God's Motivation or Why Jesus Did What He Did

I was thinking over why he does what he does, you know, what is his motivation. Everyone needs motivation, even God. Why create Creation? Why make a covenant? Why go to all the trouble of redeeming lost sinners? Well, I believe there are two clear and omnipresent motivators for all that God does: 1) His glory, and 2) Our good. It would require God to be untrue to his nature to do anything that did not contribute to his greater glory and our good. And God cannot be untrue to his nature and remain God.

Consider, all that God created (See Genesis Chapter 1), his handiwork proclaims his glory (Psalm19.1). And all this work of God's hands (More accurately, the work of his Word by which he called all things into being), God declared, “Good.” Not just good in his eyes, but good for the sake of what he created. Linus surveyed his pumpkin patch and saw nothing but “sincerity;” God looked over all that he had made and saw nothing but “good.”

Tragically, Satan had to insinuate evil in the midst of all the good God had created, and our ancestors made the awful choice of the “not good” over the “good,” and unleashed all kinds of misery, suffering, and death. Yet God would obtain even greater glory, and we would be the recipients of greater good, through the work of redemption ordained by the Father through the Son,

“Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you,since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.”
John 17.1-3

Glory and goodness, it's hard to top motivators like these, so why even try? Rather, we would do well to commit ourselves to follow the Son's example and do everything to the glory of the Father, and for the good of all whom the Father loves in and through the Son. In fact, we should question any other motives we might have. Glory and goodness, that's why Jesus did what he did.

S.D.G.

Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4