Do we love the Glory of God?

Psalm 96:7-8, “Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the Lord Glory and strength! Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; bring an offering and come into His courts.”

Ascribing glory to the Lord is really this umbrella type concept which Christians seek to implement in all that they do. As Christians we work for the glory of God, we seek to praise the glory of God, we seek to accomplish His purposes to His glory, and we seek to see His name glorified among others. However, if left at purely that often the concept of the glory of God will be come a cliché phrase, a “wise saying”, a “right word”, but have not true depth of meaning.

The question do we love the glory of God will lead into a short discussion on The Motives of Evangelism from the Evangelism conference last week. However, the first concept that we seek is to understand what is meant by a love for the glory of God. I propose this, we love to hear the name of God praised and worshiped, spoken and trusted, loved and adored not only in our lives but in the lives of those who are recently saved, or who we witness God’s amazing work of salvation in their lives at that moment. The love the glory of God is to love hearing His name spoken and worshiped! This truly is an amazing concept when we look at it in light of various daily activities.

In evangelism we see this worked out in the hearing of people who at one point were haters of God and men begin to praise God for pulling them out of darkness and into the light. We love to hear God’s name glorified, and we ascribe all the glory that we have in this life to Him for he truly is the only one who makes it possible to live a life worthy of Him. After all it is God who works in us both to will and to do for His good pleasure. So when we hear the unbeliever praise God because God has performed a work in their lives, we also praise God with them… For the love of the glory of God requires our loving hearing His name praised!

Jesus put it like this when he was speaking of His [Jesus’] teaching in John 7, “The one who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him (this would be God sending Jesus) is true, and in him there is no falsehood.” We see the mind of Christ in this moment; He seeks glory being given to God. He seeks God receiving all the praise and honor in what He does, which brings more light even to the concept of His being crucified. He died for our sins…this is true, but he also died to show in one fell swoop the great glory and majesty of the God who created the universe and all that is in it, and the God who is still actively working in His creation to this day.

The same can be true in our daily lives. We truly can work for the glory of God at our jobs, at our marriages, at being parents, at serving the purpose of God in this generation. The question is where our mind is and where is our love. 1 John puts it like this, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world the love of the Father is not in him.” What do we love? Do we love hearing God’s name praised among unbelievers? Or do we love hearing about our own work ethic and our own name spoken of? Do we seek and love the glory of God in our lives or do we love the glory of self?

Paul puts this concept best in Philippians when he says, “Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will…What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice.” Paul could say that he rejoiced in the name of Christ being preached even if it was done out of rivalry and envy…why? Because he loved hearing the name of Christ and the gospel of Christ going forth, whether people are preaching it for the right or the wrong reasons the gospel will ALWAYS give glory to God and will place focus on the work of Christ. This is a love for the glory of God! It rejoices in the praise and the speaking of God’s Holy name and work continually! So lets continue to ascribe glory to God, lets seek His name being praised!