The Glory of God

BY ALAN B. CHRISTENSEN

Ephesians 3:21

"What's the big idea?"  That was a question my father often put to me after I had become a Christian. He wasn't seeking information about my new life; he just wanted to know why I was acting the way I was and to show his disapproval.

When you stop and think about it, though, that's an important question for all Christians to be confronted with. With the coming of the Lord fast approaching and our salvation soon to be completed, we should really ask: Why did God give His only begotten Son to save us, and what's the big idea behind our Christian life?

Is it worship? Is bringing into existence a race of beings who would choose to worship Him the main purpose of God's salvation program? Is it spiritual growth, becoming more like Christ with the passing of time? Is it evangelism and missions, working to bring others to faith? You may be surprised to know that it is none of these.

Glory story. Rather, the overriding theme of Scripture is what can be called the Glory Story. It has to do with the glory and the glorification of God. It means identifying, magnifying and exemplifying God's glories.

This is a truth to which all other doctrines of the Christian faith and all motivation for Christian living must bow. Rightly understood, it is at the center of Christian theology, Christian education, world missions, evangelism, worship and discipleship. What does not glorify God is not Christian.

Identifying God's glory

The Bible speaks of the glory of God in two aspects. The first is His intrinsic glory. It is the sum total of what God isthe fact, as has been said, that God is infinite, eternal and unchangeable in His being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness and truth. This radiance of God's glory is readily seen in creation.

Thus, David writes in Psalm 19:1-3:

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard.
But blinded by their wickedness, mankind fails to see this glory. As a result, the Bible says in Romans 1:18-21:
The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualitieshis eternal power and divine naturehave been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him.
Thankfully, the intrinsic glory of God includes His mercy, grace and lovingkindness. Even before the creation of the world, He chose a people to be righteous in His sight through faith in His Son Jesus Christ and has since been revealing Himself to them.

The cloud. To some of the early believers, He displayed His glory in the form of an uncreated, unfed, unending, blazing, blinding, bright light known as the shekinah. It was the visible manifestation of God's presence in a given place. Moses speaks of it as "the pillar of cloud by day (and) the pillar of fire by night" that stayed with the Israelites throughout their journey in the wilderness.

The shekinah was also seen, among other occasions, when God gave Moses the law. When Moses went up on the mountain, the shekinah covered it, and the glory of the Lord settled on Mount Sinai. "To the Israelites," we read in Exodus 24:17, "the glory of the Lord looked like a consuming fire on top of the mountain."

In the New Testament, we find the shekinah, among other places, in the Shepherd's fields when Christ was born (Luke 2:9), at the martyring of Stephen (Acts 7:54-55), and at the conversion of Saul (Acts 26:12-17).

But the real glory that is seen in the New Testament is that of Christ Himself: "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth" (John 1:14).

Magnifying God's glory

The second aspect of the glory of God is His ascribed glory. We see this, for example, in Psalm 29:1,2, "Ascribe to the Lord, O mighty ones, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness."

To ascribe is to attribute. We attribute to Jehovah God the glory that is due His name. One reason why glory is due His name is given in Revelation 4:11: "You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory...for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being."

The fact is, glorifying God is the very reason why all things exist. We are created to honor our Creator. By nature, we don't do that. But come Judgment Day, Psalm 86:9 says, "All the nations you have made will come and worship before you, O Lord; they will bring glory to your name."

Divine love. By the grace of God, however, we believers have been enlightened. And so, we ascribe glory to God even now. Grateful that He is not only our Maker, but our Savior as well, we praise Him for having borne our sin on the cross so that we don't have to spend eternity in hell.

The psalmist puts it this way: "Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you" (63:3); "Save us, O Lord our God, and gather us from the nations, that we may give thanks to your holy name and glory in your praise" (106:47); and "Not to us, O Lord, not to us but to your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness" (115:1).

To precisely define worship is not easy, but it must include the assigning to God the worth due Him. 
The high and lofty act of worship is thus the believer's way of magnifying God's glory. To precisely define worship is not easy, but it must include the assigning to God the worth due Him.

Exemplifying God's glory

God has not saved us just to ascribe glory to Him, though. He also wants the church to display His glory. Paul writes about this in Ephesians 3:10,11:
His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The church is here for God's glorification. "We, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit" (II Cor. 3:18).

In other words, we glorify God when we, following the Holy Spirit's leading, exemplify in our lives Christ-like and God-pleasing attitudes and deeds.

Specifically, here are some of the ways to glorify God that are clearly defined in Scripture:

Unity in the church. "May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Rom. 15:5,6).

Fruitful lifestyle. "This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples" (John 15:8); and "Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us" (I Peter 2:12).

Rejoicing in trials. "In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faithof greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by firemay be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed" (I Peter 1:6,7).

Contrite heart. "Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the Lord which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight" (Jer. 9:23,24).

Application

It's a sad fact that glorifying God has become a forgotten theme in these end-time days. Instead, there is a great tendency to praise the so-called accomplishments of people, including ministers, evangelists or ministries. We need to remind ourselves constantly of our total dependence upon the Lord. Apart from Him we can do nothing.

God warns in Isaiah 42:8, "I am the Lord; that is my name! I will not give my glory to another"; and in Revelation 14:7, "Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water."

When Christ comes, therefore, let us be found identifying, magnifying and exemplifying God's glory for who He is and all that He has done for, with and through us. It is nothing of ourselves that we'll be gathered to heaven. It is all of Him.

As Paul says in his magnificent doxology in Ephesians 3:21, "To him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." This is the eternal Glory Story! This is the Big Idea! o

Rev. Alan B. Christensen is senior pastor of Hope Evangelical Free Church, 240 Wolfpit Road, Wilton, CT 06897.

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