Glory of God • Image of God Ep. 4

[Music] Thank you what does it mean to glorify God is it simply singing songs does it Somehow have to do with our behavior and Why is God so interested in his glory Somehow this all connects us back to the Theme that we've been talking about the Image of God everybody images God to Some humans do it really poorly and some Humans do it better so what does it mean To do it better and in the Bible then This is where the image of God overlaps With the theme and the vocabulary of Glory what it means to glorify someone Because that's what an image does We're going to talk about the glory of God in this episode of the podcast so Thanks for joining us Let's go [Music] We haven't recorded anything in a while But the last thing that was out was on The image of God and we we kind of Jumped into this conversation about The image of God versus glorifying God But we didn't set out to do that it just Kind of came out when I started asking About the Westminster catechism and yeah Yeah Um yeah it came out of the the image of God video Was exploring the idea that in Genesis 1 And 2 the image of God is God's Commissioning part of human's purpose to

Reflect and image God in our work and Family and life and how we make the World something right and then I was Wrestling with the fact that typically I've been told that the purpose of Humanity is to glorify God that's the Language used yeah and so I really kind Of pitted this idea of glorifying God Versus this idea of Imaging God which we Described as you know your your work and Your uh creativity and Um your role on Earth yeah Um and so you could leave that Conversation thinking okay these guys Are poo pooing yeah the this idea of Glorifying God yeah Yeah and then we got a great Comment some good thoughts from a friend Of ours shout out to Dan baber yeah Who's uh glorifying God on the other Side of the planet as uh as a missionary Yeah and he's awesome yeah and he had Some great comments about well you know Glorifying isn't just what we talked About it in part three of that podcast And the image of God just singing Praises right I think that's we identify Glorifying god with singing worship Songs yeah Um and so he just reminded us like man Look at the biblical vocabulary about Giving glory to God is also about Like behavior and how you live Uh like Paul says in First Corinthians

Whatever you do eating drinking whatever Do it for God's glory yeah that was a Good reminder it's a bigger picture So what I want to explore with you then Is let's let's talk about glorifying God Some more kind of really understand what That word means biblically but then Let's talk about in relationship with This idea of being the image of God yeah Um because I want to make sure that Those ideas are set on the table at the Same time and we're not hitting them Against each other yeah I think there Could be really interesting yeah really Interesting things to learn doing that That's right maybe even another theme Video Yeah that's what you said to me Coming in you're like maybe glorifying God's another theme video yeah so God's Glory uh that'd be awesome well yeah so As I thought about Dan's comments and Then our conversation from the podcast One way to think this is more about the Image of God as statues and so on so What we did in the video which is right Because I think it's what the word is Doing in Genesis 1. it's the word for Statue Idol statue uh image yes in Hebrew so think about it for an ancient King or like a god who portrayed himself As a king or claimed you as a king if You come across Pharaoh's statue at a City in Israel and you know you look at The Statue and that's supposed to both

Represent an image Pharaoh who's far Away but his image is here in your city But also it is a way of increasing Pharaoh's reputation or glorifying Pharaoh it's a way of bringing honor to Pharaoh And there's something in Genesis 1 using The vocabulary of image about humans is That humans by the ways that they do What they're doing in the world making Stuff that their existence is as a Pointer To Bear witness to the Creator and so on so Just the image of God isn't separate From glorifying God which we'll talk About what that word means but but it The point of an image is to point to a Reality of what it represents and so Even the vocabulary image of God builds Into the storyline that humans are meant To reflect something greater than Themselves and humans are really great I think maybe the point is that in some Christian Traditions we've Demoted humans from the high Position they're given in the biblical Story I think that's maybe that's the problem I run into is that when I hear someone Say you need to glorify God I think of I Need to get out of the way and I need to Aha Um acknowledge who God is and sing his

Praises tell other people about how Great he is but it's really about Removing me from the equation because I'm I'm screwed up and if you focus on Me and what I'm doing that's not Glorifying God that's glorifying myself Yes yeah how would you react to that Well I think it would be that in the Biblical story humans image God in how What they do but there is a more or less Faithful way to reflect God's image as You go about your work and days and how You treat people and whatever your Day-to-day tasks so everybody in images God to some humans do it really poorly And some humans do it better So what does it mean to do it better and In the Bible then this is where the Image of God overlaps with the theme and The vocabulary of Glory what it means to Glorify someone because that's what an Image does it brings honor and it points To the reality yeah if I walked into a City and there's this massive beautiful Statue of a king and it's it's this Overwhelming It's just huge Larger than Life yeah I'm Going to feel Like wow this is important this king's Important yes and this king must be Mighty because this took a lot of Might To build yes and this king must be Really smart and powerful and all these Things and so that statue by giving me

That impression is glorifying the king Yeah and that's what images do Yeah on a more mundane level think of Here in Portland John on 39th and Gleason the big roundabout there's the Statue of the Joan of Joan of Arc in the Middle of Portland yeah there's a Roundabout that has a golden a shiny Golden statue of Joan of Arc riding a Horse it's really remarkable come visit Portland and you'll see it so what's the Point of that the point is is here's This human who's incredible from Centuries ago But it's about bringing Joan of Arc some Degree of Honor or remembrance by Creating an image to represent her and Every time you go by 39th and Gleason You'll think of her you think of her Yeah so that's images point to a living Person in that case So in a sense what image the image of God means is that humans bring glory to God but then we have to go well what Does that mean because in the Bible Glorifying God can include singing a Song that's what it means to most people Who say the word in English but the Biblical vision of how humans bring Glory to God is way more interesting Than rich [Music] Foreign [Applause]

[Music] God Is Bigger Than Just singing a song But in my mind it was already bigger Than singing a song in that if I were to Go up to you on the street and you Didn't know about God and I were to tell You about God and get you on board with Fearing God and loving God and these Things that's glorifying God as well so Evangelism Making disciples all right you're saying Kind of in your upbringing in your Gender upbringing in a conservative American Church yeah so if you have the Word glory in your vocabulary in my Vocabulary what is glory and it meant Worshiping on Sundays or yes singing Songs and basically being a good Disciple like doing the things that Disciples are supposed to do namely Um getting other people to recognize God That's a very specific way he could Glorify God Um but then also just doing the right Thing versus doing the wrong thing That's glorifying to God so I guess that Was all part of the definition but it Wasn't as broad as what I what I'm Learning at school is going to help me Glorify God or Um my vocation can glorify God Um yeah or a conversation with a friend That isn't about God is glorifying to God only to the extent of maybe that we

Didn't cuss you know but yeah right to The extent that we talked about Something that had nothing to do with The Bible or Jesus Then how could that be glorifying to God Yes but then as we talk about the image Of God and the role of of ruling the Earth and subduing and that now it Incorporates how we run our families and How we do our jobs and the things that We're interested in and all our Creativity and all of our imagination And all of this gets lumped in there Then the question becomes well what Conversation isn't in that category and What activity is in that category and I Think that's the right way to think About it and it's probably the way most People think about it But for some reason it got really siled For me yeah Um and so when we had that past Conversation I started to pit them Against each other like oh so the point Of existence isn't to glorify God the Point of existence is to image God to Rule on his behalf and that was so much More captivating to me because I had This very narrow very narrow idea of What yeah and I I still think the point We were trying to make is still one Worth making that the Westminster Catechism which brilliant wonderful Disciples of Jesus made that catechism

And it's it's worth a lot of time and Reflection and learning what it has to Say However when it summarizes the purpose Of humans with that phrase to glorify God to me what was interesting was That's That vocabulary isn't found on the first Pages of the Bible What is found on the first pages of the Bible about the purpose of humans is That they are the image of God and that They are to rule So that was our basic point was if you Know if it's a contest of who's more Biblical Let's use the language Bible yeah at Least we're just trying to say the Bible Starts by using this set of Concepts and Ideas and glorifying God comes out of That but uh I at least want to say if I'm representing what the Bible says About the purpose of humans we should Talk first about the image of God so so That was our that makes sense so first Talk about the image of God but then Embedded in that yeah embedded in an Image yeah is glorify is glorifying the Thing that it's Imaging yeah and so and When it need to have a conversation About Glory that's right and actually What's important too the Apostle Paul is Really significant here because he uses The vocabulary of glory and glorifying

At Key moments in his letters to talk About the human condition and what's Wrong and what's right With humans Um and so I think that's probably I Think that's actually probably where the Language came from in the Westminster Confession is rooted in Paul's his Vocabulary constant use of Glory Vocabulary which is really interesting And I we could talk about some of it Here but what was the verse that you Kind of you threw out there right at the Beginning whatever you do whether you Eat or drink do it all the glory of God Yep that's Paul's first letter to the Corinthians in chapter 10. and there you Know it's in the context of you have a Church where Christians are fighting Over whether certain kind of meats eat That were sacrificed and um Uh Pagan temples whether eating them Dishonors God or brings glory to God They were having this debate and Paul Thinks it's a gray area In some ways and so his whole point is Whether you're eating whether you're Drinking listen Any activity you take should be done to Glorify God so in the context of the Verses like if you're not going to eat It do that to glorify God that's right And if you're gonna eat it yeah do that To glorify that's right yeah yeah

Um but it raises the point that our Friend Dan raised which is a good one is That when Paul says that he's not Talking about worship Singing worship songs right he's talking About eating for Paul yeah for Paul you Can have a meal yeah and glorify God but This meal specifically is about a rule That God gave oh no no no I guess not This is specifically about whether or Not it was me so yeah yeah and what he Says essentially for Christians is that Um Uh you know we don't believe that these Idol statues representing Zeus or Apollos are real Real live idols and so he says listen You know who created the world and that Cow right enjoy a good steak As a gift from God and that is Glorifying God the counter argument to That that Paul would be then addressing Would be the person saying look this This image of Zeus who this was Sacrificed to that's that's dangerous Yeah it's a false god it's a false god And it's leading many people astray Correct and don't participate in that at All yeah don't eat that meat and Paul Says if there are people who think that Zeus is still real and powerful and Dangerous And they're new Christians And they're around then don't eat it

Don't eat it the loving thing to do is Don't you won't be glorifying God if you Eat it but then he says if you're by Yourself yeah and oras just there's none Of those people around and you know that God made the cow and the tops are Aligned then enjoy it and thanking God With every bite and swallow is a way of Giving honor to or glorifying so I could I can think of this whole conversation Though or this whole this entire Interaction as still through my old Paradigm of gorfein God is just doing The right thing so the right thing okay Is Um whether or not this is a dangerous me This me eating the meat is dangerous in Some way dishonoring to God if God is Bummed out yeah and so Paul kind of Takes it back and goes no God doesn't Get bummed out whether or not you eat The meat God cares more about what is The implications Of whether you're eating the meat well Um well yeah almost what I I couldn't Have queued this up more perfectly what I almost want to do is push pause On this moment in the conversation okay Go backwards and just do a quick build Up the definition of the Biblical word Glory and then come back to this matter In First Corinthians okay and it's a Different I think it'll we'll see it in A new paradigm Greg

[Music] Thank you [Music] The Hebrew word for Glory as a noun is The Hebrew word kavod k a v o d is the Simplest way to transliterate it Um and I you know when I was first Learning Hebrew this was a pretty easy One to remember Because it's most basic simple meaning Is heavy Literally heavy this one means heavy Heavy so that rock is glorious means That rock is heavy yeah or Um in judges the Book of Judges chapter Three there's uh one of the Uh heroes or anti-heroes depends on your Point of view Heroes a guy named Ehud The left-handed assassin Stabs this King in the belly it's belly Fat a guy named eglon and we're told That eglon was A derivation of the word meaning heavy Heavy he was a heavy heavy he's fat he Was a heavyweight dude huge man and that Explains why the belly was exploded open When he stabbed it and so on anyway so He was glorious glorious yeah yeah so That is most so that's the word because Heavy Um so you and in English we have this Too in English we use the word heavy in Non-literal ways all the time I think Maybe

Uh more of it happened in skate culture The previous generation to say That's Heavy That's Heavy dude so heavy man I Don't know I don't know And if you say that but um we might say Someone didn't grasp the gravity of this Situation so we're again we're using Heavy metaphors metaphors to talk about Well what if I say That's Heavy or don't You grasporate gravity or this is such a Weighty matter what do we what's what do We mean yeah We don't mean it literally has a uh this Physical weight that we're trying to Uphold right it's not literal it means Yeah that's the substance of this idea Is has so much bearing on other things Yes yeah it's important it's important It's significant It's weighty it's heavy uh it takes up Space Yeah you know that's the idea so we can Use it as a metaphor then of Uh we use as a metaphor all the time of Something uh an event that was Heavy When so and so fell down and broke their Leg and now they can't work anymore that Was so happy so it's kind of like if you Had this big boulder in the middle of Your field and it's heavy yes like yeah That's and you want to like You want to use that field for another Purpose you got to get rid of it the Implications of getting rid of this

Thing is going to be really large Because of its heftiness yes and yeah You can't ignore it because it's so big And heavy right and you can just see it And it's it's just bearing on all these Other factors that's right So okay so this is what's interesting About the Hebrew word kavod so somebody Can be covered like eglon he's heavy He's a heavy heavy but then Um David can say something like this in Psalm 7. he can say oh my enemies are Chasing me people want to shame me and Bad mouth me and depose me as king and So he says in Psalm 7 my kavod is in the Dirt right now [Laughter] Is that like being in the doghouse but It's not him that's in the doghouse it's His it's his commode so you can speak of Somebody as being heavy but then you can Also speak of a person having a certain Degree of heaviness about them or in Uh we might say reputation yeah or honor It's a person's significance um It's the aura That surrounds somebody Not in a new agey way but like like when The president walks into a room Everyone's quiet right and the Secret Service right you know lead and follow And you you go there's someone with Kavode yeah yeah so this sense of kavode Is actually the majority of uses in the

Old Old Testament is that someone has a Someone has kavod David's covered Um in Genesis 49 Jacob talks about his Two sons who went and murdered all of The people in that city Um and he says don't let my kavod be Counted along with theirs [Music] Um Or God can say the poet excuse me in Psalm 8 that we talked about in the Image of God podcast series Um Psalm 8 says that human beings are Crowned with kavod so God has given Human beings kavod and that's where it's Their Crown the image of God overlaps With ice Crown being their authority to Rule yes is their kavod is there kavod So human beings when they image god well That's their vote it's their code and Then there it points to something Greater but we'll get to that okay so There's that then Um of course humans have kavod and then In the Bible most often though it's God Has covered And so here we're talking about well It's very interesting because it's not Just God's reputation but Um God's covered is used to describe the Physical manifestation of God's Significance when he shows up somewhere The most often the first time it occurs Is on Mount Sinai when God descends

Personally down on the mountain and There's fire and cloud and smoke and Then in Exodus 24 that cloud and smoke And fire is called God's kavod hmm So so it starts out with just heavy then It's a metaphor for something for your Influence or your reputation Um Humanity as a whole has it as a gift From God as part of who that they are as The Immigrant and then God has kavod so Connected here is another really Important story about God's kavod in I The book of Isaiah Where in Isaiah 6 where Isaiah has the Temple Vision in and he's in there and There's these crazy winged creatures and They're screaming that God is Holy Holy Holy and then what how they unpack what It means for God to be unique and one of A kind they say the whole earth is full Of God's kavod the whole earth is full Of his kavod This is what the share members this is What the Angelic creatures are screaming Out in the temple so not just the clouds That descended on Mount Sinai yes was His kavod but yeah everything in the Earth all creation is God's kavod Hmm So you look at you look at the clouds The trees the Stars the fish what would That mean if I said to you I came up to You and I said hey Tim I just want you To know that all of creation is my kavod

Like yeah what am I what am I trying to Say there well okay that's all right so Think Mount Sinai yeah God's kavod is This Cloud okay even there that's hard For me to wrap my mind around so okay so Like if let's just start there okay Um it's a it's a thundery day in Portland And I walk up to you and I say you see These clouds these are my kavod Like in some mystical way am I saying Like the power of electricity and the Forces of nature like those somehow Speak to the the weightiness and gravity Importance of me yes that would be a Very yeah thing to say totally yeah and You would just push me over where's the Real John you would trip me It'd be like now yeah who took over your Body yeah exactly yes that's the idea is That someone is so important That what surrounds their in what Surrounds them in their environment is The manifestation of who they are so for David his covered if you went to David's Throne room you know you'd see these Banners on the walls of his military Victories and you would see his servants And his musicians and you know the Buildings that's his code so in the same Way like if you went to my bedroom when I was in high school and I've got like Art on the wall and snowboarding posters And like the couch I picked out and

Everything yeah you're like is that my Commode uh I support It Away by coming To my throne room and there's my guitar And there's my like yeah this is there's This there's my Star Wars figurines and Like it's supposed to say something About who I am yes and yeah so like it's My commode we're in the ballpark we're In the ballpark we're totally okay yeah Yeah we're in the box and if someone Came in and they trashed my room I'd be Like my commode like is dust you know I Would like you're treating my commode Yeah so that's a concrete way Um of course yeah for David you know It's a Psalm but also sorry but it also Really more is like what people actually Think of me that's not what I'm Portraying myself as right yeah but my Real kavo it's when you go to school That's my projected kavod that's correct That's the physical manifestation of Your cover that's what I want my kavod To be yeah is like the clothes I'm Wearing in our decorate my room and the Car I'm driving But my real vote is how people are Perceiving how people perceive your Significance and your importance and With someone they're they're projected Kavod is very different than their Actual perceived kavod yeah we think Those people are kind of weird Someone who presents himself as more

Important than they really are yeah that Would be a false kavode they're false Could voting there you go are you are You I'm tracking you're tracking now You're on it okay so when so when God Comes and to Sinai and well for some if For someone to show up and their kavod Is a lightning storm whether whether That's how it's perceived or that's how It's actually happening correct correct That's a very significant commode yeah So right and it means that whoever that Being is Yeah like just like a really cool shirt Is my commode Right like God's kavode is a storm yeah And an earthquake it's intense so it's He's the Creator yeah it's the Creator's Kavod and that's exactly what the Creatures in Isaiah's Vision are getting At when they say God just the Thunderstorm God is Holy Holy Holy he's The which means one of a kind unique set Apart the only being like God and how do they explain or unpack What it means what that means that the Whole of the earth is full of God's Covered so all of creation is like this Testimony this physical Symbol or this image that points to the The Brilliance and the wisdom and the Power of the being who made it It's God's kavod it's the physical Manifestation of how wise and beautiful

And Powerful God is so this is very Similar to Psalm 19 where he says he Begins the poet Begins by saying the Heavens declare the glory of God So creation itself is constantly bearing Witness to the kavod to the reputation And the significance of the being who You made them [Music] [Music] Foreign So this is a very rich rich biblical Concept Of God's covered So then what's interesting is that That's just the noun Glory Then there's also a verb Used in Hebrew that's similar To Um The noun the nouns covered and then the Verb is khabed And essentially it means to Speak or act in a way that that brings Kavod to somebody so Um I can I can show you covered or show you No kavod by how I talk to you I mean That's pretty intuitive you know we do It all the time we can respect it's Respect yeah and the way or honor I Think is a more precise English word for It we can dishonor somebody or we can

Honor someone by how we speak to them or How we treat them and this could be your Body language this could be the tone of Voice you're using the the type of Vocabulary you're using and certain Certainly in other languages the way the Way you're using language yeah all of These could be yours yeah so that's acts Of communication but then there's Um in our relationship I could Detract from your kavode or add to your Commode by how so like you had a Decisions you're making yeah you and I Work together on the Bible project and So we you know we so I could make Decisions you know and not undermine me Yeah I could not show up on time for This conversation oh yeah and show up Two hours late and be like what get over It John yeah and then that would be uh Detracting from your kavode because I'm Not giving you covered by So in in the biblical vocabulary that's What that word means Um so in the Book of Psalms it's most Often used with praise singing language You know um so I just pulled literally One example at random there's dozens we Could draw on Psalm 71 my mouth is Filled with your praise and I speak of Your kavod So praise is about increasing God's Kavod Um through song hmm

But then there's also the majority all These other times where you give kavod Or don't give kavo to God by by how you Live Um and this is where Paul the apostles Vocabulary of Glory Um comes into its own Glory Let's go through one more time Originally just meant weightiness Heaviness becomes a metaphor for how Important something is For the how much matter something has That's interesting the word matter has The same thing does it matter does it Have matter whoa yeah that's a metaphor It's a metaphor yeah it doesn't matter Yeah does it have substance yep same Kind of idea is it heavy yep yep Um so so Glory Metaphorically right off the bat is does This thing matter and if you if you do Matter Um then you have kavode if you don't Matter you don't have kavod and when David says my kavod is in the dirt he Means like no one thinks I matter my Reputation shot that's right and Um and then when God shows up and his Kavod is this powerful storm that's Important that matters you want to pay Attention to a storm yes and that storm Is a physical manifestation of a Physical vote it points to how his kavod

Which is even more powerful and amazing Than a storm right but that's how it's Manifesting yeah and you'd pay attention To a storm storm matters uh has Substance storm isn't heavy in the sense That electricity yeah clouds and clouds Actually aren't that heavy but but but The sense of metaphorically that matters Um and then when the cherubim say all of God's creation uh is a testimony to his Cavan literally the Earth is the Fullness of his kavod so if you want to Understand the importance of God you Need to understand the importance of Everything You need like how how significant is the Oceans that's part of God's significance How significant is is the weather in a Mountain and how significant is that Rock and how significant is anything in Creation yes yeah the creation is so but It's about its beauty And Grandeur it's a testimony to God's Kavod because he's the one who made it Whenever you find Delight in a sunset or Whenever you trip out about the vastness Of outer space or whenever you all these Things that's a testimony to what God's Importance is to vote yeah just like You'd walk around Jerusalem and David's Day and be like oh these buildings and Those flags and you know these amazingly Well-behaved soldiers and they would say Yes this is my kavod yeah and then cool

And so from there you could go well then If you're interacting with David you Could show him kavode or you or not yes By the way you act yep Um or speak or speak and so if you Encountered David and you didn't give Him eye contact I don't know what the Culturally that's meant so you spit on Him or something yeah or you didn't like Didn't bow in his presence it just be Like May the King live forever Something like that right that would be More a typical thing yeah okay so you Don't bow Then then you're not showing David Correct yeah and so in the same way if The creative Universe you you were able To have some sort of relationship with The creator of the universe which is Christians we believe you can possible Then you can buy the way you act or talk You can show kavode or not show convert Yeah so this is the the The whole biblical concept of Worship and praise is you create the Most beautiful language poetry and the Most beautiful sounds music and you Combine those and the sole purpose is Just to bring honor to the Creator like If we could create a sunset that would Also give honor to God but we don't we Can't but we can create music yes yeah That's beautiful and poetry in art and Art and so the whole the whole Theology

Of what worship is Is to ascribe and to declare out loud God's honor that's really helpful for His reputation And and so and so think of there's a There's some and here we're back to the Image of God yeah that there's something Although human beings are glorious In the biblical sense of that word we Aren't The Creator uh our existence along with All of creation is meant to point to the Wisdom and the power and the beauty of a Being that's even more remarkable than We are and biblical worship is setting Aside moments To say out loud to ourselves and to that Being about how remarkable that being is Namely the Creator it's really At the moment where you build into a Rhythm of your life This recognizing your place in the Universe and it's not because humans are Lame it's because humans are the image Of something even more glorious than Humans Sorry you just said like that's helpful For me and then I interrupted yesterday You were just making me kind of realize That anything we do can speak to God's Glory yeah it can be as kavode yeah well Here is where it's where it overlaps With the concept of the image of God Human beings image God when they rule

The world on God's behalf in a way that Brings honor and honors the intention And purpose of the Creator Um And in so doing they glorify they Glorify God Um So Yeah it's a complete overlap which is Why Paul can come all the way back Around and say whether you're eating or Drinking or what actually whatever you Do as a human being Um you can do it to God's honor To God's kavod to increase God's kavod Um So whether in this case whether you're Honoring some other people in your Church Community by how you behave But of course he he says whatever you do Do it all to the glory of God do Everything to increase God's commode yes Yeah so I can and somehow it's more Intuitive to us we immediately think in How I treat people relationally or we Might immediately think and how I How I'm a moral person You know obeying moral rules or Something but when you link it to the Image of God Which is what the Bible does it's about All of the human calling and existence And vocation and I think so that's the Point we were trying to make in the

Video right um and so in that sense if That's what the framers of the Westminster catechism mean right then Yes the chief end of man is the glory For God totally but once again what's Interesting to me is that that biblical Vocabulary isn't used in on pages one And two of the Bible it comes later in The Bible As a way of unpacking further What human beings do and are and who God Is so on and so it's useful but um Uh the word glorify unless you go Through that whole thing that we just Did yeah Doesn't immediately communicate that to People [Music] [Music] Foreign [Music] Back then to the First Corinthians 10 Situation where Do you eat the meat or do you not eat The meat so in scenario one yeah you're Not eating the meat because Um someone who thinks that's scandalous Because they think Zeus is a problem Whether they think Zeus is real or they Just think by even participating in that Pagan ritual Um you are giving it Merit which is Dangerous whatever the reasoning is yes It's scandalous to them and they're your

Brother in Christ or someone who could Possibly be a brother in Christ one day Yeah or their yeah or they um as Paul Says might have caused to stumble in Other words they might think oh I can be A follower of Jesus and sacrifice Followed Jesus Zeus at the same time Right cool yeah so you know that I Thought I had to give all my allegiance To Jesus but you're saying I can Actually worship both So Paul would say you are not giving Kavod to God By kabode if you're not loving someone You're not correct because that person Is someone who bears and reflects the Image of God and there of ultimate value And worth and their well-being is my Concern if they're a fellow human and so If I behave in a way that takes away From their well-being I'm not giving Kavod it's the same it's the same thing As not bowing to King David or not Bowing to the king is not loving your Neighbor that's right yes that's right It communicates the same thing which is I don't know because what I'm saying is Oh I want to do whatever the heck I want And I don't care how it affects that Image bearing human being that God loves And Carries and so well you could say You're not respecting that person's Kavod right which is true but more so You're also not giving honor to God's

That's right and the link is is God's Role as the Creator and the originator Of all that is including that image Pairing he human But then Paul says but let's say that Person's not around there's nobody Around yeah that is gonna right be led To worship you're just like you got You're at the market Great tri-tip Cuts today and uh and They're like by the way this was Zeus And you're like ah that doesn't bother Me it doesn't it doesn't matter and you Go because like Zeus is just a piece of Metal up in that building yeah I know Who made this animal right I know where The universe comes from it comes from The creator of all that is so that's What he says he says if I can eat this Meat with thankfulness Then whatever you eat whatever you drink Do It For the Glory do it so in that Situation I'm just eating meat And that is yes giving God kavod well I I If I if I eat it he says with Thankfulness okay so by being thankful Then that increases God's company yeah It's the it's tradition of why it's Using Christians pray before pray before Meals if you stop it's the same reason It's the same activity as singing songs On Sundays you pause in your life and You recognize that I I all of my life in

Existence is a gift from someone more Beautiful wise and amazing than me and My existence is meant to reflect that Being and so my enjoyment of this Sustaining food and it tastes great it's What a gift thank you God and in that Sense you can eat a steak to the glory Of God And in that sense and you increase God's Kavod you could surf to the glory of God Like if you were riding a wave and yes You are being thankful at the same time Yeah yeah right Um or am I taking it too far no I think No I think when human beings enjoy God's Good World in a way That was a thankful heart that sustains Love God love of God and love of Neighbor you know honors the teachings Of Jesus if you're skipping out on Family Responsibilities to serve yeah that's Not increasing God's company yeah Totally or yeah yeah that's right There's I mean this is what gets down to A whole other topic but when human Beings are fulfilling their Divine Purpose And then just simply enjoying the gift Of existence That is a testimony to God's kavod in The same way that I the same way that a Architect could design a beautiful Building that's meant to just inspire

People when they walk into the atrium or Something Than them enjoying and hanging out in The atrium for hours and just staring at The ceilings is a way of bringing kavo To that architect so it's very very Similar idea Isn't it remarkable how much the Etymology of words helps understand Like Concepts Yes I'm always yeah yeah I'm always that Just really astounded by how significant That is that all of our language is Metaphorical to some degree and that the Base of our language is generally some Very concrete metaphor and once you Understand what that is then it kind of Helps you understand what that word Sometimes it has left that meaning yeah That's right like butterfly Is not a fly made out of a stick of Butter right so their etymology doesn't Help you but but Um Doing word studies and studying a whole Range of words meaning and and seeing That oh here's like an older meaning or Here's the way the word originated in Its usage but then how it became a Metaphor over time or developed Metaphorical like here something's heavy And then that can be used as a metaphor So I agree with you I think that that's Just this is the basics of learning how

To do word studies of biblical Vocabulary so how they teach in higher Education Um I don't know that's how I teach how To do word studies how were you taught Um well first it was about how to use The Biblical concordance I mean this was back before You know any online tools and so Actually using a big book but now Um you can use tools like Bible Gateway You can just type in a word yeah Glory Right just go type in glory and Bible Gateway and it'll give you all the Passages that use that word but you Could still not you can still not get There so the key then is a step forward To get to study words in Greek and Hebrew and know where all the times that Occurs and do that but you can do it With with a modest amount of homework And effort anybody can learn how to do Decent word studies I constantly using Adam online it's E-t-y-m-o-n-l-i-n-e like it's edamame oh That's just for English words it's for Any word any word I mean you could Probably put a let me put kavod in and See Adam online oh no it doesn't find Kavod so yeah it's English words Yeah English words but let's see if I do Glory so here's what's interesting so Glory is from the French glorier Pride Oneself on boast about directly from the

Latin oh Latin before that gloriari Which is classical meant to boast or Von Or brag Pride oneself yeah so that's Really interesting because right off the Bat you have these two different Histories of this word right yeah the Word doesn't begin with weight it Doesn't begin with weight it begins with Of words speaking Yeah namely bragging Bragging So yeah it's completely different if you Come in you say man that person has so Much weightiness to them when they come In the room just everything like they Become the center of gravity and that's The metaphor you're using versus you go Man that person comes in a room and They're just Gabby about themselves they Just won't stop talking about themselves Yeah yeah like yeah that's yeah and then And then we use the word Glory right to Translate the word kavod yeah and they Have completely different totally Etymologies yep so this is just this is The challenge of translation of the fact That the Bible is written in Greek and Hebrew and Aramaic and All our translations are they're just They're wonderful up-to-date efforts Uh to render it into our language but we Always have to recognize that there are Some limitations that might actually Help us also help me understand my Problem with the word Glory I think at

The bottom of this conversation is a Little bit of my irritation I see with Back to the driveway yeah and the Growing carrots somehow yeah somehow I Get irritated when someone just says Well you know it's just about glorifying God and part of that might be because In my understanding of the word glory is This kind of classical Latin where it's like really like that's What God cares about is that we we just Talk good about him talk well of who he Is right and it varies centered on what We say and and making sure that someone Looks good you know yes like someone's Being very boastful it's because they're Just trying to look they're trying to be Perceived as someone important and so if I'm supposed to help someone one be Perceived as important in the same way That just feels really that's that's Like worship songs right like like God Can't be down here saying how important He is yeah so we're doing it for him That's right we're gonna tell God yes How important he is yeah whereas yeah in The biblical Vision it's the reverse It's The sunset's so beautiful and the Apple Tastes so good and the song is so strong Is so Transcendent and beautiful yeah This is all I receive as a gift from Someone who's so generous and made the World and gave given me a place within

It I want to speak well And live well yeah for the kavod of God Yeah there's such a uh bigger story [Music] Thanks for listening to this episode if You liked it you could go on iTunes and You can leave a review that helps a lot In our exposure You could also watch the video we made On the image of God which which spawned On this conversation And you can watch the other videos we Made they're all on YouTube youtube.com The Bible project you can follow us on Twitter at join bibleproj and say hi to Us on Facebook facebook.com the Bible Project up next is going to be a Conversation on the Book of Proverbs That will kick off a three-part series On the wisdom literature Proverbs Ecclesiastes and job I'm really excited About them it's gonna be great Thanks again for Dan baber our good Friend who sent us that question about The glory of God send us your questions Thanks for being a part of this [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music]