The Glory of The Lord

Isaiah's ministry begins with the theme of God's glory.  The prophet is in the temple and sees the Lord, the train of His robe filling the temple, and seraphim calling out "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty ... the whole earth is full of His glory (Isaiah 6:3)!"  Isaiah sees the glory of the Lord and he is 1) undone, 2) humbled, 3) called/drawn to following the Lord wherever God desires ... "Here I am Lord ... send me (Isaiah 6:8)."  The themes of God's power, provision, creative intention and glory continue throughout Isaiah.  Glory is used over 50 times in Isaiah's prophecy.

This week we will continue our study of purpose passages in Scripture.  What is God's purpose in the world?  Why does God think we (people) are placed in the world?  In Isaiah 43:5-7 we find a beautiful expression of God's purpose.  It clearly states that we were made for God's glory.  But what does "glory" mean here?

The Hebrew word means weight, power, splendor, brightness and many other hyperbolic expressions.  God's glory is associated with power in battle, radiance that is so powerful it cannot even be looked-at directly, beauty so magnificent it is merely reflected in the most beautiful scenes of nature, and salvation so unbelievable we cannot find words to express it.  In Isaiah it fills everything with God.

So in this powerful, magnificent and world-filling word, how can God say that you and I are created for His glory?  We can barely get along with each other.  We have trouble focusing on God enough to make worship even a minor priority.  We love seeing God's weightiness and majesty in a sunset, but this passage seems to call us to BE God's glory.  How does this happen?

I think this means something simple but powerful.  We become expressions of God's glory (why we were made) when we:

1. Become agents of God's salvation, becoming conduits for God to pour His love, life and Spirit into the people we meet.

2. Become doers that express our faith by doing what Jesus taught us.

3. Become lovers of 'the things above' like life, sacrifice, giving, serving, kindness, patience, joy, prayer.

4. Become lovers of the people (nations) that God said He 'so loved' that He gave Jesus for our forgiveness, pardon and eternal life.

I love that term "weight" as a description of God's glory, because I think our ability to be what Isaiah 43:7 says, "all who claim God as their God," adds weight to God's mission, plan and power in this world, so that we can all dwell with God in the world to come. Today, try being an expression of God's glory, so that His power, weight, majesty and magnificence is expressed in some small way by you (and me).  Randy