Exulting
in God’s Creative Glory
Rom.11:33
O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how
unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!
34 For
who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor?
35 Or
who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again?
36 For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.
There is no doubt in the mind
of the faithful Bible student that God created all things for the glory of His
name. God independently created all
things. The reason God did this was
that all (not just a portion) of the glory and praise would be given to Him.
Rom.11:36 For of him, and through him, and to him, are all
things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen. Knowing,
then, that God is glorified when we praise Him (Ps. 50:22,23); let us see how we
may glorify God by exulting (rejoicing triumphantly) in His creative glory.
Rejoice
With Wonder and Adoration
Our
text shows us the wonder and adoration that Paul had for God.
This wonder and adoration was caused by Paul’s realization that God was
working all things according to His sovereign plan.
The sovereign creator of the worlds is directing all of creation.
Paul realized that for God to be consistently holy and Justin the
dispensation of His mercies, God must have and infinite and unsearchable supply
of wisdom and knowledge. Paul
exults with wonder and adoration as he see this providence of God.
There is a great need that you and I, as God’s people, recognize the
providence of God in our lives and exult in His wisdom and knowledge.
We can do this by submitting to God and walking in His ways:
Ps.37: 23 The
steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way.
24 Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the
LORD upholdeth him with his hand. 25
I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous
forsaken, nor his seed begging bread. We
may richly enjoy our lives and rejoice in our creator knowing that God is
working all things together for our good (Rom.8:28).
When we find ourselves faced with unpleasant situations or pain and
heartache in life; let us wonder at God’s wisdom in the fact that He knows how
to send exactly what we need to make us that servant which will bring Him glory.
As we do this, let us give thanks to God (1Thess.5:18).
After all, none other than the only wise God could take the bad things in
life and turn them to our good. How
could we refuse to rejoice in the wisdom of our God who upholds us with His
mighty, sovereign hand?
Another
reason for us to exult with wonder and adoration is the manner in which God
provides for His creatures. David
rejoiced with great awe as he beheld God’s creation:
Ps.104: 24 O LORD,
how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full
of thy riches. 25
So is this great and wide sea, wherein are things creeping innumerable,
both small and great beasts. 26
There go the ships: there is that leviathan, whom thou hast made to play
therein. 27
These wait all upon thee; that thou mayest give them their meat in due
season. 28 That thou
givest them they gather: thou openest thine hand, they are filled with good.
29 Thou hidest thy face,
they are troubled: thou takest away their breath, they die, and return to their
dust. 30
Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created: and thou renewest the
face of the earth. 31
The glory of the LORD shall endure for ever: the LORD shall rejoice in
his works. David could see that all of creation depends upon God for their survival
(Ps.104:27) This is certainly a
cause for us to exult in wonder and adoration. Never has there been and never shall there be any other who
is able to supply the needs of all the creatures simultaneously.
God, however, does, exactly that. When
we begin to consider the vast amounts of resources that are consumed daily, we
can but marvel that there is such an one who has such an abundant, eternal
supply. It is also a great wonder
that there is one who has the degree of wisdom and power that are needed for
this task. May we continue to
worship and rejoice before the Lord our God with wonder and adoration:
He, and He alone, is all we need. (Php.4:
19 But my God shall supply all your
need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.)
Jeremiah
also exulted in God’s creative power and wisdom.
As he received from God the promise that Israel would be blessed once
more in the future, Jeremiah rejoiced in the fact that only the creator of all
things could bring that to pass. Israel
was facing national disaster and the prospect of being put out of existence as a
nation. In fact, God had promised that Israel would be carried
captive for seventy years. In spite
of these ominous signs, Jeremiah trusted God’s word and bought a piece of land
in anticipation of Israel’s future restoration.
The faith the prophet had was a result of his rejoicing in God’s
creative glory: Jer. 32:
16 Now when I had delivered the
evidence of the purchase unto Baruch the son of Neriah, I prayed unto the LORD,
saying, 17 Ah Lord GOD! behold,
thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out
arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee.
May we rejoice before God with wonder and
adoration for, He is able to bring His promises to pass.
As we read and study God’s word, let us remember all
the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by
us. (2Cor.1:20)
Glorify
God and Be Thankful
It
is the conviction of this writer that it is imperative we give much
consideration to this portion of our study.
The essence of all sin is found in the fact that, Rom.1:21when
they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful.
This is why the wrath of God is revealed from heaven (Rom.1:18)
We
should give God glory because we see His handiwork in all creation (Ps.19:1-3).
The creation is an extremely loud testimony to His eternal power and
Godhead (Rom.1:20). As we
contemplate the fact that God is our omnipotent creator, we should exult in Him
by giving Him glory for all He is and thanking Him for all He has done. Our gratitude should spring from our knowledge that Jas.1:
17 Every good gift and every
perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom
is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
When the truths
of the glory of God sink into our hearts, we then see that God is
glorified by taking “pleasure in the prosperity of his servant.”
(Ps.35:27) This being so, it is even easier to accept the truthfulness
of the saying: (Rom 8:28 KJV) And
we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them
who are the called according to his purpose.
When we look at the wonderful fact that our lives are so arranged by
God that we would receive the richest of His blessings and be fitted to His
glory, we must thank Him. Only when
we see that our sovereign, loving creator uses every circumstance of life
for this purpose can we give thanks in everything. May God help us to exult in God and glorify Him by heeding
the admonition: (1 Th 5:18 KJV)
In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus
concerning you.
As I write these words, I seem to hear the objection, “How can I rejoice in humility? Does not humility then become pride?” This is a very good observation for one to make. However, the rejoicing that I speak of is not the rejoicing of the man who says, “See how great I am? I am great because of my humility!” Most of us know of some professing Christian who seems to take great pleasure in claiming that they are “the least of the least of the least!” This is obviously not true humility. Neither is it something to rejoice in but, rather, to be repented of. Such is not humility but a form of pride that seeks attention for self.
The humility in which we are to rejoice is the humility that looks away form ourselves and looks to God and His greatness. This is the humility David rejoiced in when he wrote: Ps. 8:1 To the chief Musician upon Gittith, A Psalm of David. O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens. 2 Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger. 3 When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; 4 What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? 5 For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour. 6 Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet. This is a humility that says, “ As I view the universe around me, and the creator who is so exalted and great, I cannot understand why such a God would ever think about me.” This humility is seeing our insignificance contrasted with God’s greatness as well as seeing our wickedness contrasted with God’s holiness (Isa. 6:1-8). The exulting which results from this is the joy that we have in the fact that God still considers us and loves us in spite of ourselves. Far from being a man exalting pride, it is a God honouring delight in the fact that God has chosen to be gracious to us. It is not our declaring our worthiness but, a declaration of our unworthiness and the exaltation of the gracious and loving creator who has seen fit to extend His goodness to us. Consider Ps.40:17 But I am poor and needy; yet the Lord thinketh upon me. What a wonderful thing to rejoice in! The fact that God, though He be high, has respect to the lowly (Ps.138:6).
May God help us to exult in His creative glory by adoring, glorifying and thanking Him, as well as rejoicing in the fact that God condescends to think upon us.