Thoughts on the Sermon, “God is Glorious – So We Do Not Have to Fear Others or Seek Approval from Others” Exodus 33:12-23

Thoughts on the Sermon, “God is Glorious – So We Do Not Have to Fear Others or Seek Approval from Others” Exodus 33:12-23

by Vermon Pierre, Lead Pastor

1. David Harvey describes human being as “glory chasers.” We inherently seek after glory of some kind. The problem is that we tend to seek glory from people. We make choices and decisions based on our desire for their approval or our fear of their rejection. It’s an empty pursuit that inevitably leaves us dissatisfied, disappointed and frustrated. The Bible calls us to a much better glory – the glory of God. His is a glory that is infinitely greater and infinitely lasting.

2. God’s glory is tied to God himself (he is “Majestic Glory” Ps 29:3). And who is God? God is the one and only God of the cosmos, gracious and merciful with the sovereign right to be as gracious and merciful as he wants to be. He is a God who displays throughout the universe awe-inspiring mercy, power, and judgment.

3. The most vivid display of the glory of God in grace and mercy and judgment comes at the cross. There we see God in the person of Jesus Christ, displaying abundant grace and mercy and righteous judgment in order to save a people for his own glory.

4. Thus, God is glorious, he has revealed his glory in Jesus Christ, and by faith in Jesus we will no longer fall short of the glory of God (Rom 3:23) but instead share in and display his glory (1 Peter 5:10, 1 Thess 2:12, 2 Thess 2:14). In fact, even now, we can get the sense that we are steadily being transformed to display more and more of God’s glory (2 Cor 3:18). C.S. Lewis is right when he writes the following about man’s godly potential in the The Weight of Glory: “The dullest and most uninteresting person you talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare...There are no ‘ordinary’ people. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations -- these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub and exploit -- immortal horrors or everlasting splendors.”

5. It’s in view of all this that we can now see how silly it is for us to worry about what people think or don’t think about us. The gospel calls us to much greater things – indeed, to a much greater glory! As we understand in ever increasing depths the full awesomeness that is the gospel – as we see it, believe it, embrace, and shape our lives around it – we will be able to relate to people fully and gloriously, without fear or doubt but with majestic grace and truth and love.