God’s Glory and Grace: Beyond Guilt, Shame, and Fear

Abstract

Meditate for a few moments on these words of life that spur us to worship our Lord:   The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. (Psalm 19:1-4a, NIV)   These beautiful words stir the soul, and they also remind us of an important truth: In every place and in every culture, God’s glory has been revealed. As Barnabas and Paul pointed out to the crowds in Lystra, “God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them . . . permitted all the nations to go their own ways; and yet He did not leave Himself without witness . . .” (Acts 14:15b-17a, NASB). Sadly, though, in every place and in every culture, every human has rejected God’s glory. Paul later wrote to the Roman believers, “. . . since the creation of the world [God’s] invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made . . .” (Romans 1:20, NASB). But tragically, “though [men] knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image . . . they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator . . .” (Romans 1:21-23, 25, NASB). Because human beings are created in the image of God, vestiges of our God-ward orientation remain in every culture – but they have been corrupted by sin and Satan and used by Satan to deceive the hearts of those who need Christ.