Dr Paul Allen

What Provokes the Questions So, what gives rise to these questions is that I, and many others in the history of the church, have emphasized the biblical teaching that God created and redeemed his people for his own glory — meaning, to cause his glory (his greatness, his beauty, his worth) to be known and treasured and shown in the universe. That’s what I think “for his own glory” means. “Stars and stones and mountains are means to God’s self-glorification, but not the way humans are.” “My sons . . . my daughters . . . whom I created for my glory” (Isaiah 43:6–7). We’re chosen, predestined, adopted, redeemed through the blood of Christ for the praise of the glory of God’s grace (Ephesians 1:4–7). And that teaching — namely, that all things are from him and through him and to him, to his glory — that teaching causes all these questions to be raised. So, let me respond to these nine questions with a very short answer and then look at the main thing in Scripture. Nine Brief Answers Questio...

If you were a Jew, you understood that it doesn’t get any better than Moses. It’s all downhill after Moses. No one will outstrip Moses and what he has given to God’s people. What came before is always better because what came before is Moses. So what is Jesus saying through this sign? He’s not just performing some cheap parlour trick to impress his disciples. Nor is he simply showing them that he has power to do what he wants. No, this whole miracle is a parable of a deeper truth about who Jesus is and about how Jesus is going to defy Jewish expectation. They thought that the pinnacle was Moses. But Jesus is saying, “No, my Father has saved the very best for last, and it’s me. It’s me.” Do you remember what John the Apostle wrote in the Prologue? John 1:16-18, “16 For of His fullness we have all received, and grace in place of grace. 17 For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ. 18 No man has seen God at any time; the only begotten God, who...

If the ultimate end for which God created the world is the display of his glory, and if the apex of his glory is the splendour of his grace, and if the achievement of Christ on the cross is the climactic display of this splendid grace, and if “the glory of the cross is bound up with the effectiveness of its accomplishment,”1 then how we preach the achievement of the cross is a weightier matter than most of what we preach.2 When we do not preach the full atoning effect of the cross, we diminish the glory of the cross and fall short of God’s ultimate purpose in creation. I do not mean that this diminishment necessarily cancels a person’s Christian faith, or even removes God’s blessing from someone’s ministry. God is merciful to use us in spite of many failings. I am sure that in many ways I fall short of God’s purpose to glorify himself on the cross. The point is not to nullify or undermine anyone’s faith or ministry. The point is to summon all of us to move toward magnifying more fully ...

God also revealed His glory in the tabernacle (Ex. 40:34). The tabernacle included the holy of holies, which contained the ark of the covenant. On the top of the ark was the mercy seat, where the high priest sprinkled blood once a year as an atonement for the sins of the people. It was on the mercy seat that the Shekinah of God dwelt or tabernacled, for God said to Moses, “There I will meet with you, and from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are upon the ark of the testimony, I will speak to you about all that I will give you in commandment for the sons of Israel” (25:22). Another reminder to the people of God’s glory was the encampment of Israel during the forty years of wandering. Whenever the people stopped to set up camp, the priests were to be the closest to the tabernacle. Just beyond the priests were the Levitic families while the rest of the twelve tribes made up the outer ring. The tabernacle was located in the exact centre of the tribes. ...

God also revealed His glory to Moses. Although God commissioned him to lead Israel into the Promised Land, the thought of doing so intimidated him (Ex. 33:12–13). The Lord responded, “My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest” (v. 14). The Hebrew word translated “rest” refers not to a cessation of activity, but to protection and blessing. The Lord promised that He would be with Moses and provide for the needs and safety of His people. Show Me Your Glory! Although the Lord’s reply undoubtedly encouraged Moses, yet he wanted some kind of visible proof to verify that the Lord would indeed be with him. Therefore, he made this request: “I pray Thee, show me Thy glory!” (v. 18) Moses was asking for an unveiled view of God! The Lord replied, “I Myself will make all My goodness pass before you” (v. 19). That was a wonderful answer to Moses’ prayer, for it was a promise to put all His attributes on display before Moses. The Lord then explained how He would do that:...

  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:   “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). Again, there are numerous passages that support this assertion. 1. Rom. 11:36—“For from him and through him and to him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen...

“And there appeared unto them Elijah and Moses : and they were talking with Jesus ” (Mark 9:4). Jesus was standing in the full blaze and glory of His pre-Incarnate glory while the two representatives of the Old Covenant talked with Him about the issue which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem .  Then He turned His back upon that glory, and came down from the Mount to be identified with fallen humanity, symbolised by the demon-possessed boy. Had He gone back into the glory which was His before the Incarnation having only reached the Mount of Transfiguration , He would have left the human race exactly where it was; His life would only have been a sublime ideal.  There are many who look at the life of Jesus Christ as an ideal and nothing more—‘His teachings are so fine, we do not need to have anything to do with the Atonement, or with those crude doctrines of the apostle Paul ’s about the Cross and personal apprehension; it is quite enough for us to have the Sermo...

For most, glory is associated with personal glory —the “glory days” of one’s youth, days of lost innocence, boundless energy, unfettered imagination, and uncomplicated living. The Bible, however, moves beyond “glory” in the past tense to an emphasis on glory in the present and future tenses based upon the possibility of a relationship with the God of glory. The word “glory” is derived from a Hebrew root that may mean “heavy,” “weighty,” or “numerous, severe” in a physical sense (that is, severe famine, Gen. 12:10; heavy yoke, 1 Kgs. 12:4). The related term kabod expresses the attribute of “glory,” “honor,” “splendor” as a derived meaning of the primary idea of weightiness or gravity (for example, Num. 24:11; Job 19:9; Prov. 3:16, 35). In the Old Testament, glory may be applied to a finely crafted object in the sense of cleverness of design, intricacy of artistic work, and beauty (Exod. 28:40).  When applied to human beings, glory signifies dignity or respect as a characteri...

"Jeremiah Lamenting the Destruction of Jerusalem" by Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Several years ago, a pastor was coming to grips with the fact that his second child, like his first, would be born with spina bifida . Amazingly, this man has found great comfort in rejecting the common notion that God will merely use this bad situation for good, rather than the biblical truth that He ordained it for His glory and His people’s good. Stories like these continue to confirm the reality that we must prepare ourselves to undergo suffering and trials righteously. We need to learn how to suffer well. The way we do that is by being equipped with a theology of suffering while not yet in the midst of a particular trial. And to that end, we’ve been looking to Jeremiah ’s experience with devastating suffering at the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BC ., and hoping to glean some lessons on how to respond to suffering righteously. First, we learned that...

When we discuss God’s glory there are basically two ways we can speak. First, God’s essential glory: the sum of his attributes makes him the “God of glory” (Acts 7:2). His glory is the “sparkling of the deity.” God’s life lies in his glory, and his glory cannot increase or decrease, for his glory is infinite, unchangeable, eternal, etc. This glory belongs to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit because each person shares in the divine essence. Second, there is a glory which is ascribed to God in terms of what his creatures aim to bring to him (1 Chronicles 16:29). This latter glory has in view our praise, worship, obedience, delight, etc., as we keep the name of the Lord holy in all that we do (Matthew 6:9). In terms of God’s essential being, we must acknowledge that, even apart from sin, human beings cannot behold the glory of God and live. The triune God’s infinite glory is too high, illustrious, and marvellous for us. It is utterly beyond our powers, and even a small drop of his gl...