God of our salvation, help us—for the glory of your name. Rescue us and atone for our sins, for your name’s sake. 79:9
There is no doubt that God loves the world. The bible says that “God is love,” and that He sent His son because He “so loved the world.” However, it is not primarily because of love that God saves us—it is for His glory. There is nothing in us that demands His action; no good in us that moves Him to pity us. While God desires that “none should perish and that all should come to repentance,” it is not His great love for us that motivated Him to rescue us and atone for our sins. It was for His name’s sake.
God deserves the honor and glory for everything He has ever done. This includes His creation and sustaining of the world. He deserves the honor and glory for the way that He has moved throughout history and for all of His incredible attributes. Yet, there is no greater demonstration of His glory than the death of Jesus at Calvary. This was the pinnacle of the greatest story ever told; when the Son of God willingly left His abode in Heaven and humbled Himself to become a servant—even a servant unto death on a cross. Then in magnificent splendor, He rose from the dead having defeated sin, death, Hell, and Satan and ascended into heaven to sit at the right hand of the Father. John put it like this, “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:14
Today, there is nothing that brings more glory to God than when He rescues a pitiful sinner like you or me for His glory. It is Jesus who atoned for us on the cross, it is the Father who calls us to Himself, and it is the Holy Spirit who works in us to reveal the truth to us and draw us to the Father. From beginning to end it is all a work of God and it is all for His glory. We are recipients of grace and in many ways, we are living, breathing demonstrations of His grace to the world. If God can take a worthless, dead sinner like me and breathe spiritual life into him then God can do anything. I deserve no pat on the back for all the grace that has been shown to me. The giver of grace is the one who gets the glory, and the greatest way I can bring more glory to Jesus is to share His gospel with other dead sinners so they too can become living demonstrations of His grace and His glory. Think about that.
