Soli Deo Gloria
Not too long ago I was at a bar-b-que and during the usual conversation at such things couldn’t help but pay attention to the song playing in the background. At first I thought it was the music of a popular gospel choir I’m familiar with. But what really caught my attention was the words and theme of the song. Basically the song was about me, my blessing and in essence my expectation of the good life. Following that I decided to take a morning to tune into my local praise inspirational station. I was treated to much more of the same. Most of the songs I listened to for two hours or so were about my blessing and my prosperity‘. In fact the title of one number was ‘My Name Is Victory’.
If one can tell the focus of a people from their music then it’s pretty clear that the theme of some if not much of the church today is ‘it’s all about me’. Not one of the songs I heard spoke of the character, nature, ways and saving actions of the living God as expressed in the Person and work of Jesus Christ. Moreover, very little mention was made of Christ death and sacrifice for us on the cross. I’m not sure when we replaced the worship of the Covenant God and began to adore ourselves, our victory, our conquests and our prosperity, but I do know that existing for His glory is the inevitable casualty once we embrace man centered and man driven theology.
Our final sola is ‘To God Along Be The Glory’. And once more from The Cambridge Declaration of the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals this sola affirms:
that because salvation is of God and has been accomplished by God, it is for God's glory and that we must glorify him always. We must live our entire lives before the face of God, under the authority of God and for his glory alone.
We deny that we can properly glorify God if our worship is confused with entertainment, if we neglect either Law or Gospel in our preaching, or if self-improvement, self-esteem or self-fulfillment are allowed to become alternatives to the gospel.
What does that mean for us in worship and life? In short it means that all that we do in worship is specifically designed to throw the light and weight on the character, nature, ways and actions of the living God as expressed fully through the person and work of Jesus Christ for our eternal salvation. It means that what we pray, sing, read, sing, confess, sing, preach and yes sing must speak of His uniqueness, supremacy, majesty, holiness, sovereignty, righteousness, justice, grace, love, compassion, mercy, faithfulness, wrath and forgiveness. It means that we refuse to view worship as a way to manipulate God to get what we really want, but instead approach and participate in the worship of the living God as an end in and of itself.
And its worship that’s oriented toward God’s glory that can lead to a lifestyle focused on God’s glory. It is a lifestyle that refuses to idolize the things of this world such as wealth, achievement, comfort, entertainment and pride, but prizes the work of the Spirit in our lives to showcase God’s glory. Living for God’s glory means that we take Him, His word, His worship, His will, His salvation and His Son seriously. His glory moves us to follow Christ by the pathway of the cross and thus to rejoice in the hope of God’s glory and also in our sufferings. It is a life in which above all things we want those around us, our culture and society to see the evidence of His holiness, goodness, grace, righteousness, sovereignty, beauty and love.
For Christ, His Church and the Truth
Lance Lewis