Isaiah 42:8 - The Primacy of Divine Glory

Isaiah 42:8

I am the Lord, that is My name; 

I will not give My glory to another,

Nor My praise to graven images.

Message: The Primacy of Divine Glory

Time: Isaiah prophesied from 739–681 BC to a nation that had turned a deaf ear to the Lord. He wanted to see the nation of Judah return to serving God with humility and love for their neighbors. But he was called to pronounce judgments to on a people offering meaningless sacrifices in the Temple and committing injustices throughout the nation. It provides the most prophetic picture of Jesus in the entire Old Testament.

What the Lord is Saying: Today I begin this last set of studies in a series of studies of key biblical doctrines celebrating the 500th year of the Reformation, on To God Alone Be the Glory. It seems appropriate in my faith journey to do this study because these are thoughts that I have been considering lately, namely that everything in life is for God's glory. Everything is for Him. And in my quest each day to follow I Timothy 4:7-8 to "Train myself for Godliness for physical training is of some value but Godliness has value for all things, both in this life and the life to come," in this desire to train myself for Godliness I am seeing more and more that it His glory that is ultimately what life is about. And yet we live in our world where we are being trained to please self and personal value is the ultimate good. 

Today's lesson begins with the premise that God and man are similar but also different. They share attributes but they also do not share attributes. This can be described as communicable and incommunicable attributes of God. Communicable being attributes that are shared with human beings, incommunicable being attributes that are distinct and cannot be shared with human beings. And so this begins the problem of self-centered man. I am immediately reminded of a song that came out by a group formed by one of my favorite late 80s Christian artists, Steve Taylor, and his group Chagall Guevara and the song, "Play God." The song had a chorus of, "And you still play God, how'd you get so good?" The gall that humans have and continue to have to elevate themselves to a level of playing God. 

Examples of communicable attributes, realizing the list is long, are:

• Spirit
• Personal
• Good 
• Holy
• Love 
• Truthful
• Wise
• Mercy

The idea is that in all of these attributes of God, man has a similar attribute, though it obviously is not as perfect as the attribute of God. For example, in regards to Spirit, John 4;24 says, "God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” The Bible also teaches that we are made in the image of God. Proverbs 20:27 teaches, "The human spirit is the lamp of the Lord that sheds light on one’s inmost being." Man possesses a spirit but his spirit is not divine in nature. Our spirit is able to be in prayer with God's Holy Spirit. I Corinthians 6:17 says, "But whoever is united with the Lord is one with him in spirit." 

Examples of incommunicable attributes are: 

• Sovereign
• Omnipotent
• Omniscient
• Omnipresent
• Transcendent
• Immanent
• Immutable
• Infinite
• Eternal

Here is the notion that I think we as humans have the most difficulty grasping and accepting at times and that is God is different and we are not God and we do not possess these attributes nor can we. Believing and accepting these attributes sets the believer apart from the non-believer. One notable example for me is Omniscient. God knows everything of the past, present, and future. God knows everything actual and potential. That's a big thought for us. Yes, we learn from the past, but God knows the future and knows the potential of what will happen and that in itself helps Him to orchestrate the events of today. Proverbs 15:3, "The eyes of the Lord are everywhere, keeping watch on the wicked and the good." Psalm 139:4, "Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely." So God knows even my thoughts. This knowledge can give us peace that God knows, though we do not, He knows and we can trust Him. 

One more pivotal and supreme communicable attribute of God is His Glory. I Corinthians 12:7 describes man as the glory of God. "A man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God; but woman is the glory of man." And yet today's verse, Isaiah 42:8 also shows us that God's glory is incommunicable in some respects. This verse and the preceding verses in Isaiah has to do with salvation. In God working salvation for us--His glory will not be shared. In other words, God gets all the glory in our salvation. "I am the Lord, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another." 

This is a concept that is often in dispute by many in religion who often thing salvation is shared, God does one part, man another, but in my study and understanding of scripture, it is God alone that gets all the glory in our salvation. It is precious to Him alone. 

As such, the highest aim of everything God does is for His own glory. “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31) Everything that is done in my life is for His glory. Psalm 19:1, "The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands."

Summary: Everything God does is for His Own Glory and to be a true servant of God is to seek His glory.

Promise: There is a glory that belongs to God alone, that existed before all things, and that is the reason for all things. We are called to point our friends and family to that glory by what we say and by what we do. 

Prayer: O Lord, you are to be glorified and I glorify You. Thank you for your perfect way and giving us some of your attributes as well as staying distinct and different from us. Thank you for these truths and helping me understand them.