Every pastor needs to give the occasional meta-sermon, that is, a message or series of messages reminding the people of God, that God’s ultimate aim in all things is His own glory. It is the “Big Story” in which all the little stories (like Cain and Abel, Noah’s Ark, David and Goliath, Paul’s ministry, you life and mine) fit.

So for the next three Lord’s Day messages, I am going to attempt, in a small and finite way, to lead the folks at Rock Mtn to reflect upon, enjoy, receive, and spread the glory of God. The major points for the first sermon:

• The Bible is essentially the story of how God glorifies Himself.
• Everything that happens in human history, then, is a manifestation of some aspect of the glory of God.
• The glory of God is the absolute moral standard that defines our behavior as good or bad.
• Salvation is the movement of a person from being a secular, man-glorifyer to being a holy, God-glorifyer.

One of my major objectives in these messages is to discuss the difference between the innate glory of God in Himself, and the glory of God as received by a second party (namely, us).

The innate glory of God is that glory which belongs to God in His being. That is, it is Him! He is majestic, splendid, awesome in holiness, and an endless trillion other wondrous realities that our feeble language can’t begin to truly get at! (read Psalm 19)

Let me illustrate. I love Paul Simon, the singer / songwriter. He has written some great classic songs, like Bridge Over Troubled Water, You Can Call Me Al, Graceland, and Sound of Silence. All well crafted songs. He has a measure of innate glory. That is, Simon was endowed with certain gifts and talents, including lyrical and musical composition. These gifts are simply part of his being, or his innate glory (so to speak). The innate glory of God is like that – it is simply who He is.

But there is another way of understanding the glory of a person. The sunshine has innate glory just like Paul Simon does, but that glory shines. That is, the brilliance of the sun emanates off the surface of the sun and proceeds forth. And the beams of glory find other objects (like people). We then, as the son shines on us, have the opportunity to enjoy the glory of the son.

Paul Simon also shines this way. He has a measure of innate glory, but he has taken this and put it into the form of “beams,” like concerts, CDs, DVD’s, and radio waves. These become vehicles through which Simon’s glory is communicated to other beings. And so the glory of Paul Simon can be received, understood, and enjoyed by others, to a greater or lesser degree. We cannot add or subtract from the innate glory of Paul (it simply is what it is), but we can magnify his shining glory better or worse.

God’s glory is the same. His innate glory is unchanging, but His glory shines forth from His being a million ways. His Word, His Son, His Church, His Supper, all of these, and a host of others, are vehicles through which we see the shining of God’s glory. And all of us can receive these “beams” of His light, or reject them. To the degree that we receive them, seek to understand them, enjoy them, and spread them, we are “glorifying God.” Now, of course, we cannot add to His innate glory, which is perfectly and eternally unchanging, but we can magnify His shining glory, as it shines upon our lives!

Our ability to understand this theology is absolutely essential for us in understanding the purpose of our lives. The reason people feel chaotic, sad, out of control, or meaningless, is because we are often not consciously living to magnify the glory of God. We are magnifying the glory of self, or a thousand other earth-based things, and this leads to a malfunction in the human heart. After all, God has created us with the function of glorifying HIM, and so this we must do as our highest duty, honor, and joy, if we are ever to experience true life.

2 Corinthians 3:18 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

I hope to see many of you at church tomorrow! Let us behold the glory of the Lord!