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“Therefore, also,
God did highly exalt him, and gave to him a name that {is} above every
name, that in the name of Jesus every knee may bow--of heavenlies, and
earthlies, and what are under the earth--and every tongue may confess
that Jesus Christ {is} Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
- Philippians
2:9-11
God's glory is the
goal in all of His plans for mankind. The glory of God is all that we,
his creation, are about. In fact, all that God orchestrates, all that
God wills, all that God determines and purposes, all that God causes to
occur in and through His creation in this life is for God's glory.
God's glory is
synonymous with God's magnificence, God's splendor, His beauty, His
perfection. Glory speaks to God's dignity, God's honor, God's wisdom,
God's majesty, and His unquestionable justice in all His dealings with
His creation. All is to the glory of our God. All credit for all things
is to be given to our God. To Him alone belongs all glory! At least,
you'd think so...
You see, when it
comes to man's eternal destiny, when it comes to the issue most near and
dear to every man and certainly to God Himself, religion tells us that God supposedly steps
aside and gives man the opportunity to share in God's glory. Yep, that's
right, God and men sharing in the glory and in the credit for man's
redemption. Don't be so shocked. Religion has been handing almost all
the glory for each man's redemption, or at least a big chunk of it, over
to man himself for centuries. Oh, yes, says religion, Jesus did His part by being
crucified on the cross, resurrected, and ascending up to the right hand
of the Father but, man has to step up to the plate and be the one who
hits the pitch over the fence for a home run. Religion's God couldn't possibly
handle both the pitching and the hitting responsibilities all at once.
And, if man does
make this smart decision, if he chooses Christ, then according to
religion, he is rewarded with
what he deserves; redemption, salvation, justification, reconciliation,
forgiveness, and new life. What a clever cookie this man is. How
agreeable he is with the offer God dangles before him. Glory to this
man! After all, what a magnificent, splendid, beautiful, perfect,
honorable, wise, and glorious choice this man has made to partner with
God in determining his eternal destiny. Bravo and glory to this
man...oh, and to God too.
Of course, on the
other side of the coin, we have a potential glory problem. First of all,
most men do not make this wise, magnificent glorious decision to accept
God's limited-time offer. With their eternal destiny in the balance,
most men pass on the offer, making a choice that is apparently anything
but splendid or wise. These men strike out, even though God throws His
pitch right done the heart of the plate. Some swing and miss. Some don't
even offer at the pitch. Others scoff in defiance at the Pitcher; kind
of like Saul of Tarsus. So, most men don't receive the glory they
deserve for making that wise, glorious choice that the clever few do.
And yet, since God
was able to redeem Saul of Tarsus, you'd think God would be able to save
anyone, wouldn’t you? That would bring God the most glory, wouldn't it?
To redeem even those who would have nothing to do with Him in this life,
raising them up to new life with a full understanding and the most
grateful of hearts for being saved by the One whom they rejected. Would
that be a glorious site to see? But, nevertheless, that's where the
second problem comes in. If God could save the foremost of all sinners
in all of history, and save him, not in the midst of Saul's teary-eyed
repentance, but in the midst of the fury of his hatred against the true
things of God, how is it that God can't do the same for everyone else.
Did He run out of gas? Did He use up all His power redeeming Saul? Is
God just a one-hit wonder? Where's the power? Where's the sovereignty?
Where's the unconditional love? Where's the grace that super-abounds
beyond all sin, even unbelief? Where's the evidence of God working all
things according to His will if man's will can overcome it? What
happened to the Savior of the World getting the job done that God the
Father sent Him to do? Bottom-line, where's the glory of God if He can't
pull-off what he purposes to do because man is too formidable an
opponent to His will?
Friend, even
though religion insists that there is at least one thing more powerful
than what God wants and that's what man wants, don't fall for that
nonsense for a second. God is worthy of all glory. In fact, He will not
share His glory with another, not even mighty man. God is in control of
everything, including man. When all is said and done, no man will be
taking credit for having any role in his redemption. No man will be
boasting like they are now that they chose to believe. All will one day
realize fully that salvation is a gift and that even the faith to
believe it is from God. No man has received anything unless it was first
given to him by God from heaven.
God is all-powerful
and perfect in love. He alone is splendid, magnificent, beautiful,
honorable, wise, just, and majestic. All that He plans, purposes, and
intends to accomplish is, in effect, a done-deal right now. Men did not
help Him achieve His desires. He chose to include men in His purposes by
His grace. There is none worthy of one speck of glory other than our
loving Lord. May He, our God and Savior of all men, receive what is due
to Him alone…ALL glory!Grace and peace to you always!
John |
