Real glory isn’t to be found in building massive structures or acquiring a giant kingdom. Those things will fade. The real glory is found in following the example of Jesus, who gave Himself for others and achieved a real, true, lasting glory. And if we do that, Scripture promises that we will receive a crown of glory that never fades.

“My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings. Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair.”

This line comes from the famous poem Ozymandias, a brief poem describing the ruins of a once great kingdom. In the poem, a traveler relates to the narrator the ruins of a statue he found. All that was left was the legs and the plaque at the bottom, a plaque that read: “My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings. Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair.” The traveler concludes his story in an ironic fashion. After relating the proud Ozymandias inviting the reader to look on his impressive works, the poem ends with the observation,

No thing beside remains. Round the decay

Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare

The lone and level sands stretch far away.

Now, why would a poet write a piece about a statue in the middle of nowhere? Because the author was making a point, and he made it effectively: political power fades. What was once a mighty ruler over a sprawling kingdom is now nothing more than the pedestal of a statue. Time wore away the grandeur and splendor until Ozymandias’s kingdom was nothing more than a sea of desert. The poet was even intentional in the name he chose. Ozymandias isn’t a well-known figure from the past, and that’s the point. Even the name of this once great king had faded into obscurity. Although obviously this particular name is fictitious, how many once great rulers from the past have you and I never heard of? Time has a way of wearing away everything we build, even the name we build for ourselves.

The reason I share this brief story is because this week I’ve had the privilege of visiting Israel and seeing many of the sites we read about in the Bible. The very first site we visited was Caesarea by the sea. Now, you’ll have to really rack your brain to remember what happens in this city in the biblical text. You might recall that this is where Cornelius, the Gentile centurion, sends for Peter and accepts the message of Jesus. This is an important story in Acts 10-11, because this is when the gospel first really makes an advance with the Gentiles. You might also remember that Caesarea is where Paul was taken for his safety after being arrested near the end of Acts and it’s where he made several defenses of Christianity at the end of the book of Acts.

Read More