glory Archives • Knowing God and His Ways

September 4, 2023August 31, 2023

The Fundamental Test of Your Soul

God’s glory is your glory

In recent weeks we have explored God’s jealousy for his glory.

When you understand the importance the Lord places on glory, you will not be surprised when tested concerning this.

You will see it as the context for Jesus’ demanding teachings that test the ultimate devotion of your heart: “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me” (Mat. 10:37). “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.” (Mat. 6:24).

It is the rightful glory of God that people love, prize, and delight in him above all, for “every good and every perfect gift is from above” (James 1:17). Therefore he will not abide your giving glory instead to his creation.

The idol factory

The test of exclusive worship may be the fundamental test. It is continual, for as one theologian said, the human heart is an idol factory. But it is a trial you can pass, because the Lord enables willing souls to do what he commands: “Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Cor. 10:31).

Nothing will bring you greater fulfillment, because for this you were designed. This is both God’s glory and your glory. This is a marriage made in heaven. This is how you prove true.

August 28, 2023August 26, 2023

Reflecting God’s Glory

Our glory is to reflect God’s glory

Last week we saw that God supremely delights to express his glory for his own joy and the admiration and pleasure of his creation.

Glory is divine, and someday it will also be fully human. Jesus, the unique Son, has unimaginable glory, and he is the firstfruit of glorified humanity. God the Father has unimaginable glory, as does the Holy Spirit.

Glory sums up God’s nature, and therefore it will similarly sum up our redeemed nature. At creation God gave humanity the priceless gift of bearing his image and displaying his glory.

God plans to restore the glory lost in the Fall and to add more for good measure. Jesus said, “The righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father” (Mat. 13:43). John said, “When he appears we will be like him” (1 John 3:3). Paul said there will be “glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good” (Rom. 2:10).

The apostle Paul also writes, “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Rom. 8:18). The NIV, similar to the KJV, translates the end of that verse, “the glory that will be revealed in us.”

Ultimate worship

In God’s plans, glory is not incidental, not a side benefit of salvation, not a secondary goal. It is ultimate.

Therefore when God established his covenant with Israel, he began the Ten Commandments by stressing exclusive worship. Centuries later he rebuked Israel for breaking these commands by their stubborn idolatry and said, “My glory I will not give to another” (Isa. 48:11). In this matter of exclusive worship, God means business. He is jealous for his glory.

August 21, 2023August 19, 2023

The Ultimate Importance of God’s Glory

Since God is jealous for his glory, we likewise must be jealous for his glory

Last week we saw that God originally created humanity for glory, and that glory is good.

We are not the only ones who express our glory for the sake of our own joy and others’ admiration. God supremely delights to express his glory for his own joy and the admiration and pleasure of his creation.

In the book The End for Which God Created the World, theologian Jonathan Edwards argues that God’s ultimate purpose in all his works is to display his infinite glory—preeminently his redeeming love and grace in Jesus Christ—and receive the worship this glory deserves.

Glory is divine. Glory is the hinge of God’s purposes in creation. It is the hub of the wheel, the fulcrum of the lever, the axis of the globe, the prize of the race.

Triumphing over Satan

Glory is why Satan was playing his best card when he offered Jesus the kingdoms of the world. It is why Satan, who lost more glory through his fall than anyone ever has, craved worship.

And it was Jesus’ glory flatly to refuse him. “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve’” (Mat. 4:10). The glory of Jesus Christ is he did not fall as Adam and Israel fell. Jesus—the Second Adam and the true Israel—believed and obeyed his Father’s words. This was his glory. In both his divinity and humanity he “loved righteousness and hated wickedness” (Heb. 1:9).

He would not give God’s glory to another. (God told Israel, “My glory I will not give to another” [Isa. 48:11]). This was Jesus’ great glory. He proved to be true. He is worthy to be God’s unique Son and our only Savior, for above all else he sought the glory of his Father.

As Jesus wrestled with the thought of suffering for our sins, he said, “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name” (John 12:27–28). What happened next is important. “Then a voice came from heaven: ‘I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again’” (John 12:28).

Mighty in battle

David prophesied about the glory of Jesus, and that glory includes his victory in battle against God’s enemies:

“Lift up your heads, O gates! And be lifted up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is this King of glory? The LORD, strong and mighty, the LORD, mighty in battle! Lift up your heads, O gates! And lift them up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory!” (Psa. 24:7–10, italics added)

When Jesus overcame Satan’s temptations, he showed himself mighty in battle. The ancient doors were lifted for the King of glory.

August 14, 2023August 12, 2023

The Goodness of Glory

The glory that comes from God and reflects God is good

Last week we saw that Satan tempted the human nature of Jesus with the offer of glory. I said that humans will do almost anything for glory.

Glory takes many forms. Proverbs 29:21 says, “The glory of young men is their strength,” and that explains why some spend agonizing hours in the gym pumping iron. Strength is glory. But there are other ways of finding glory. The glory of working for a company is to be promoted, to become a department head, vice president, or CEO, because authority is glory.

In various instances, wisdom is glory, riches are glory, talent is glory, education is glory, achievement is glory.

Glory is whatever makes us special, however we excel. The glory of a zebra is its stripes. The glory of a company is its brand. The glory of the sky is its sunset. Even if no one sees our glory, we enjoy it.

Glory is good

We enjoy it because glory is good. It is good because it came from God, whose glory is infinite: “Great is the glory of the Lord” (Psalm 138:5). “From him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever” (Rom. 11:36).

“There are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone” (1 Cor. 12:4–6).

“God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness’” (Gen. 1:26).

Falling short of God’s glory

In the familiar verse that describes mankind’s brokenness, notice what quality we lack: “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). At creation God infused his glory into mankind and afterward pronounced us “very good,” but sin marred that glory. We fall short of our glorious purpose of reflecting God’s likeness.

Nevertheless God originally created humanity for glory, and that glory is good.

August 7, 2023August 5, 2023

When Jesus Was Tested for Idolatry

Even Jesus faced a real temptation regarding exclusive worship

In previous posts we have seen how Abraham was tested for whether he had an idol, and now we turn to see how Jesus himself was tempted to worship another god.

How could it be that the Son of God could be tempted to worship anyone but God? He is divine himself and has lived for all eternity in the Father’s presence. Even so, he did face a real temptation in this regard.

It happened in his 40-day wilderness trial. After two unsuccessful temptations, Satan took Jesus “to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.” Then he brazenly offered: “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me” (Mat. 4:8–9, italics added). So Jesus faced an undisguised test regarding exclusive worship.

How could Jesus be tempted?

It raises many questions. How could this offer tempt Jesus? How are we similarly tempted? What does this teach about the nature of God, and mankind? What does this teach about God’s command to worship him exclusively?

Regarding the first question: Was Satan’s offer a ridiculous miscalculation, a gambit that had no chance of appealing to Jesus? No, Satan knows much about human nature. This was his ultimate chance to advance his rebellion against God, so he was surely exercising all his cunning powers.

The key to understanding this temptation is to remember that Jesus was both fully God and fully man, which meant his human nature was susceptible to every temptation common to man. Hebrews 4:15 says, “We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.”

Nothing about Satan’s offer could appeal to Jesus in his divine nature, for “God cannot be tempted with evil” (Jam. 1:13). And even as Satan appealed to Jesus’ human nature, he did not offer himself as the bait, as though anything about him could inspire Jesus to worship. No, the key word in understanding this temptation is glory.

Glory

The narrative reads, “The devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, ‘All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me’” (Mat. 4:8–9, italics added). What Satan knew could appeal to Jesus’ humanity was glory.

This is what mankind wants. Glory drives sports. When men and women train for the Olympics, for example, they push their limits in work and pain, and their reason for doing so is not merely to stand on a platform and have precious metal hung around their neck and hear their national anthem. There are easier ways to hear anthems and quicker ways to get gold.

What athletes want is glory. Not just the glory of applause, but the glory of greatness, of being the best, of displaying their talent for all to see and extol. They want the glory of competition, the glory of courage and sacrifice, the glory of passion and ultimate effort, the glory of teamwork and sharing arenas with other great athletes.

They want the glory of being watched by millions on television, the glory of their names inscribed in Olympic history. They want the glory of winning, setting records, nearing perfection. They want the glory of making family, friends, and hometown proud. People will do almost anything for glory.