The Glory of God

Grace Meditation #16

The Glory of God

By: Jon Ingram

Primary Text for Meditation:

1 Corinthians 10:31 -

So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

Throughout His Word, God calls attention to Himself.  Even to the extent that those of us who belong to Him are commanded to do likewise!  That is, call attention to God’s glory, not that of ourselves.

May we be reminded of the first question of the Westminster Shorter Catechism, “What is the chief end of man?”  And the answer, “Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever.”

When and where are we to point to God’s glory?  Always and everywhere!

Colossians 3:23-24 -

Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward.  You are serving the Lord Christ.

Ligonier Ministries’ 90-day devotional, The Heart of the Reformation, page 131, puts it this way, “…the Lord’s greatest aim is to see His glory revealed throughout creation and…we should make exalting the glory of God our highest goal.  If the Lord values His glory above all else, then His glory is the most valuable thing in existence, and we would be fools to set a higher value on anything but that which our Creator deems most valuable.”

Wow!  This really got my attention.  Because I so often fail miserably in working for God’s glory.

I need reminding that God created us and chose us for His glory.

Isaiah 43:6-7 -

I will say to the north, Give up,    and to the south, Do not withhold; bring my sons from afar    and my daughters from the end of the earth,  everyone who is called by my name,    whom I created for my glory,    whom I formed and made.

Ephesians 1:11-14 -

In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

What is the glory of God?

The Hebrew word for glory is kabod, which has a root meaning of weight.  Weight was synonymous with worth or value.

Here is a helpful definition from the Ligonier Ministries web page on God’s Glory: “God’s glory is the outward manifestation of His perfection and the expression of the weight, value, and importance of His being and character. God’s glory is manifested in His works of creation, providence, and redemption.”

This includes such things as His purity, holiness, truth, eternity, power, majesty, and beauty.  Another characteristic of God’s glory, one that we may not often think about, is humility.

“Okay,” you might think, “how is God humble when he calls attention to himself throughout His Word?”

It is indeed quite paradoxical.  For us to draw attention to ourselves, it would rightly be considered egotistical.  But when God draws attention to Himself, we are blessed and reassured by the reminder of His love, majesty, trustworthiness, beauty, and grace.  And humility!

God’s Word itself teaches us that He is humble.

Philippians 2:5-11 -

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name,¹⁰ so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Consider also that Hebrews 1:3 teaches us that Jesus is the radiance of the Father’s glory and the exact imprint or representation of His nature!

A mind-boggling example of God’s humility is His blood oath to Abraham in Genesis 15, where He pledged his very life to keep His promises to Abraham.

Genesis 15:17-21 -  

It came about when the sun had set, that it was very dark, and behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a flaming torch (God Himself) which passed between these pieces (sacrificial elements). On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying,

“To your descendants I have given this land,From the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates…”

This was a common blood oath practice in the cultures of the day.  It is truly amazing that God would do this.  God does not have to pledge anything to a lowly human being! So, how can we live and work for God’s glory?  Left to our own devices, we can’t!

The wonderful news is that God promises to help us, as the great benediction in Hebrews 13 assures us.

Hebrews 13:20-21 -

Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord, equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

It is not by coincidence that the Westminster Shorter Catechism mentions both glorifying God and enjoying Him forever.  They go hand in hand!

So, let’s do everything for God’s glory – every day.  From the mundane things to the big things.  It won’t be a cakewalk.  There will be trouble along the way.  We’ll fail often.  But our failures are covered – paid for by the blood of Jesus, the unblemished Lamb of God.

In all we do, we can only offer a pleasing sacrifice by trusting that Jesus is covering even our worship to bend towards His glory before the Father, resting in the assurance that even our “good deeds” are mediated and covered in Christ’s righteousness before the throne of grace.