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Basics of the Faith
How Do We Glorify God? (Basics of the Faith) (Basics of the Reformed Faith) by John D. Hannah
The simple truth is that we were created for one purpose: God's glory. In a time when so many are seeking a reason to live, this booklet offers a concise understanding of God's desire to restore his nature to us, renewing our souls, so that we may reflect his glory in our words, our actions, and our very being.
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First published February 1, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
May 18, 2017
This booklet may only be 42 pages but it sure packs a punch! Dr. John Hannah jumps right into Reformed Theology by diving into the Five Sola's of the Reformation; scripture alone, Christ alone, grace alone, faith alone and glory to God alone. Hannah frequently quotes Jonathon Edwards and addressed topics like why God created the world and man, the awfulness of sin, what saving faith looks likes and much more.
After reading this booklet I feel like I have more questions than answers on one level, but on another level, I feel I have a much clearer understanding as to why God created us and how to best glorify Him. I highly recommend this booklet, but I recommend reading it in small chunks and taking your time with it.
After reading this booklet I feel like I have more questions than answers on one level, but on another level, I feel I have a much clearer understanding as to why God created us and how to best glorify Him. I highly recommend this booklet, but I recommend reading it in small chunks and taking your time with it.
May 12, 2020
This is a wonderful short booklet at 42 pages in length. Dr. Hannah is my mentor, and one of the wisest men I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing. This booklet had to be read for a seminar class on Jonathan Edwards, and this booklet works off of Edwards writings and philosophy of worship. This booklet will cause you to reflect on the ordinary tasks of life and how they have meaning to our wonderful God. Obviously, it takes a right and contrite heart reflecting the character of God back upon Himself because He alone is the only One worthy of our praise.
April 13, 2025
This book defines what the glory of God means, and explains how the purpose of creation and the chief end of man is to glorify God.
From p. 40-
Duties, conversations, and deadlines are vehicles by which I am able to display the character of God.
...
God ultimately desires that He would see Himself in me each day.
...
Have you, O God, seen yourself in what I said, thought, and did today? Did I care for others in the way that you would have? Through these questions I find the answers to the greatest of all life's questions...
...
From p. 40-
Duties, conversations, and deadlines are vehicles by which I am able to display the character of God.
...
God ultimately desires that He would see Himself in me each day.
...
Have you, O God, seen yourself in what I said, thought, and did today? Did I care for others in the way that you would have? Through these questions I find the answers to the greatest of all life's questions...
...
January 4, 2018
Sound enough - I just didn't think it got to the meat of the question on the cover - How do we glorify God?
Great opening pages (first 14 or so) - plenty highlighted - and highlights on last pages, but nothing in between. All true material, but for the nature of the series a little too philosophical and not practical enough.
Great opening pages (first 14 or so) - plenty highlighted - and highlights on last pages, but nothing in between. All true material, but for the nature of the series a little too philosophical and not practical enough.
January 8, 2016
This short book is essentially a brief treatise on what is central to the Christian life. It's written by a wise man who has walked with God for a long time, intimately knows some of God's most eminent historical figures, and is saturated with the Word of God. It's rich with reformed theology, concise . . a worthy read.
QUOTES:
We seem to value athleticism (the virtue of strength), physical beauty (the art of temporal attractiveness), and money (portfolios and retirement packages)
above everything, not concern or sacrifice for others.
We might say that there is a divine self-love in God. But unlike the display of narcissism in God's creatures, this self-love is not sinful, for God's delight in himself is not a vain misconception. It is just and right.
God did not make men and women so they could spend their time and creative energies on themselves. They were made to reflect in their characters and activities the very character and activities of God.
The motive for an action determines the virtuousness of it, not the action itself. . . Therefore, an ethic based upon the Golden Rule alone or a God-given moral sense is not truly virtuous in itself. This is so because a moral act done apart from a transcendent object—love for God and his beauty—is a false morality. It is impossible to have a divinely sanctioned morality if God is not the object of and motive for it.
Many say they have a love for God, but their love is only pleasure in God as the giver of good gifts and pleasant circumstances. This type of love is really a love of self because God is not the supreme object of the appreciation. It is merely a love for God as a provider, a Santa Claus; it is not a biblical love.
God is glorified when he sees himself in the character of the believer.
The Christian's life may be described by the metaphor of a forest. Before God saved us, our lives were dense jungles of trees, wild vines, and weeds. If you were to fly over that forest, you would observe such a perplexity of growth that there would be no clearings. This tangle of vines and trees represents the hold of sin on our lives, and it is universal. However, when God granted us life through Christ and the Spirit came to indwell us, a marvelous change began to take place. Now if you could fly over the
jungle of your life, you would observe that there are still vines, trees, and weeds, but there are also clearings, areas in your life where sin no longer dominates. God has begun his reclamation process. The removal of the remaining trees and vines is progressive sanctification. As we struggle against the remnants of the fruits of the flesh, the forest is progressively cleared of tangles. Saints reflect greater and greater degrees of the character of God and thereby glorify him.
The means for the cultivation of this quality of life have traditionally been divided into two parts. There are things that are vital for positive growth to take place; these are of- ten called works of vivification. They include the reading and serious study of the Word of God, the fellowship of the saints, meeting in worship to hear the Word of God, heeding spiritual counsel, and prayer. There is also a negative side to spiritual maturity, the putting to death of the deeds of the flesh (Rom. 8:13), a struggle against sin in our lives so as to root it out or at least minimize its influences over us. This is called mortification.
Christ nowhere says, ye shall know the tree by its leaves or flowers, or ye shall know men by their talk, or ye shall know them by the manner and air of their speaking, and emphasis and pathos of expression, or by their speaking feelingly, or by making a very great show by the abundance of talk, or by many tears and affectionate expressions, or by the affections you feel in your heart toward them; by their fruits ye shall know them. [Jonathan Edwards, Treatise on Religious Affections,Works, 2:407]
This is because God is more vitally interested in the development of godly attitudes and behavior than he is in the particular realm in which it is expressed.
When I rise in the morning and bow my heart and mind before God, I generally begin to form my thoughts around one question. I ask God, "Will you grant me the privilege of glorifying you today?" I do not begin by discussing the tasks and duties that may fill a particular day, because the purpose for living is not duties. Duties, conversations, and deadlines are vehicles by which I am able to display the character of God. However, this is not the end for which God ordains the gift of every new day. God ultimately desires that he would see Himself in me each day. Then, at the end of the day when I often in weariness fall into bed, I reserve enough energy to ask another question: "Have you, 0 God, seen yourself in what I said, thought, and did today? Did I care for others the way you would have?" Through these questions I find the answers to the greatest of all life's questions: Did I fulfill my destiny today? Did I glorify God? Did God see his character in my attitudes and actions?
QUOTES:
We seem to value athleticism (the virtue of strength), physical beauty (the art of temporal attractiveness), and money (portfolios and retirement packages)
above everything, not concern or sacrifice for others.
We might say that there is a divine self-love in God. But unlike the display of narcissism in God's creatures, this self-love is not sinful, for God's delight in himself is not a vain misconception. It is just and right.
God did not make men and women so they could spend their time and creative energies on themselves. They were made to reflect in their characters and activities the very character and activities of God.
The motive for an action determines the virtuousness of it, not the action itself. . . Therefore, an ethic based upon the Golden Rule alone or a God-given moral sense is not truly virtuous in itself. This is so because a moral act done apart from a transcendent object—love for God and his beauty—is a false morality. It is impossible to have a divinely sanctioned morality if God is not the object of and motive for it.
Many say they have a love for God, but their love is only pleasure in God as the giver of good gifts and pleasant circumstances. This type of love is really a love of self because God is not the supreme object of the appreciation. It is merely a love for God as a provider, a Santa Claus; it is not a biblical love.
God is glorified when he sees himself in the character of the believer.
The Christian's life may be described by the metaphor of a forest. Before God saved us, our lives were dense jungles of trees, wild vines, and weeds. If you were to fly over that forest, you would observe such a perplexity of growth that there would be no clearings. This tangle of vines and trees represents the hold of sin on our lives, and it is universal. However, when God granted us life through Christ and the Spirit came to indwell us, a marvelous change began to take place. Now if you could fly over the
jungle of your life, you would observe that there are still vines, trees, and weeds, but there are also clearings, areas in your life where sin no longer dominates. God has begun his reclamation process. The removal of the remaining trees and vines is progressive sanctification. As we struggle against the remnants of the fruits of the flesh, the forest is progressively cleared of tangles. Saints reflect greater and greater degrees of the character of God and thereby glorify him.
The means for the cultivation of this quality of life have traditionally been divided into two parts. There are things that are vital for positive growth to take place; these are of- ten called works of vivification. They include the reading and serious study of the Word of God, the fellowship of the saints, meeting in worship to hear the Word of God, heeding spiritual counsel, and prayer. There is also a negative side to spiritual maturity, the putting to death of the deeds of the flesh (Rom. 8:13), a struggle against sin in our lives so as to root it out or at least minimize its influences over us. This is called mortification.
Christ nowhere says, ye shall know the tree by its leaves or flowers, or ye shall know men by their talk, or ye shall know them by the manner and air of their speaking, and emphasis and pathos of expression, or by their speaking feelingly, or by making a very great show by the abundance of talk, or by many tears and affectionate expressions, or by the affections you feel in your heart toward them; by their fruits ye shall know them. [Jonathan Edwards, Treatise on Religious Affections,Works, 2:407]
This is because God is more vitally interested in the development of godly attitudes and behavior than he is in the particular realm in which it is expressed.
When I rise in the morning and bow my heart and mind before God, I generally begin to form my thoughts around one question. I ask God, "Will you grant me the privilege of glorifying you today?" I do not begin by discussing the tasks and duties that may fill a particular day, because the purpose for living is not duties. Duties, conversations, and deadlines are vehicles by which I am able to display the character of God. However, this is not the end for which God ordains the gift of every new day. God ultimately desires that he would see Himself in me each day. Then, at the end of the day when I often in weariness fall into bed, I reserve enough energy to ask another question: "Have you, 0 God, seen yourself in what I said, thought, and did today? Did I care for others the way you would have?" Through these questions I find the answers to the greatest of all life's questions: Did I fulfill my destiny today? Did I glorify God? Did God see his character in my attitudes and actions?
December 30, 2013
Hannah encourages a dramatic, but necessary, shift from self-centered thinking to a God-centered perspective on the purpose of life and existence. This point of view is difficult to embrace because of the sinfulness that runs so deep within our race, and yet it is this view that Scripture reveals as the only proper one to hold. Though brief, this book contains much food for thought and prompts careful examination of the often misguided priorities we cherish.
January 9, 2009
This book is fine, and theologically solid, and it’s about how we live our lives to the glory of God, but is not necessarily anything too profound.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews