Is Satan Blinding You From God’s Glory?

I was recently in a Sunday morning worship service and the praise band led in Holy Song, the chorus of which goes “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty. Worthy, worthy, worthy. All of the earth is full of Your glory.” I was ok until they got to that last line. We live on a fallen earth. In fact, we are told that “The god who rules this world [Satan] has blinded the minds of unbelievers. They cannot see the light, which is the good news about our glorious Christ, who shows what God is like. (2 Corinthians 4:4 CEV). If Satan is the god of this earth, how can the still earth be full of God’s glory? But the minds of believers have not been blinded.

Note that this scripture refers to Satan as the ruler of this world. He rules, but unlike God, his time as ruler is limited. He is allowing Satan to rule this world for a time. Revelation 11:15 reads “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever.” God is going to take back His world and Satan will be vanquished.

Seek. The mind is a wonderful thing. As I was contemplating God’s glory it occurred to me that you find what you’re looking for. I enjoy word search puzzles.The key to finding the hidden words is to focus on one word at a time. It’s the same with a car. I once rented a Dodge Caliber. I was unfamiliar with this vehicle, but suddenly I saw them everywhere. Even though we live in a fallen world we can see God’s glory if we are looking for it. As Jesus once said “Seek and you will find” (Matthew 7:7). So what is it we are looking for when we seek God’s glory?

Falsehoods. In I Peter 2, the apostle discusses the appearance of false prophets. In reading this chapter one can see graphic descriptions of the falsehoods that will be taught and the ultimate destruction of these false teachers. I suggest reading that chapter to grasp the suffering and destruction of these so-called prophets and teachers. At this point, we are seeing, not God’s Glory, but God’s destruction upon those who do not believe in Him. Moving into Chapter 3 we see hope. We see that God’s glory is here all along.

The day of the Lord will come. We do not know when but we must remember that God is timeless. I am somewhat reminded of the tagline to the TV show Candid Camera. “Don’t be surprised if sometime, somewhere, someplace when you least expect it, someone steps up to you and says ‘Smile, you’re on Candid Camera !” Jesus will return, in all His glory when we least expect it.

His coming will usher in a new heaven and a new earth. Suppose you’re out hiking and you find something in the dirt. You pick it up and it just seems like a dirty, ordinary rock. But you scrape the dirt off and see that there is something more than just a rock. Upon cleaning it up, you discover a precious gemstone. This is a poor analogy to the coming of God’s new heaven and earth. It is here among us but it is hidden. One glorious day, it will be fully revealed. Meanwhile, we get occasional glimpses of the fullness of God’s glory.

Glory to God. Seeing that God’s Glory is all around us, we as Christians are told to give God the Glory. In I Corinthians 1:31 we are told to glorify or honor God in everything “When you eat or drink or do anything else, always do it to honor God.” Jesus told the Pharisees who bid Him to rebuke His disciples ““I tell you, if these stop speaking, the stones will cry out!.” Luke 19:40. Do you get it? We are to be part of God’s Glory here on earth. But it doesn’t stop there. We will be proclaiming His Glory in Heaven. Revelation 14:17 (CEV) “Worship and honor God! The time has come for him to judge everyone. Kneel down before the one who created heaven and earth, the oceans, and every stream.” No doubt, our worship will intensify when we see Him in our eternal home.

Although these scriptures tell us to glorify Him, how do we do that? This is one of those topics that if you research it, you’ll find innumerable lists of how to glorify God. I think there are five broad ways we can glorify Him.

First, we should love Him and Know Him. Think back to the time when you were dating or in a new relationship. You yearned to know more about them. As you got to know them better your love likely intensified. We know God by spending time with Him in prayer and reading His biography – the Bible.

Second, we should confess our sins before Him. In our human relationships, when we have wronged a friend, we want to set things right by confessing our wrongs. We want to restore the relationship. Our relationship with God needs restoration.

Third, we should forgive others. Ephesians 4:32 (CEV) reads “be kind and merciful, and forgive others, just as God forgave you because of Christ.” For more on forgiveness, see my recent blog, https://liftupmyeyes.com/forgive-as-i-have-forgiven-you/

Fourth, we should practice spiritual disciplines. There are numerous lists of what constitutes a spiritual discipline. Obviously, prayer and Bible study (as already cited) are at the top of the list. But we can add worship and sharing Christ, We can give of our time, talents, and resources. We can examine our lives to see if the fruits of the Spirit are present in our lives.

Fifth, having a thankful spirit, giving God praise for all He has done for us, will glorify God. This extends to our relationships with others. In Matthew 25:40 (CEV), Jesus spoke “Whenever you did it for any of my people, no matter how unimportant they seemed, you did it for me.”

Where do you see God’s Glory?

All scripture is from the NASB unless otherwise indicated.

Photo credits to NoName_13, BarbaraJackson, and Jeff Jacobs 1990 on Pixabay.