wedding feast.

Matthew 22:11 And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment:

You might want to read this parable in Matthew 22 but the issue at hand is the representation of righteousness. You will have already been declared righteous from God’s point of view, but how do you feel about yourself? Your sins have been removed from God’s sight. Once you have accepted Jesus into your heart, the Father only sees the Son. Do you see yourself that way?

1 John 1:7-8 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

Walking with Jesus in fellowship, as His betrothed, should be our focus. Often we get down on ourselves because we are not perfect and walking with perfection only makes us all that much more aware of our sin nature. How we feel about ourselves is important to our Lord and He is constantly trying to remind us that we were chosen to be in this relationship.

Matthew 7:11-12 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him? Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.

Why did Jesus transition from good gifts to the golden rule? Since God’s good and perfect gifts are given for our good needs and not our earthly desires, then what are those gifts?

Romans 8:29-32 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?

Conformance is the motivation behind these gifts. Predestined, called, justified and glorified is the order of progression from there to here, from that former life to this life in Christ. If glorification is the last step in the process and the goal of the gifts, we should have a proper understanding of what that means.

Vine’s Expository Dictionary on glory Strong’s number 1391 “glory” (from dokeo, “to seem”), primarily signifies an opinion, estimate, and hence, the honor resulting from a good opinion. It is used (1) (a) of the nature and acts of God in self-manifestation, i.e., what He essentially is and does, as exhibited in whatever way he reveals Himself in these respects, and particularly in the person of Christ, in whom essentially His “glory” has ever shone forth and ever will do, John 17:5, 24.