The original Jules Rimet trophy — won permanently by Brazil when they became three-time world champions in 1970 — no longer exists: it was stolen from the CBF headquarters and melted down in 1983, so the one that currently exists is a replica, kept much more securely.
However, the original FIFA World Cup trophy, made of solid gold, carries with it an inaccessibility that serves as a call for profound theological reflection.
From 1974 onwards, after Brazil definitively won the Jules Rimet trophy, the FIFA World Cup trophy became the official trophy of the World Cup.
Unlike its predecessor, this one cannot be permanently acquired: the winning team keeps the original only until the following World Cup, returning it to receive a gold-plated replica that, this time, becomes their permanent possession.
This strict protocol aims to preserve not only the precious metal, but also the mystique of the object.
The Rigidity of the Rules Regarding the FIFA Cup
The international federation's rule is clear: only world champions and heads of state may touch the FIFA World Cup trophy with their bare hands. Anyone else, including officials from the organization itself, must handle it with gloves.
The recent incident involving Turkish chef Salt Bae, who violated this rule at the 2022 World Cup final, resulted in investigations and severe punishments. Access to the trophy is, technically, comparable to the security of nuclear facilities.
Of course, FIFA claims that "this is for security reasons and to prevent the trophy from being damaged by improper handling," and will never admit that the real objective is to appeal to human vanity: who wouldn't feel like "the man," having access to something that few in the world possess?
That's precisely why, as well as the prestige—and consequently the money that winning this right generates—the fight for the right to handle the FIFA World Cup trophy with bare hands makes many strive to win the World Cup as if it were the most important thing in their lives, since it equates them to heads of state and opens doors for them to earn far more money than most people could ever dream of obtaining.
However, as difficult as it may be to reach the top of world football and touch the gold, it is still humanly possible: there is a path of merit to becoming a champion or a political leader.
The Mystery of the Inaccessible Light
There is something, however, that no one can access through their own merit or human effort: Divine Glory. While the FIFA World Cup trophy is visible to any spectator, the Glory of God is ontologically inaccessible to the sinner.
Paul reveals in his epistle:
The only one who is immortal and dwells in inaccessible light, whom no one has seen nor can see.
To Him be honor and power forever.
Amen!
The inaccessibility of Divine Glory is absolute for humankind, to such an extent that not even the greatest prophet of the Old Testament was allowed to contemplate it!
God only allowed Moses, while still in his sinful state in the world, to contemplate Him "from behind," that is, only a tiny part of His glory, because looking directly at the face of God means death for sinners (see Exodus 33:17-23).
Even with this small “free sample” of divine glory, Moses’ face shone so brightly that the other Israelites could not look at him, so Moses had to wear a veil over his face to speak to the people, only removing it when he returned to speak with God (see Exodus 34:29-35).
Unlike the FIFA World Cup trophy, there is nothing that can be done, in human terms, to earn the right to contemplate Divine Glory: humanity's direct access to the Lord God was cut off by the fall into sin, making humankind unworthy of such a privilege and transforming the earth into a cursed place (see Genesis 3:17).
The Only Way to Contemplate the Sacred
However, there is a way for human beings to contemplate the Glory of God.
However, to be contemplated (and unlike the human merit required to touch the FIFA trophy), the Glory of God demands something that human beings cannot achieve: holiness, that is, the complete absence of sin… and it is evident that there is no human being without sin in the world (see 2ⁿᵈ Chronicles 6:36).
In this way, no one can contemplate Divine Glory… under penalty of death!
The only way in which human beings can contemplate the Glory of God is, however, simpler than one might imagine, for it involves no human merit, but, as the Lord Jesus said to Martha:
Jesus said to him:
Didn't I tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?
In fact, no one needs to do anything to witness the Glory of God except to believe in Christ Jesus!
It is something completely free for the human being who believes, but that doesn't mean it was "access" obtained for free: on the contrary, the price paid was much higher than years of training and victories in games until winning a World Cup; or being elected head of state... these things can be obtained through human merit, but holiness cannot.
God's Law is so perfect and holy that, under penalty of being entirely violated, it does not admit a single sin.
For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point,
He became guilty of everything.
Absolutely no one would be able to fulfill God's Law except His divine Son, Jesus Christ, and no one besides Him could also suffer the punishment that sin entails to the point of satisfying it, and transferring that merit to the believing human being.
Thus, in the eyes of God, Jesus is the "guarantor" who paid the debt we could never repay, giving us access to the Heavenly Father, and only in this way is access to Divine Glory in eternity assured to all who believe in Him.
Even in our present state we cannot contemplate Divine Glory because sin is still within us, but in eternity it will no longer be!
Human beings' connection to God goes through three stages:
Currently, every Christian is in the second stage of the struggle against sin, which will end with the end of earthly life, when they will be glorified, becoming eternally free from it, contemplating Divine Glory without any restriction, in the visible presence of God.
The apostle Paul made a statement regarding the Olympic Games—already held in his time—that applies perfectly to the World Cup of our day:
Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize?
Run in such a way that you may reach it!
All those who compete in the games undergo rigorous training.,
And all this to obtain a crown that soon fades away;
However, we dedicate ourselves to winning a crown that lasts forever.
Just like Olympic athletes—who, since the 8th century BC, competed to win the laurel wreath given to the winner, unlike the medals given to winners in the modern era, a wreath that would soon wither and crumble to dust—today's football players fight to win a cup that, however valuable it may be in today's world, will also pass away, crumbling on the day of Christ's coming.
But the glorification and the right granted to those who are glorified will never be lost. That is worth far more than winning every World Cup, or every Olympic medal, or anything else in this world.
All earthly glory will end with the end of life in this world. The contemplation of Divine Glory, however, will never be taken away from the saved in eternity.
In the Bonds of Calvary
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