The Glory of God

The Glory of God

Glory. It’s a commonly used word, but do you actually know what it means? According to the Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible, Glory is defined as “The singular splendor of God and its consequences for mankind.” The singular splendor of God. Just to make sure that we’re on the same page, let us define God. God is the completely sovereign, all knowing, creator, ruler, king, and judge of the entire universe and everything in it. Including us. We, as humans, are the only thing that God created in His image. We, mere people, were created in His image. When aligning our views with Gods, we typically try finding out what he hates, and we speak out against it. Yet, I firmly believe that we have failed. Is this what we were made to do? Partly. Should we not also love what he loves? Of course we should! We need to love the broken people that he loves, we need to see us the way he sees us. We need to pray to have our eyes opened to what God’s main purpose is. I believe that God’s purpose is to glorify the one thing that is untarnished, the one perfect and beautiful person. Himself. God’s ultimate goal is to bring glory to himself.

               Consider Isaiah 48:9-11. “For my own name’s sake I delay my wrath;

    for the sake of my praise I hold it back from you,    so as not to destroy you completely.¹⁰ See, I have refined you, though not as silver;    I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.¹¹ For my own sake, for my own sake, I do this.    How can I let myself be defamed?    I will not yield my glory to another.”

               Who could speak like this? If I went around spouting things for the “sake of my praise”, I would be put down, and rightly so! I am a mere man. However, the one saying this is not. He is God, the only perfect being in all of existence, and the one true King. Thus, it becomes a perfect thing for Him to proclaim. However, it threatens several of us. Why should we worship a God whose main goal is self-exaltation? Are we not our own kings, do we not have a sense of glory on our own? The answer is no. Our only glory will come from the father. God’s self-exaltation is the love and beauty among the triune God. He is the only thing worth worshipping. We are his chosen people. Our joy should be found in His glory and majesty.

 Listen to Ephesians 1:4-6. "For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love  he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— ⁶ to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves."

               Ephesians states that He has chosen us through his son Jesus Christ to praise his glorious grace. His grace has saved us from the fires of Hell, and set us aside for His worship. Later in John 17, Jesus prays for his disciples, and then he prays for those who will believe in Him through their words. Think about that. Jesus prayed for us. Personally. Isn’t that mind blowing! The savior of the universe prayed personally for you!

               Listen to the climax of his prayer in verse 24 of chapter 17.  “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.” He wants us to see His glory. His glory that the Father had given to him before the world was even here. The love of the triune God that spills over to us! This is amazing news!

               One final verse. Romans 11:36 says this, “For from him and through him and for him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.” To Him be the glory forever! I pray that becomes our statement in our lives. Whether good times or bad, to Him be the glory. Amen.

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Thanks for reading,

Nathaniel Gregg