Our Glory is His Further Glory

Some time ago I watched this video about how various characters in the Bible are "types" of Christ, like how Isaac being offered as a sacrifice was a picture of Christ dying on the cross for our sins. The point of the video was to demonstrate how Jesus is the better fulfillment. However, at the very end of the video he says something obscure, "The Bible isn't about you." I hear other phrases like this, "Life isn't about you" or "Christian, the Church doesn't exist for you." If the "Bible wasn't about us," then why should we read it? Where does it ever say that in the Bible? (I can find quite a bit of evidence to the contrary). These phrases have a nice way of sounding "spiritual," but the problem with these mantras, is that they perpetuate the enemy's lies of insignificance, false condemnation, self-hatred, and purposelessness -- which feeds the very attitudes Jesus has come to eradicate. Too much of the Church believes this because they live under a religious spirit that poses as god -- making them feel horrible all the time and never truly receiving the Father's love, forgiveness, and acceptance of them. I understand that the church is trying to respond to a cultural attitude which is self-absorbed, self-idolizing, and dishonoring of God and His Word. However, the proper response to this does not involve agreeing with a lie that says we are nothing and only God is anything. This is super-spiritual and religious. If this were so, then God would never have made mankind. He would never have sent HIs Son. He would have existed by Himself and only for Himself. But love and grace are giving. They impart a worth that is undeserved -- a worth that doesn't disappear the moment we receive it, so we can become slaves all over again. It might seem counterintuitive to present to a selfish person their worth and significance, but I would suggest to you that the reason people are selfish is because they don't understand how much God truly loves them. They are orphaned in their hearts and desperately grasping for anything in life out of fear and terror that what they value will be taken at any moment, not knowing that what the Father has for them is unending in generosity and grace. Of course there is a bigger picture that God has in mind and all the stories in the Bible are typological of Christ. Our lives are as well -- as living epistles (2 Cor. 3:2). Of course all glory, honor, and power will ultimately go to Jesus. However, the balanced response is to communicate His perfect love and acceptance to the world (and the Church for that matter) -- the identity and significance which Jesus has paid for by His own blood -- to be sons of the living God. "Behold what manner of love the Father has given unto us, that we should be called the sons of God." I don't think an artist would think he was being honored if you said that his work was "nothing" but "the artist is really something." Emphasizing the significance and value that the Father places on each one of us doesn't diminish the glory that belongs to Jesus. It does, in fact, amplify it. So, don't go beyond what is written. "God, your thoughts about me are priceless. No one can possibly add them all up. If I could count them, they would be more than the grains of sand." (Ps. 139:17,18a)

. God's purpose is not merely his own glory (apart from any glory to mankind), but ALSO the glorification of his sons, which furthers His own glory -- we will be glorified with Him (Roman 8:17-19; 1 Corinthians 2:7). This isn't idolatry, because giving glory or honor isn't the same as worship (Hebrew 2:7). We are certainly not the center of worship, but we are at the center of His affections and love. And the Bible is about (not just "for") mankind, and God's plan unfolding through their history, and still is unfolding (of course to His ultimate glory). We have to be careful not to overcorrect, as I stated before. The subtle lies of the enemy are exposed by the fruit that they bring in people's lives. The original statements carry a spiritual atmosphere whose fruit is very clear: it distances people from the Bible, relationship with God and His identity over them, and relationship with the Church. When people agree with false humility and a false identity over themselves, it leaves them impotent to the struggles of life, unable to overcome them because they don't know who they truly are and the Father's identity and perspective (which is true humility). The Truth will set you free to experience the love of God, the "living and active" nature of the Scriptures, and bring you closer into relational community with people who love God "because He first loved us."