What is the glory of God? The phrase is commonly used in protestant evangelical circles but many would have a hard time defining it. The glory of God is the weight of the perfectness of His attributes. His attributes transcend humanities' ability to fully comprehend them. Isaiah 40 says,
25 To whom then will you compare me,
that I should be like him? says the Holy One.
26 Lift up your eyes on high and see:
who created these?
He who brings out their host by number,
calling them all by name,
by the greatness of his might,
and because he is strong in power
not one is missing.
The "weight" is too heavy for us to bear. This is true of EVERY aspect of His nature. His love and mercy are certainly His glory and worthy of our praise but so is God's wrath and justice. He is perfect in all of His attributes and therefore deserving of 1. our inward adoration for all of His attributes and 2. our outward adulation for all of His attributes. To deny Him of either of these is the very core and heart of humanities' corruption and sin. Isaiah 29 says,
13-The Lord says: "These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men."
The unregenerate man has no desire to honor God and no admiration for His attributes. Though he may be religious by the world's standards and claim to love a god, he proves this is not the God of scripture under examination. The man finds no joy in the glorification of God revealed in the Bible. The very grace of God is what changes a man's desire, will, and thinking to such an extent that every part of God's nature is beautiful, glorious, and praiseworthy to him. He no longer hates God and loves his own sin; he hates and mourns his sin and loves God. God is his joy! God's honor is the very heart of his happiness. By God's grace the regenerate man endures hardship and trial, and these difficulties teach him to find his joy in Christ; not the temporary pleasures of the world. This joy explodes through his mouth in praise and adulation and is demonstrated by obedience to God's holy commands. Doing so is a pleasure, not a burden.
1 John 5:3- For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.
25 To whom then will you compare me,
that I should be like him? says the Holy One.
26 Lift up your eyes on high and see:
who created these?
He who brings out their host by number,
calling them all by name,
by the greatness of his might,
and because he is strong in power
not one is missing.
The "weight" is too heavy for us to bear. This is true of EVERY aspect of His nature. His love and mercy are certainly His glory and worthy of our praise but so is God's wrath and justice. He is perfect in all of His attributes and therefore deserving of 1. our inward adoration for all of His attributes and 2. our outward adulation for all of His attributes. To deny Him of either of these is the very core and heart of humanities' corruption and sin. Isaiah 29 says,
13-The Lord says: "These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men."
The unregenerate man has no desire to honor God and no admiration for His attributes. Though he may be religious by the world's standards and claim to love a god, he proves this is not the God of scripture under examination. The man finds no joy in the glorification of God revealed in the Bible. The very grace of God is what changes a man's desire, will, and thinking to such an extent that every part of God's nature is beautiful, glorious, and praiseworthy to him. He no longer hates God and loves his own sin; he hates and mourns his sin and loves God. God is his joy! God's honor is the very heart of his happiness. By God's grace the regenerate man endures hardship and trial, and these difficulties teach him to find his joy in Christ; not the temporary pleasures of the world. This joy explodes through his mouth in praise and adulation and is demonstrated by obedience to God's holy commands. Doing so is a pleasure, not a burden.
1 John 5:3- For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.
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