The Glory of God
Notes
Transcript
The Glory of God
The Glory of God
Theologian A.W. Tozer once said.
“What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.”
And over the course of these last 16 weeks, I have quoted this to you multiple times.
And the reason is b/c we must have a correct view about who God is.
Not as we want him to be, but as he has revealed himself to be in the Scriptures.
B/c if we are honest, it is much easier to create a God in our own image than it is to worship God as he has revealed himself to be.
As I was studying for this last sermon something peaked my interest.
One of the theologians I read stated that
“Most theology today has lost its God emphasis and is really anthropology or the study of man.”
Many believers have come to the conclusion that man is the center of the universe and that God owes us an explanation of things.
That the gospel message is about them.
That everything God does is for their good.
We read the bible and try to find ourselves on the pages of scripture.
Every story, every event, every page we try to shoehorn ourselves in.
And can I tell you that this type of scripture reading isn’t the intended reading.
God did not chose to reveal himself to us in the scriptures so that we can make everything about us.
Rather he revealed himself so that we could know him and his story.
We have to remember that though we are beneficiary's of God’s story.
That we have recieved the great gift of salvation.
That we have been washed clean by the blood of the lamb.
The entirety of what God has done in all of history.
The entirety of what God continues to do.
Is for one purpose.
It is for one reason alone.
Everything that God does is for his glory.
36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever. Amen.
We should be ecstatic that we get to participate in his glory.
That we are recipients of the glorious story that he is righting.
But, instead what we tend to do is make the story about us.
We try and hijack his glory and make it all about us.
That’s what we do when we don’t have a right and grand view about God.
That’s what we do when Following Jesus isn’t the purpose of our existence, but a simple add on.
What I don’t want you to hear is that all this means that you are unimportant or that you don’t have value.
B/c the scriptures do point to the reality that you are valuable.
You are loved.
You are important enough that Jesus died for you.
But ultimately the salvation that you receive is to bring glory to God.
11 In him we have also received an inheritance, because we were predestined according to the plan of the one who works out everything in agreement with the purpose of his will,
12 so that we who had already put our hope in Christ might bring praise to his glory.
13 In him you also were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and when you believed.
14 The Holy Spirit is the down payment of our inheritance, until the redemption of the possession, to the praise of his glory.
Why does God save sinners?
Why did Jesus die?
Why did Jesus rise again?
Why does the HS seal believers?
To the praise of his glory.
Knowing this helps us recognize that the gospel message is for us, but it isn’t about us.
It helps us to also see that salvation is for us, but not about us.
Everything that God has done.
Everything that God currently does.
Everything that God will do is for his Glory.
And to our ears this may sound selfish.
It may sound self serving.
But what we need to remember is that God’s Glory is the greatest good.
Meaning that if God is doing everything for his glory then it is for the good of all of creation.
And what this does is take us from being the center of the universe.
And it places God in his rightful place and the purpose and goal of everything.
It forces us to have a renewed and proper perspective of who we are and who God is.
So I’ve been throwing this word “glory” around a bit, but what does it mean.
What is the glory of God?
Before we get there, we need to understand that this word glory is used in a few different ways. Don’t get too lost in the sauce, we will talk more about these ways later.
Like many words in English and other languages, glory can be used to refer to God’s presence, or his manifestation to his people, often in visible forms.
It can also be talked about as the greatness of God.
It can also be used to talk about God’ goal of all creation.
So to simplify
God’s Glory is about God’s presence, person, and purpose.
And we are going to get into it, But before we do, let’s pray.
Glory
Glory
The first thing that we need to look at when trying to understand the glory of God is the language that is used in the bible to describe or talk about God’s Glory.
As we know, the bible isn’t written in English so we need to go to the original languages to discern what God’s glory is all about.
In the OT the word used for Glory is
Kabod: heaviness, importance, or weight.
It refers to one’s stature.
Kabod would be used to talk about someone’s significance.
In ancient times, the greatness of a man was determined by the weight of his assets.
The more important, powerful, influential, prosperous and weighty someone is the more Kabod they have.
And there is no one who has more Kabod than God himself.
Now the Greek word for Glory used in the NT and the Greek translation of the OT is
Doxa: Praise or Honor
This is where we get the word Doxology.
With all that said I think a good definition of God’s Glory is this:
God’s Glory: A recognition that God is worthy of honor and praise because of his person, presence, and purpose in his creation.
God’s worth, value, and weightiness is infinite.
There is no one that even compares.
That is why God deserves the worship and praise of all creation.
The Glory of God encompasses his divine perfection, attributes, and essence.
God is Glorious in all that he is.
And in all that he does.
Now you may be wondering why I save Glory for the end of this series.
And here’s the thing, originally, I couldn’t have told you.
But now I can say, that glory is the sum total of all his attributes.
I don’t even think that calling the Glory of God an attribute is really the right frame work.
Rather God’s Glory is the sum total of his attributes.
Here’s what I mean, If we wanted to describe God in one word, the best word that could be used is Glory.
The first Christian martyr, Stephen called God, The God of Glory in Acts 7.2.
And later as he was dying Luke tells us
55 Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven. He saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.
Now throughout the scriptures, God’s Glory is demonstrated in many ways and I want to take sometime to look at these ways so that we get a robust understanding of his glory.
First, I want us to look at how God is shown to be glorious in the Scriptures.
Glory Manifested
Glory Manifested
When we read about God’s glory in the OT, one of the ways that it is understood is through his presence with his people.
Remember that all God does is for his own Name and for his renown, and we see this in his actions throughout redemptive history.
The history of God saving his people.
After Israel leaves Egypt God Leads them in a glorious way.
21 The Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to lead them on their way during the day and in a pillar of fire to give them light at night, so that they could travel day or night.
Which in and of itself is a revelation of God’s Glory, he leads them through the wilderness as a pillar of fire by night and a cloud by day.
Leading and protecting the Israelites.
Then the Israelites are pursued by Pharoah, but God demonstrates once again his glory and power by splitting the red sea.
21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea. The Lord drove the sea back with a powerful east wind all that night and turned the sea into dry land. So the waters were divided,
22 and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with the waters like a wall to them on their right and their left.
23 The Egyptians set out in pursuit—all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen—and went into the sea after them.
The Israelites crossed on dry land, and the Egyptians met their end all at the power and hand of the Lord.
Moses sings about God’s Glorious Power in Ex 15.6
6 Lord, your right hand is glorious in power. Lord, your right hand shattered the enemy.
Here’s the thing with Moses, he had seen glimpses of the glory of the Lord.
First hand experiences, but guess what, he wasn’t done there.
Moses Begs the Lord to show him more of his glory.
18 Then Moses said, “Please, let me see your glory.”
This is interesting and telling for us today.
Of all that you have seen God do in your life and in the life of others.
Of all the works of God, there’s always more to his glory.
The depths and the riches of God’s glory can never be fully explored on this side of heaven.
And one day when we stand before him we will see the fullness of his glory.
I want us to look at this passage in Ex 33 for just a minute to talk about God’s manifested presence in Moses’ life.
18 Then Moses said, “Please, let me see your glory.”
19 He said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim the name ‘the Lord’ before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.”
20 But he added, “You cannot see my face, for humans cannot see me and live.”
21 The Lord said, “Here is a place near me. You are to stand on the rock,
22 and when my glory passes by, I will put you in the crevice of the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by.
23 Then I will take my hand away, and you will see my back, but my face will not be seen.”
Moses begs to see God’s glory.
And God responds with allowing him to see it.
But what do we see here about God’s Glory?
It is his goodness where Glory is seen.
“I will cause my Goodness to pass in front of you.”
His Goodness is equated with his glory.
Part of God’s Glorious nature is his moral perfection and purity.
This can be hard for us to wrap our minds around b/c we are so morally impure, but God is wholly perfect morally.
So when God shows Moses a glimpse of his Glory on that mountain top, he sees the goodness and purity of God.
The Lord also says that he is going to proclaim his name.
This is the fullness of the character of God.
We’ve talked about this before, but to the ancient people a name wasn’t simply something that people called you.
It was who you are
So God’s Divine name encompasses all of who he is.
His nature, his character, and his person.
Also notice here, that God is the one who determines how he will make himself known.
Moses comes wanting to see the Lord, and the Lord sets the parameters and boundaries on what that is going to look like and how it is going to happen.
This goes to show us that no matter how much we try, we can’t manipulate God.
We can’t ever make him do anything that we want him to.
Part of God’s Glory is his sovereignty over all.
He is the king, he is the ruler and he gets to determine how he reveals himself.
That isn’t just for Moses, this is for all creation.
God has chosen how he has revealed himself.
He has chosen that he would reveal himself in the Scriptures.
He has chosen the stories that would be included so that we get to see him as he is and not how we would want him to be.
He has chosen how to reveal himself in redemptive history.
He has chosen it all.
And the reality is, we can only know God to the measure that he allows us to know him.
Some believers will have more intimate knowledge of God than others.
Some will pursue him more.
But each one of us is called to pursue him knowing that he will reward those who seek after him.
I say all that to say this, don’t compare your walk with the Lord to someone else’s.
Rather focus on earnestly seeking after him, and he will show you what he wants to show you and I promise you it will be what you need.
How can I make such a promise?
B/c he is good and he knows exactly what you need.
The next thing I want us to see is at the end of v. 19, Ex 33.19
Exodus 33:19 (CSB)
19...I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.”
One of the overwhelming themes in the Scriptures is that God is autonomous and makes his own decisions.
He is not coerced, he is not manipulated, he does whatever he pleases, whenever he pleases.
God’s autonomy stands is stark contrast to the other gods that are worshipped by the pagan nations in the scriptures.
These gods are dependent on the people for survival.
They need the people to provide them food.
And if you want to bargain with them then they can be tricked, manipulated, and coerced.
But the Lord cannot be lorded over.
He makes decisions on compassion, grace, and wrath the way that he sees fit.
He alone has the authority, autonomy, and power to do so.
And you may want to push back on this, but here’s what I want us to see.
Who else would you want this kind of decision making to be in the hands of?
Who else is perfectly moral, fully knowledgeable, and worthy of this power?
Rest assured that God is not capricious or flippant about the choices he makes.
In addition, Know that every choice, every decision that God makes is for the greatest good.
and what is the greatest good, His Glory.
Now, going back to this interaction between God and Moses.
We see that God had to protect Moses from the fullness of his glory.
Moses couldn’t see God’s Face.
Now we need to know that God’s Face refers to the fullness of who he is.
So Moses can’t see the fullness of who God is.
Why is that?
B/c sinful humanity can’t see the full divine glory without instantly dying.
“Finite Flesh cannot look on an infinite God and live.
This is a mercy of the Lord to restrict what Moses sees.
So God allows Moses to see him, but not all of him.
Regardless, Moses’ face shines from being in the presence of God.
Even just a glimpse of God’s Glory causes a radical transformation.
We don’t need to know everything about the scriptures or about God to be transformed.
We don’t need to know all the theological terms.
We don’t need to know the ins and outs of every biblical story.
If we catch a glimpse of God we will be transformed.
We will be changed.
B/c God’s Glory changes people.
God’s glory changes our hearts, minds, and souls.
And even though we won’t know everything there is to know about God, we should cry out with Moses, “Show me your Glory.”
We should never be complacent in our walk with God.
We should always desire a closer encounter.
A deeper knowledge.
A more profound relationship with our creator and savior.
Don’t let the glimpses of God’s glory stop you from requesting and searching for more from God..
We should continually pray the pray that God would show us his glory.
If you have decisions to make about how to live you life.
God Show me your glory.
If you are going through a rough patch through an illness or mourning a loved one.
God Show me your Glory.
If you are on the mountain top and life seems to be going well.
God Show me your glory.
If you feel like your spiritual life is dry and sluggish.
Lord, Show me your glory.
It doesn’t matter what is happening in your life or the world around you, you will be better if you see, know, and understand the beauty, grace, and goodness of the Lord.
you will be comforted and changed. if you cry out to God to show you his glory.
And let me tell you, this is an a prayer that the Lord loves to answer.
And how do I know that he loves to answer it?
B/c history proves it.
There are many other instances of God’s Glory manifested to his people, but the most important one is in the person and work of Jesus Christ.
Jesus is the fullness of God’s Glory.
1 Long ago God spoke to our ancestors by the prophets at different times and in different ways.
2 In these last days, he has spoken to us by his Son. God has appointed him heir of all things and made the universe through him.
3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact expression of his nature, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.
4 So he became superior to the angels, just as the name he inherited is more excellent than theirs.
In the person and work of Jesus, we see God’s Glory on full display.
Jesus walking in obedience to the father to the point of death, even death on the cross we can now walk in the redemption of God.
And it’s not based on anything that we have done it’s based solely on Jesus’ work.
God gets the credit.
And he saves sinners b/c it brings him Glory.
There are people here this morning who through the grace of the Lord are not the same as they were 1, 2, 5, 10 years ago.
And it glorifies God that these men and women are now beacons of light and love to the community around them.
God is made much of when you are transformed by the power of God.
And he gets the credit for what’s happened.
He gets the credit for your salvation.
He gets the glory.
16 I pray that he may grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with power in your inner being through his Spirit,
17 and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. I pray that you, being rooted and firmly established in love,
18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the length and width, height and depth of God’s love,
19 and to know Christ’s love that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
20 Now to him who is able to do above and beyond all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us—
21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
Here’s the thing through the life, death, burial, resurrection and ascension of Jesus, sinners can be saved.
Enemies can be friends.
And rebels can be sons and daughters of God.
But we have to remember that the reason that God saves sinners is always for his glory.
He doesn’t save us based on our own works.
He saves us to pour out the riches of his grace.
And now that we have been saved.
Now that we have been transformed.
Now that we have been invited in to the family of God.
We need to respond to this salvation with love and gratitude.
And we respond by knowing that our lives are now not our own.
That we were bought with a price and God expects us to live no longer for our own glory.
But for his Glory.
We are live our lives in a way that points others to Jesus.
We are to live in a way that lets the world know that we are all about God’s glory.
If we have been saved then our goal, our aim is to glorify God in all that we do.
I just read Eph 3:16-21. That talks about God’s saving grace for his glory in his people.
I want to close out this sermon by continuing what Paul wrote so that we can know how we glorify God with our lives.
1 Therefore I, the prisoner in the Lord, urge you to walk worthy of the calling you have received,
2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,
3 making every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.
4 There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope at your calling—
5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism,
6 one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all.
7 Now grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift.
Let’s pray that we are all as concerned with God’s Glory as he is.