Do you agree with this statement?
“God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him.”
Why or why not?
God Is Most Glorified When...
Discussion in 'Baptist Theology & Bible Study' started by InTheLight, Oct 4, 2014.
Page 1 of 2
-
InTheLight Well-Known MemberSite Supporter
-
-
InTheLight Well-Known MemberSite Supporter
-
In other words... I'm all in on this one. -
InTheLight Well-Known MemberSite Supporter
OK, got it.
At first glance it sounds like a wonderful axiom, but there are Biblical examples that seem to contradict it. Job comes to mind. The apostle Paul.
I also wonder about describing our relationship with God as being satisfying. Matthew 10:22 comes to mind:
And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But he who endures to the end will be saved -
Even persecution is a delight when your delight is in God... the greatest "thing" there is thus the greatest delight to have. No better joy than joy in God. God giving himself as a gift means that the best way to glorify the gift and the giver (the same in this case) is to enjoy that gift. -
InTheLight Well-Known MemberSite Supporter
-
By the testimony of his perseverance in adversity? -
-
Do you think John Bunyan was shut off from his calling and mission in the Bedford jail all those years? No way. God was singularly glorified in J.B's privations. -
“God is most glorified in us when he works out his will in our surrendered lives.”
*********
Nothing against you Greektim but I hated Pipers book, Desiring God, and his phrase "Christian Hedonism".
I followed his thoughts and could bend my mind to understanding the idea, but in my mind, the two go together as smoothly as "'holy prostitution".
Rob -
Or if you understand your surrender to be qualified by utter joy and desire fulfilled in God, then yes.
You think the terms "Christian Hedonism" doesn't go together or the concepts of desiring God doesn't go together?
I think he is spot on by refining the catechism "the chief end of man is to glorify God by enjoying him forever."
I've been reading Edwards lately, which Piper admits influenced his thinking. But Edwards put things in such a way as to make it uncontestable, at least to me. -
The Biblicist Well-Known MemberSite Supporter
-
Self help, anyone?
I think you miss the point. When we are most satisfied in God (i.e. God is our greatest treasure; if all we have is God we have all we need) then God has worked in us both to will and to do his good pleasure. The greatest expression of glory is delight or pleasure or satisfaction in someone. When you give a gift to your child, the "thank you" is not the proof of thanks but the pleasure in the gift... the enjoyment... that the child plays with it with utter, sheer delight. God has given the greatest gift in the universe: the gift of himself. When we delight ourselves in the Lord (Ps 37:4; a command mind you), we are expressing in the greatest way supreme praise to the supreme God. There is no higher expression of praise than delight. Therefore, God is most highly glorified in us when we are most filled with joy and express that in delight in him. -
The Biblicist Well-Known MemberSite Supporter
The way this reads is about OUR SATISFACTION in him rather than HIS SATISFACTION in him as you interpret rather than quote it.
Yes, God is most satisfied in us when His will is realized in us (philip. 2:13). Our joy is the consequence not the cause of His satisfaction in us.
If your paraphrase is what was intended, then of course I would not have responded as I did. -
I know the real quotation and believe it whole-heartedly. The highest expression of praise we can give to God is when our delight is in him as our supreme delight. When we desire God above all else, that is when God is most glorified in our lives.
And that is what Christian hedonism is all about. We are creatures of desire. To deny that is to deny our humanity. After all, God is a God of desire. He desires his own glory as the greatest and last end of everything. When we match that desire, the glory of God, we best express that in our satisfaction or treasuring of God. -
The Biblicist Well-Known MemberSite Supporter
"God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him.”
The whole issue as I see it is between who is being satisfied and what it is that glorifies, as that determines whether or not He is really glorified? Our satisfaction in Him may or may not satisfy or glorify Him. -
-
The Biblicist Well-Known MemberSite Supporter
-
I think God will be most glorified in us when we are glorified in the image of the glorified Jesus.
Page 1 of 2