Jesus’ prayer is, “Father glorify your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You.” The glory of God is so important to Him that it forms the motivation for all He does. So many times we turn everything around and make ourselves the center of all God does. Even when we preach the gospel and talk about the death of Christ we focus on ourselves as the center and reason for all that took place. We attribute the entire event to God’s love for us. Granted, He does love us, but that is not the center, focus and reason for the saving work of God.
In Isaiah 48:9ff for example, we read, “For My name’s sake I will defer My anger, and for My praise I will restrain it from you, so that I do not cut you off. Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction. For My own sake, for my own sake, I will do it; for how should My name be profaned? And I will not give My glory to another.”
In Isaiah 43:25, “I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; and I will not remember your sins.”
After speaking about His judgment on Israel for profaning His holy name, God says in Ezekiel 36:22 “Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “I do not do this for your sake, O house of Israel, but for My holy name’s sake, which you have profaned in their midst; and the nations shall know that I am the Lord,” says the Lord God.’”
Lest you think this is found only in the Old Testament, 1 John 2:12 says, “I write to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for His name’s sake.”
The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness. (Romans 1:18) Why is this wrath unleashed against us? Verse 21 tells us the answer: “because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful…”
The glory of God is extremely important to Him. It is the reason He does what He does, it is what we are to be about even down to the most mundane aspects of our physical life, and the lack of such glory is the reason for His wrath being poured out upon humanity.
Shouldn’t this knowledge motivate us to be more focused on how we can do a better job at reflecting God’s glory in our lives – our homes, marriages, recreation, work, and churches?
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