By Steven J. Hogan
~ A Saturday Morning Post #30 ~
The glory of God! Might we desire to glorify God, to give Him all the glory! Before we were saved, we were sinners, and we weren’t giving glory to God. We “exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man…” (Romans 1:23). But thanks be to God He saved us so we’d give Him glory. Then we are told that we are to “exult in hope of the glory of God” (Romans 5:2). One of the main reasons we are saved is so that at Christ’s coming we’ll be glorified, and then we’ll glorify God all the time, and with all our heart and soul. This is what we should truly be excited about and looking forward to!
But now we’re on earth, and the flesh oftentimes wants to be seen, recognized, applauded, famous, popular and promoted. And it’s Psalm 115:1 that again tells us our primary reason for being here: “Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to Your name give glory, because of your love and because of your truth.” We’re to give God glory, and why? Because His love and His truth have wonderfully and eternally transformed us. What was David’s desire? “I will give thanks to You, O Lord my God, with all my heart, and will glorify Your name forever. For your love toward me is great” (Psalm 86:12-13).
How do we give glory to God? Psalm 63:1-5 tells us that we are to seek God, and then we will see God, and specifically His power and His glory. Then we will be satisfied by His love, and then we will glorify Him. Again, as we seek God, we will see Him, we will know Him, we will be in love with Him – and then we will glorify Him by blessing Him, by praising Him, by singing to Him. And by the way, it’s better than a million sunsets, or anything else on this earth.
How else do we give glory to God? 1 Corinthians 10:31 says that our entire life is to give God glory. “Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” We glorify God by eating, by our jobs, by using our gifts, by serving in church, by our relationships, our family time, our work outs, our vacations, by “whatever you do.” We also glorify God by being strong in faith (Romans 4:20), by doing the work God gives us to do (John 17:4), by being thankful (Psalm 69:30), and by being holy (Isaiah 6:3).
Then there are the “glory” verses. 1 Timothy 1:15-17 says God is glorified because He saves us. Philippians 4:19-20 says God is glorified when our needs are met. 2 Peter 3:18 says God is glorified as we grow in knowing Christ. 2 Timothy 4:18 says God is glorified because He rescues us from evil attacks. Jude 24-25 says God is glorified by taking us from earth to heaven. Hebrews 13:20-21 says God is glorified because He equips us to do His will. Romans 11:36 says God is glorified because He saves a remnant of Jews. “For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.” Do you see this? By far, our supreme goal, our greatest joy, our most satisfying endeavor, is giving glory to God, now and forever!
But back to the coming of Christ: I have to tell you, I get real excited when I think about Christ coming in His awesome glory, splendor, power and majesty (Luke 21:27). For then I’ll be glorified, I’ll be fully saved, and I’ll finally be able to do what God chose me for, created me for, and saved me for – to fully and always glorify God and Jesus Christ. And it’s not just me glorifying God, but all the saints together glorifying God. “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God” (Revelation 19:1).
But one of my favorite glory verses is contained in Jesus’ prayer for us: “Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory…” (John 17:24). Can you imagine actually being with Jesus, seeing Him and seeing His amazing, magnificent and spectacular glory, and then giving Him glory? There is nothing better than this, and this is what we will be doing forever and ever and ever!
I pray that you’ll give glory to God as you live on this earth. But I also pray that you’re excited about seeing Christ return in glory, for then you’ll be glorified, and then you’ll appear with Christ in glory, and then you’ll give Him glory like never before – and you will be most encouraged, most satisfied, and filled with joy. “All the earth will be filled with the glory of the Lord” (Numbers 14:21). “From the ends of the earth we hear singing: ‘Glory to the Righteous One’” (Isaiah 24:16). “For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen” (Matthew 6:13).
P.S. My latest article was just published a few days ago: Replacement Theology: It’s Not True – Part 5 (Why People Have Believed This Error.) This will help you to more clearly understand the history of this error. Next week we’ll be looking at North Korea, microchips, and the solar eclipse, and how all this relates to the end times.
