Jesus and the Bible

Liturgical Prayer and Action

We all either sing or say:

Glory to God in the highest,

and on earth peace to people of good will.

We praise you,

we bless you,

we adore you,

we glorify you,

we give you thanks for your great glory,

Lord God, heavenly King, O God, almighty Father.

Lord Jesus Christ, Only Begotten Son,

Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father,

you take away the sins of the world,

   have mercy on us;

you take away the sins of the world,  

   receive our prayer;

you are seated at the right hand of the Father,

   have mercy on us.

For you alone are the Holy One,

you alone are the Lord,

you alone are the Most High,

Jesus Christ,

with the Holy Spirit,

in the glory of God the Father.

Amen. 

Origin and Meaning

The Gloria in excelsis is also known as Glory to God in the highest, Greater Doxology of the Angelic Hymn or simply Gloria. It is an ancient hymn of praise which is rich in biblical passages and originally used for morning prayers.

“Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to people of good will. “ 

The prayer starts with a joyful tone in praise of God. It should not be a surprise because the lyrics were taken from the words sung by the angels when they announced to the shepherds the Birth of Jesus in Lk 2:14:

 “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!”

“We praise you,
we bless you,
we adore you,
we glorify you,
we give you thanks for your great glory, “

The hymn is also an expression of our love and respect for God. As in the ancient time, it is common practice to give thanks to the Lord early in the prayer irrespective of the reason we come to see him.

Lord God, heavenly King, O God, almighty Father.

 “I am God Almighty” is the title God used to introduce himself upon Abraham (Gen 17:1) and Jacob (Gen 35:11).

Although the title heavenly King is never in question, Jesus reminded us of several  truths as he said;

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven” (Mt 7:21).

God the Father receives worship as King through the ages because he is known  as “King of Glory” (Ps 24:7), “great King over all earth” (P 47:2) “great King over all gods” (Ps 95:3), “King of the nations” (Jeremiah 10:7) and “King of Israel (Isaiah 44:6, Zephaniah 3:15)”.

We also implore God as our Father for he is the creator of the universe and through Christ, his only Begotten Son, that he showed his sense of fatherhood.

“Lord Jesus Christ, Only Begotten Son,"

The hymn further summarises the event in Jesus’ life from birth, to his Sacrifice, our Salvation and his Resurrection.

Jesus being the Only Begotten Son is in reference to the passages written in Heb 5:5;

So also Christ did not glorify himself in becoming a high priest, but was appointed by the one who said to him,

"you are my Son,

today I have begotten you";

The prophecy was fulfilled when Christ, the Son, was brought into existence;

“And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, and we say his glory, the glory as of the Father’s only Son, full of grace and truth” (Jn 1:14).

“Lord God, Lamb of God,
Son of the Father,
you take away the sins of the world” 

The words were from the Testimony of John the Baptist who exclaimed when he saw Jesus coming towards him;

“Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (Jn 1:29).

"have mercy on us;
you take away the sins of the world,
receive our prayer;
you are seated at the right hand of the Father,
have mercy on us." 

We thereafter recognise the unique position of Jesus when he “was taken up into heaven and took his seat at the right hand of God” (Mk 16:19). We implore upon him to receive our prayers and look upon us with mercy.

“For you alone are the Holy One,
you alone are the Lord,
you alone are the Most High,
Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit,
in the glory of God the Father.”

Amen. 

In similar manner we begin most of our prayers, we conclude the hymn with recognition of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.