At the January quarterly members meeting, the elders presented the PBF Identity Statement, which is based upon a statement that has been on our website since the earliest days of our congregation. It expounds upon what it means that we are God-centered, Bible-focused, and gospel-driven.
We want this statement to be well understood as it will serve to remind us who we are as a church, what our priorities are, and what we want to be about. It provides both a sense of identity and direction for the church.
In the coming weeks, the elders will post articles explaining each component of this statement. The first paragraph reads:
“WE ARE GOD-CENTERED because we believe that the Triune God has sovereignly worked all things in human history for His own glory. That is, every event from creation to consummation has been accomplished by God to reveal Himself. Because we love Him, we are motivated to celebrate Him as the reason for our existence and to glorify Him in everything we do.”
God has done all things for His own glory, that is, to reveal and exalt Himself.
He created all things for His own glory. Genesis 1 is clear that God created all things. The creation functions ultimately to declare God’s glory. Psalm 19:1: The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Psalm 97:6: The heavens proclaim his righteousness, and all the peoples see his glory. Paul teaches in Romans 1:20 that God’s invisible attributes—His eternal power and divine nature—are clearly perceived in the things that have been made by Him.
He rules and sustains all things for His own glory. God is not the god of deism, merely creating all things and setting in motion natural processes that run independent of him. Rather, He perpetually reigns and sustains, upholding all things in existence (Heb 1:3). Those passages that speak of the watering of the earth and it’s bringing forth produce, display God’s active role in these things. For example, Psalm 65:9-11: You visit the earth and water it; you greatly enrich it; the river of God is full of water; you provide their grain, for so you have prepared it. You water its furrows abundantly, settling its ridges, softening it with showers, and blessing its growth. You crown the year with your bounty; your wagon tracks overflow with abundance. Likewise, Psalm 147:15-18: He sends out his command to the earth; his word runs swiftly. He gives snow like wool; he scatters frost like ashes. He hurls down his crystals of ice like crumbs; who can stand before his cold? He sends out his word, and melts them; he makes his wind blow and the waters flow. See also, Psalm 135:6-7 and Job 37:6-13. And what does this sustaining work accomplish? Ultimately, it reveals God, or glorifies Him: Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure (Psa. 147:5).
He judges for His own glory. Fallen sinners and angels deserve to be punished for their rebellion against the holiness of God. The judgment of God shows Him to be just and righteous. Psalm 7:11: God is a righteous judge, and a God who feels indignation every day. In a world rampant with evil and injustice, the assurance that there is an eternal, omnipotent judge should bring joy to the hearts of those who know Him: Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon earth (Psa. 67:4). Throughout history God has brought temporal judgment upon the wicked, but He has promised a day when all the wicked will be cast into the lake of fire. Accordingly, Revelation 14:7 reads, “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come, and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.”
He saves for His own glory. Paul writes in Ephesians 1:11–12: In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. Later in Ephesians 2:7, we’re taught that our salvation in Christ was for the purpose of displaying the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness toward us. In Ephesians 3:10, the apostle explains how God’s saving work in Christ displays His own wisdom to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. No wonder Paul concludes that section of the letter with, “To him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen” (Eph. 3:21). All this echoes the Old Testament theme, “For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it, for how should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another” (Isa 48:11).
He sanctifies for His own glory. A classic text regarding our godliness bringing glory to God comes from the lips of Christ Himself. Matthew 5:16: “…let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” In Philippians 1:11, Paul prays that the recipients would be “filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.”
He glorifies for His own glory. On the last day, when the Lord Jesus returns to take us to Himself, our transformation into His likeness in character and conduct will be instantaneously completed. Further, we will receive perfect, immortal, incorruptible physical bodies. This is what we call our glorification. Even this—our glorification—is ultimately for His glory. 2 Thessalonians 1:10 refers to the last day—the day of our glorification—as the day “when He comes to be glorified in His saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed…” In Revelation 21:9, an angel says to John, “Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.” John is then carried away to the holy city Jerusalem, which earlier verses reveal IS the bride of Christ, the glorified church. God is so glorified in the church that it is describes as the holy city, “having the glory of God” (Rev. 21:11). The glorified church has become an eternal vehicle for the revelation and exaltation of God.
God has done all things for His own glory. Accordingly, the Bible—indeed, all human history and creation—is intensely God-centered. Our love for Him moves us to say, “Amen!” to this reality, to rejoice that we exist for His glory, and to maintain Him at the center of everything we do as individuals and as a local expression of the church.
The practical ways in which our God-centeredness is manifested will be discussed in coming articles. For now, let us glory in His glory and organize all our lives, thoughts, and affections around Him.
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