the glory of god

The Bible is full of hundreds of various stories and characters, but from Genesis to Revelation there is truly only one main character. God is in the leading role as Creator, Sustainer, Orchestrater, Redeemer, Savior, and King. He is the Alpha and the Omega–the Beginning, the End, and all in-between! 

Colossians 1:16 says,

everything was created by him,

in heaven and on earth,

the visible and the invisible,

whether thrones or dominions

or rulers or authorities —

all things have been created through him and for him

All things exist by Christ and for Christ! Like everything else, you and I exist for God’s glory too. 1 Corinthians 10:31 tells us, “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God.”

We are called to live our lives with one aim: to please and make much of God. As a church, we want the glory of God to be the driving ambition behind everything that we do. We want to make much of Jesus in every facet of who we are–every ministry, every program, every gathering, every outreach event–it’s all for the glory of God. 

In John 15:8-11, Jesus says, “My Father is glorified by this: that you produce much fruit and prove to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, I have also loved you. Remain in my love. If you keep my commands you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you these things so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.”

In verse 8 Jesus makes clear what we’ve already seen, namely, that the goal of our lives is to glorify God. Yes notice what he says in verse 11: I have told you these things so that…your joy may be complete.

In other words, when we live for the glory of God, we simultaneously live for our own joy. Pastor John Piper says, “God has not created a universe where you must choose between your joy and his glory.” Following Jesus and doing what he says is not counterintuitive to your joy, it’s the pathway to it! We are a church passionate about the glory of God because we believe that this is what we were made for.