CE 1 YEAR: 8 God’s Glory 

Week 8

God’s Glory

Your ultimate purpose in life

The Bible says, “Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God” (1 Cor 10:31). Glorifying God with your life is the ultimate purpose for your life.

What does glorifying God mean? Glory is the revelation of someone’s greatness to inspire awe. And this is what we want to do for God. Reveal His greatness so others will be in awe of Him.

How then do we glorify God? This happens in two ways. We glorify God “publicly” and “privately.” Job’s life illustrated both.

Let us first see how Job glorified God publicly. Job was the greatest man in all the East in wealth and possessions. He was also known for fearing and serving the true God (Job 1:1-3). Everyone knew that Job’s blessings came from his God. Therefore, all that Job had publicly glorified God.

And this is how we all want to glorify God. We want to be blessed by God, give God the credit for those blessings, and glorify God through our blessings. Then people will be in awe of our God. This is publicly glorifying God. And it is an important way that we glorify God.

Jesus mentions publicly glorifying God when He encourages us to do good deeds as representatives of Him, so people will praise God (Matt 5:16). When people see the love and holiness of God living through you, and you make it known that it all comes from God, you reveal His greatness and inspire awe in Him. This is publicly glorifying God.

Privately glorifying God

But let’s ask a very important question. If no one sees your good deeds, does that mean you do not glorify God? Thankfully no! Unfortunately, when most Christians think about glorifying God, they only think of the public kind of glory, which comes from human beings seeing God’s blessing in their life. But there is another kind of glory that is even more important. It is privately glorifying God. This is the kind of glory God gets when only He and spiritual beings see how you respond to the testing of God in your life. This is another kind of glory that Job gave God.

One day the Lord asked Satan if he had noticed how godly Job was (Job 1:8). Satan replied by daring God to let him make Job suffer to test his unconditional love for God (vs. 9-11). And God accepted the Devil’s dare! (v. 12).

And how Satan tested Job! He took away all his possessions (vs. 13-17). Satan even murdered all ten of Job’s children which may have included their spouses and Job’s grandchildren (vs. 18-19). Job lost all of this in one day! When that was not enough to make Job curse God, God allowed Satan to inflict Job’s body with painful sores all over his body. In mourning and pain, Job scraped his sores with a piece of pottery as he sat in ashes (2:7-8).

Why would God allow Satan to do this to a man that God was so proud of? God Himself said He allowed Satan to convince Him to ruin Job’s life without cause (Job 2:3). Why would Satan dare God about such a man? And perhaps the most amazing question is this: Why would God accept such a dare? Why didn’t God tell the Devil, “No, I will continue to protect and bless Job for my glory”? Why does God let bad things happen to His people?

Because there is a Cosmic War for Glory between God and the Devil. This War is the underlining theme of all Scripture, and the background of all human history. From the temptation of Eve in the Garden, to the battle between Christ and Satan in the Revelation, all of these events reflect the Cosmic War for Glory.

Why does this war exist? Because the most precious commodity in the Universe is glory. Glory is what both God and the Devil want more than anything else. It is the reason for everything they do. The Devil is in no way God’s equal. But the battle for glory between them is very real, because their desires for glory and worship is very real.

And Christians are right in the middle of this war. They are the greatest source of potential glory for both God and the Devil. This is because only we really have free will over sin (Rom 6:1-22). Only we can really choose who we will love and worship. And there is no greater way to reveal the worth of someone—to glorify them—than to love them. Not even God can manipulate real love. It must be chosen freely. And it is especially unconditional, sincere love for God that gets Heaven and Hell’s attention.

Everything in your life matters! When you love, serve, trust, and obey God you please and glorify God. When you do not, you please and glorify the Devil. Because when we sin we have chosen the Devil’s desires over God’s.

How then do Christians privately glorify God in the presence of spiritual beings? By their unconditional love for God. Remember what the Devil said about Job? That he obeyed God only because God so abundantly blessed and protected Job. So, the Devil dared God to take away these away to see if Job would still love and worship God (Job 1:9-11).

Unfortunately, the Devil had a lot of evidence for his claim. Throughout human history he saw this very thing repeatedly. Everyone’s love for God seems conditional. Everyone wants to glorify God with the kind of blessing Job experienced, rather than the kind of testing he endured.

But how did Job respond to his test? He fell to his knees and worshipped God. He said, “The Lord gave me all I had and has now taken it away. May the name of the Lord be praised.” Through all of Job’s losses and pain he did not sin by blaming God for doing wrong. He gave God the worship He deserves even when God allowed him to suffer greatly (Job 1:20-22). What do you think Heaven & Hell thought of that? This was the spiritual Super Bowl, World Cup, and Olympics of the Cosmic War for Glory. Was there a single angel or demon who was not watching this?

What did Job’s response communicate to all the beings watching? That Job believed God was worthy of such unconditional devotion. Job was saying to the whole Universe, God is great just because of who He is, not because of what He gives us. Job’s reverence for God reflected the greatness of God.

The Devil, angels, and demons were in awe. Why? Because no one loves them like that. They are not worth that much to anyone. Only God deserves to be loved and worshipped even when He is causing you to suffer. God’s greatness is reflected in our willingness to worship and love Him unconditionally.

Job’s glorification of God was private because humans did not see it. In fact, the destruction of Job’s life made his God look very bad. Think about what the pagans must have thought about Job’s God now. And Job’s friends and wife thought he was a sinful, arrogant, fool. Job’s life ceased to publicly glorify God to humans. But God did not care. Why? Because there is a glory that is more important to God than what humans see. It is a glory that only He, the Devil, angels, and demons see.

Your life is being watched

Christian, understand that your life is being watched. There is no such thing as privacy in your life. Both God and the Devil, and their angels and demons, see everything you do. Notice how much both God and the Devil knew about Job’s life (1:8-10). They had been watching him.

The Apostle Paul believed the same about his life. He said that his life was on display to the whole Universe, including both humans and angels (1 Cor 4:9). Paul’s reference to angels probably included demons as the same Greek word can refer to this (Matt 25:41; Rev 12:9). The Apostle also used the Greek word theatron to refer to the Roman stadiums where warriors fought for the glory of their masters. Paul saw himself fighting in an arena, with humans and angels and demons watching him to see if He would glorify God. Do you see your life the same way?

The Apostle shared his belief in the context of describing his suffering for Christ (vs. 10-13). His dedication to Christ made him look like a fool to humans because he experienced poverty and persecution instead of prosperity and popularity. But he glorified God privately by blessing those who cursed him and being patient with those who hated him.

Paul did not really care what people thought of him. This is because his greatest desire was to glorify God. And he knew he could do that no matter what people saw. The opportunity to privately glorify God is one thing that nothing and no one can take from you. No matter where you are, what you are doing, or what is happening to you, you can privately glorify God. Your faith, love, obedience, suffering, and sacrifice can always show God, the Devil, angels, and demons, how much you love God and how great and worthy you think He is.

The Cosmic War for Glory between God and the Devil explains why God allows painful things to occur in our life. The trials of life are simply stage props designed by God to test us, not hurt us. Suffering on Earth is not a reason to be mad at God. Suffering is an opportunity to unconditionally love and trust God. And when we do, the glory from our lives shines like stars in the Universe (Phil 2:14-15)!

Fortunately, the revelation of Job helps us understand our suffering. Many claim that the reason God’s people suffer is a mystery we are not supposed to understand. But God tells us why we suffer: to have the opportunity to glorify Him.

Likewise, many Christians assume that when they are suffering it is because God is disciplining them for sin. But it could be for a more glorious reason. How can you know? As discussed in week 6, all you can do is search your conscience or ask others if we have sinned against them. If these do not convict us of something than we should not assume we are under divine discipline.

Finally, God shows us in Job that suffering does not mean He does not love us. On the contrary, God loved Job and was so proud of him, even before he suffered. When God allows us to suffer it is not because He thinks so little of us. We suffer because we alone can do the most valuable and important thing on Earth: glorify God. He gets no glory from the suffering of the pagans. If we will grasp this, we will be happy and consider it an honor to sacrifice and suffer for Christ (Acts 5:41).

The story of Job is not just about one man who lived thousands of years ago. God is revealing to us the most important thing that is happening every day of our lives. We may not be tested like Job. But God wants us to know the Devil has asked to test us too, just like Peter (Luke 22:31). The Devil has told God that you will be angry with Him and refuse to love and trust Him if He allows suffering in your life. And because God wants to give you an opportunity to glorify Him, He has allowed the Devil to test you.

As with Job, God is in ultimate control of every test (Job 1:12; 2:6) and will not allow you to be tested beyond what you are able (1 Cor 10:13). Why? Because God always sets you up to win. He is always leading you into victory, not defeat (2 Cor 2:14). It may feel like He has allowed a test that is greater than your faith and love. But God knows differently. He never allows a battle with the Devil in your life that you cannot win.

This is why it is foolish to test God by needlessly putting yourself in situations that could hurt your life (Matt 4:5-7). It is not your place to choose to be a Job. Let God determine the tests He wants you to have. God wants you to be wise in how you live and not suffer unnecessarily.

Naturally, we would rather publicly glorify God through His blessing, rather than glorify Him privately through our testing. But there are advantages to private glory. First, to publicly glorify God before people, we must be glorified before people. Our hope is that we deflect the praises we receive to God. But most humans do not handle glory very well and it tempts us to pride. Privately glorifying God is safer. It makes us famous in the spiritual realm, but often humbles us on Earth.

Secondly, private glory enables us to glorify God in everything we do even if no humans notice. It is a harsh reality that pagans are rarely paying attention to what we do for God. If glorifying God is confined to what mere unbelievers may grant Him, then it is limited indeed. Usually the world is even unwilling to recognize that your good deeds come from God. Thankfully, privately glorifying God is more available and important than the public kind.

Are you willing to love God by be being tested instead of blessed? Are you willing to glorify God by having your prayers refused instead of granted? For example, what if you are asking God to miraculously heal you of an illness? If He did, it would publicly glorify Him. But God may get more glory in Heaven because we choose to love Him even if He does not heal us. Therefore, He may want to give you an opportunity to unconditionally love Him and glorify Him like Job.

Practical Application: In what ways is God testing your faith right now? Is there anything painful or scary? Spend some time with God about this and try to express to Him the same attitude Job did so you can glorify God like he did.

In your small group meeting this week, share praises and prayer requests and then discuss these questions:

1) What is glory?

2) How do we glorify God “publicly”?

3) How do we glorify God “privately”?

4) How would you answer the question of why God allowed Satan to ruin Job’s life?

5) What do you think about the fact that your life is being watched?

6) What advantages does private glory have over public glory?

7) After reading this chapter, what is your view of suffering in your life?

8) What was most meaningful to you in this chapter? Why?