“The heavens are telling of the glory of God; and their expanse is declaring the work of His hands” (Psalms 19:1) (NAS).
I read John Piper’s book, Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ, (Crossway Books, revised 2004) and I think I shall never be the same. Allow me to share some of his comments regarding the glory of God. Enjoy.
The heavens declare God’s glory. It’s all about glory. The Hubble Space Telescope sends back infrared images of faint galaxies perhaps twelve billion light-years away (twelve billion times six trillion miles). Even within our Milky Way there are stars so great as to defy description, like Eta Carinae, which is five million times brighter than our sun. Sometimes people stumble over this vastness in relation to the apparent insignificance of man. And it does seem to make us infinitesimally small. But the meaning of this magnitude is not mainly about us. It’s about God.
Think about this. The reason for “wasting” so much space on a universe to house a speck of humanity is to make a point about our Maker, not us. “Lift up your eyes on high and see: who created these [stars]? He who brings out their host by number, calling them all by name, by the greatness of his might, and because he is strong in power not one is missing” (Isaiah 40: 26). We are all starved for the glory of God, not self. No one goes to the Grand Canyon to increase self-esteem. Why do we go? Because there is greater healing for the soul in beholding splendor than there is in beholding self. Indeed, what could be more ludicrous in a vast and glorious universe like this than a human being, on the speck called earth, standing in front of a mirror trying to find significance in his own self-image? It is a great sadness that this is the gospel of the modern world.
I believe with all my heart that the longing of the human heart is to know and enjoy the glory of God. Again let me remind you of Saint Augustine’s prayer—man is restless until he finds his rest in thee [God]. “Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the end of the earth…whom I created for my glory,” says the Lord (Isaiah 43:6-7). To see it, to savor it, and to show it—that is why we exist. The physical eye is meant to say to the spiritual eye, “Not this, but the Maker of this, is the Desire of your soul.” We ache for God, yet we suppress it. That’s right. Romans 1:28 states,
“And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper,” This I call the “worthless exchange.” In other words, some people actually exchange the glory of God for position, greed, homosexuality, adultery, and the list goes on. Those who are intent on pursuing “things” and not the glory of God, find themselves given over to “things”—consumed by them until the “things” destroy their lives (sin leads to death). This is why the world is disordered and upside down—immoral instead of moral, thieves instead of productive citizens, homosexual instead of heterosexual and the list goes on.
We were made to know and treasure the glory of God above all things. When we trade that treasure for images, everything is disordered. The healing of the soul begins by restoring the glory of God to its flaming, all attracting place at the center. Glorify thy name in all the earth. Keep the faith. Stay the course. Jesus is coming sooner than you think.
Pastor T.
Faith Fellowship Church…PO Box 1586, Broken Arrow, OK 74013… Pastor Terry Dashner
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