Our achievements are ultimately for God's glory
The term “glory” refers to the visible splendor or moral beauty of God’s manifold perfections.
The “glory” of God is the exhibition of his inherent excellence; it is the external manifestation of his internal majesty. To “glorify God” is to declare, draw attention to, or publicly announce and advertise his glory. Piper explains that:
Again, there are numerous passages that support this assertion.
“another term which can signify much the same thing is ‘the name of God.’ When Scripture speaks of doing something ‘for God’s name’s sake’ it means virtually the same as doing it ‘for his glory.’ The ‘name’ of God is not merely his label, but a reference to his character. The term ‘glory’ simply makes more explicit that the character of God is indeed magnificent and excellent. This is implicit in the term ‘name’ when it refers to God” (Desiring God, 227).
1. Rom. 11:36—“For from him and through him and to him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.”
According to Edwards, “the way in which all things are to God, is in being for his glory” (Dissertation, 475). As for Paul’s doxological declaration at the end of the verse, “he expresses a joyful consent to God’s excellent design in all to glorify himself, in saying, ‘to him be glory forever’; as much as to say, as all things are so wonderfully ordered for his glory, so let him have the glory of all, forevermore” (476).
2. Isa. 43:6–7—“I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’ And to the south, ‘Do not hold them back.’ Bring my sons from afar, and my daughters from the ends of the earth, everyone who is called by my name, and whom I have created for my glory, whom I have formed, even whom I have made.”
NOT UNTO US
The glory of God is spoken of as the end of God’s saints, the end for which he makes them, i.e., either gives them being, or gives them a being as saints, or both. It is said that God has ‘made’ and ‘formed’ them to be his sons and daughters, for his own glory: that they are trees of his planting, the work of his hands, as trees of righteousness that he might be glorified
1. Mt. 5:16—“Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”2. Phil. 1:10–11—“… so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ; having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.”3. Jn. 15:8—“By this is My Father glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be my disciples.”4. Rom. 15:5–6—“Now may the God who gives perseverance and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus; that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”5. 1 Pet. 2:12—“Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may on account of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation.”6. See also Ps. 22:22–23; Isa. 24:14–16; 25:3; 66:19; Dan. 5:22–23; Rev. 11:13; 14:6–7; 16:9.
Again, God’s glory is the ultimate end or goal of particular virtues such as faith (Rom. 4:20; Phil. 2:11), repentance (Josh. 7:19), generosity (2 Cor. 8:19), thanksgiving (Lk. 17:18), and praise (Ps. 50:23). Finally, 1 Cor. 6:19–20 and 10:31 call upon us to seek God’s glory in all that we are and all that we do.
Those “doxological outbursts,” i.e., declarations that “give vent to the virtuous and pious affections” of the believer’s heart
1. Rom. 16:27—“… to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, be the glory forever. Amen.”2. Gal. 1:5—“… to whom be the glory forevermore. Amen.”3. Eph. 3:21—“… to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.”4. Phil. 4:20—“Now to our God and Father be the glory forever and ever. Amen.”5. 2 Tim. 4:18—“… to Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.”6. Heb. 13:21—“… through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.”7. 2 Pt. 3:18—“… but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.”8. Jude 25—“… to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.”9. Rev. 1:6—“… to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.”10. See also 1 Chron. 16:28–29; Ps. 29:1–2; 89:17–18; 57:5; 72:18–19; 115:1; Isa. 42:10–12.
We could also point to descriptions of the angelic host who always seem to be engaged in doxology—Isa. 6:2–3; Lk. 2:14; Rev. 4:9; 4:11; 5:11–14; 7:12. In sum, says Edwards, “it is manifest that these holy persons in earth and heaven, in thus expressing their desires [for] the glory of God, have respect to it not merely as a subordinate end, or merely for the sake of something else; but as that which they look upon in itself valuable, and in the highest degree so” (483).
In particular, Edwards comments on the song of praise by the angels regarding the coming of Jesus. They declared to the shepherds, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased” (Luke 2:14). “It must be supposed,” says Edwards, “that they knew what was God’s last end in sending Christ into the world: and that in their rejoicing on the occasion of his incarnation, their minds would be most taken up with, and would most rejoice in that which was most valuable and glorious in it” (486).
