God’s glory is a significant theme in the Bible and revelation to mankind. Everything that God does in the world – works of salvation or judgments – will ultimately work to the praise of His glory (Romans 9:19-23). In Israel’s “book of prayer” the writers of the Psalms encourage the nation of Israel: “Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness.” (Psalm 29:2).
Even salvation is ultimately about His glory, which is appealed to; “For the sake of your name, Lord, forgive my iniquity, though it is great” (Psalm 25:11). The apostle Paul writes similarly in Ephesians when he writes that the Holy Spirit is the guarantee of our inheritance of glory. He guarantees us redemption for the praise of God’s glory and because we were the first to put our hope in Christ, we need to live for the praise of God’s glory. (Ephesians 1:12-14 ESV)
“so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory.” Ephesians 1:12 ESV
Thus God receives glory, a good name and praise when I confess that I am a sinner and that I need God’s grace every day of my life and I dare to rely on the Holy Spirit in my walk of faith in the Son of God. Would this also be the best for my own life? Absolutely!
What if bringing forth God’s glory were the undertone of our thoughts, actions and words? God would not primarily be there for us, but we would be there for Him? Our lives would be living sacrifices for His glory. Then our lives would be increasingly marked with God’s glory and honour. Our slogan would be: “Jesus should increase and I decrease”. We would boast of our weakness and of the Lord Jesus. Our decisions in life’s great crossroads and small choices would be founded on seeking and finding God’s will and doing it with joy and from love for Him.
That is when we would begin to deeply understand the words of the Bible:
”So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” (1. Cor. 10:31),
”Through him we received grace and apostleship to call all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith for his name’s sake” (Rom. 1:5),
”Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God” (Rom. 15:7),
”filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ – to the glory and praise of God” (Phil. 1:11) and
”to show that they can be fully trusted, so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive” (Tit. 2:10).
May God in His grace and love increase the flames of our faith to love Christ our Saviour and seek His glory in everything. May the Holy Spirit give us a clear vision of our risen Lord. Then the life of our spiritual home will be more known for bringing forth the glory of God, which is simultaneously the best for each of God’s children.
In the words of John Piper:
God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.
Pastor Tero
Tero Ojasalo