"To the Praise of His Glory"

THIS WEEK I was looking in the Bible and I saw something stand out on multiple occasions and in multiple places. It was the idea that God does the amazing things He does for more than one reason. The way He strengthens us and teaches us, saves us and blesses us, it's awe-inspiring when you think about how big He is and how great it is that He cares about us. That's part of what I learned last week - remember the flies? He rescues people because He loves us deeply and boundlessly. But there is also another end to the things He does: the glory of His name.

You see, people by nature must glorify something. It's how we're made. God by nature must be glorified. It's who He is. He is so high above everything else, so holy and gracious, so powerful and mysterious, so very God, that it's part of who He is to receive glory. That's what we'll be doing in heaven - glorifying Him.

Remember when He parted the Red Sea for the Israelites to pass through and escape from Egypt? It's in Exodus 14. He did it to bless them because He loved them, and He did it so they would remember His grace and power and glorify Him for who He is. Later He gave them the commandments, beginning by reminding them (Exodus 20:2) "I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage." The purpose of His commandments in to keep us safe within His will and to keep sin from separating us from Him. If we keep them, He will bless us even more. So we can see that His blessing us leads to His glorification, and His glorification leads to more blessing.

The idea that salvation is both to rescue those in need and to bring God His well-deserved glory began to get my attention when I read Isaiah 61 earlier this week. You may recognize it as the chapter which contains the passage that Jesus referred to when He spoke in the synagogue (Luke 4:17-19) to explain why He had come. It's a prophecy about His mission to rescue those in need.

Verse 3 particularly interested me: "To console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified." This is amazing. It shows that He came to bring joy to those who are suffering, in order that God may be glorified. God came to earth in the body of a Man to save His children, and so His children would love Him.

The next thing that caught my attention was Psalm 30:11-12, "[11] You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; You have put off my sackcloth and clothes me with gladness, [12] to the end that my glory may sing praise to You and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks to You forever." It's very similar to Isaiah 61:3. He takes away our sorrows and teaches us to have joy in Him, and because He has done this we want to glorify Him continually.

This reminds me of Revelation 4:9-11, "[9] Whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever, [10] the twenty-four elders fall down and worship Him who lives forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying: [11] 'You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; For You created all things, and by Your will they exist and were created.'"

These people have received crowns as eternal rewards, and they cast them before God to glorify Him. And if you think about it, for all God is and has done, isn't He worthy of all the praise? After all, there is nobody like Him. Nobody who is similar in power and mercy. Nobody else can do what He has done. It's a great blessing just to be His, and knowing this, we find comfort and strength in Him and we praise Him. So when we are saved because of the redemption He gives, He rightly receives praise because of it.

Ephesian 1:13-14 says, "[13] In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, [14] who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory." Once again, we receive a blessing and He receives His glory. We don't deserve the blessing, but He does deserve the glory.

Today Pastor Russ said that if something is good for God, then it's good for us. I think that that's wonderfully true. Laura Toney, my boyfriend Will's mother, says that God "sees over the fence," or that He sees situations for what they really are when we can't. It doesn't matter if it does or doesn't look like our lives are full of blessing. He promises to bless those who serve Him, so all we have to do is serve and trust. No matter what, God will receive His glory because by nature He must be glorified. And what He wants of us is spelled out in Matthew 5:16, "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven." God is contagious, unstoppable, able to do whatever He has determined to do. He has determined to build a church strong enough to stand up against hell, and to raise up a nation of people who will serve Him and have no other gods. People who have been redeemed by His mercy through His sacrifice, who get to God through God because God got to us.

We are made for His glory. I hope and pray that glorifying God will be our sole purpose and that He will give us the hearts of servants who love Him with everything in ourselves, because He deserves it all. 1 Corinthians 10:31, "Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God."