The Glory Of God

Fraserbrough Baptist Church – Sunday 25th July 2010
(Sermon notes)

Genesis 1
1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.
5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

His very voice, His mere words are volumes of energy. They are light and they are life. The universe in its size, shape and complexity was merely spoken.

Luke 12
22 And he said unto his disciples, Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye shall put on.
23 The life is more than meat, and the body is more than raiment.
24 Consider the ravens: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feedeth them: how much more are ye better than the fowls?
25 And which of you with taking thought can add to his stature one cubit?
26 If ye then be not able to do that thing which is least, why take ye thought for the rest?
27 Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not; and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
28 If then God so clothe the grass, which is to day in the field, and to morrow is cast into the oven; how much morewill he clothe you, O ye of little faith?

God is, right now, aware of every creature, feeding them and providing for their every need. He clothes every blade of grass! He is conscious of every flower. He is the creator and maintainer. He casts stars into space, across the heavens and measures the universe with the span of His hand and yet… He knows whenever any tiny sparrow falls from the sky. Think about this for some time! This is our God!!

A shortlist of biblical descriptions: Alpha & Omega, that means beginning and end; God of the mountin, God of the valley; King of Kings, Lord of Lords; The one, true, living God; He is peace; He is love; He is Holy; He is almighty, all powerful, all knowing; He was, He is and He always will be; He is gracious and He i kind and His mercy endures forever; He is my high priest, He is my father, He is my friend and my comforter; He is the lamb that was slain that takes away the sin of the world; He is the Lord of hosts, the King of glory. This is my God!! This is the God of the bible and this is His word!!

Consider His presence: Isaiah 6:1-5, Revelation 1:17, 4:8-11, 5:8-12, 7:9-12 – Moses before the burning bush, the children of Israel before the mountain of God, the desciples whenever they had a revelation of who Jesus truly is… The presence and knowledge of God always has and always will invoke fear into the heart of man. If there is no fear, there is no reality, no knowledge, no presence.

Proverbs 1
7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Proverbs 9
10 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom.

This is the beginning of life! The only way to know truth, justice, love and grace. This is my God! This is my father! This is the God of the bible. His very existence, His very being commands obeisance. We are on His turf, this is His land, we are His creation!

Psalm 100
3 Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

Prior to any knowledge of Salvation He is worthy of full surrender and full compliance!

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John 1
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 The same was in the beginning with God.
3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

Consistency from cover to cover. The same message. The same God. The power of the word. The voice of God.
BUT!
There is a divide! (Gen 1:4) Christ came to the darkness and it did not/does not comprehend Him. This man Jesus spoke and the blind could see, the deaf could hear, the lame could walk and the dead were raised to life. The very winds and sea obeyed Him.

In verses 9-14 Jesus is that word! He is that light! When He spoke creation into being He separated the light from the darkness . The two can never mix. An uncrossable gulf was created between light and dark, between God and man!

Romans 3
23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.

When God made man He clothed him in His glory. When man disobeyed that glory was taken away. So we simply cannot be in His presence. Only that which is pure, that which is holy can be in His presence. Only light!

Habakkuk 1
13 Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity.

God simply cannot look upon us in our sinful estate. In the same way that light vanquishes darkness God cannot look upon sin. Darkness cannot mix with light.

Simply and purely for who He is God deserves our attention, all our affection, all our time, all our glory and pride. He deserves it!! He is the only one worthy of it! He is our creator! He is light! BUT! to consider that this inconceivably holy, righteous judge made a way for us to be in the light; to think that He gave everything for us to be with Him… How much more is He worthy! Worthy to be praised. How much more is He worthy of our lives and service and obedience! Whatever it costs, whatever it takes, whatever we look like, may He be glorified!!!

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1 John 1
1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;
2 (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;)
3 That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.
4 And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.
5 This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

There is no darkness in God. There is none and there will be no darkness in Heaven. This leaves us hopeless. We cannot be in Heaven, we cannot be with God. Our lives are full of darkness. This world is full of darkness. We still fall short of His glory.

7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

BUT! If we walk in the light; if we walk in the spirit; if we walk according to the will of our Father. Christ is that light. God is that light. Only if we walk with Him and be in Him can we fellowship with Him.

9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

This is the foundation of Salvation and the building block for the Christian walk. To repent! To come to a place of continual repentance with our Lord and maker. To recognise God for who He is. To acknowledge His greatness and to live accordingly!

1 John 2
3 And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.
4 He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
5 But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.
6 He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.
…
15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
16 For all thatis in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

This is God!! The awesome creator God! Ultimately separated from darkness. The two will never mix! So how can we find pleasure in the world?? How can we find entertainment and relaxation with the world’s Gods?? How can God possibly be glorified in darkness?? Why would you want anything to do with the deathly works of darkness?? Why would you want to enjoy sin and glory in it?? Why is God not our first and foremost excitement?? Why is God’s word not more enjoyable that the world’s idols??