God's glory, our good

One of the books I have just read for my seminary classes is God's Lesser Glory - The Diminished God of Open Theism by Bruce Ware. The book is a superb critique of Open Theism, a false teaching that advocates an unbiblical view of God. Open Theism seeks to elevate man's freedom, at the expense of God's absolute sovereignty over all of his creation. I especially appreciated the book's conclusion. Here is an excerpt that I hope will be encouraging and challenging, as we think about how we are to glorify God with our whole lives.

"What kind of glory does the God of the Bible possess? And in what is our everlasting good found? ...One might wonder why these two particular questions should come together... They come together because it is the Bible's own view that, as the glory of God goes, so goes our temporal and everlasting good. For example, in the opening section of Ephesians 1, in which Paul extols the many blessings we enjoy in Christ, his regular refrain is, 'to the praise of his glory'. In this text, it is clear that God's glory is both the source from which our goodness comes and the end toward which our goodness aims. Our blessings come from the glorious, risen, and exalted Christ; and such goodness redounds to the glory of God in Christ. In brief, our goodness depends on God being glorified.

"...With joy and gladness we affirm afresh that the true and living God reigns supreme as King over all, knowing the end from the beginning, and regulating the affairs of all creation to accomplish his infallibly wise and perfect will. As such, he is infinitely worthy of our worship and trust. His word and promise are absolutely reliable. He is for us our sure and constant source of all that we need, so that as supreme Giver of every good and perfect gift he alone may receive all the glory due his name. The true and living God, the God of the Bible, is incomparably wise and great, and in him we are immeasurably blessed. In his infinite glory we find our everlasting good. He truly is for all who believe in him alone their 'Maker, Defender, Redeemer, and Friend'. Soli Deo gloria, indeed."