THE MOTIVATION OF GOD
Charles Spurgeon believed that a theology that promoted the supremacy of the glory of God is worthy of “every second of our attention.” In a day and age in which humanism is the prominent worldview, this is the kind of truth that must saturate our souls. Many would strive to make man be the reason God acts, but that is not what the Bible declares. Why does God do what he does? God does everything for the sake of His glory.
1. God creates for His glory. “…everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.” (Isaiah 43:7) Some have asked, “What is the meaning of life? Why in the world do I even exist?” The answer is because you were created for glory. Your existence brings honor and joy to God. You are not an accident and were created by God with gloryscopic intentionality.
2. God chooses people for salvation for His glory. The Apostle Paul wrote to the Ephesian church and said that God chose us according to “the praise of his glorious grace.” (Ephesians 1:4-6)
This is also true of God’s election of the nation of Israel. The Lord said, “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.” (Jeremiah 13:11)
3. God judges for His glory. The book of Exodus is the remarkable account of the redemption of Israel from slavery. God judged Israel’s oppressors as He delivered His people to freedom. God did this through plagues and other severe judgments against Pharaoh and Egypt. The wonder in this story is that God didn’t have to execute any of those plagues or judgments to save His people. He didn’t need Pharaoh’s permission to save them. However, He still chose to do what He did because His purpose in all of it was to “glory over Pharaoh.” Read the following verses to see what God told Moses and Paul about His purpose in Egypt.
“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. (Exodus 14:4, 18)
“For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, ‘For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth.’” (Romans 9:17)
4. God forgives sins for His glory. The forgiveness of sins is accomplished through the power of the gospel. One might think that the only reason God forgives us of our sins is strictly for our benefit, but it is not. Yes, we reap plentiful blessings from being justified by His grace, but it’s all for the glory of His name. God saves us because He seeks to be glorified. He told Israel, “I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins. (Isaiah 43:25)
“Help us, O God of our salvation, for the “glory of your name; deliver us, and atone for our sins, for your name's sake!” (Psalm 79:9)
5. God glorifies Himself through the Trinity.
The most helpful way to understand how God glorifies Himself is by understanding the context in which He does so. God is one God but exists in three persons — Father, Son, Holy Spirit. It is in this relationship that God is pleased to glorify Himself. When the Father glorifies the Son, or the Son glorifies the Father, or the Spirit glorifies Father or Son, it can be said that God glorifies Himself.
This is a consistent theme throughout the pages of Scripture. Here are some verses to illustrate how the Trinity operates in glory with one another.
1. Jesus glorifies the Father: “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 7:18)
“Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. (John 14:13)
“I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do.” (John 17:4)
G. Campbell Morgan wrote, “The deepest “passion of the heart of Jesus was not the saving of men, but the glory of God; and then the saving of men, because that is for the glory of God.”
2. The Father glorifies Jesus: “Father, the hour has come; glorify your son that the Son may glorify you.” (John 17:1)
“If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God.” (John 8:54
“For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,” (2 Peter 1:17)
3. The Spirit glorifies Jesus: This is the main role of the Holy Spirit in the world. His job is to glorify Christ, and since the Father loves Christ, He is glorified when Christ is glorified.
“He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. (John 16:14)
We must see, as the Biblical authors unite to tell us, that God treasures His glory above all. This is the reason everything exists, and until we see it as God sees it, nothing will make sense. When we dare to weigh the passion of God for His glory, we will see the scales are tipped in an immovable fashion. May we strive to have a greater passion for God’s glory than our own.
