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Living In Grace

A Christ inspired work dealing with American Christian Culture in the New Century.

Friday, March 18, 2011

The End of Pride: Soli Deo Gloria

What is the Chief End of Man?
To Glorify God and enjoy Him Forever


The end of Creation, therefore is not merely the glory of God, but the special manifestation of that Glory in the person and work of Christ-Charles Hodge

Soli Deo Gloria is a simple phrase fraught with eternal implications: Who is to be glorified?  Who is worthy?  How can sinners glorify a holy God?  Can I glory in my justification before this Holy God?  Everything that is done, whether directly or indirectly falls under the Providence of God and is done for His glory.  The hard things, the sad things, the never to be understood on this side of eternity kind of things will all be used by the Creator of Heaven and Earth for His glory alone.  The sinfulness of man, while not caused nor created by God, nor  by any coercion of or harm to his will ( remember the betrayal of Jesus by Judas ) will cause our God to be honored in His majesty.  The demonstration of His mercy and grace to wicked sinners will cause the Heavens to ring with praises for ages to come and will culminate in our ultimate glorification as He has promised.

There are different ways that God will be glorified in this world and in our lives namely:

  1. Glorified in Justification:  When God, through faith in His Son Jesus Christ, justifies the wicked solely through His mercy and grace He is glorified.  It is none of us and all of Him, not by works of righteousness lest any one should boast, that we are saved and in this salvation the glory of God shines forth.
  2. Our Calling: We must find importance in who we are in Christ and not who we are in and of ourselves.  No matter where we find ourselves or who we think we are we have nothing to glory in save the name of Christ.  We have nothing to offer and can only receive and be faithful with the gifts God as our Creator has bestowed upon us.  This not only in the spiritual gifts ( pastoring, teaching, evangelizing, etc)  which are integral for the health and growth of the body, but also our chosen vocation in life.  God has truly blessed every believer with certain talents and instilled in them the desires to perform various jobs related to these talents.  We are created in Christ for good works both inside the church and out and our vocation should glorify God.
  3. Worship: God is glorified in how we as a corporate body choose to conduct our time of worship together.  We must honor Him in the reading of the Word, public confession of faith, and the hymns and spiritual songs that we sing unto Him.  Our time together would be well spent if worshipping Him in spirit and truth were a priority instead of entertainment.  The music should always be Christ centered and the the worship should be vertical and not horizontal.  If our songs emphasize us instead of Him we have missed the mark and glorified the creature above the Creator and we should take heed as God will not share His glory with others.
  4. Our Marriages: Men we need to love our wives as Christ loved the Church and gave Himself for it and women must submit in love to your husbands as he is the head of the house as Christ is the Head of the Church.  A true Biblical understanding of love and submission honors both parties and glorifies God who has ordained marriage between a man and woman as a symbol of Christ's relationship with the Church.  As God is honored in the marriage so will He be glorified through us in this world that so often mocks and ridicules the things that God loves.
  5. Relationships: Our walk in this world must be seasoned with salt and full of light.  Salt is both a preservative and flavorful and as such we are to strive to preserve our culture from moral decay ( not a form of moralism which cannot save ) and  build the friendships that God would want us to have.  The Light of the World lives within us and this Light both illumines our path and draws people to Him.  God will be glorified when we testify of Him and His goodness and love both our brothers and enemies.
Does your life glorify God?  Are there things that would darken your testimony and/or spoil your saltiness?  Do you give God the glory for your salvation or do you take some of the credit?

The Heavens declare the Glory of God; the skies proclaim the works of His hands. ( Ps. 19 )

Ponder these things and God bless.

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5 Comments:

Blogger Jeanine (Wayfaring Girl) said...

Wow,what an inspiring, insightful post! Thanks for sharing this!! Also for taking the time to stop by and visit. I appreciate the encouragement :))) And not giving up, either haha
Jeanine

March 18, 2011 at 10:05 PM  
Blogger Luther said...

Thanks Jeanine for the kind words....Keep the faith and honor Him in everything you do ;)

March 18, 2011 at 10:51 PM  
Blogger Mel Avila Alarilla said...

Ooops, I made a wrong comment on the previous article. It should have been posted here. Sorry for the error. God bless.

March 20, 2011 at 4:41 PM  
Blogger Luther said...

You are correct Mel...all our actions should reflect our faith and be done in obedience for HIs glory

March 20, 2011 at 5:01 PM  
Anonymous stephen porter said...

Great post Luther.  I especially appreciate the third point of worship.  It's not a show; it's an offering to the Living God.  I've become a follower of your blog.  Mine is www.manifestblog.com if you're interested.

June 11, 2011 at 4:40 PM  

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