Afterwords -- for his glory
"Moses said, 'Please show me your glory.' And he said, 'I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name 'The LORD.'" (Exodus 33:18-19)
"...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.” (Isaiah 43:6-7)
"For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen." (Romans 11:36)
"So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." (1 Corinthians 10:31)
January 19, 2024
Dear friends,
This week our oldest son turned 47. It was zero degrees (F) that frigid night when we left for the hospital, and it seems the Lord is giving us single digit weather (as I write this), a fitting reminder of God's goodness in safely bringing children into the world. I don't think any of us dreamed that a day would come when our children would be in their mid-forties! ...I never even thought I'd be in my seventies, or that I'd be married to a woman in... I think I'll stop there.
Our ongoing prayer for our children and grandchildren is that God's work would continue in them: “'And as for me, this is my covenant with them,' says the LORD: 'My Spirit that is upon you, and my words that I have put in your mouth, shall not depart out of your mouth, or out of the mouth of your offspring, or out of the mouth of your children's offspring,' says the LORD, 'from this time forth and forevermore.'” (Isaiah 59:21)
Speaking of Isaiah, this week's word of note is "glory". Isaiah sees the glory of the Lord (chapter 6), and especially in the second section of the book (chapters 40-66), the glory of the Lord is a major theme. Read, for example, Isaiah 40:5; 41:6; 42:8, 12; 43:7; 45:25; 46:13; 48:11; 58:8; 60:1, 2, 13, 19; 62:2; 66:18, 19.
One of the first works I read by Jonathan Edwards many years ago was his Dissertation Concerning the End for which God Created the World (1757; published 1765). It is found in Volume 8 of the Works of Jonathan Edwards, published by Yale. [See link below.] It's a challenging work, not easy to read, but I do think he captured the central purpose of God's work in creation, providence, and redemption. His main idea is this: as the sun shines and gives light and warmth, or like a fountain flows to bring water for life and refreshment, so God created this universe that his infinite goodness (his excellence and beauty) might be seen, enjoyed, and reflected back to him, unto his honor and for the good of his creation. Edwards notes that this is not two purposes, but one:
The emanation or communication of the divine fullness, consisting in the knowledge of God, love to God, and joy in God, has relation indeed both to God and the creature: but it has relation to God as its fountain, as it is an emanation from God; and as the communication itself, or thing communicated, is something divine, something of God, something of his internal fullness; as the water in the stream is something of the fountain; and as the beams are of the sun.
In the creature's knowing, esteeming, loving, rejoicing in, and praising God, the glory of God is both exhibited and acknowledged; his fullness is received and returned.
God's respect to the creature's good, and his respect to himself, is not a divided respect; but both are united in one, as the happiness of the creature aimed at is happiness in union with himself.
-- Works of Jonathan Edwards, Vol. 8:531, 533 (Yale edition).
Now, the phrase, "for the glory of God," is the answer to our deepest existential questions, like, "Why do I exist? What's my purpose in life? Why did God save me? Where is history heading? What shall be our future?" But more, the glory of God -- knowing, pursuing, loving, reflecting, and being transformed by it -- is an immensely practical guide for our daily lives. The Apostle Paul wrote, "So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." (1 Corinthians 10:31) In other words, God's glory not only shapes our worldview, but also things like how we eat and drink. "Whatever you do" pretty much covers everything.
God's eternal purpose must be reflected in our daily intentions, motives, and purposes. So, we should ask ourselves questions like these every day...
-- Is it my desire today to know the Lord in all his excellence and goodness?
-- Is it my intention to honor God in everything and with everything I do today?
-- Am I being transformed into the glorious character and likeness of Jesus?
-- Am I bringing attention to the goodness of the Lord in my words and life before others?
IN OTHER READING.
-- Here's Jonathan Edwards' Dissertation Concerning The End for which God Created the World, WJE online, Volume 8.
-- "What drives the heart is what makes life worth living. Its beauty didn't entice us to chase after it, it wouldn't be worthy of the name. It would be too predictable, controllable, pliable. It would not call us out of ourselves. But beauty is what it is because God is who he is." (Pierce Taylor Hibbs, "Life Is Like a Flock of Starlings.")
-- "I don’t like most talk of 'new ideas'—because they’re very often old ideas, or even older desires, gussied up in new disguises so they can slip past the guards of logic, decency, and commonsense." (Jonah Goldberg, in "It's Nietzsche's World, You're Just Living In It.")
-- Trucker Loses Cat in Nevada, Cat Rescued in Rock Springs, Now Cat Heading to Illinois.
That's it for this week! Stay warm!
Sandy
Image credit: photo above by Jeremy Ricketts on Unsplash. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.