Giving Gloriy to God

Bulletin

Dan Peters
07/28/24 - Faith

“Giving Glory to God”

When I was in 3rd grade and my younger brother was in 2nd grade, he glorified me too much. He told the bully of the school, “my big brother can beat you up”. I quickly backed down and stopped my little brother from talking such nonsense. It was a glory that I was not up to, not sufficient to accomplish.
This story of my childhood helps me to understand in a small measure, why God would “accredit” Abraham’s faith as righteousness. Faith and righteousness are two different ideas, so why would God count Abraham’s faith as righteousness? How does that work in the mind of God?
God had promised Abraham a son for the past 25 years, from 75 years of age, till about 100 years old, when Isaac was born. But the day came that his 90 year old wife gave birth to a son, Isaac. About a year earlier Abraham laughed, “Gen. 17:17 Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, “Will a child be born to a man one hundred years old? And will Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?” Sarah laughed too (Gen. 18:13). But it happened, just like God said it would. And Abraham and Sarah called him Isaac (he laughs). How this old couple must have laughed each time they thought about their boy (laughter), reminding them that God does the impossible.
Then the day came that God said, “Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you.” (Gen. 22:2). Abraham was not laughing now. But, knowing God, how God keeps his promises, these seemingly impossible promises, he obeys out of faith. Abraham thought to himself “that God is able to raise people even from the dead,” (Heb. 11:19). God is glorified when we think God can fulfill such a seemingly impossible divine promise. “yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God,” (Rom. 4:20). There it is, that last phrase, “giving glory to God” is what faith does. God does the impossible, I can’t even beat up the school bully! Faith needs to be rightly placed.
Now out of God’s goodness, he will “credit” faith as “righteousness”, when that faith is directed towards God because that faith boasts on God, glorifies God. “Now not for his sake only was it written that it was credited to him, but for our sake also, to whom it will be credited, as those who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead,” (Romans 4:23-24). God is glorified, when we “no longer live for” ourselves, “but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.” (2Cor. 5:15). To him be the glory, by my obedient faith! Dan Peters