Truth 5: Soli Deo Gloria – To God’s Glory Alone
Introduction:
Oct. 31 is Reformation Day, the day we remember the start of the Reformation. As part of the Reformed (Presbyterian) tradition within Christianity this is part of our heritage. This then is a good time of year to remind ourselves of the great truths that we have inherited, which still shape us today.
Truth 5: Soli Deo Gloria – To God’s Glory Alone – I Peter 4:7-11
7 The end of all things is near; therefore be serious and discipline yourselves for the sake of your prayers. 8 Above all, maintain constant love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins. 9 Be hospitable to one another without complaining. 10 Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God, serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received. 11 Whoever speaks must do so as one speaking the very words of God; whoever serves must do so with the strength that God supplies, so that God may be glorified in all things through Jesus Christ. To him belong the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.
This final truth (“sola”) from the Reformation is both the foundation on which the other four truths stand and the purpose towards which they point. Jesus Christ bringing salvation to humanity by grace alone and the living of our lives are to be focussed on the purpose of declaring the glory of God.
As the first question of the Shorter Catechism asks: What is the primary purpose of human beings? The answer being: Human beings’ primary purpose is to glorify God and enjoy God forever. That is not just a spiritual statement as the passage from I Peter demonstrates – it is a statement about the way we are to live our everyday lives.
Verse 8 says, “show love” – and that is easy to say, but Peter gives “love” a definition. It includes showing hospitality to one another without complaining. Hospitality is very practical, very labour intensive. Hospitality requires us putting ourselves out for the other. Especially when we remember that in Jesus’ thinking hospitality was to be shared with those who had no means to “return the favour.”
Giving glory to God is about a way of life as much as it is about the worship we give to God. As the song from the 1970’s said, “worship and work must be one.”
Having been gifted by God we are invited to use those gifts – the examples given are to speak God’s word and to serve with the strength that God provides. God is both the giver of the gift and the giver of the resources needed to use the gifts. All of this towards the purpose that God might be glorified through Jesus Christ. Our lives are lived towards that purpose – towards that end. The practical everyday realities of serving and showing hospitality – of living in caring connection with others – all of that is for God’s glory.
PRAYER:
We bring you glory, O Lord, for you alone are worthy of praise and worship, for all honour and blessing and authority belong to you, both now and through all time. Shape our lives to bring glory to your name with our living and our speaking, with our caring and our loyalties. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.