Tag Archives: Glorify God and enjoy Him forever

Keep Calm and Glorify God

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“So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”
(1 Corinthians 10:31 (ESV))

I hope you have enjoyed the Olympics these past two weeks as much as my family has.  It is such a joy to be able to watch these athletes compete at the top of their sport – from Michael Phelps becoming the most decorated athlete ever, to the Women’s Gymnastics team getting gold and Gabby Douglas winning the All-Around, Usain Bolt winning the both 100 and 200 for the second time, and even the inspiring stories of Oscar Pistorius (the double amputee running in the 400m) and Kirani James (the 18 year old who won the 400m, giving Granada their first Olympic medal).

One of the things that I have really enjoyed is hearing the athletes give glory and praise to God when they are interviewed.  Athlete after athlete would begin their response with, “I just want to give God the glory…” or “I am so thankful to God for the opportunity…”  It has become so common that it is more noticeable when a person does not give praise to God during their interview.  Particularly interesting was the celebration of Will Claye after winning the bronze medal in the Long Jump, holding the American flag behind him, as is popular today, with his Bible in his right hand.  That made me sit up and take notice.

One thing I would like to see, however, is something that doesn’t happen too often.  What would it say if those who came in 4th, or finished dead last in their field, also gave glory to God?  Were they not also blessed by God just to be there, grateful for the opportunity to compete.  Would they not have an even more compelling witness if in the midst of defeat they could testify that God is good and deserves all the glory?  Or is God only glorified when we are successful and winning the praise of millions of spectators?

Friends, you may never be on the kind of stage that these Olympic competitors are on this week, you may never win the spotlight and have the opportunity to say to Bob Costas, “I just want to give God all the glory…”  But that doesn’t mean that you can’t still give God the glory.  No one saw me (thankfully) on my run this morning, so there were no crowds to cheer me on, but during my run I was laying before God the cares of my day and seeking His mercy and grace to give me strength; may God be glorified in my run.  Today at work you may not have closed the big deal for the company or accomplished every goal you set for the week, but if you served the Lord with all your heart and put in a honest day’s work, God is glorified in your labor.  If you’ve found yourself at home with piles of laundry and layers of dust but have shown your love for the Lord in providing for your spouse and children a loving and grace-filled home, then God is glorified in what you have done.

What would the conversations around the dinner table be like if when someone asked, “Honey, how was your day?” you responded by saying, “You know, I just give glory to God for the opportunity to do what I do.”  Whether your first, last, or somewhere in the middle, let us do all things for the glory of God!

SDG

About God

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Continuing my posts on a Statement of Faith, I now turn to a brief statement on what I believe about God:

I believe in the one true God, who is the author, creator, and source of all life, goodness and blessing. 

God is one, yet exists and has revealed Himself as three distinct persons—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  There are numerous ways to describe this Triune nature of God (a three-leaf clover, a triple-helix, a triangle, etc), but no one example is complete.  The fact is, the One and Three nature of God is a mystery, but it is Biblical (see Matt. 3:13-17, 2 Cor. 13:14, 1 Cor 12:4-6; Matt. 28:19-20, Eph 4:4-6; John 14:26, and more).

God, who exists outside of space and time, stepped into space and time, cre­ating everything that is for His own purposes, to demonstrate His own glory, power, wisdom and goodness.  God continues to provide for and sustain His creation.  As the sovereign over all of creation, there is nothing that is beyond God’s control, nothing that is beyond His power to redeem, and no one that is beyond God’s saving reach.  God has a plan for all things (Eph 1:10), and His sovereign will cannot be thwarted.

God is a God of love. In grace God chooses to show love and mercy. When we were dead in trespasses and sin, God made us alive with Christ, saving us by grace through faith, as a sheer gift of sovereign love.  However, God’s gracious loving kindness did not compromise His justice.  God remains perfectly just and holy in the salvation of sinners by placing the judgment and wrath for our sins upon His sinless Son, Jesus Christ, who is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.  Proving His love for us, He sent Christ to die for us, so that by His grace, we may live righteous and holy lives in the power of His Holy Spirit.

God, and God alone, is worthy of worship.  Worship is what God deserves, simply because of who God is.  Worship is our rightful and joyful response to God’s love.  Indeed, our purpose in life is to “glorify God and enjoy Him forever” (Westminster Shorter Catechism, Q. 1).  Worship is not merely something that we do when we gather as a congregation on a Sunday morning, it is a way of life that proclaims the gospel, celebrates the goodness and majesty of God, and submits to His righteous and gracious lordship over all of creation, and over every aspect of our individual and corporate lives.