The Glory War

Life on this side of eternity is one constant glory war. 

“I am the Lord; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols.” – Isaiah 42:8

“Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!” – Psalm 115:1 

You and I were hardwired by God for glory. We are attracted to glorious things. That’s why we love a great meal, an overtime championship game, a beautiful dress, a dramatic movie, or a multihued sunset. God has packed his world full of glorious things and given us the ability to take in those glories. But every glorious thing God has created points to his glorious glory. We were never intended to live for our own glory or some created glory. Our glory orientation should drive us to the Lord, so that his glory would finally satisfy the glory hunger in our hearts. 

Sin causes us to search for glory satisfaction outside of our Creator, but God will not share his glory with another. God is jealous for his glory to be the one glory that captures our hearts, and this should shape the way that we live. His holy jealousy for his glory is clearly communicated in a single statement repeated in Ezekiel 25–26: “Then you [or they] will know that I am the Lord” (Ezek. 25:7, 11, 17; 26:6). God is pronouncing judgment on the nations that surround Israel. He exercises his holy justice so that these nations will know that he is the Lord. God exercises his power for his own glory. 

Does this bother you? It is wrong to live for your own glory because, as a creature, you belong to the one who made you. You exist by his will and for his purpose. But God is not like you. He reigns in glorious majesty over everything and everyone he has created. His zeal for his own glory is the hope of the universe. It is in living for his glory that we are rescued from our bondage to our own glory, a glory that will never satisfy our hearts. 

Only by the power of God’s delivering grace are we liberated from our bondage to the glories of creation to find our hope, life, and satisfaction in living for the glory of our Maker. In 2 Corinthians 5:15, the apostle Paul reminds us that we find that grace in the person and work of Jesus. He came so that we would live no longer for ourselves “but for him who for [our] sake died and was raised.” 

Prayer:

Lord, help me to live for your glory. Rescue me from the bondage of my own glory, which will not satisfy. I thank you for being my hope, my life, and my satisfaction. I praise the name of Jesus, the one who died and was raised for my sake. May I live for his eternal glory alone, even as I pray in his name, Amen. 

(from Paul Tripp’s Everyday Gospel: Christmas Devotional)