November 24, 2007
Biblical Texts to Show
God’s Zeal for His Own Glory
- Article by John Piper
- Topic: The Glory of God
Probably no text in the Bible reveals the passion
of God for his own glory more clearly and bluntly as Isaiah 48:9-11 where God says,
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.
I have found that for many people these words come
like six hammer blows to a man-centered way of looking at the world:
For my name’s sake!
For the sake of my praise!
For my own sake!
For my own sake!
How should my name be profaned!
My glory I will not give to another!
For the sake of my praise!
For my own sake!
For my own sake!
How should my name be profaned!
My glory I will not give to another!
What this text hammers home to us is the centrality
of God in his own affections. The most passionate heart for the glorification
of God is God’s heart. God’s ultimate goal is to uphold and display the glory
of his name.
God chose his people for his glory:
He chose us in Him before the foundation of the
world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love 5 He predestined
us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind
intention of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace. (Ephesians 1:4-6, cf. vv. 12, 14, NASB)
God created us for his glory:
Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the
end of the earth, every one who is called by my name, whom I created for my
glory. (Isaiah 43:6-7)
God called Israel for his glory:
You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be
glorified (Isaiah 49:3).
I made the whole house of Israel and the whole
house of Judah cling to me, declares the Lord, that they might be for me a
people, a name, a praise, and a glory. (Jeremiah 13:11)
God rescued Israel from Egypt for his glory:
Our fathers, when they were in Egypt, did not
consider your wondrous works . . . but rebelled by the Sea, at the Red Sea. Yet
he saved them for his name’s sake, that he might make known his mighty power.
(Psalm 106:7-8)
God raised Pharaoh up to show his power and glorify
his name:
For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “For this very
purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my
name may be proclaimed in all the earth.” (Romans 9:17)
God defeated Pharaoh at the Red Sea to show his
glory:
And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will
pursue them and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host; and the
Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord . . . And the Egyptians shall
know that I am the Lord, when I have gotten glory over Pharaoh, his
chariots, and his horsemen. (Exodus 14:4, 18; cf. v. 17)
God spared Israel in the wilderness for the glory
of his name:
I acted for the sake of my name, that it should not
be profaned in the
sight of the nations, in whose sight I had brought them out. (Ezekiel 20:l4)
God gave Israel victory in Canaan for the glory of
his name:
Who is like your people Israel, the one nation on
earth whom God went to redeem to be his people, making himself a name
and doing for them great and awesome things by driving out before your people,
whom you redeemed for yourself from Egypt, a nation and its gods? (2 Samuel 7:23)
God did not cast away his people for the glory of
his name:
Do not be afraid; you have done all this evil. Yet
do not turn aside from following the Lord . . . For the Lord will not forsake
his people, for his great name’s sake. (l Samuel 12:20, 22)
God saved Jerusalem from attack for the glory of
his name:
For I will defend this city to save it, for my
own sake and for the sake of my servant David. (2 Kings 19:34; cf. 20:6)
God restored Israel from exile for the glory of his
name:
Thus says the Lord God, It is not for your sake, O
house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name..
. . And I will vindicate the holiness of my great name. . . . And the
nations will know that I am the Lord. (Ezekiel 36:22-23; cf. v. 32)
Jesus sought the glory of his Father in all he did:
The one who speaks on his own authority seeks his
own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true,
and in him there is no falsehood. (John 7:l8)
Jesus told us to do good works so that God gets
glory:
In the same way, let your light shine before
others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father
who is in heaven. (Matthew 5:16; cf. 1 Peter 2:12)
Jesus warned that not seeking God’s glory makes
faith impossible:
How can you believe, when you receive glory from
one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God? (John 5:44)
Jesus said that he answers prayer that God would be
glorified:
Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that
the Father may be glorified in the Son. (John 14:13)
Jesus endured his final hours of suffering for
God’s glory:
“Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say?
‘Father, save me from this hour?’ But for this purpose I have come to this
hour. Father, glorify your name.’ Then a voice came from heaven, ‘I have
glorified it, and I will glorify it again’ (John 12:27-28).
Father, the hour has come; glorify your son that
the Son may glorify you. (John 17:1; cf. 13:31-32)
God gave his Son to vindicate the glory of his
righteousness:
God put [Christ] forward as a propitiation by his
blood . . . to show God’s righteousness . . . It was to show his
righteousness at the present time. (Romans 3:25-26)
God forgives our sins for his own sake:
I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for
my own sake, and I will not remember your sins. (Isaiah 43:25)
For your own name’s sake, O Lord, pardon my
guilt, for it is great. (Psalm 25:11)
Jesus receives us into his fellowship for the glory
of God:
Welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for
the glory of God. (Romans 15:7)
The ministry of the Holy Spirit is to glorify the
Son of God:
He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to
you. (John 16:14)
God instructs us to do everything for his glory:
So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do
all to the glory of God (l Corinthians 10:31; cf. 6:20).
God tells us to serve in a way that will glorify
him:
Whoever serves, [let him do it] as one who serves
by the strength which God supplies – in order that in everything God may be glorified
through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
(l Peter 4:11)
Jesus will fill us with fruits of righteousness for
God’s glory:
It is my prayer that . . . [you be] filled with the
fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and
praise of God. (Philippians 1:9, 11)
All are under judgment for dishonoring God’s glory:
They became fools, and exchanged the glory of
the immortal God for images. (Romans 1:22, 23)
For all havesinned and fall short of the glory
of God. (Romans 3:23)
Herod is struck dead because he did not give glory
to God:
Immediately an angel of the Lord struck him down,
because he did not give God the glory. (Acts 12:23)
Jesus is coming again for the glory of God:
They will suffer the punishment of eternal
destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his
might, when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be
marveled at among all who have believed. (2 Thessalonians 1:9-10)
Jesus’ ultimate aim for us is that we see and enjoy
his glory:
Father, I desire that they also, whom you have
given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given
me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. (John 17:24)
Even in wrath God’s aim is to make known the wealth
of his glory:
Desiring to show his wrath and to make known his
power, [God] has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for
destruction, in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels
of mercy, which he prepared beforehand for glory. (Romans 9:22-23)
God’s plan is to fill the earth with the knowledge
of his glory:
For the earth will be filled with the knowledge
of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. (Habakkuk 2:14)
Everything that happens will redound to God’s
glory:
From him and through him and to him are all things.
To him be glory forever. Amen. (Romans 11:36)
In the New Jerusalem the glory of God replaces the
sun:
And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on
it, for the glory of God gives its light, and its lamp is the Lamb (Revelation 21:23).
