How is God Glorified in Creation?

Heavens Declare God’s Glory

Hopefully, your recall that one aspect of glory is that it is visible. Psalm 19 tells us that the heavens declare God’s glory. The heavens particularly are unique because they are seen every day and from everywhere in the world. Though God’s glory is manifested through all of creation, including his people, the heavens are an objective reminder that God’s glory is at all times over all things.

This image was taken by the Hubble Telescope looking out at the universe from within our solar system. Each light is a galaxy full of its own solar systems and planets. This vast expanse conveys God's glory through the detail of His creative mind.

Mt. McKinley is the tallest peak in the United States. It speaks to the majestic renown of God's glory.

Jack Bauer is evidence of God's image in man. 'Nuf said.

The eyeball, apart from being kind of gross, is just one of many examples of how much care God took in creating us. In it we see a complexity of parts that work together for our good and God’s glory. Light passes into the eye through the pupil (the black dot in the centre of your eye) and forms an upside down picture of what you are looking at on your retina which is a sensitive message receptor. The optic nerve sends messages to your brain about the picture. Then the brain turns the picture the right way up again.

Our other body parts have the same depth of complexity, each that God designed and brought into existence, and all of these work together to form a living, breathing, human being. It is sometimes easier for us to look at the mountains or the sea or the stars and marvel at how glorious God is, but we often miss that his greatest creations are those who we interact with every day. Even here in our small church we are surrounded an amazing amount of creativity, intelligence and beauty in each other and God did this all for his glory.

Objections to God Creating For His Own Glory

Edwards anticipated four objections to this teaching, and I think it would be beneficial for us to consider at least the first three in summary his responses in defense of God’s Word.

1)      The first objection is that this view somehow makes God dependent on creation for his completeness. Edwards argued that that God’s glory and happiness are in and of himself and cannot be lost or added to. However, it does not follow that God does not delight in his creatures or the in how he works in them.

a.       The essence of Edwards’ defense is that the glory or praise received from his creation is the result of God’s working in it. So it may be said that God receives no glory from creation but that he gives himself.

b.      Edwards argued that, “it is evident, by both Scripture and Reason, infinitely, eternally, unchangeably, and independently glorious and happy; that he cannot be profited by, or receive anything from the creature; or be the subject of any sufferings, or diminution of his glory and felicity, from any other being.”

c.       “Now if God himself be the last end, then in his dependence on his end, he depends on nothing but himself. If all things be of him and to him, and he the first and the last, this shows him to be all in all. He is all to himself.”

d.      I might add that if we remember the definitions of glory, we should be able to avoid this problem. God is eternally glorious in the summation of his perfections. No amount of creation or lack of creation can change that. But God created us for the sort of glory that is of honor and reputation, and we not only have the ability, but also the responsibility, to give him this sort of glory.

2)      The second objection is one we considered earlier. Doesn’t this view communicate that God acts out of selfishness? Edwards responded, “But God if God be indeed so great and so excellent that all other beings are as nothing to him, and all other excellency be as nothing and less than nothing, then it is fit that he should value himself infinitely more than his creatures.”

a.       Edwards also pointed out that we benefit from God acting for his own glory. When God works in our world by communicating his goodness, love and holiness, we glean from his glory as well. So our own well-being and God’s self-glorification are not opposed to each other but occur simultaneously. Furthermore, there is nothing more loving than for God to exalt himself for our enjoyment.

3)      The final objection we will consider today is that it is in some way contemptible for God to do his good works for the praise of men. In other words, this doctrine seems to make God a “show-off,” someone who feels the need to flaunt their greatness at others.

a.       Edwards, in response, pointed toward God’s infinite worth. Since God is the most valuable and worthy being in existence, it only makes sense that we should delight in his work and praise him for it. We praise each other for much lesser deeds, why would we not praise God for his great deeds? And why would it be wrong for him who is perfect to expect and require our praise?

b.      In fact, glorifying God is in itself a good thing, so what is contemptible is to withhold praise where it is due.

c.       We should also consider our own wretchedness. Seeing as we are depraved beings, we do not naturally glorify God as we should. You might recall that Romans tells us we have all fallen short of God’s glory. That we can glorify God at all is a testimony to the glory of God’s grace in our lives.

So I think we can safely say, after considering so much scripture this morning, and after considering these objections, that God’s purpose in creating was his own glory. We should next consider how it is that God is glorified in his creation.

*All quotes from Edwards are from God's Passion for his Glory by John Piper (1998, Crossway)

The End for Which God Created the World

I’m very grateful for the church where I grew up in my faith. Many wonderful men and women of God at that church taught, challenged, and inspired my faith. One of the things I learned there, however, always bothered me a bit. I remember one Sunday in high school someone teaching on why God had created the world. This intrigued me, since the reason for why God created the world is really the same reason for which we were created.

The teacher explained that God created us because he wants to be loved by us. At first, I thought this was genius. Of course! God is all about love, so it only makes sense that God would create people who could love in order to receive love from them.

Over the years I became less and less satisfied with this explanation. God is love, and he is love from eternity as exemplified in the community of the trinity. God was never lacking in love or deficient in any other way. He does not depend on his creation to receive love, he has received it from eternity. Also, and more importantly, I could never find a passage of scripture that seemed to support this view.

So what explanation does the Bible give for God’s creation? You might have guessed by now that God created, just as he does all other things, for his own glory. We see in our text that those whom God formed and made, which is everyone, God created for his glory. But God also created the entire world for his glory.

Psalm 8:1

O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens.

Psalm 19:1

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.

Psalm 104: 30-32

When you send forth your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the ground. May the glory of the Lord endure forever; may the Lord rejoice in his works, who looks on the earth and it trembles, who touches the mountains and they smoke.

Jonathan Edwards wrote a dissertation, which is practically book length, defending the proposition that God’s purpose in creating the world was his glory. Apart from providing evidence from scripture as I have already done this morning, Edwards also reasoned from scripture, saying,

“All things else, with regard to worthiness, importance, and excellence, are perfectly as nothing in comparison of him. And therefore, if God has respect to things according to their nature and proportions, he must necessarily have the greatest respect to himself.”

For those of you who haven't heard, Pastor Rick Warren will be hosting both Presidential candidates at a "civil forum" today, held at his Saddleback church. 

The forum begins at 5 pm and ends at 7 pm, Pacific time. 

You can watch it live online, here.

How can we glorify God?

The final question we must consider in reflecting on glory is: how can we glorify God?

We are instructed to glorify God in all that we do, so there are, of course, countless ways we can do so. Puritan Thomas Watson expounded on 17 ways. I won’t give you quite as many, but I will borrow a few from Watson.

1)      We glorify God when we prefer him over all other people or things. When we truly exalt God and have no other idols before him, he is glorified in our lives.

2)      We glorify God when we proclaim his goodness despite hardships, persecution or suffering we may face. We must remember that for those who love God, he causes all things together for good.

3)      We glorify God when we obey him. Though some commandments in the Bible belong to past covenants, not all do, and God’s holiness stands forever. When we obey his commandments we show his holiness and he is glorified.

4)      We glorify God when we confess and repent of our sins. We are called to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. This is the process of sanctification, and when we submit to God’s work in our lives to sanctify us, his glory is made known.

5)      We glorify God when we are fruitful with what he has given us. The church has been given many gifts with which to build up the body of Christ and serve those around us. When we make use of these gifts we show God’s glory to others.

6)      We glorify God by living in his joy. Whatever trials we face in life, our joy is to lie in Christ’s sacrificial love and knowledge that we will spend eternity with him.

7)      We glorify God when we share and defend his truth to others. We are called to contend earnestly for the faith that was delivered to the saints and we are called to preach the gospel that others may come to know God and his glory.

8)      We glorify God when we are good stewards with what he has blessed us with. This includes not only money and time, but also our relationships. When husbands take seriously their calling to lead their families and raise God-fearing children, they and their families glorify God.

9)      We glorify God when reflect his character in our lives. We have all sinned and fallen short of God’s glory, but by God’s grace, we do not always sin. Those who strive for honesty, purity and integrity will glorify God in their thoughts, words, and deeds.

10)  We glorify God when we care for one another. Jesus prayed for his disciples saying that the unity of his people will cause others to believe he was sent by the Father. We are to love our neighbors as ourselves, but as Christ’s followers, we are especially to love one another for the sake of the gospel and for God’s glory to be demonstrated among his people.

There are, of course, many other ways we can glorify God, but I will end there so that we can move on to the second half of the sermon. We have explored how glory and glorification are used in the Bible, who is supposed to glorify God, and how we can glorify God. Now we will look to the first topic in our series on Soli Deo Gloria: how God is glorified in creation.

Who is to glorify God?

God’s People are to Glorify God:

1 Cor 6:19-20

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

1 Cor. 10:31

So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

Ephesians 3:20-21

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

1 Peter 2:12

Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.

All people:

Psalm 86:9

All the nations you have made shall come and worship before you, O Lord, and shall glorify your name.

Revelation 15:4

Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship you, for your righteous acts have been revealed.”

All created things will glorify God:

Psalm 19:1

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.

Isaiah 43:20

The wild beasts will honor me, the jackals and the ostriches, for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people,

Luke 19:37-40

As he was drawing near—already on the way down the Mount of Olives—the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!” And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.”

So we have seen that God’s people are to glorify God, as well as all nations and even all of creation. But most importantly, Scripture declares that God will glorify God.

God Glorifies God

When we recite the answer to the first question of the Westminster Shorter Catechism, that man’s chief end is to glorify God and enjoy him forever, we often follow it up with a slight revision. We also state that God’s chief end is to glorify himself, and enjoy himself forever.

This, unfortunately, is not a popular teaching today. New Testament scholar Ben Witherington had this to say regarding a recent book that teaches God seeks to bring glory to himself:

“There were various nuances and amplifications to the discussion, but the more one read, the more it appeared clear that God was being presented as a self-centered, self-referential being, whose basic motivation for what he does, including his motivation for saving people, is so that he might receive more glory… I suppose we should not be surprised that in a culture and age of narcissism, we would recreate God in our own self-centered image, but it is surprising when we find orthodox Christians, and even careful scholars doing this.”

Not too far from us is a rather popular preacher named Robert Schuller. In one of his books he said, "Classical theology has erred in its insistence that theology be 'God-centered,' not 'man-centered'."

Perhaps it is unwise for those who gather in glass cathedrals to throw such stones, since the teaching that God is God-centered is throughout the Bible. We have already looked at Isaiah 48, where God declared that he does things for his own sake.

Isaiah 43:6-7

I will say to the north, Give up, and to the south, Do not withhold; bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the end of the earth, everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.

Jeremiah 13:11

I made the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah cling to me, declares the Lord, that they might be for me a people, a name, a praise, and a glory.

John 7:18

The one who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and in him there is no falsehood.

John 12:27-28

“Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour?’ But for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.’ Then a voice came from heaven, ‘I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again’

John 14:3

Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

Ephesians 1:4-6

He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace.

There are many more passages that could be offered, but it should be clear that God is most certainly concerned with glorifying himself. Does this make him self-centered? Then so be it, this is the clear teaching of Scripture, but we must recognize that God’s self-love is not the same as ours. For us it is sinful to be so self-centered: We are fallen, wretched beings who in ourselves do not deserve such glory. For us to be self-centered, we put ourselves before God, who does deserve glory. Since God is deserving of glory, it is only right that he glorifies himself.

What Is Glory? -The Second Definition

The second definition of glory has to do with honor or reputation. This is the definition used in Psalm 19:1, where we are told “The heavens declare the glory of God.” Throughout the Bible we are told that God does certain things for his glory. We are commanded to do all things to the glory of God. When things are done for God’s glory, or to glorify him, it is God’s honor or reputation that is in mind.

This sense of glory is not exclusive to God. The Bible speaks of people having this sort of glory, and the same word is some times translated as wealth, honor, or status:

Genesis 31:1

Now Jacob heard that the sons of Laban were saying, "Jacob has taken all that was our father’s, and from what was our father’s he has gained all this wealth."

Genesis 45:13

You must tell my father of all my honor in Egypt, and of all that you have seen. Hurry and bring my father down here.

Job 19:9

He has stripped from me my glory and taken the crown from my head.

Psalm 49:16-17

Be not afraid when a man becomes rich, when the glory of his house increases. For when he dies he will carry nothing away; his glory will not go down after him.

We can see in these last couple of verses that this type of glory is not necessarily the sort of glory esteemed by God. A worthy man, by God’s standard, is judged by his character. The world considers glory to be found in other things, such as wealth or social status.

It is this second sort of glory that is in view when we speak of giving God glory or glorifying him. While these two types of glory are distinct, they are at times used together, such that God’s glory is both his perfection and his reputation. We see this in the passage from Isaiah that is our text for this portion of the sermon.

[re-read Isaiah 48:9-11]

We see that God is obviously concerned with protecting his reputation when he says “how should my name be profaned?” Each time he says he does something for his name sake, he is concerned with being known as the God of glory. This is not the first time we see God’s concern for his reputation.

In Numbers 14, following a rebellion by the Hebrews, God threatened to wipe out his people and make a nation of Moses. But Moses interceded on the peoples’ behalf, arguing that if God killed the people the surrounding nations would say it was because God could not bring them into the land he had promised. God relented, and though punishment still occurred, he maintained his glorious reputation by not wiping out the people.

But I do not believe that God’s reputation is the only sense of glory in mind in Isaiah 48. Remember that the other sense of glory is the perfection of his attributes. Were God to not be omnipotent or omniscient, he would not be glorious in this sense. Included also is His holiness, love, justice and righteousness. If God were to act against any of these qualities, he would no longer be glorious.

So when God says that he restrained his anger by not cutting Israel off, he was not only protecting his reputation, but he was also maintaining his promises to Israel and therefore maintaining his glory. God could not break his promises and still be glorious. Here we see what God meant by not giving his glory to another: Though Israel failed in its covenant with God, God would not fail in his covenant to his people. Though Israel did not glorify God, God maintained his glory by fulfilling his promises in holiness and in righteousness. So too, when we fail to glorify God, he is still in glory as he fulfills his promise to save and sanctify the people he has effectually called.

John Calvin put it this way, stating that God will not suffer his glory to be diminished, which it would be, if he were found to be false or fickle in his promises. God “therefore declares that he will abide by his promises, because he wishes to vindicate his glory and preserve it entire, that it may not be in any respect diminished.”

What Is Glory?- The First Definition

Glory seems to be one of those words we use often but give little thought to. But if glory has something to do with our chief end, if all glory is due to God alone, and if God does everything for His own glory, we ought to give the definition of glory some consideration.

There are two ways in which glory is typically used. One way is to refer to glory as something like an attribute of God. God’s attributes include his omniscience (knowledge of all things), omnipotence (power over all things), and immutability (consistency- God never changes).

Glory is like these attributes in that God has always been and will always be glorious. His glory is in a perfect state. He can neither lose glory nor have more glory than he already has. If God had no glory, He would not be God, so it is essential to his nature.

Glory, however, is not technically an attribute of God, but rather the summation of all His attributes. He is glorious because He is omniscient, omnipotent, and immutable. Especially since this series is a focused study on the last of the five “Solas” of the Reformation, it may be helpful for us to look at how some of the Reformers described glory:

Herman Venema – Glory “denotes all those perfections which render him infinitely superious to all other beings.” It is the “excellent estimation by which one is preferred before others.”

Edward Leigh- Glory is the “manifestation and shining forth of Excellency.”

Thomas Watson- “Glory is the sparkling of the Deity; it is so co-natural to the Godhead, that God cannot be God without it.”

Two of these quotes include visual imagery: shining and sparkling. These allude to another aspect of this sort of glory: radiance. When God’s glory is manifested visually, it is often described as some sort of shining radiance.

Exodus 34:29-35

When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand as he came down from the mountain, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God. 30 Aaron and all the people of Israel saw Moses, and behold, the skin of his face shone, and they were afraid to come near him. 31 But Moses called to them, and Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to him, and Moses talked with them. 32 Afterward all the people of Israel came near, and he commanded them all that the Lord had spoken with him in Mount Sinai. 33 And when Moses had finished speaking with them, he put a veil over his face.

34 Whenever Moses went in before the Lord to speak with him, he would remove the veil, until he came out. And when he came out and told the people of Israel what he was commanded, 35 the people of Israel would see the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses' face was shining. And Moses would put the veil over his face again, until he went in to speak with him.

Ezekiel 1

4 As I looked, behold, a stormy wind came out of the north, and a great cloud, with brightness around it, and fire flashing forth continually, and in the midst of the fire, as it were gleaming metal. 

13 As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, like the appearance of torches moving to and fro among the living creatures. And the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth lightning. 14 And the living creatures darted to and fro, like the appearance of a flash of lightning.

22 Over the heads of the living creatures there was the likeness of an expanse, shining like awe-inspiring crystal, spread out above their heads.

26 And above the expanse over their heads there was the likeness of a throne, in appearance like sapphire; and seated above the likeness of a throne was a likeness with a human appearance. 27 And upward from what had the appearance of his waist I saw as it were gleaming metal, like the appearance of fire enclosed all around. And downward from what had the appearance of his waist I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and there was brightness around him. 28 Like the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud on the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness all around. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard the voice of one speaking.

Here we have two examples of God’s glory manifested with descriptions of radiant brilliance. In the case of Moses, we understand that God’s glory is so radiant that it even caused Moses’ face to become radiant. And Moses did not see the fullness of God’s glory, but merely the “back side” of it as the Lord passed by.

There are some similarities between God’s glory and the sun. We have never actually seen the sun, but only its atmosphere that sends radiant beams of light in our direction. It is this light that gives the sun its visual splendor. Similarly, the visual splendor of God is his glory. When we are exposed to the sun for too long, we begin to reflect some of its radiance. Some of us turn to a bright red. Similarly, Moses’ exposure to God’s glory caused him to reflect some of God’s radiance.

So the first definition of glory is simply the summation of God’s perfect attributes manifested visually as shining radiance.

Just over a week ago I preached a sermon on Soli Deo Gloria. Over the next two weeks, I'll be adapting the sermon to be posted here on the blog. The audio is also available through my church's podcast. My sermon kicked off a topical series (we usually take a break from verse-by-verse during the summer) on the glory of God. I introduced the topic of God's glory in general, and also addressed how God is specifically glorified through creation.

Introduction

Countless mythologies have developed around the quest for the meaning of life. People look to adventure, possessions, beauty and love hoping that they will feel the satisfaction of living out their life’s purpose. Many look out toward the world, and many look in toward exalting themselves. Even a few dare to look downward in serving the darkest of beings.

Followers of Christ are those who look upward for their meaning. We are told in this first answer to the Westminster Shorter Catechism that man’s ultimate purpose is to glorify God- that God’s glory, above all else, is why we were created. Our quest for meaning is summed up in God’s intention from creation. We might even say that our quest ends here, since no other purpose for our lives is higher or more worthy than God’s glory.

But if God’s glory is our chief end, we should not just leave it at that. We must endeavor to understand what glory is and why God has it. We must seek to learn why we should glorify God and how we may do so. Our task in the coming weeks is to understand how God is glorified in all things and why this matters to us.

Our text for this series is Romans 11:36… “For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.” Today I will introduce the topic of God’s glory and explore how God is glorified in His creation as revealed in Scripture. Since God has ordained all things that come to pass, it is our hope that by the end of this series we will all have a fuller understanding of how God is glorified in all He has ordained.

Our passages are

            Isaiah 48:9-11 (p609 ESV)

For my name’s sake I defer my anger, for the sake of my praise I restrain it for you, that I may not cut you off. Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tried you in the furnace of affliction. For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it, for how should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another.

Isaiah 43:6-7 (p603 ESV)

I will say to the north, Give up, and to the south, Do not withhold; bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the end of the earth, everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.

I'll be speaking at a C.S. Lewis conference here in Southern California this Saturday. Those in the area will want to check out the happenings. A flyer is available in PDF. Here are the details: