The ultimate end of all things is the glory of God!
The Perceived that the Work was Wrought of God is a sermon preached by Ryan Rogers for the Palmer SDA Church service on July 18, 2020. It is part 4 of the God’s Story sermon series (June 27-July 18).
Why are you reading this blog right now? Take a moment to answer that question. Once you have an answer ask “why?” again. If you are reading this blog because it’s a habit, ask, “Why is reading this blog a habit?”. Go a couple of layers deep by asking “why?” to each reason you give. We find there is always a deeper reason. If you continued to ask “why?” where would you end up? You might end by saying “I don’t know” or “I am tired of this”. But if you didn’t hit these dead ends would you ever arrive at an ultimate end? Is there a cause or purpose that has no deeper cause or purpose?
In God’s story there is!
Nehemiah finished the wall. But why? Why did he weep and fast and pray? Why did he go before the king? Why did he make the 1000 mile trek from Susa? Why did he endure disfavor from enemy nations and conflict within Jerusalem? Why did he push through exhaustion, threats, and discouragement?
It wasn’t just to build a wall. As soon as the wall was complete it was no longer about the wall. The enemies didn’t fear because of the wall but because of the God who built it (verse 16).
When the wall was finish all the nations around Israel “perceived that the work had been wrought of God”!
As Andy Stanley says, “The end of a God-ordained vision is God.”
It wasn’t about the wall! It was about God! God’s story is for God’s glory!
IT’S TRUE THAT GOD’S STORY IS FOR GOD’S GLORY!
As God led the people in His story they praised Him saying “Blessed be your glorious name” (Nehemiah 9:5).
What does it mean to give glory to God? His glory is His character, it’s who He is (Exodus 33:18-19). To “give Him glory” is not to make Him any more or less glorious but to see that He is glorious and to show it to others. And this is what His story is about! It’s always been about His glory.
I am the Lord; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols” (Isaiah 42:8)
God’s story is for God’s glory …
In Eternity Past:
John 17:3 And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.
In Creation:
Isaiah 43:7 Everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.” “The heavens declare the glory of God” (Psalm 19:1).
The Sinless Existence:
Romans 3:23 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
In Salvation:
Isaiah 43:25 I, I am he, who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.
In Sanctification:
Isaiah 48:9-11 For my name’s sake I defer my anger; for the sake of my praise I restrain it for you, that I may not cut you off. Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tried you in the furnace of affliction. For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it, for how should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another.
In the end:
Philippians 2:11 And every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
In all Things:
Ephesians 1:11-12 God works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory.
For Eternity:
Revelation 21:23 And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb.
Romans 11:36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.
The Westminster Catechism would agree that God’s story is for His glory.
Q. 1. What is the chief and highest end of man?
A. Man’s chief and highest end is to glorify God, and fully to enjoy him forever.
So would Johnathan Edwards who said, “All that is ever spoken of in the Scripture as an ultimate end of God’s works is included in that one phrase, the glory of God”.
There are other good purposes that God has but all of them end with His glory. All the streams of meaning make their way to the ocean of God’s glory.
IT IS GOOD THAT GOD’S STORY IS FOR GOD’S GLORY!
You might be persuaded that it’s true but are you glad that its true. Is it a good thing?
The fact that God does things for His glory can be a real stumbling block for us.
Brad Pit shared this perspective in an interview for Parade in 2007, “Religion works. I know there’s comfort there, a crash pad. It’s something to explain the world and tell you there is something bigger than you, and it is going to be all right in the end. It works because it’s comforting. I grew up believing in it, and it worked for me in whatever my little personal high school crisis was, but it didn’t last for me. I didn’t understand this idea of a God who says, “You have to acknowledge me. You have to say that I’m the best, and then I’ll give you eternal happiness. If you won’t, then you don’t get it!” It seemed to be about ego. I can’t see God operating from ego, so it made no sense to me.”
Is God’s jealousy a character flaw? God is an ego-maniac? Is God a hypocrite when He tells us to be humble and yet orchestrates all thing for the praise of His glory?
No! God’s glory is our greatest experience. The Westminster Catechism states that “Man’s chief and highest end is to glorify God, and fully to enjoy him forever.” These who two things, glorifying God and enjoying Him, are one single end. There is joy in glorifying God. As God was glorified in Jerusalem we see that “The lord had made them rejoice” (Nehemiah 12:43).
Psalm 16:11 You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
Follow this flow of logic…
Premise 1– Love wants the best!
Premise 2– God is the best!
Conclusion– When God insists that He is the best, He is loving us!
Following this logic John Piper concludes, “God is the one being in the universe for whom self-exaltation is not the act of a needy ego, but an act of infinite giving. The reason God seeks our supreme praise, or that Jesus seeks our supreme love, is not because he’s needy and won’t be fully God until he gets it, but because we are needy and won’t be fully happy until we give it. This is not arrogance. This is grace. This is not egomania. This is love.”
IS IT RELEVANT THAT GOD’S STORY IS FOR GOD’S GLORY!
There is giant significance behind what we do because we are doing it for God’s glory.
1 Corinthians 10:31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
You are not marrying a girl just because she is beautiful, but because your marriage relationship will glorify God. You are not scrubbing the dishes just because they are dirty, but because cleaning them promotes wellbeing in the home where God can be glorified. You are not just raising children, you are influencing a generation by launching missionaries. You are not just starting a company, you are serving people and financing God’s work. We have no idea what glorious results might come from faithfulness to our seemingly small assignments.
Hans and Margarette Luther were hardworking but poor Germans who lived 500 years ago. They easily could have felt that their lives, filled with routine trivial labor, did not have much lasting meaning. Except that they raise a house full of children and one of them was named Martin. Martin Luther went on to reform the church for God’s glory. God’s glory gives eternal significance to all of life’s tasks.
When we glorify God in the task He gives us we are led to more experiences of His glory. After completing the wall God put something else on Nehemiah’s heart (7:5). Don’t miss this. When you take the small step in front of you for God’s glory God opens up other doors for you to walk through. After completing the wall a whole lot of God glorifying things happened in Jerusalem (Nehemiah 8-10). The Word of God was read, a holy day was proclaimed, the people confessed their sins, they praised and prayed, they made a covenant with God, there was reformation in the way they observed Sabbath and gave tithe.
Build that wall that God has called you to. Do it for His glory. And the result will be greater experiences of His glory.
So why are you reading this blog? For God’s glory!
LET’S HAVE A CONVERSATION!
How do you understand it to be true that God’s story is for His Glory?
How do you understand it to be good God’s story is for His Glory?
How do you understand it to be relevant that God’s story is for His Glory?