The issue of God’s happiness can make or break this theology that I have been presenting. If God is so self-centered that He has no inclination whatsoever to love His creation, then the theology that I have been presenting must be rejected, for scripture affirms that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. Also, if God is an egomaniac and out of reach, then it is useless to pursue our pleasure and happiness in Him; it is the vanities of vanities. So, is God for us or for Himself? In answering this question we will discover the foundation for worship.
The Bible is full of commands to praise the Lord. God commands it because it is the ultimate goal in all He does (2 Thess 1:10) Three times in Ephesians we see this great aim-
Ephesians 1:5-6 He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.
Ephesians 1:11-12 also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, 12 to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory. 13 In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation-- having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, 14 who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, to the praise of His glory.
These verses are in reference to salvation, and we have three specific things that God has done for the specific purpose of the praise of His glory.
1. Out of the kind intention of His will He predestined us to adoption to the praise of the glory of his grace.
Here, our being predestined to adoption was done in order that the glory displayed in God’s grace may bring Him praise from His redeemed people. Our election is a grounds for praising God.
According to these verses, divine initiative comes first, then we have the human response that is a result of God’s election.
2. Our hope in Christ is to the praise of His glory.
God, as a result of our election, has given us an inheritance through the Son. He works out all things according to the counsel of His will. This working all things out according to His will has one end in mind. That we who first hoped in Christ would give him praise for all he has done.
3. His giving us the Holy Spirit is to the praise of His glory.
Our sealing of the Spirit, who was given to us as a down payment guarantying the rest of our inheritance through the Son, was for the praise of His glory.
What we have in these verses is the role of the trinity in our salvation. The work of each person in the Godhead was meant to bring about the praise of His people. The Father’s election and predestining of us; the Son’s redemption and giving of hope; the Spirit’s sealing and being given as a pledge
In all of the different ways that God has chosen to display His glory in creation and redemption, it seems to reach its pinnacle and culmination in the praise of His redeemed people. God governs this world so that He may be admired, exalted, and praised. Again, John Piper says,
“The climax of his happiness is the delight he takes in the echoes of his excellence in the praises of the saints.”
First, none of us like people who seem to be enamored with themselves. Why don’t we like people like this? Because of their arrogance, and because they are inauthentic. They are what one author calls “second-handers”. In other words, they do not live for the joy that comes through achieving what they value for its own sake. Rather, they live in a second hand manner from the compliments of others. They have one eye on what they are doing and the other on their audience. We can’t stand people like this. We admire those who are secure enough that they do not need to try to manipulate for approval or compliments.
Therefore, any teaching that puts God in the position of a second hander has to be rejected. Does this theology put God in this positions?
One thing we must realize is that God has no weakness of deficiency in Himself that would cause Him to try to seek man’s approval or manipulate for complements. Consider these two verses.
Romans 11:36 For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.
Acts 17:25 nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things;
All that exists owes its existence to God. No one can add anything to Him or take anything away from Him. Therefore, God’s passion to seek His own glory and to be praised by men cannot be because of a need to compensate for some deficiency in Himself. Therefore, there must be some other way to explain the superficial similarity between God and the second handers.
The second reason some people have trouble with what I am talking about is that the Bible teaches us not to be this way. In speaking about love, Paul says "it does not seek its own" (1 Cor. 13:5). How can God be loving and yet be so devoted to seeking His own praise and glory? How can He be for us if He is so overwhelmingly for Himself?
At first glance, this seems to be a contradiction. But think of it this way: If God is indeed unique as an omni-glorious, self-sufficient being, He must be for Himself if he is to be for us! In other words, the rules of humility that apply to the creatures cannot apply in the same way to the creator. If God were to turn away from Himself as the source of joy, He would cease to be God. He would in essence be denying the worth of His own glory. He would therefore be implying that there is something more valuable outside Himself. In other words, God would commit idolatry. We must come to see that God is love precisely because He relentlessly pursues the praises of His name in the hearts of His people.
I want to ask one last question: What could God give us to enjoy that would prove that He is the most loving being in existence? There is only one possible answer- Himself! Let's go back to John 3:16. For God so loved the world He gave His only begotten Son! The one scripture that seems to contradict this theology is actually the culmination of it. God gave us Himself- He revealed Himself through the Word and gave us access to Himself through the incarnation, death, and resurrection of the Son! If God withholds Himself, no matter what else He ever gives us, He would not be all loving. Since He is the uppermost in His affections, the best things that He could give us to show how much He loves us is Himself!
Let's bring this back around to the topic of praise. What do you and I do with things that we love or admire? We praise it! Our joy over something is not complete until we can praise it. In the expression of praise we find the fullest joy over what we are admiring. Jesus said He wanted our joy to be full. So if God loves us enough to make our joy full, He must not only give us Himself, He must also win the praise of our hearts. The reason He does this is so our joy can be full. Only by expressing our praise to God can we ever find fullness of joy!
God is the only being in the universe for whom seeking His own praise is the ultimate of loving acts. For God, His own self exaltation is the highest virtue. When God does all things for the praise of His glory, He preserves for us and offers to us the only thing which can satisfy the longings of our heart. God is indeed for us! And the foundation of this love is that God is for Himself.
So, let us summarize what we have talked about in these first three post on worship:
Because God is absolutely sovereign, He is never frustrated. He rejoices in all of His work as He contemplates them in the context of redemptive history. He is an unshakably happy God. This happiness is the delight that He has in Himself. Before creation He was rejoicing in the glory of the image of His Son. Then, this joy of God “went public” in the works of creation and redemption. The reason these works delight the heart of God is because they reflect His glory. Thus, all of these works are to culminate in the praises of His people. As Piper says “The climax of his happiness is the delight he takes in the echoes of his excellence in the praises of the saints”. This praise of ours is the consummation of our own joy in God. Thus, God’s pursuit of praise from us and our pursuit of pleasure in Him are the same pursuit.
Let me wrap this up with some application points.
1. Praise should be a daily activity in every activity. How many of us are intentional about incorporating praise into our prayers? More specifically, how many of us are in the mental habit of praising God throughout the day? Charles Spurgeon once said,
"Praise cannot be a second-class business; for it is evidently due to God, and that in a very high degree."
2. Our lack of praise shows our lack of joy in God. We praise those things in which we delight. If our joy is full in God, our worship will express itself with exuberant joy and praise to God. When our worship and praise are stale or rote or lifeless, it is because we are not delighting in the glory of God. When we are not delighting in the glory of God by finding our joy in Him, God will not be glorified in our midst. He takes no pleasure in heartless rhetorical praise and worship. He wants to set our hearts ablaze by us delighting in His glory.
3. Our lack of praise shows our lack of understanding of God. One of the reasons we fail in heartfelt praise is that we have not grasped the truths about God that have been presented. Indeed, how can we praise something if we do not understand it? The more we understand the fact that God delights in His glory and has, through redemption, called us to share in that glory so that we may praise Him, we cannot help but throw ourselves head long into praise to our creator and redeemer.
4. Our lack of praise shows our lack of appreciation for God: We praise those things that are full of value and worth to us. The measure of your praise show the measure of value and worth you place on God. If our praise is stale, lifeless, or even non-existent, it is because we have failed to see the infinite worth of God. Our vision is blurred by ourselves, sin, or ignorance. It is only through the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit that we can come to see the infinite worth of God.
5. Praise is in this life is practice for the next. It would be fitting for us to learn the essentials of praise by practicing thanksgiving, adoration, reverence, and joy-felt exuberance as a manifestation of our love to God, so that when we awake in heave, we might take our place around the throne and say something like this,
"I have been practicing all these years for this incredible moment! I have praised God in the midst of a sin sick world, full of heartache, pain, suffering, and disappointment. Yet now I can take up this endeavor with an unhindered view of God and sing to Him more sweetly now than I have every before.”
"I shall never praise my Lord in Heaven more sincerely than I often praise him now, when my mouth cannot speak for the overfloodings of my soul’s delight in my God. Who hath taken me up out of the horrible pit and out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings, and put a new song into my mouth. The deep obligations of every day overwhelm me with indebtedness; I cannot but praise my God, when I think of dire necessities perpetually supplied, multiplied sin continually pardoned, wretched infirmity greatly helped.”