Revelation 4:11 “Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.”
Col 1:16 For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens & on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities– all things have been created through Him and for Him.
When one considers differing aspects of creation and the purpose of creation, it is clear that God created all things for His own glory. In some ways, however, that does not say that much if we just leave the words as is. From Scripture we know that God has created all things for His own glory and that includes human beings, though again this needs a lot of explaining in order to get at what that means. Scripture commands us to do all we do to the glory of God, yet without a lot of care and grace living to the glory of God and doing all to the glory of God will become a system of works. If a person lives in such a way that s/he says it is to the glory of God and yet that is in his or her own strength, clearly that is nothing more than the works of the flesh.
The main point of this particular musing, however, is to consider the nature of the world and the nature of man. God did not just create a world that is how it is in order to make Him look good, but He created a world with the particular purpose of manifesting His glory in and through that world. God did not create man with a static method of glorifying Him from his own strength and wisdom, but God created the world and man with the purpose of glorifying Himself on a continual basis. The world may indeed glorify God in a sense simply by being here, but that is not the highest intent in creating the world. God created the world that it may continually manifest His glory and man was created with the intent and purpose of continually glorifying God in and through that world.
The world was not created just for the pleasure and joy of man, but it was created for the pleasure and joy of God in manifesting His glory in and through the world. The pleasure and joy of man in the world is to be the pleasure and joy of God in His creation. What could possibly be the greatest pleasure of God in creating the world and man in the world? It must be that since the world was created for Christ, then this must be the means that God glorifies Himself supremely. Since the world was created through and for Christ, that must be the reason that the world was created. God created the world and man as a means through which He would delight Himself in glorifying Himself in and through Christ. God created the world for Christ or as a way that Christ would declare and manifest the glory of God. The world and humanity were created as a way for the Father to manifest Himself in and through Christ and for Christ to manifest the Father.
The ramifications of this for science, work, and theology are enormous. This would mean that science, though indeed those doing science may not always intend that, are involved in the study of things that truly reveal the glory of God. This means that all the labor that people do is part of the plan of God to manifest His glory. Theology, while it seems to be more of an intellectual pursuit to many, is the study of how God has glorified Himself in Christ but also how He is glorifying Himself in Christ at the present time as well. The purpose of preaching cannot be just to inform people of things about the Bible, but instead it is to be a demonstration of how God glorifies Himself in Christ and by the Spirit. Preaching must be more than just setting out the doctrine in an intellectual way, but it should be how God glorifies Himself in Christ and how this is by the Spirit.
The whole world and all things in it were created and have the purpose of being a way for God to manifest His glory through. This is perhaps one of the most important but neglected teachings of the Church. People are not just supposed to be good to go to heaven and the doctrine of justification is not just a way for people to be saved from hell, but the purpose of the world and of the Gospel is for the glory of God. People are not just saved in order to keep them from torment, but they are saved from living for self to being instruments of the glory of God both now and in eternity. This should be deeply humbling to human pride when people see that the purpose of their whole being and the world is for God. This should drive man into the dust when he sees how self-absorbed he has been instead of absorbed and focused on God, which is in reality nothing less than idolatry. But Christ takes idolatrous sinners and makes them lovers of God. What a Gospel of glory the true Gospel really is.
God Loves... Himself 
June 24, 2014 at 1:43 pm |
A question comes to my mind after reading your intriguing post: Is the all pervading creator really selfish enough to have created everything simply to show/manifest his glory? Are we not demeaning him by saying that the creation is a means for him to showcase his glory? Or Did i get the meaning of your post wrong?
June 24, 2014 at 9:49 pm |
For a human being to do all for his or her own glory is selfish. For God to do all for His own glory is what is best for the greatest good. The greatest thing for a human being is to share in His manifested glory. God created all things with an intent and with a purpose. He either created them for the greatest purpose or an inferior purpose. He is the greatest good and the greatest purpose and so He must be the reason He created.
Since it would take a long time to get at the heart of one of your points, I will simply say that there is a difference between showing off His glory and manifesting His glory by communicating it to a creature and then shining it forth through the creature. The Lord Jesus Christ is the very shining forth of His glory and so we can behold His glory in Christ. It is in and by Christ (the shining forth of His glory) that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the Gospel of the grace of God. This same Gospel is also the Gospel by which the glory of God is seen in Christ. So God glorifies Himself in saving sinners in and through Christ. This is also to say that God beholds His glory in Christ and saved sinners behold and taste this Divine glory as well. Thanks
June 24, 2014 at 11:31 pm
Isn’t both the good and the bad part of the lord’s glory? So. then as Lord Jesus is the shining example of his glory wouldn’t someone equally opposite,i.e, bad, let’s say the people who crucified Jesus also, an equal manifestation of the lord’s glory, for the creation is all but an manifestation of him?