Worship and the Glory of God
(Ephes. 1:13-14) In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your
salvation--having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who
is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God's own
possession, to the praise of His glory. (the purpose of salvation is to magnify His glory)
(1 Chron. 16:24) Tell of His glory among the nations, His wonderful deeds among all the
peoples. (God's glory is the centerpoint of the missionary mandate)
(Isaiah 66:18) the time is coming to gather all nations and tongues. And they shall come and
see My glory. (the climax of history is the glory of God)
(Phil. 2:10-11) so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven
and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is
Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (the purpose of summing up of all things in Christ is to
glorify God)
(Rev 21:23) And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of
God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb. (the essence of heaven is the glory of God)
(Psalm 72:18-19) Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, Who alone works wonders.
And blessed be His glorious name forever; and may the whole earth be filled with His glory.
Amen, and Amen. (the purpose of creation is to display God's glory throughout)
The astounding fact is that everything that is, and everything that happens, has as its ultimate goal
and end the glory of God. God in his power and sovereignty created the universe so that His glory
might be displayed (might be "clearly seen," as Paul puts it in Romans 1:20); Psalm 19:1 puts it this
way: "The heavens are telling of the glory of God". God made man in His own image, and
though man rebelled and sinned, He provided a way for His own glory and love and justice to be
vindicated through the work of Christ. Even His righteous judgment of the lost will demonstrate the
infinite value of the glory of God, by showing "the infiniteness of the sin of failing to glorify God."
(Piper, LNBG, p.22)
Piper also says: "The biblical vision of God is that He is supremely committed, with infinite passion,
to uphold and display the glory of His name." (LNBG, p.22-23)
Now, we are conditioned to consider that anyone who pursues always and only his only glory is
rather self-centered. But that's because we as sinners choose to glorify ourselves rather than God,
who is infinitely greater (cf. Rom 3: 23: "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God").
But, as Piper points out, for God there is nothing greater than Himself to seek to glorify. In His
perfection He seeks the greatest good for Himself and for His creatures, and that greatest good is
simply God Himself and His glory!
You're familiar with the Westminster Shorter Catechism's statement that "the chief end of man is to
glorify God and enjoy Him forever." The astounding fact is that the chief end of God is also to
glorify God! There is no greater thing for Him to glorify. He, and He alone is worthy of all glory.
Amen!
So the glory of God is really the greatest of all subjects, and is indeed the subject and the
motivation and the goal of worship.
III. THE CHIEF END OF MAN
God has an inexhaustible passion for His glory, and by application that's what godliness must
involve for men and women: we must come to share His a passion for the glory of God; we must
learn to cherish God's glory. And to cherish God's glory is what it means to worship. Worship is
expressed in many different ways, but in it broadest understanding it comes down to cherishing
the glory of God.
To go back to the Westminster statement: the chief end of man-- as well as of God-- is to glorify
God and enjoy Him forever (those are really two sides of the same coin) and ultimately that is a
statement about worship.
Let us consider briefly three NT Passages which demonstrate-- in quite different ways-- the utter
centrality of worship as mankind's highest goal and reason for existence.
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Used by churches all over the world to help teach worship, the Experiencing Worship study can help your worship team too.
Your team will learn why we worship and gain a better understanding of how to worship.
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This is the debut album by EXW friend Paul Langford. Paul is a Chicago based singer, arranger, keyboardist, producer and conductor. Paul has a career that spans 14 years. Paul's work includes arranging for groups like GLAD, Voices of Liberty, VoiceTrek, The Chicago based "Caroling Party" and Day of Discovery Singers. His arranging has appeared on recordings side by side with greats like Gene Puerling and David Maddux, and he has sung with Don Shelton, Bonnie Herman and Bob Bowker, among others.