Contemplating the Glory of God

Over the past several days I have been reflecting on the topic of God’s glory. More specifically, I have been thinking about how I sometimes tend to use terminology that quantifies the glory of God. For example, I will say things like, “such and such will bring more glory to God,” or “such and such a thing will bring less glory to God.” While that is familiar and acceptable terminology to use, I began to question whether that best fits with the understanding that Scripture supplies.

As a preliminary note, my logic is founded primarily on the doctrine of God’s immutability (the fact that God does not change) and, consequently, how that relates to His glory. Psalm 102:12, 25-27 paint an especially vivid picture of God’s eternality and immutability. The latter verses give an especially clear picture of the fact that while the things of the earth grow old and decay, God remains completely unchanged. Furthermore, Hebrews 13:8 clearly speaks of the fact, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”

Following from that, God’s glory should then be understood as a constant; God’s glory neither lessens nor increases based upon His creation else we might say that God is somehow affected by His creation. With that in mind, we must ask, “How then do we glorify God with our lives? If His glory cannot increase on account of my worship and obedience or my disobedience, why do my actions matter at all?”

I Corinthians 10:31 provides a good foundation for thinking through these things. In context, Paul is dealing with the issue of meat sacrificed to idols and whether or not it is okay for a believer to partake of such meats. Paul concludes that conscience should be the governing factor and that whatever conclusion one comes to, the Christian’s action should be motivated by thinking concerned with magnifying God’s glory. The passage does not, however, state that God’s glory is increased or decreased by the believer’s action. Ultimately, this passage deals with motivation and the intent of the individual believer.

Furthermore, Ephesians 1:3-14 is one of the clearest passages in Scripture regarding God’s glory in saving sinful men. Specifically, verses 4-6 declare that we have been chosen, predestined, and saved, “to the praise of the glory of His grace.” In verse 14, Paul uses the very similar phrase, “to the praise of His glory.” Those two phrases show that our salvation is a reflection of what God already is; it is the praising of the God who is glorious. He does not become glorious or more glorious by means of saving men, He demonstrates what He already is through salvation.

Now, to answer the question of how our actions matter to God’s glory, Scripture leads us to conclude that we are reflectors of God’s glory. One way to illustrate this is by considering the common mirror. The mirror does not and cannot generate any light or any image in and of itself. It is must reflect something else. The only thing inherent to the mirror’s ability to reflect the image is the quality or the cleanness of the mirror. A poor quality or dirty mirror distorts the image it reflects. In a similar way, human beings are reflectors of God’s image and glory (Gen 1:26-27; Eph 1:4-6, 14). The real questions each of us must ask are, “How do I reflect God’s glory and image to those around me? Is it an accurate reflection or am I guilty of distorting that image by the dirt of my own sinfulness and selfishness?” As I answer these questions, I am truly humbled by what I find to be true of myself.

In the end, the only way that we will be able to answer this question with a positive answer is by making sure that we are clean reflectors of God’s glory. We do so by being washed by the water of the Word and having our minds renewed by the Holy Spirit (Eph 5:26; Rom 12:1-2; Tit 3:4-5). In many ways, this understanding places a greater responsibility on our shoulders. We have been charged with reflecting the glory of the King, a glory of which we are merely stewards; let us take great caution in reflecting this glory lest we be found to be poor stewards.