The
Glory of Man
(More from last issue)
“Thus saith the
Lord, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man
glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches; but let him that
glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the
Lord which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth:
for in these things I delight, saith the Lord.” --Jeremiah 9:23,24
What do you rejoice in? That you have the same weight as you did
when you were twenty-five? Have you
reached financial security? Do you
have a great reputation? That you have
overcome your worst vices? That you are
a good person?
In Sunday School we learned
that sin is coming short of the glory of God.
We learned that all do that (Romans 3:23). So often, however, the lesson was taught only in a moralistic
fashion. God was pleased if we did good
things, and He was angry if we did bad things. We would bring shame to the Name of God if we did bad things,
and we would bring luster to the name of Christian if we did good things.
They were good lessons, as
far as they went. It was many years
later before this writer, at least, begin to see that something very important
was missing. How can we live for the
glory of God if we do not know His true nature? The adherents of Islam try to bring praise to their religion;
Hindus try to live to bring luster to theirs.
Is it all just a propaganda battle, after all? Is it all about being good in order to attract adherents to your
faith? What drives the morality of the
people of God—the need to win the propaganda wars?
What is the edge
that Christians have over all other religions in the world? It is very simple. Our edge is Jesus Christ. The beauty, goodness, wisdom and power in
the historic figure of Jesus Christ are far beyond all other founders of
religion. No one spoke as He
spoke. No one ever did the miracles
that He did. Someone has said that if
the Gospels are fiction, then we ought to worship the people that made up Jesus
Christ, for they are wisest and best people who have ever lived.
In Jesus Christ we know whom
we worship. The character of the true
God shines forth in His words and deeds.
Those who worship dead gods do not know what they worship. They worship the figment of imagination,
theirs or someone else’s. But in Christ
we have all the fullness of the Godhead bodily (Colossians 2:9).
The study of God in Jesus
Christ is therefore the most glorious occupation of mankind. There is nothing that is so becoming to a
human being than to have the knowledge of God: to understand and to know the
Lord.
“Show us the Father,” said
the disciple. “Have I been so long time
with you, and you do not know me yet?” was the reproach of Christ. “He that hath seen me, hath seen the
Father.” (John 14:8,9)
Looking up into the heavens,
the Psalmist cries, “The heaven’s declare the glory of God and the firmament
shows His handiwork.” (Ps. 19:1) Paul
observes that there is “one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon,
and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in
glory” (I Cor. 15:41).
“I am the Lord which
exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in
these things I delight, saith the Lord.”
(Jer. 9:23) The true God is not
an absentee landlord. He “exercises” or
“accomplishes.” God is going to see
that lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness are accomplished in the
earth. What a glorious thing it is for
man to know these things and to rejoice in them.
The modern world scoffs at
the idea that certain knowledge can be had about God. “Everybody has their own ideas,” they say. “If they love God, that is what is
important.” But love for “God” is no
virtue, if we love what we do not know.
Such love brings the wrath of God. As followers of Jesus Christ we are
called to “walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their minds,
Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through
the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart….”
Ephesians 4:17, 18