The glory of God

This morning by a seemingly natural course of events I wound up reading Isaiah 43 as my morning devotions. And more specifically verses one to seven. This chapter pretty much sums up why God created us. I mean why would God make us? We must have a purpose. God does nothing randomly like we may do, he is not led by impulse and whatever takes his fancy; Everything he does is carefully planned and apart of a far larger plan that he formed before the foundations of the earth were even laid.

Now, this is what the Lord says,

the one who created you, O Jacob,

and formed you, O Israel:

“Don’t be afraid, for I will protect you.

I call you by name, you are mine.

When you pass through the waters, I am with you;

when you pass through the streams, they will not overwhelm you.

When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned;

the flames will not harm you.

For I am the Lord your God,

the Holy One of Israel, your deliverer.

I have handed over Egypt as a ransom price,

Ethiopia and Seba  in place of you.

Since you are precious and special in my sight, 

and I love you,

I will hand over people in place of you,

nations in place of your life.

Don’t be afraid, for I am with you.

From the east I will bring your descendants;

from the west I will gather you.

I will say to the north, ‘Hand them over!’

and to the south, ‘Don’t hold any back!’

Bring my sons from distant lands,

and my daughters from the remote regions of the earth,

everyone who belongs to me,

whom I created for my glory,

whom I formed – yes, whom I made!

Isaiah 43v1-7

We are made in God's image. And an image is created in order to point back to the original. So we are to reflect, like a mirror, God's glory. Through what we do and say. We are to be like God, to imitate his attributes and live according to his will.

The world around us is spectacular! Think of all the billions of stars, or the Niagara falls, the green rolling landscape of New Zealand, the Northern lights, the oceans so deep they cannot be explored, or the simple everyday things such as sunrise and sunset, the sun and moon. Everything displays his might and majesty. We are apart of his creation. Are one purpose is to worship and glorify God. God doesn't need us, but he wanted to display his mercy and grace.

The Northern Lights.

He accomplishes this through his redemptive plan; through the crucifixion of his one and only son. This sacrifice reveals his faithfulness, love, grace and abounding mercy. Nothing that we truly deserve. God, the most holy one, owed us nothing, yet he did this for us. When we were nothing but dead in our transgressions.

China

God's ultimate glorification comes through the death of Jesus Christ upon the cross as a way for all those who believe in him, but repent of their sins will have eternal life. This act displays the grace that is literally lavished upon us. We have been given so much grace we are practically drowning in it. We did not deserve salvation, why do we so often think that God owes us?
This is God's world and he can do as he sees fit. We cannot demand from him, and insist he do what we want. We are not in control; he is.

This passage speaks primarily of the nation Israel, and how God will never abandon her, and how he has preserved her through so many hardships and difficulties. And even though this doesn't directly apply to Christians, we can draw encouragement and hope from this passage because it tells us why people were made. And it reminds us that even though we are fickle and break our promises to each other, God is always faithful and he never breaks his word. If we have been saved, he won't let us go.

I am here to display God's love and mercy. Are you?

Does your life reflect the salvation that you have received from Christ? Mine often doesn't, it is something I fail at daily.

Machu Pichu in Peru

The Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe