Part 1, Chap. 3 in FOR HIS GLORY
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.*
CREATED FOR HIS GLORY
We read** that God created man for His glory.
Think of “glory” as the measure of excellence or superiority of one person or thing over another. If we describe a sunrise as “glorious,” we mean that it is superior to others. To “glorify” is to point out or declare that superiority.
God is the most glorious as compared to anyone or anything, anywhere, at any time, including the natural and spirit worlds. Nothing and nobody comes even close to His knowledge, power, love, creativity and more. He is “the God of gods,” as in Psa. 136:2. He is worthy to be glorified.
However, we know that the liar and thief Satan was able to convince Adam and Eve that what he offered was superior to what God had given them.
Ever since then, there has been the rivalry between God and Satan that you can feel in your ongoing battle with temptation. It is the Gal. 5:16-26 struggle between your flesh and your spirit, both influenced by their spirit source that competes to be glorified by your choosing it in the moment. It’s not complicated!
A PROBLEM
God formed man for Himself. Man was to be the special part of creation that He would fellowship with, Spirit to spirit.
They would dwell together in the Garden and would delight in each other. We know the story – that they would soon be separated by sin.
But then, right there in Gen. 3:15, God declared that He would deal with the sin problem. He initiated a plan through which His glory – His superiority over Satan – would be shown through those marked as His special possession. He is the sovereign God; He has the last word about everything, and His original purpose for man would eventually be fulfilled.
*I Peter 2:9 niv
** in Isaiah 43:7
Ken Stoltzfus
Kidron, Ohio USA
April 1, 2022
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May God bless you richly as you make Him known to others!