Give God Glory by Rev. Vince Finnegan

Transcription

1 Give God Glory by Rev. Vince Finnegan Our Lord Jesus Christ is worthy to receive glory for the great things He has done, is now doing, and will do in the future. His God and Father conferred glory upon him. God, on the other hand, is worthy of greater glory in that everything originates from Him and He is overall. He, Yahweh, is the creator, the most high God, the Almighty God, and the Father of glory. One of the tragedies of the church today is the extreme emphasis on praising Jesus with the exclusion of praising our Father God. Indeed, we should glorify Jesus, but the primary object of our praise and devotion should be to God our Father just as it was for our Lord Jesus. God is not pleased with sharing His glory with another. Isaiah 48:11 says, I will not give my glory unto another. Again, Jesus deserves glory, and when He is rightly glorified, the Father is also glorified. However, many give glory to Jesus in place of Yahweh because they think Jesus is God. However, Jesus himself devoted all of his energies to glorifying God and taught his disciples to do the same. The passion, commitment, and primary aim of the spiritually minded believers throughout history have been to glorify Yahweh God. The glorious attributes of our God such as mercy, grace, longsuffering,

2 compassion, forgiveness, and so on compel us to glorify Him. Psalms 29:1 and 2 (KJV) Give unto the LORD [YHWH], O ye mighty, give unto the LORD [Yahweh] glory and strength. Give unto the LORD [YHWH] the glory due unto his name; worship the LORD [Yahweh] in the beauty of holiness. Psalms 72:19 Blessed be his glorious name forever: and let the whole earth be filled with his glory; Amen, and Amen. Psalms 96:2-4, 8 and 9 Sing to the LORD [YHWH], bless his name; proclaim good tidings of his salvation from day to day. Tell of his glory among the nations, his wonderful deeds among all the peoples. For great is the LORD [YHWH] and greatly to be praised; he is to be feared above all gods. Ascribe to the LORD [YHWH] the glory of his name; bring an offering and come into his courts. Worship the LORD [YHWH] in holy attire; tremble before him, all the earth. In the Old Testament when the word LORD is in caps, it is translated from the Hebrew YHWH which most pronounce Yahweh. YHWH is God s proper name. The coming of the Messiah is prophesied in the Old Testament, but Jesus is not born until the New Testament; so, when we read LORD in the Old, it is

3 always referring to God and not Jesus. In the New Testament, the word Lord was translated from the Greek word kurios, which is an ambiguous word that can refer either to YHWH or Jesus. When reading the New Testament, we decide the meaning by the context, which most often is referring to Jesus. David held a great passion for God expressed in his songs and prayers, which are recorded in the book of Psalms. Look at the beginning of his prayer. 1Chronicles 29:11 Yours, O LORD is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is Yours; Yours is the kingdom, O LORD, and you are exalted as head above all. When the disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray He said Our Father... During the last supper, he gave explicit and repeated instruction to pray to the Father in his name. Yet, today in the church, many pray to Jesus and not the Father. This should not be! Everything that Jesus did was to glorify his Father and God. He that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him (John 8:29). In like manner, our lord Jesus wants us to glorify God in everything that we do through him.

4 To the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, be the glory forever. Amen. (Ro 16:27) The first chapter of the epistle of Ephesians declares some of the many things that God accomplished for us through Jesus Christ. We are blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ; we are chosen in him; God predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus; we have redemption through his blood. Three times within the first 14 verses we receive instruction to live for the glory of God. 1:6 - To the praise of the glory of His [God s] grace, wherein He [God] hath made us accepted in the beloved [Jesus]. 1:12 - That we should be to the praise of his [God s] glory, who first trusted in Christ. 1:14 - Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his [God s] glory. The conclusion of the prayer in Ephesians 3 succinctly summarizes what should be the primary concern for the church throughout the ages. Eph 3:21 Unto Him [God] be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen. Indubitably, we should glorify our Lord Jesus the Christ but never above or with the exclusion of God the Father. His God and Father conferred the glory that

5 Jesus has upon him. The Father s glory has always been and emanates from within Him. Yahweh our God is not willing to share His glory with anyone else. I am the LORD [YHWH] that is my name; I will not give my glory to another, nor my praise to graven images (Isaiah42:8). Give glory to God!