Praising His Glory

July 20, 2020

Three times in the first chapter of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, he speaks of the things God has done on our behalf in Jesus Christ as ultimately being not only for our salvation and rescue from the bondage of sin, but also as having been accomplished for an even greater purpose, viz, “the praise of his glory” (vv. 6, 12, 14). In other words, God has acted to save us so that we might offer praise that honors and glorifies God the Father.

Much has been written about all God has done for us in Jesus Christ; entire libraries could be filled with such works. A common thread in the older theologies is their focus on God as both the Source and the Goal of the Father’s work in Christ. The emphasis is on our being propitiated to God, his wrath against sin being turned away in the Cross. In this, the ancient divines followed St. Paul’s logic in Ephesians 1. The greatness of our salvation is the theme, the goal of it is the glorification of God himself.

More recent commentaries and sermons tend to focus on what God has done for us, as if our salvation culminates in our personal redemption. That we are being saved is no small matter; it is the most wondrous story imaginable, but the story doesn’t end there. It ends in the glory of God. In other words, salvation is God-centered, not Man-centered. It involves us from beginning to end, but God himself is always the Protagonist, the One around whom the story flows. Practically speaking, when my experience of God transcends the God of my experience, everything is upside-down. And when I dwell upon my ‘feelings’ of salvation, I am focusing on me, not God, and that is always a recipe for disaster.

God does everything for the praise of his glory. This is seen even in the Old Testament. Psalm 50:23 reads, “Whoever offers praise glorifies Me; And to him who orders his conduct aright I will show the salvation of God.” Praise and salvation are inextricably linked, so much so that it is difficult to discern which comes first. When I was a teenager, my pastor was Charles Ellis. Pastor Ellis had a little sign on his desk that puts it succinctly: “Praise God Anyway.” In practical terms, praising God draws the attention from myself and focuses it on God, where it belongs. According to this psalm, praising God takes us to the heart of the matter: We were brought into this world to do this often very difficult task: praising God. If Paul is to be believed, this is the very heartbeat of Creation, that for which we were predestined: praising the glory of God himself. Everything else falls short; this alone is why we were created and saved.