Soli Deo Gloria

Order of Service

• Call to Worship — Revelation 4:9-11
• Hymn — All Praise to God Who Reigns Above
• Prayer of Invocation
• Confession of Faith — Nicene Creed
• Scripture Reading — Ephesians 2:1-10
• Hymn — A Mighty Fortress Is Our God
• Pastoral Prayer
• Offering Prayer
• Hymn — To God Be the Glory
• Sermon
• Hymn — The Power of the Cross
• Benediction — 2 Corinthians 13:14

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Sermon Title: Soli Deo Gloria

Scripture: John 12:27-36

I. Sola Gratia Leads to Soli Deo Gloria

A. The cross of Calvary is the supreme display of God's glory

1. Jesus's troubled soul in John 12:27 anticipates the cross; his prayer is "Father, glorify your name"
2. The Father's voice from heaven (John 12:28) confirms this, spoken for the hearers' sake, not Christ's
3. We might expect God's glory in creation, the Exodus, or divine judgment — but Jesus locates it supremely at the cross

B. Grace and glory are inseparable

1. God's justice, righteousness, and holiness are not absent from grace — they are displayed in grace at the cross
2. John 12:31: "Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out" — God's holy wrath falls on the Son, the sin-bearer
3. Christ fulfills the Abrahamic Covenant (Genesis 15) and crushes the serpent's head (Genesis 3:15)

C. The doctrine of divine simplicity illuminates the cross

1. God does not merely possess his attributes — he is his attributes (righteousness, holiness, love, justice)
2. All of God's attributes coalesce at Golgotha: wrath and mercy, justice and love, in a single act of grace
3. The word "glory" (Hebrew kavod) means heavy — the cross displays the full, weighty heaviness of who God is

II. Solus Christus Leads to Soli Deo Gloria

A. Christ is the embodiment of God's glory

1. Colossians 2:9: "In him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily"
2. Hebrews 1: Christ is "the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature"
3. John 12:35-36: Jesus identifies himself as the light among them — the glory of God in human form

B. Christ is the one man who perfectly glorifies God

1. The chief end of man — to glorify God — is realized in Christ alone, who obeys the Father unto death on a cross
2. "It is finished" is declared at the cross, not at the resurrection or ascension — the mission of glorifying God is complete there
3. Paul in 1 Corinthians 2:2: "I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified"
4. The resurrection is the seal — the stamp of the Father's approval that the mission is accomplished

C. Satan's strategy is always to divert from the cross

1. Romans 1: Sin is exchanging the glory and truth of God for a lie — Satan is the father of that lie
2. Peter's rebuke, the tempter in Matthew 4, and the mockers at the cross all urge Christ to abandon the cross
3. Luther's great insight: sin is not merely guilt before God, but evidence of Satan's dominion; the gospel liberates us to say "Be gone, Satan — I am hidden in Christ alone"

D. Christ glorifies God as the representative man, the Last Adam

1. He meets the chief end of man not as a private individual but as a representative for all his people
2. Because he has done so, believers are hidden in him and share in his glory

III. Sola Fide Leads to Soli Deo Gloria

A. Seeing the glory is not the same as receiving it — faith takes possession of the gift

1. John 12:36: "Believe in the light, that you may become sons of light" — Jesus commands his hearers to receive the gift
2. 2 Corinthians 4: The glory of God shines in the face of Jesus Christ and is received by faith
3. To refuse the gift is a wasted life; Jesus says it would have been better for such a person never to have been born

B. Faith itself is God's gift — salvation is entirely his act

1. If faith were dependent on fallen man, then Soli Deo Gloria is undermined — God's glory would be shared with another
2. God is the independent, self-existent "I AM" — his redemptive plan cannot be contingent on something outside himself
3. John 12:32: "I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself" — Christ himself draws his sheep through Spirit-wrought faith
4. Scripture, grace, Christ, and faith are all the sovereign gift of God alone — none depends on fallen human action

C. God's glory in salvation is the overflow of his joy

1. Zephaniah 3:17: "He will rejoice over you with gladness… he will exult over you with loud singing"
2. To diminish God's glory in salvation is to diminish God's joy over his people
3. All four preceding Solas drive toward Soli Deo Gloria — to him alone be all praise, honor, and glory