It is so easy for these words to just flow past us with very little thought or consideration. However, it seems to me to be the central thought of the Bible. It is that God be considered, honored and reverenced. And in the end that is the overriding purpose of our lives.
There are three occurrences of this in the first chapter of Ephesians:
Ephesians 1:6 To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.
Ephesians 1:12 That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.
Ephesians 1:14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.
It seems plainly obvious that our salvation and our purpose are all about Him, not us! The question then occurring is how is it that our lives would bring glory to Him?
Unfortunately, what we think is that it is through our achievements that we bring glory to God, but I submit to you that, in truth, it is rather that our achievements bring glory to us and we are happy to have it so. Look with me at a simple example; Job’s achievements brought no glory to God but rather put Him in a position of purchasing Job’s devotion:
Job 1:9-10 Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought? Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? Thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land.
In a quick reading of the first two chapters of Job you will find that Job brought glory to God through his losses and not through his achievements. You will also find that it was through his devotion to God.
It would seem to me that we have much to learn about our lives as followers of Christ and how our purposes are met.
