In Isaiah 48:11 God says his actions are done for his own sake; he will not yield his glory to another. While humans would be seen as arrogant for making such statements, God is the most perfect and glorious being in existence. If he were to do anything for the glory of another, he would be giving glory to something undeserving of it.
This is why idolatry is such a heinous sin; it is giving glory to something undeserving. In OT times this meant statues made of wood and stone. Our modern day idols are things like money, career, looks, marriage or ‘likes’ on social media. As we have seen over the past few weeks, these things cannot deliver the type of fulfilment and satisfaction we’re asking them to. As such, they are undeserving of our ‘worship’.
To avoid giving glory to something other than God, we need to see God as truly glorious. The way we do this, according to our Vision Statement, is to ‘delight in Him as our ultimate treasure’; i.e. to constantly remind ourselves that God is the most beautiful, powerful, gracious, merciful, kind, forgiving, compassionate, majestic, faithful, holy and loving being in all existence.
The book of Hosea is one of the best places to find God’s immeasurable love; and therefore his immense glory. Even though God’s people (illustrated through Gomer) have betrayed the Lord (illustrated by Hosea), God shows immense love for Israel by redeeming her from her slavery, and taking her back as his wife. Although we are completely underserving, and didn’t even ask for it, God gave up everything (his only begotten Son) in order to redeem us, and take us back as his wife. How dare we give glory to anything other than this loving God.
Brendan McLaughlin
