The Baptism of our Lord
(The First Sunday After the Epiphany)
Whom I Created for My Glory
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ!
Amen! God describes you and all your fellow Christians at the end of today’s
Old Testament when He speaks about
“everyone who is called by My name,
whom I created for My glory,
whom I formed and made."
These Words—“whom I created for My glory”—these Words of God will provide an
especially great blessing for each of us when we think rightly upon them.
Dear Christian friends,
When God says, “I created [you] for My glory,” many people take these Words as
a reflection upon themselves. That is to say, many people understand today’s
Old Testament to mean that God created you so that you will glorify Him every
day by the things you do and the words that you speak. For example, I had a
good friend in college named Alex, who often chastised himself and others with
these Words in today’s Old Testament. “You were created for God’s glory,”
friend Alex would say. “You must change your life and start doing those things
that glorify God.”
God Wants Your Words and Actions to Glorify Him
Alex was correct. At least, he was correct for as far as he took today’s Old
Testament:
• God certainly wants you to conduct your everyday life in such a way
that the people around you can actually see that you are a Christian. If you do
not conduct yourself in a manner that shows you are a Christian, then God also
wants you to change your attitude and your actions. This is why your Lord Jesus
has so bluntly commanded you, “Let your light shine before others, so that they
may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven”
(Matthew 5:16). That is why God’s apostle Paul also associated your good works
with the Baptism God has given to you:
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing;
it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we
are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared
beforehand, that we should walk in them (Ephesians 2:8-10).
• As you may already know, God also requires you to guard the words of
your mouth as closely as you would guard your actions. Stated another way, God
wants you words to glorify Him as faithfully as your actions must. But you
probably also know from your own experiences that
… no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly
poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who
are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing.
My brothers, these things ought not to be so (James 3:8-10).
Strictly speaking, my friend Alex was certainly not wrong when he would say to
people, using today’s Old Testament, “You were created for God’s glory. Live
for God’s glory.” Certainly many other Bible passages could be added in support
of my friend’s admonitions:
• Psalm 29:1—“Ascribe to the Lord the Glory due His name; worship the
Lord in the splendor of holiness.”
• Psalm 86:12—“I give thanks to you, O Lord my God… and I will glorify
Your name forever.”
• Romans 15:6—“Glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
So my friend Alex certainly was not wrong when he used today’s Old Testament as
a way of focusing all the attention upon you. My friend simply did not take
today’s Old Testament far enough. Here is problem with not taking today’s Old
Testament far enough: when you understand God’s glory to be rooted in what you
must say and do, you end up in a hole in the ground. If God’s glory consisted
only of our words and our actions, then our God must not be a very glorious
God. Just think about how ingloriously we Christians speak and act on a daily
basis! Plenty of examples abound—both among us and within us—plenty of examples
that show how frequently we each dishonor God’s name both in words and in deed.
Praise be to God! There is MUCH MORE to His glory than what we say and do! God
wants you to know in today’s Old Testament not so much about what we do for Him
as HIS GLORY IS ABOUT WHAT HE DOES FOR US!
“everyone who is called by My name,
whom I created for My glory,
whom I formed and made."
GOD’s Words and GOD’s Actions Glorify God!
When He says to you that He created you “for His glory,” God the Father wants
you to know that He created you for the purpose of acting gloriously toward
you! In addition to you glorifying Him; above and beyond you glorifying Him; in
a much more blessed and precious way than any of us could ever glorify
Him—God’s greater glory consists of how He acts toward us! Listen again to the
closing Words of this Old Testament:
“everyone who is called by My name,
whom I created for My glory,
whom I formed and made."
Now take note of the first and last phrases in this verse:
• Those first Words—“everyone who is called by My name”—those first Words
primarily speak about what God has done for you, not what you have done for
God. As God says to you earlier in this Old Testament—evoking the memory of His
Baptism for you—“I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are Mine.”
• So, too, the very final phrase of this verse: The Words “whom I formed
and made” likewise speak about what God does for you, rather than what you do
for God. God had you in mind before you were even conceived (Jeremiah 1:5). God
Himself knit you together in your mother’s womb (Psalm 139:13). God brought you
forth (James 1:18) and God gave you life (1 Timothy 6:13).
What Words of God lie sandwiched between these two phrases, which are all about
what God has done for us? These Words: “whom I created for My glory.” That is
why my friend Alex was only partially correct when he kept saying that today’s
Old Testament is about how you must glorify God. Even more so, today’s Old
Testament is about how God glories by what HE does for us!
1. God is love (1 John 4:8), and God glories in showing His love to you.
God is love, and God created you for the purpose of having someone to love,
someone to whom He might express His glorious love.
2. God’s glory is found in showing mercy and compassion, not counting your
sins against you, but reconciling Himself to you through the death and
resurrection of His promise Christ (2 Corinthians 5:19).
3. God’s greatest glory consisted of nailing His own dear Son to a cross,
for us and for our salvation. We know that God’s glory is found in the death of
His own Son for us because our Lord Jesus prayed to God His Father, “Glorify
Your Name” (John 12:28). After our Lord prayed that prayer, “A voice came from
heaven: ‘I have glorified it, [the Father said,] and I will glorify it again”
(John 12:28). Our dear Lord Jesus also spoke about His own death on the cross
when He said to us on Maundy Thursday, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to
be glorified” (John 12:23).
What does all this mean? It means that God your heavenly Father has done more
than give you a burden and responsibility in today’s Old Testament, where He
describes you as
“everyone who is called by My name,
whom I created for My glory,
whom I formed and made."
Yes, you must glorify God in your own life, by your words and actions. Just ask
my friend Alex. But even more so, God wants you to know comfort and peace in
today’s Old Testament! God wants you to know today that His greatest glory is
not what you do for Him, but what He does for you. God has fully and completely
carried out all the work for your forgiveness and life! God has done everything
for you by sending you His Son. It has been His greatest glory so to do.
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