Skip to main content

All Glory and Honor are Yours.

This is in response to a discussion I had with a couple of friends a day or two ago. I pray that it is helpful and thought provoking.

I looked up "glory" in the concordance and the same word is used 168 times. Within it's definition are 7 possible uses of the word. I'll list the ones that are applicable to what we are considering.

Doxa is the Greek word for glory. It is said to "primarily signify an opinion, estimate, and hence, the honor resulting from a good opinion."

In 2 Corinthians 3:18 and 4:6, the word is used as being "of the character and ways of God as exhibited through Christ to and through believers."

Doxazo is the Greek word for glorify which is defined as "to render glorious." It is found 62 times with 54 of those times used to mean glorifying God. It is used in Romans 8:30, 2 Corinthians 3:10 and 1 Peter 1:8 to mean "to do honor to, to make glorious." Romans 8:30 is one of special significance since it talks about the people that love God and are called according to His purpose. God makes us glorious and bestows honor upon us, but to me this is still different than being given glory in the divine sense.

John 17:1-2 says "When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, 'Father, the hour has come; glorify our Son that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him.'" My study Bible notes reference the following two Scriptures that to me answer the question very clearly:

Isaiah 42:8 "I am the LORD; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols."
Isaiah 48:11 "For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it, for how should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another."

God does not give His glory to anyone else. All glory and honor are His.

Why were we created? We were created for God's own sake/purpose/end. What is that end? It brings Him glory. I don't see how you can go beyond that from the Scriptures that I've looked at.

With that being said, it is clear from Scripture that we share in the inheritance as heirs with Christ. The inheritance of eternal life is what we share in with and through Jesus. However, that inheritance is not glory in the sense that God is glorified. We are with Him in glory, but that glory is directed only to God who rightfully deserves all glory!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

  “Where grace exists, it reigns.”   C. H. Spurgeon I’m scared of grace.   And this realization comes in the midst of a journey I’ve been on that has the fingerprints of God all over it.   If we were to gather 50 Christians in the same room and invite people to share adjectives that come to mind when trying to describe “grace,” I doubt “scary” would be anyone’s answer.   (It probably wouldn’t be mine either, in case anyone is thinking I’m exalting this term in some sort of holier-than-thou way.)   We’d hear things like amazing, undeserved, free, kind, love.   Of course, it’s inevitable that the crucifixion of Jesus is vocalized in some way.   Essentially, we’d have a huge list of very positive and affirming adjectives that rightly depict the wonderful activity and riches of God’s grace.   What if we asked a slightly different question?   How would we answer, “how does a person obtain grace?”   I’m guessing we’d start throwing out an...

God's Truth vs. Satan's lies Part 2

written August 25, 2008 A good friend of mine reminded me of something that I had been losing sight in these writings and in my life that I feel is necessary to address. The life that we Christians live is a direct result of the real and active relationship with Jesus Christ. Christ is alive in my life today and every day. I have been moving away from this idea and writing about God making Jesus seem far less important than in fact He is. It is only through Jesus living in my heart here and now that I have any hope of connecting with the Father. For this reason, I fix my eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of my faith. I don't wish to think or speak in generalities, but speak in the name of Jesus, for it is He who saved my life and lives in my heart revealing God's Truth. Lie: Small compromises in my thoughts and actions are no big deal. I can still keep "innocent" worldly things in my life and be ok. I cannot count high enough to tell you how many times I ...

A Convicting And Compelling Gospel

Which adjective in the title more closely aligns with your predisposed way of thinking about and speaking the gospel to yourself and others?   Are you more likely to present a gospel that is heavy on the convicting realities of sin, righteousness and judgment?   Or do you find yourself more readily appealing to the benefits of following Jesus?   If you think about it, neither adjective fully encapsulates the message of Jesus.   It’s right to compel people using the promises of God and the joy filled benefits of a life submitted to Jesus.   But it’s also right to warn of the consequences of rejecting Him.   Since we’re all naturally inclined to emphasize one, we need to allow the other to constrain us, to balance us from taking our natural disposition to the extreme, which may confuse the gospel and the Jesus we wish to present.   Let me attempt to illustrate one example of an unconstrained leaning toward each in turn.   A compelling gospel that is...