KNOWING GOD - #2
The Glory of God
Various Scriptures
Introduction
This is the third in our series of messages dealing with the attributes or character qualities of God.
Two weeks ago we looked at the love of God, and last week we looked at how we reflect the love of God in word, action, and in truth.
Next week we will interrupt this series as we focus on Sanctity of Life Sunday. As you know, Tuesday marks the 23rd anniversary of the Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion.
And we will take our message time to look at the Scriptures relating to the preciousness of life in the eyes of God.
This week we are going to begin a look at the glory of God. At this point I am not sure how long we will spend on this. Today might be the only message dealing with the glory of God, but I am waiting to see what the Lord says. We may spend 2 or 3 weeks talking about God’s glory.
The trouble with a topic like this is that although you would think there would be a lot you could say about it, there really isn’t.
A lot of what is said about His glory is repeated over and over. So I’m not sure we would cover anything new over the coming weeks.
But as I said, we will see what the Lords says over the next couple of weeks.
The glory of God is hard to define. The verb “to glorify” means “to magnify, extol, or praise…ascribing honor.”
Another definition says that the glory of God is “the revelation and manifestation of all that He has and is.”
The way I break it down is this: the glory of God is the awesomeness of Him, in all his splendor and holiness.
Rich Mullins rightly said in his song, that our God is an awesome God. He fills us with awe at His majesty and His holiness.
Everything God is is wrapped up in His glory, including His love.
It is to the glory of God that He showed His love to us in Christ.
He is worthy of all honor and glory. And we are going to look at how that glory is reflected this morning.
We will be scanning quite a few passages of Scripture this morning, so you might want to get your Bibles ready. We will turn to them rather quickly, so be ready.
Let’s going, shall we? First, we see the glory and awesomeness of God…
I. Reflected in His Creation.
God’s creation reflects His glory. We get a sense of that by looking at nature, and looking into space.
It’s amazing to me that someone who is intelligent can look at the order of everything that exists and not see the hand of an awesome and mighty creator.
Just looking at a leaf and the intricate patterns in it, knowing that every part of that leaf is important to its survival and that of the tree makes me go “Wow!”
I like summer and fall. I love the green in the summer, when trees are in full bloom.
I like the changing colors in fall. I think it’s flat-out awesome.
And yet the awe that I experience when seeing God’s creation is nothing compare to the awe I will experience one day as I stand before His throne someday, seeing Him in all His glory and splendor.
Turn with me, if you will to Isaiah 6 as we look at His glory in creation. This is on page 487 of the Bibles in the seats. We will start with verse one
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. 3 And they were calling to one another:
"Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty;
the whole earth is full of his glory."
First we see the glory of God in…
A. The earth (Is. 6:3; Hab. 2:14).
The whole earth is full of His glory. Isn’t that something? The rocks, hills, trees, rivers, seas, mountains, you name it, its full of His glory.
I mentioned before how I like summer and fall. I am not known as a “nature lover” per se, but God, over the past few years, has given me a deeper sense of appreciation for all he has made on earth.
Sometimes when I am travelling, especially when I am by myself, I enjoy just looking at the huge expanse of sky.
When you are travelling on I-90 going west, there is a great part just west of the rest area at Wasta.
You go up a rather big hill, and as you travel the top of that ridge, you can see for miles and miles. I never fail to wonder at the beauty of it. And I see God reflected in His creation on earth.
Listen as I read Habakkuk 2:14
Let me apologize quickly for the typo in the bulletin – that was my fault. I wrote it down wrong for Wendy when she was preparing the bulletins.
I am so used to writing Hebrews instead of Habakkuk. Anybody else here have that problem?
This book is often overlooked in our Bible reading, but this verse is a great one:
For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.
We’ve already seen that God is reflected in His creation, but one day the whole earth will recognize God’s glory in creation, and will acknowledge it. That will be a great day.
By the way, let me be quick to say that there is a big difference between God being reflected in His creation and the pantheistic view that God is PART of His creation.
God made the earth. He is not the earth. See the difference?
God’s glory is reflected in the earth. It is also reflected in…
B. The heavens (Ps 19:1-4; 113:4).
If you would like to, you can turn with me to Psalm 19:1-4. That’s on page 390 of the Bibles in the seats.
Please follow along as I read:
The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
2 Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge.
3 There is no speech or language
where their voice is not heard.
4 Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.
As awesome as I think earth is, I get an even greater sense of the awesomeness of God when I look at the stars at night.
Of course I only do that when it’s actually warm enough to be outside at night.
But think of the fact that you can’t even begin to count the stars. Have you ever tried? You lose count at about 3,227,969.
Then you try again the next night and forget than the earth has shifted its position ever so slightly, so some stars are not there anymore, and some more have taken their place. But how many stayed and how many left?
Listen to Isaiah 40:25-26. It’s not in your note-taking guide, but listen. This is great:
"To whom will you compare me?
Or who is my equal?" says the Holy One.
26 Lift your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these?
He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by name.
Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.
You can’t even count them, but God has each one named.
Now THAT’s awesome, amen?
And it’s even bigger than that. Listen to Psalm 113:4.
The LORD is exalted over all the nations, his glory above the heavens.
His glory is greater than all His creation.
Just as the master craftsman is greater than his masterpiece, so God is greater than His creation.
The glory of God is reflected in His Creation. But His glory is also…
II. Reflected in His Son.
I want to take some time here to look at some Scripture about how Jesus reflects the glory of God.
Please turn with me to Hebrews 1:3-4, which is on page 846 in the Bibles in the seats.
The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. 4 So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs.
First we see Jesus reflecting the glory of God in…
A. His image (Heb. 1:3-4; Col. 1:15-20).
This passage says that Jesus is the radiance of God’s glory, and the exact representation of His being.
That’s pretty hefty, huh? Jesus wasn’t just some nice Hebrew prophet or teacher. He is the exact representation of God Himself.
And He shares His glory.
Colossians 1:15-20 says some pretty good stuff, too.
I know I’m having you look up a bunch of passages this morning, but I want you to see what the Scriptures say about this.
Colossians is on page 833 of the Bibles. Follow along as I read:
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
I want to point out a couple things here.
First, Jesus, as we saw in the previous passage is the image of God. And He was before all things.
But check this: it says here that Jesus was the creator. And it also says that
God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him, and to reconcile all things to Himself by shedding His blood.
The creator redeemed His creation.
This moves us right to our next point, that Christ reflects the glory of God not only in His image, but in…
B. His exaltation (Phil. 2:5-11).
I want you to turn with me to Philippians 2:5-11, found on page 831 of those Bibles.
Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,7 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.
8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself
and became obedient to death--
even death on a cross!
9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
A day is coming, folks, when all of creation and every person will declare that Jesus is Lord.
There will be no question among people as to the truth of Scripture. Only confirmation of the truth of Scripture.
Atheists and agnostics, followers of other gods, and persecutors of faith will all bow down and acknowledge the Kingship of Jesus.
And our allegiance to Christ will be vindicated before all creation as Jesus is crowned.
But look at the last part of verse 11: this happens to the glory of God the Father.
Yesterday the country got a new president. George W. Bush was sworn in as the 43rd President of the United States.
Yet in all the coverage, it was noted many times how his father, George Bush was so proud of his son.
The unspoken message of much of what was said was that the son brought honor to his father.
At the end of time, when Jesus is exalted and given the name above all names, not only will He receive glory and honor, it will also glorify the Father.
And I can only imagine that the Father will glow with fatherly pride for His Son, the Redeemer of the world.
The glory of God is reflected in His Son.
It is also…
III. Reflected in His People.
“The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.” – Westminster Confession of Faith.
How do we reflect the glory of God? Primarily in two ways. First, in…
A. Reverence (Is. 6:5; 42:8; Ex. 20:4-6).
Listen as I read Isaiah 6:5. This was the same time that He saw the vision of God in the temple.
"Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty."
Isaiah was scared to death! He had seen the holy and glorious God, and he knew He was unworthy, and feared for His life.
This is a far cry from the flippant attitude many people, and unfortunately, many Christians toward the holiness and awesomeness of God.
Our attitude needs to be more than, “Hey, that’s pretty neat.”
We need to be more like “(gasp) Whoa! This is incredible! I can’t believe how awesome this is!”
Contemplating the glory of God should cause us to wonder and worship.
How do you approach God in prayer? As a “good buddy” or as the awesome, holy God of creation?
We are told that we can approach God as our Father – our daddy, if you will – but do you call your dad by his first name, or demand that He bow to your wishes, or anything disrespectful like that?
My guess is that you treat your parents with some measure of respect.
The heavenly Father is worthy of respect and adoration.
When you approach Him in prayer, it should be in a spirit of humility, not arrogance.
This glorious Father is not obligated by us to be there for us. He has obligated Himself by promising to listen as we come to Him.
He is worthy of reverence. He is worthy of praise and glory.
Here’s something else to consider: God is jealous of His glory. He doesn’t stand for His glory to be given to anything or anyone else.
In Chapter 42:8 of Isaiah we read this:
"I am the LORD; that is my name!
I will not give my glory to another
or my praise to idols.
Listen to this from Exodus 20:
4 "You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.
We don’t think of God as being jealous, so we? But He is.
But before you get all huffy about God being jealous think about this:
He is worthy. He is awesome. He is deserving of all the glory and honor.
We owe to Him as our gracious Heavenly Father.
We owe Him reverence.
We also reflect God’s glory in…
B. Reaching out (Is. 52:7-10).
Please turn with me, finally, to Is. 52:7-10. This is on page 523 of the Bibles.
7 How beautiful on the mountains
are the feet of those who bring good news,
who proclaim peace,
who bring good tidings,
who proclaim salvation,
who say to Zion,
"Your God reigns!"
8 Listen! Your watchmen lift up their voices; together they shout for joy.
When the LORD returns to Zion,
they will see it with their own eyes.
9 Burst into songs of joy together,
you ruins of Jerusalem, for the LORD has comforted his people,
he has redeemed Jerusalem.
10 The LORD will lay bare his holy arm in the sight of all the nations,
and all the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God.
The whole earth will see the salvation of our God in Christ Jesus.
He will be exalted before all creation.
Here’s where the rubber meets the road:
If Jesus is really the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, if He is really going to be given the name above all names, and if it is true that every knee will bow, than we have a job to do.
We need to tell people about this coming King.
Let them know that there is salvation available through this king. That they can bow before Christ as Lord because they want to, not because they are forced to, like a conquered nation bows before its conqueror.
Serve Him out of love and allegiance.
Serve Him out of reverence. Serve Him in reaching out.
Conclusion
The glory of God is not to be taken for granted. God is to be honored, reverenced, held in awe, and cherished.
I want to invite everybody here this morning to yield yourself to Him as the awesome, glorious Lord of creation.
Purpose to give Him the reverence and awe He deserves, not just in this building, but in your homes and your jobs and your relationships.
Speak of Him in reverent tones, pray to Him in reverence, honor His creation, because it reflects Him.
And honor His Son.
If you don’t have a relationship with Jesus Christ, the Bible says that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
Start your reverence by calling on Jesus as your Lord and Savior. Then live to glorify Him by spending time in His Word and prayer, and worship with His people.
God help us all to give you the honor that your glory demands, and that you deserve.
Let’s pray.
