Glory

The Bible is about God. Did you know that?*

This course: gain God's perspective of how He's working on Earth

What is the mission of God in the world?
- John 17:1-4
- Phil 2:10-11
- John 4:23-24

So what is God seeking? Worshippers who will worship Him in Spirit and Truth

God's glory is at the heart of God's mission.

What is glory? Substance, weight, brilliance, radiant beauty, worth.

What does "glorify" mean? To speak of one's glory in public.


I remember the day I learned the purpose of life. I was in 9th grade and helping in a Sunday School classroom filled with 1st or 2nd graders. (I actually learned quite a lot from those lesson plans designed for 6 year old children). The lesson was on creation. The teacher veered off the script and bit and asked "Why did God create us? What is the purpose of our lives?" The children didn't know. I didn't know either. Fortunately, the teacher didn't call on me to answer. She told us that God created us for His glory. Our purpose in life is to glorify God. And now, 6 years later, I'm still learning what that really means.

Worship: to ascribe worth/honor (linked with glory)
- Psalm 86:9

God reveals His glory to all nations so that he might receive glory from all nations.
- Psalm 96:1-9

"Man's chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever" - Westminster Shorter Catechism

Psalm 97:1, Psalm 67:3-4, Psalm 69:32, Psalm 70:4, Psalm 16:11, Psalm 37:4



* yeah, me neither. I mean, I knew it... of course the Bible is about God. But like... it's all about God. So often we humans like to make it about us. Haven't you heard before that the Bible is a love story about God's crazy unconditional love for us? Or that the Bible is the story of redemption for fallen humans? And the Bible is all those things and more. But beyond that, or perhaps underlying that, the Bible is God's story. It's about an amazing God so completely worthy of being praised and glorified and honored and worshiped. It's about a God who created a universe so beautiful and so vast we can never understand it. It's about a God whose love for us is so deep and wide and high that we can never exhaust it. It's about a God who somehow chose to become like us and die for us. It's about a God who has infinite power and authority and yet allows us to choose Him. The Bible is the story of God being glorified... by every peoples, nation, tribe, and language. It's not about the people who are worshiping God. It's about the God being worshiped. Let us not forget the goal of missions. It's always about God, not about people.