by “… for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God…”
Romans 3:23
As my brethren and I were considering Romans 3 together last Lord’s Day, I asked the question, “What is the glory of God?” I felt that this short verse in Romans sheds some light on that.
When we speak of falling short of something, we would normally speak of falling short a standard, or a specification, or an amount – something clearly defined. Falling short of glory puzzled me somewhat. I had a vague idea of what the glory of God is: His awesome majesty, His greatness. Of course we fall short of that – how could we get anyone near it, we being men, and He being the Almighty God?
Then I wondered if the glory of God could be defined as the sum of His attributes. The attributes of God include, but are not limited to, love, holiness, righteousness, justice, grace, mercy, patience, etc. If we view the glory of God in terms of these defined attributes, that may help us to understand how and in what way we fall short of that glory.
God is loving – in fact, God is Love. As a sinner, I have not been loving. God is holy. As a sinner, I have not been holy. God is righteous. As a sinner, I have not been righteous – and so on. When we examine ourselves squarely, we find that we have fallen short of all these individual attributes of God, and collectively, His glory.
That may seem like a rather negative thing to dwell on, but I don’t think it is. It makes me realise that God is everything that I am not, after the flesh. And that fills me with awe when I consider God, His utter perfection, how His attributes shone out in the Person of the Lord Jesus, in a Man. When I consider that, I go out of sight entirely. I’m no longer concerned with how I’ve fallen short (God has taken care of that, as the next verse in Romans 3 goes on to explain), but I am wrapped up in the glory of God – a glory which draws out my worship.
Isn’t it wonderful the way God leads our thoughts and hearts away from self-will and self-pity to delight in His will and His glory?