Foundation of Christian Hedonism
The Glory of God
Ephesians 1:4-14
Why did Jesus die on the cross? Why did God save us? Why does God heal? Why?
The mantra of CH is that God is most glorified when we are most satisfied in him. The Westminster Catechism says the chief end of Man is to Glorify God and enjoy him forever; CH says the chief end of man is to glorify God by enjoying him forever. I want to demonstrate the glory of God as central not just to our lives but to the very existence of God himself.
1. God is the center of his own existence
God and his glory is the highest value of the universe. If God was committed to anything less than his own glory, reputation, name then it would be idolatrous for him and he would not be God. God is radically God centered. We need to align ourselves with God and his purposes. Therefore we need to be radically God centered and committed to God and his glory. God is God and we are not; He is significant and we are insignificant in comparison; He is the ultimate and absolute reality. We are made to see this and savor this with everything we have. To the extent that we do this is to the extent that we become significant and substantial – Srougal Q.
Because then we reflect or display or transcribe his glory on the face of this earth. It is why we exist. The Comfort, security, that we can have in this reality is that IF God is committed to himself and his glory then he is radically committed to us because as we seek and savor his glory and goodness in our lives, we display his glory which is what and why he created us for (Edwards Q1).
Opposite of what we hear in the church - what motivates the average church – Worship; teaching; length of service; parking; location; slogans; Hear from the average Christian – God is marginalized; after thought; hardly mentioned in conversation. Peterson Q
Why Paul says we must not only see it but we must savor it and that is what will be us our greatest happiness in this life (Edwards Q3).
Your happiness in God is the most important battle you face every day of your life.
Suppose you ask a man, say Darrin Marriot - “Under God, who’s the most important person in your life?” And he says, “ Definitely Mike, for without Mike we could not have worship. Then you ask, “After Mike who is the most important person?” And then he answers Chris, for he sets up the church every Sunday.” And you ask, “what about your wife?” And he answers “O . . . I just assumed that. Sure that goes without saying.”
It may be a few Neanderthal men would assume that it was his lavish affection and love for his wife that kept her from coming to mind. But most of us, especially Tamra, I think, would assume just the opposite: namely that she didn’t come to mind because she’s not of supreme importance in his mind. She goes without saying because she goes without significance.
I think we can be certain that she would not like it. She would not say, “I feel so loved and honored because Darrin, my husband, never thinks to mention me among his top priorities - like the air he breathes. - he never gives me a thought.” That’s is not what she would say. She would say something like this: “If I don’t come to your mind to talk about, then I am not important to you. And if you think I am an honored by being taken for granted, then you are wrong because I am not.”
It is possible to take thing for granted, like oxygen in the air we breathe. But nothing is honored for being taken for granted. It is not a tribute to the importance of anything in our hearts when we say, “Oh, we assume that.” To be assumed may make a person feel indispensable but it does not make a person feel treasured.
Too many times we take God for granted. But God is a very important person and does not like being taken for granted. The glory of God is what he esteems more than anything and he does not like it to be taken for granted. I have never heard a sermon on it in a church barely in passing;
God created the universe to display his Glory; God manifests his works of redemption to display his glory; and Gods rules over history to display his glory.
words of the Westminster Confession, “The chief end of God is to glorify God and to enjoy himself forever.”
You will also need to explain in depth to your people why it is that God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him (Piper).
2. Biblical texts
Biblical Texts to Show God's Zeal for His Own Glory
God chose his people for his glory.
Ephesians 1:4-6, cf. vv. 12, 14 He chose us in him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and blameless before him. He destined us in love to be his sons through Jesus Christ according to the purpose of his will unto the praise of the glory of his grace.
God created us for his glory.
Isaiah 43:6-7 Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the end of the earth, every one who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory.
God called Israel for his glory.
Jeremiah 13:11 You are my servant Israel in whom I will be glorified
Isaiah 49:3 I made the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah cling to me, says the Lord, that they might be for me a people, a name, a praise, and a glory.
God rescued Israel from Egypt for his glory.
Psalm 106:7-8 Our fathers when they were in Egypt did not consider thy wonderful works . . . but rebelled against the Most High at the Red Sea. Yet he saved them for his name's sake that he might make known his mighty power.
God raised Pharaoh up to show his power and glorify his name.
Romans 9:17 For the scripture says to Pharaoh, "I have raised you up for this very purpose of showing my power in you, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth."
God defeated Pharaoh at the Red Sea to show his glory.
Exodus 14:4; cf. vv. 17, 18 And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and he will pursue them and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host; and the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord . . . And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I have gotten glory over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.
God spared Israel in the wilderness for the glory of his name.
Ezekiel 20:14 I 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 gave Israel victory in Canaan for the glory of his name.
2 Samuel 7:23 What other nation on earth is like Thy people Israel, whom God went to redeem to be His people, making Himself a name, and doing for them great and terrible things, by driving out before His people a nation and its gods?
God did not cast away his people for the glory of his name.
1 Samuel 12:20-22 Fear not, you have done all this evil, yet do not turn aside from following the Lord . . . For the Lord will not cast away his people for his great name's sake.
God saved Jerusalem from attack for the glory of his name.
2 Kings 19:34; cf. 20:6 For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David.
God restored Israel from exile for the glory of his name.
Isaiah 48:9-11 Thus says the Lord God, It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name . . . And I will vindicate the holiness of my great name . . . and the nations will know that I am the Lord
Ezekiel 36:22-23, 32 For the sake of My name I delay My wrath, and for My praise I restrain it for you, in order not to cut you off. Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction. For My own sake, for My own sake, I will act; for how can My name be profaned? And My glory I will not give to another.
God sent Jesus so that the nations might glorify God for his mercy.
Romans 15:8-9 For I say that Christ has become a servant to the circumcision on behalf of the truth of God to confirm the promises given to the fathers, and for the Gentiles to glorify God for His mercy.
Jesus sought the glory of his father in all He did.
John 7:18 He who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory; but he who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood.
Jesus told us to do good works so that God gets glory.
Matthew 5:16; cf. 1 Peter 2:12 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
Jesus warned that not seeking God's glory makes faith impossible.
John 5:44 How can you believe who seek glory from one another and do not see the glory that comes from the only God?
Jesus said that he answers prayer that God would be glorified.
John 14:13 Whatever you ask in My name, I will do it that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
Jesus endured his final hours of suffering for God's glory.
John 12:27, 28 Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? "Father, save me from this hour?" No, for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father, glorify Thy name. Then a voice came from heaven, "I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again."
John 17:1; cf. 13:31-32 Father, the hour has come; glorify thy Son that the Son may glorify Thee.
God gave his Son to vindicate the glory of his righteousness.
Romans 3:25-26 God put Christ forward as a propitiation by his blood . . . to demonstrate God's righteousness . . . It was to prove at the present time that he himself is righteous.
God forgives our sins for his own sake.
Isaiah 43:25 I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.
Psalm 25:11 For thy name's sake, O Lord, pardon my guilt, for it is great.
Jesus receives us into his fellowship for the glory of God.
Romans 15:7 Welcome one another, therefore, as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.
The ministry of the Holy Spirit is to glorify the Son of God.
John 16:14 He will glorify me, for He will take what is Mine and declare it to you.
God instructs us to do everything for his glory.
1 Corinthians 10:31; cf. 6:20 So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
God tells us to serve in a way that will glorify him.
1 Peter 4:11 Whoever renders service [let him do it] as one who renders it by the strength which God supplies; in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To Him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
Jesus will fill us with fruits of righteousness for God's glory.
Philippians 1:11 It is my prayer . . . that you be filled with the fruits of righteousness which come through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God.
All are under judgment for dishonoring God's glory.
Romans 1:23 They became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images.
Romans 3:23 For all have fallen short of the glory of God.
Herod is struck dead because he did not give glory to God.
Acts 12:23 Immediately an angel of the Lord smote him because he did not give glory to God.
Jesus is coming again for the glory of God.
2 Thessalonians 1:9-10 Those who do not obey the gospel will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction and exclusion from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints and to be marveled at in all who have believed.
Jesus' ultimate aim for us is that we see and enjoy his glory.
John 17:24 Father, I desire that they also, whom thou hast given me, may be with me where I am, to behold my glory, which thou hast given me in Thy love for me before the foundation of the world.
Even in wrath God's aim is to make known the wealth of his glory.
Romans 9:22-23 Desiring to show his wrath and make known his power, he endured with much patience the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of his glory for the vessels of mercy which he prepared beforehand for glory.
God plan is to fill the earth with the knowledge of his glory.
Habakkuk 2:14 For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.
Everything that happens will redound to God's glory.
Romans 11:36 From Him, to Him and through Him are all things. To Him be glory for ever. Amen.
In the New Jerusalem the glory of God replaces the sun.
Revelation 21:23 And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine upon it, for the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the lamb.
Jonathan Edwards' conclusion from all these texts
"The great end of God's works, which is so variously expressed in Scripture, is indeed but one; and this one end is most properly and comprehensively called the Glory of God." (Dissertation Concerning the End for Which God Created the World, Works, Vol. 1, [Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust, 1974], p. 119).
This passion of God for his own glory in all he does is a joyful passion.
Jeremiah 9:24 "Let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who exercises loving kindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things," declares the LORD.
1 Timothy 1:11 [Paul refers to] "the gospel of the glory of the blessed [= happy, makariou theou] God, with which I have been entrusted."
Question: Is this thoroughgoing self-exaltation of God a loving way to be?
1 Corinthians 13:5 Love seeks not its own.
3. Why This gives us great confidence he is committed to our good, loves us
4. What is Christian Hedonism:
In other words, all Christian agree that we are to glorify God, but there is little understanding or agreement on how it is most effectively and biblically done. It is by rejoicing in him and not merely understanding him or obeying him. Then you might want to focus on particular texts that highlight this, like 1 Peter 1:8 and Psalm 16:11, etc.Christian hedonism is the truth that "God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him." Therefore, if we are going to glorify God as we ought, the pursuit of joy is not optional—it is essential. We not only may, but ought to pursue our maximum pleasure—in God because we all make gods out of what we worship. What we take the most pleasure in we make our God. It is our duty and our delight to make God, God. C. S. Lewis put it like this in a letter to Sheldon Vanauken: "It is a Christian duty, as you know, for everyone to be as happy as he can."
I am not saying happiness is the highest good. Pursuing the highest good will always result in the greatest happiness. Therefore we should pursue happiness in God with all their might. It is finding our pleasure and satisfaction in God that breaks the power of sin and the lies of this world and free us to live lives for the glory of God. So many Christians are ruined for the ordinary because they are convinced in their minds that this life has more to offer than God. There is so much more power to persuade people to turn from sin if there is a greater promise of satisfaction in God! People do what they want because they get something from it, namely pleasure or the avoidance of pleasure. They do what they want because they see the promise of happiness in it. Therefore it is much more powerful to convince them that the pursuit of pleasure in God is much more pleasurable than sin.
Novelist Flannery O'Connor gives her view of self-denial like this: "Always you renounce a lesser good for a greater; the opposite is sin. Picture me with my ground teeth stalking joy - fully armed too, as it's a highly dangerous quest."
5. Biblical and Historical Examples:
Moses, who wrote the first books of the Bible and threatened terrible things if we would not be happy: "Because you did not serve the Lord your God with joy and a glad heart . . . therefore you shall serve your enemies" (Deuteronomy 28:47-48).
Jesus said, "Blessed are you when people insult you . . . . Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great" (Matthew 5:11-12); who said, "I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full" (John 15:11); who endured the cross "for the joy set before Him" (Hebrews 12:2); and who promised that, in the end, faithful servants would hear the words, "Enter into the joy of your master" (Matthew 25:21).
The apostle Paul, who was "sorrowful yet always rejoicing" (2 Corinthians 6:10); who described the ministry of his team as being "workers with you for your joy" (2 Corinthians 1:24); who commanded Christians to "rejoice in the Lord always" (Philippians 4:4); even to "exult in . . . tribulations" (Romans 5:3).
The apostle Peter, who said, "To the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation" (1 Peter 4:13).
Jonathan Edwards, who discovered and taught as powerfully as anyone that "the happiness of the creature consists in rejoicing in God, by which also God is magnified and exalted." "The end of the creation is that the creation might glorify [God]. Now what is glorifying God, but a rejoicing at that glory he has displayed?"
C. S. Lewis, who said "We are far too easily pleased."
David Livingstone, who left everything for Christ and in the end have said, "I never made a sacrifice."
Where the rubber meets the road:
What motivates me as a follower of Christ?
What am I worshiping?
What gives me the greatest pleasure and satisfaction in life?
