We conclude our series on the Attributes of God today with a study on the glory of God. God’s glory is the sum of all of His perfections put on display. God is committed to His glory above all things. See how that might affect your life and your prayers in this message.
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The Glory Of God
We come this morning to our final study in the Perfections of God. And I have saved the best for last – the glory of God.
Now, I realize that the glory of God seems like a vague and difficult concept to define, and in truth, it is. It is a lot like the word “beauty.” Now, if I were to ask you to define a watermelon, that would not be very difficult. We would say, “a watermelon is a large green piece of fruit that grows on the ground, usually about one or two feet long and oblong. If you cut into it, it is a red fruit, with black seeds. The fruit is sweet and delicious and has a lot of water in it.” After we were done saying that, the other person would have a pretty good idea of what a watermelon is. But if we used the word “beauty” with a person who had never heard of that word before, it would be very difficult to explain it.
So it is with the concept of God’s glory. But let me make an attempt at defining God’s glory. Actually, God’s glory is not a single attribute. It is all of His attributes rolled up into one. It is the sum total of all of God’s attributes put on display. It is the beauty and radiance of His manifold perfections. Sometimes in the Bible, the name of God is used almost synonymously with the glory of God. When the Bible speaks of doing something for His name’s sake, it means almost the same thing as doing it for His glory. The “Name” of God speaks of who God is in all His perfections, which is what God’s glory refers to. The goal of doing something for God’s glory and doing it for His name’s sake are the same goal.
Now, why do I believe that the glory of God refers to the sum total of God’s perfections? I get that concept from Exodus 33:18-19, “Then Moses said, “I pray You, show me Your glory!” And He said, “I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you, and will proclaim the name of the Lord before you; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion.” Then in Exodus 34:6, when the Lord did pass by, He proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations.”
Do you see what’s going on here? Moses asks to see God’s glory, and God gives Him a glimpse of His glory by proclaiming His attributes. God’s glory is the sum of His perfections. God responds to Moses by declaring His goodness, Name, graciousness, compassion, truth, love, forgiveness, and justice.
The glory of God is the display of all that God is in its radiant fullness.
OK, so now that we have caught a glimpse of what God’s glory is, I want to make a single point in the rest of this sermon. The display of God’s glory is God’s ultimate purpose in all that He does.
We all have those things that we are passionate about, right? I have an uncle who is passionate about hiking in the outdoors. When I look on Facebook, he is always on some new hike somewhere in the great outdoors. Others are passionate about the Giants or the 49’ers. Others are passionate about music, or art, or ending abortion or racial injustice, or finding a cure for cancer, or ministering to widows or orphans. The list goes on endlessly. But this morning, I want you to be asking yourself this question: What is God passionate about? More than anything else, what is God’s passion? I hope to show you that it is displaying His glory.
You say God is uppermost in His affections. God loves Himself and His glory supremely. The Westminister Shorter Catechism asks the question, “What is the chief end of man?” The answer is “to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.” Let’s ask the question, “What is the chief end of God? The answer is “to glorify Himself and enjoy Himself forever.”
So, this morning we are going to do a survey of the entire Bible on this subject. I want you to see so clearly what God’s passion is, so that you can embrace that same passion.
1. The Creation
Isaiah 43:7, “Everyone who is called by My name, and whom I have created for My glory whom I have formed, even whom I have made.”
God’s aim in creation, according to this text, was His glory. That’s why He created everyone called by His name. Now, we should not understand this to mean that God was lacking in glory, and in order to bolster up His glory, He created man. No, God was perfectly glorious already before He created the world. Acts 17:25 says, “God is not served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things.” No, God created, not to gain glory, but to display the glory to man which He already possessed.
2. The Exodus Out Of Egypt
Exodus 9:16, “But indeed, for this reason I have allowed you to remain, in order to show you My power and in order to proclaim My name through all the earth.”
So, why did God multiply His mighty acts into ten plagues instead of making short work of Pharoah and his army in one swift judgment? God’s purpose in the exodus was to make a worldwide reputation for Himself to demonstrate His incredible power on behalf of His chosen people with the aim that His reputation be declared throughout the whole world.
Exodus 14:4,17 “Thus I will harden Pharoah’s heart, and he will chase after them; and I will be honored through Pharaoah and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord. And they did so… As for Me, behold, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them; and I will be honored through Pharaoh and all his army, through his chariots and his horsemen.”
Why did God hard Pharaoah’s heart and the hearts of the Egyptians? So that He would be honored and that the Egyptians would know that He is the Lord. That’s why.
Psalm 106:7-8, “Our fathers in Egypt did not understand Your wonders; they did not remember Your abundant kindnesses, but rebelled by the sea, at the Red Sea. Nevertheless He saved them for the sake of His name, that He might make His power known.”
There it is again. The reason God saved the children of Israel was for the sake of His name in order to make His power known.
Isaiah 63:11-12, “Then His people remembered the days of old, of Moses. Where is He who brought them up out of the sea with the shepherds of His flock? Where is He who put His Holy Spirit in the midst of them, who caused His glorious arm to go at the right hand of Moses, who divided the waters before them to make for Himself an everlasting name.”
Why did God divide the waters of the Red Sea? To make for Himself an everlasting name.
3. The Wilderness Wandering
Ezekiel 20:21-22, “But the children rebelled against Me; they did not walk in My statutes, nor were they careful to observe My ordinances, by which, if a man observes them, he will live; they profaned My Sabbaths. So I resolved to pour out My wrath on them, to accomplish My anger against them in the wilderness. But I withdrew My hand and acted for the sake of My name that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations in whose sight I had brought them out.”
God was resolved to pout out His wrath on the children of Israel, but He decided against it. Why? For the sake of His name, that it should not be profaned. God does all things for the sake of His name, which is another way of saying it is for the sake of His glory.
4. The Sin of Asking for a King
1 Samuel 12:19-22, “And all the people said to Samuel, “Pray for your servants to the Lord your God, that we may not die, for we have added to all our sins this evil, to ask for ourselves a king.” And Samuel said to the people, “Do not be afraid; you have done all this evil. Yet do not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart. And do not turn aside after empty things that cannot profit or deliver, for they are empty. For the Lord will not forsake His people, for His great name’s sake, because it has pleased the Lord to make you a people for Himself.”
The people sinned greatly in asking for a king. There was no undoing that sin or its painful consequences. Yet they shouldn’t fear. Why not? Because of God’s unswerving commitment to His own Name. The rock bottom foundation of our confidence that God will not forsake us, is His commitment to glorify His Name! God possessed Israel in such a way that what happened to them reflected upon His Name. His Name was at stake in their destiny.
5. Deliverances In The Time of the Kings
2 Kings 19:34, “For I will defend this city to save it for My own sake and for My servant David’s sake.”
After the death of Solomon, the kingdom of Israel was divided into the Northern and the Southern kingdoms. Hezekiah was the king of the southern kingdom of Judah. In the late 700’s B.C., the Assyrians, led by Sennacherib, came against Judah. Hezekiah prayed for deliverance. God answered His prayer by sending an angel of the Lord who went out and struck 185,000 of the Assyrians in one night! So, why did God defend the city to save it? For His own sake! To magnify His own Name and glorify Himself.
6. The Exile and Promised Restoration
Ezekiel 36:22-24, “Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord God, It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for My holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you went. I will vindicate the holiness of My great name which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord,” declares the Lord God, “when I prove Myself holy among you in their sight. For I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands and bring you into your own land.”
Why was God going to restore Israel back to their own land when they had grieved God so terribly by their idol worship? For the sake of His Name! God was committed to vindicating the holiness of His great Name!
Ezekiel 39:25, “Therefore thus says the Lord God, ‘Now I will restore the fortunes of Jacob and have mercy on the whole house of Israel; and I will be jealous for My holy name.”
7. The Testimony of the Prophets
Isaiah 60:21, “Then all your people will be righteous; they will possess the land forever, the branch of My planting, the work of My hands, that I may be glorified.”
Why is it that God was going to make His people righteous, give them the land forever, and plant them in their own land? So that He might be glorified. That’s what God was absolutely committed to.
Jeremiah 13:11, “For as the waistband clings to the waist of a man, so I made the whole household of Israel and the whole household of Judah cling to Me, declares the Lord, that they might be for Me a people, for renown, for praise and for glory.”
Jeremiah 33:8-9, “I will cleanse them from all their iniquity by which they have sinned against Me, and I will pardon all their iniquities by which they have sinned against Me and by which they have transgressed against Me. It will be to Me a name of joy, praise and glory before all the nations of the earth which will hear of all the good that I do for them, and they will fear and tremble because of all the good and all the peace that I make for it.”
8. The Testimony of Jesus Christ
John 12:27-28, “Now My soul has become troubled; and what shall I say, ‘Father, save Me from this hour? But for this purpose I came to this hour. “Father glorify Your name.” Then a voice came out of heaven: “I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.”
Why did Jesus Christ come into the world? To die for sinners to be sure. But why did He die for sinners? So that the Father would be glorified.
John 17:4, “I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do.”
Why did Jesus accomplish the work the Father gave Him? In order to glorify the Father.
9. The Testimony of the Apostles
Acts 15:14, “Simeon has related how God first concerned Himself about taking from among the Gentiles a people for His Name.”
Romans 1:5, “Jesus Christ ouir Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for His Name’s sake.”
Why did God give grace to some to be apostles? So that He might bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles. But why? For His Name’s sake!
2 Corinthians 4:15, “For all things are for your sakes, so that the grace which is spreading to more and more people may cause the giving of thanks to abound to the glory of God.”
Why does God cause His grace to spread to more and more people? So that the giving of thanks may abound to the glory of God!
Ephesians 1:6,12,14 “to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved… to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory… who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.”
Why did God choose, predestine, adopt, redeem, give an inheritance, and seal with His Spirit? For the praise of His glory!
Colossians 1:16, “For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities – all things have been created through Him and for Him.”
2 Thessalonians 1:10 “when He comes to be glorified in His saints on that day, and to be marveled at among all who have believed – for our testimony to you was believed.” What is God’s aim in the Second Coming of Christ? It is for Christ to be glorified in His saints and marveled at among all who have believed.
1 John 2:12, “I am writing to you, little children, because your sins have been forgiven you for His name’s sake.”
Revelation 4:11, “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory, and honor, and power: for Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were created.”
Conclusion
Wait a minute! This sounds like God is all about Himself, and not for us. It sounds like God is self-centered. He commands us to not be selfish or display empty conceit, but it sounds like He is selfish and conceited. Why does God want all creation to exalt Him? Ask yourself “what is the essence of righteousness?” It is to value what is supremely valuable. If I were to live to make the most money I could that would be sinful. If I were to live for God that would be righteous. Why? Because I would be esteeming what is supremely valuable. God is supremely valuable. God must love Himself infinitely in order to be truly righteous. Anything else is idolatry. If God placed us above Himself, He would be an idolater. He must love and delight in His beauty and perfection above all things. That’s why He takes pleasure in displaying His glory in all the universe!
Now that we have seen God’s unswerving commitment to display His glory, let’s apply it in two ways.
#To The Way You Pray:
Psalm 25:11, “For Thy Name’s sake, O Lord, pardon my iniquity, for it is great.”
Psalm 79:9, “Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of Thy Name; and deliver us, and forgive our sins, for Thy Name’s sake.”
Daniel 9:19, “O Lord hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and take action! For Thine own sake, O my God, do not delay because Thy city and Thy people are called by Thy Name.”
Joshua 7:8-9, “O Lord, what can I say since Israel has turned their back before their enemies? For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear of it, and they will surround us and cut off our name from the earth. And what will You do for Your great Name?”
Is this the way You pray? Remind God in prayer to act for the sake of His Name. Of course, in order to pray this way, you will have to be persuaded that your petitions are the will of God and that answering them will bring glory to Him.
To The Way You Live:
If the glory of God is what God passionately pursues in all He does, this ought to be our passion in all we do!
1 Corinthians 10:31, “Whether, then, you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”
1 Peter 4:11, “Whoever speaks, is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God; whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever amd ever. Amen.”
My friends, this should be our supreme passion! Yes, we want our children to become believers, our business to prosper, our church to grow and multiply. But why? So that in all things God might be glorified! We aren’t acting as we ought when we are moved by any other motive. Let this ambition fire your soul! Let it be the foundation of every enterprise upon which you enter.
Let’s pray.
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