Sometimes people speak of all of life as worship, such that going to work is worship, playing basketball is worship, or practicing the piano is worship. There is one activity that Scripture associates far more than any other with glorifying God. We can glorify God in many ways, but Scripture indicates that nothing we do delights God more than calling on his name with sincere hearts and declaring that all glory belongs to him. At its heart, worship ascribes all glory to God alone. There is one activity that Scripture associates far more than any other with glorifying God, and that is worship. To give glory to God is to reckon God to be what he is and to rely upon his power and faithfulness. “Giving glory to God” and “being fully persuaded that what he has promised he is able also to perform” are coordinate and describe the exercises or states of mind which were involved in Abraham’s faith. In Romans 4, we see that Abraham gave glory to God precisely through the strong act of faith itself. Instead, Paul explains, he “was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God” (Rom 4:20). Abraham had every earthly reason to think God’s promise outrageous, yet “without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead,” and “he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God” (Rom 4:19–20). Toward the chapter’s end Paul returns to this incident and reflects on the fact that Abraham was almost 100 years old, and his wife, Sarah, was barren. Early in the chapter he quotes Genesis 15:6, when in response to God’s promise that he’d have descendants as numerous as the stars in heaven, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness” (Rom. Several times in this great chapter about faith, Paul discusses Abraham. And how do we utter this amen? We utter it “to the glory of God.” We glorify God by faith in his promises. Faith gives its assent and embraces God’s promises in Christ. When we hear of God’s promises and of Christ their yes, the most basic and fundamental response we can offer is to say “amen”-so let it be. In this light, our “amen” can be nothing other than the act of faith.įaith gives its assent and embraces God’s promises in Christ. Paul’s preaching was always yes, because it always pointed to Christ. God made many promises to his people, and Christ is their fulfillment-he is the great Yes to God’s promises of old. He uses some unusual language here that doesn’t appear elsewhere in his epistles, but the meaning is evident. He doesn’t say both “yes” and no,” because Jesus Christ whom he proclaims is “not ‘yes’ and ‘no,’ but in him it has always been ‘yes.’ For no matter how many promises God has made, they are ‘yes’ in Christ.” He then explains: “And so through him the ‘amen’ is spoken by us to the glory of God” (2 Cor. In 2 Corinthians 1, Paul emphasizes that there is one message that he consistently proclaims. Two texts, 2 Corinthians 1 and Romans 4, make this connection explicitly. Since our salvation in Christ comes by faith alone, and since faith is the root from which all of our good works flow, we would expect to find an indelible connection between faith and giving glory to God in all of our conduct. Let’s explore three ways-faith, worship, and humble service-by which Scripture calls us to glorify God. And if this is the case, then the specific ways Scripture calls us to glorify God ought to provide important insight on the structure and priorities of that Christian life. If Edwards is correct, it suggests that the Christian life at heart is one of glorifying God. From time to time, embracing and practicing true religion, and repenting of sin, and turning to holiness, is expressed by glorifying God, as though that were the sum and end of the whole matter.
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