While there are different interpretations and expressions of who God is, this post refers strictly to the God of the Bible. The sovereign God whose name is Lord.
Even the Bible acknowledges the variety of gods when it declares and then asks:
“O God, Your way is holy. What god is great like God?”
(Psalms 77:13)
There is the god whose desire is for you to be happy, there is the god whose goal is that you live your best life now, there is the god who does not require any change of lifestyle when you become his child and many more variants too numerous to name but here, we speak only of Adonai, the Lord, El-Shaddai or simply put, the God found in the pages of the Holy Bible, known to be the Creator of heaven and earth.
In the beginning, God…
There He is, communing with His Son and Spirit. They are enjoying intimacy with each other and then decide ‘let us make man in Our own image’ – not a special image specific to man but in God’s own image and there a pattern of God doing everything with consideration to Himself begins…
All things are for His glory. Whatever He does is for Himself – not because He is so helplessly in love. Every commandment He gave to the Israelites through Moses on Sinai ended with a recurring phrase, “for I am the Lord”.
He created us for His glory:
“the people whom I formed for myself that they might declare my praise.”
Isaiah 43:21
He will save and deliver for His own sake::
“I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for My own sake, and I will not remember your sins.”
Isaiah 43:25
“He restoreth my soul: He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.”
Psalm 23:3
“But I had concern for My holy Name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations wherever they went.”
Ezekiel 36:21
“…I will do better for you than at your beginnings. You will know that I am Adonai.”
Ezekiel 36:11
Our salvation in Christ, yes, was because God so loved the world but what was His motive behind His invention of salvation?
“having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.”
Ephesians 1:5-6
Even our inheritance in heaven is not just a reward for our good works on earth but a means by which we must glorify Him:
“who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory”
(Ephesians 1:14)
God’s favourite is Himself in the person of Jesus. This is why He warns us in His Word that He has no favourites. Consequently, if we are in Christ, we become God’s favourite not on our own grounds, beauty or personality but simply being hid in Christ.
He sends both prosperity and adversity to us with a purpose in mind:
“… that man should find nothing after him.”
Ecclesiastes 7:14
If we doubt all these, God Himself expressly says:
“I do not do this for your sake, house of Israel, but for My holy Name, which you profaned among the nations wherever you went.”
Ezekiel 36:22
While we pray asking what God’s will is, Scripture expressly tells us His will for us is our sanctification (1 Thessalonians 4:3) – our being made holy.
What is sanctification? Simply put, it is the lifelong process of being transformed into the image of Christ. Who is Christ? Christ is God.
God ultimately desires us to be like no one but Himself in the form of holiness.
To keep these things in mind, God warns, “The Lord is a jealous and avenging God…” (Nahum 1:2).
He will never share His glory with anyone or anything. His one purpose is His glory and if it costs us our comfort and suffering, it will: “For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for My Name’s sake” (Acts 9:16).
In commenting on this verse, “Thou art all fair, my love” (Song of Solomon 4:7), Charles Spurgeon says, “…No wonder that such is the case, since it is but his own perfect excellency that he admires; for the holiness, glory, and perfection of his Church are his own glorious garments on the back of his own well-beloved spouse” (Morning & Evening devotional – Morning of 2nd December).
Many freely preach and even believe that when they are going through one form of suffering or the like, they should pray against it because God wants them to be happy.
No. The Lord needs His Name to be glorified.
A better and the right perspective in any situation is this:
“Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; BLESSED BE THE NAME OF THE LORD”
(Job 1:21).
It’s why even in a God ignoring world, The Bible is still the most sold book with no close second behind it.
He is God and will be exalted in all the earth.
But here’s a shocker:
“For I will defend this city to save it, for My own sake, and for My servant David’s sake”
(Isaiah 37:35).
Because this man David was in a class of his own when it came to seeking after God’s heart, not His hand – not even His face but the very heart of God; God will act not just for His sake this time around also for the sake of that dear man that so fiercely, helplessly, passionately, unashamedly and unrepentantly loved Him.
What then is our chance of finding and fulfilling the purpose of our lives we so earnestly seek?
“For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it”
(Matthew 16:25).
“For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever! Amen.”
Romans 11:36
“You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; You have put off my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness, To the end that my glory may sing praise to You and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give thanks to You forever.”
Psalms 30:11-12
Let’s view God as constantly asking, ‘what’s in it for Me?’ and the whole trajectory of our prayers will be perfectly transformed.
The Lord is one self-centred God.
“I CHANGE NOT.”
(Malachi 3:6).
Ezekiel 36:20-26