The Glory of God Exemplified in His Selflessness and Humble Attitude

Romans 12:16 states “Outdo one another in showing honor.” this is almost like saying

compete with one another to show one another honor. Compete with one another by being self-sacrificrificial and humble.

Romans 12:9-13 “Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.”

All these things are exemplified when we walk in the fear of the Lord. “The Fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge” and the knowledge of Him is the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom. Colossians 1:9 contains this truth, “And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding”.

When I think about the fear of the Lord I'm reminded of meekness, having a humble attitude, and placing the Lord the God and Father of all in the right place in our lives; above ourselves. Putting ourselves as least in comparison to Him and His great glory. After all Jesus was a servant to others, how much more are we to serve one another? Philippines 2:7 says, “But [He] emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” As another example Moses was called the meekest man that had and would ever live. That would be pretty ⁰neat to exemplify someone like that. Isn't that what we should want to imitate in our lives?

For some background on why I chose the topic for this speech is because for a long period of time I was struggling with the question “if God was a good God why would he create everything for His glory and meanwhile allow so much pain and suffering for that end goal? For Himself? Would that not make Him a completely self centered and benevolent God? I remember one time sitting in the car begging God to give me the answer to this question because right then even though I knew I loved Him I did not feel like I did. And I needed to know that He was worth loving. This is like so many times in the Christian walk, there will be times one wont feel love towards someone, one wont feel motivated to do the right thing, one wont feel happy, all one feels is being broken and poured out. That's why love is a verb. You're not loving someone if you haven't forgiven them, you're not loving someone if you treat them with disregard, you're not loving someone if you're talking about them behind their back, the examples are endless. Love is patient, love is kind, it does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud, it is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs, love does not delight in evil but rejoices in the truth. Love always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. That's from 1st Corinthians 13:4-8. As you can see love is not a feeling, it's how you think and act about others regardless of what they do to you. So as I was struggling and searching for an answer to this question, I eventually came to the question: what is God's glory? What is it really? And this thought is what sparked the search to understand one of several pillars which I found to combat the issues in the previous questions.

God's glory is different from how people typically think. I don't know about you but when I think about glory I think of the way an athlete wins a race and wins a prize or about an artist's piece of artwork that becomes famous and is sold for millions (unless it's modern art, eh em, with a banana taped to a canvas) or about some mighty king who conquered and ruled a sizable piece of the earth. Glory which results in self adulation or pride. Do we ever see Christ boasting “You dumb little humans, I'm so much more powerful and mighty than you are. Israel look at me! I'm the one who's constantly saving you from starvation and disease. I'm the bestest, y'all are tiny little imbecileic dirt.” Maybe even flexing some cosmic muscles for emphasis. No, to quote Paul—may it never be! I think we all think that imagery is a little or quite ridiculous. Even though Christ is all powerful, all knowing, and omnipresent, he's not arrogant and haughty about it. He does occasionally remind us about his omniscience and sovereignty in order to be humbled before Him, but he does not undervalue us as His creation, He treasures us. This is displayed in Job when God replies to him in a display of His powers and wonders He created. Who laid the earth's foundations? Tell me if you understand who set its bars and rules in place? Who can put a hook through the mouth of the Leviathan? There's a great song called Brace Yourself by the band Hazakim which is based on those passages in Job. Christ did not display His fullness of glory in a display of human power. He displayed his glory by sending His Son to earth as a servant of His creation.

So yes we can and should say “glory to God, glory to God in the highest!” “For he is great and mighty to save!” And may we all recognize that His glory is not about receiving praise in the sense of arrogance but in friendship. Of course he wants to hear thankfulness and joy for what he has done. But that longing is similar to wishing to give to a friendship and being overjoyed to receive a reciprocated response. It's similar to when someone in a relationship gives a gift or takes the time to say something kind or any other kind of sacrifice for another. The joy is multiplied when the other person responds in thanks, joy, and or in some circumstances awe. This is also similar to how a marriage is supposed to be an example of Christ's relationship with the church. When two people choose to stay by each other's side until death there's a lot of self-sacrifice. Placing the other person in a position that is more important than yourself is the godly image of Christ and the church. Christ's glory was to serve his creation of humble circumstances. He came not to lift himself up as a mighty warrior as those who were anticipating the Messiah thought he would. He gave his life and his death in humble servitude. Putting himself as the least of these. And that is how He displays His glory.

-Rachael