Why we don't actually "give God glory"

Why we don't actually "give God glory"

Westminster Confession: Read the first section of 2:2 of WCS with me….

2. God hath all life, glory, goodness, blessedness, in and of himself; and is alone in and unto himself all-sufficient, not standing in need of any creatures which he hath made, nor deriving any glory from them, but only manifesting his own glory in, by, unto, and upon them.

The part there in bold italics ROCKED me this morning as I read and thought about it’s implications in my life. Throughout my Christian life and walk, I’ve considered certain things I’ve done, thoughts I’ve thought, etc, to be “glorifying to God” in a way that contradicts the teachings of Scripture. Mind you, this has not been a well thought out commitment on my part to the idea that I “give God glory,” but nonetheless has been wrongly considered. Note again, God is “alone in and unto himself all-sufficient, not standing in need of any creatures which he hath made, nor deriving any glory from them, but only manifesting his own glory in, by, unto, and upon them.”

God’s glory is already full. He does not receive any glory from us, His creatures, in a way that would at all ADD to His Glory. That is so elementary yet, apart from pondering, easy to overlook. What does it mean to glorify God then, if it doesn’t mean that we give glory to Him in some way? Well, John 17:5 gives us these words of Jesus:
“And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed..”

This is a very clear text regarding the “when” of God’s Glory; namely before the world existed. This means that any glory God “receives” from us, ORIGINATES WITH, and FLOWS FROM, Himself. God doesn’t get glory from me, He gets glory OUT OF me….

I think it fantastic that yesterday’s Fighter Verse (http://fighterverses.com/) is Romans 11:34-36, which reads:

34 “For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?” 35 “Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?” 36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

None of us has given a gift to God, including glory, that he might owe us something. God owes nothing, because He derives nothing from His creatures. God, let my life show forth the Glory that exists in you from eternity past and will exist into eternity future. Allow my thoughts, words, and deeds point folks to your pre-existent Glory. All Glory is yours, and any attempt at giving it to anything other than you is robbery and utter idolatry. Help me to recognize and walk in the truth that the Glory is yours forever and we simply reflect it as you will………

This is what I thought about this morning after the reading, what about you? What grabbed you? What left you rocked by the God we serve?