Well, the athletes have played the games. Most
did so in an honorably fashion. A few set records.
There were some who won medals, but most did
not. Only a few hundred, I suppose, out of the
10 ,000 or so athletes who competed. Some, like
Cary Strug, Janet Evans, Mike Johnson, Dan O
'Brien, have made names for themselves. And in
doing that, they have become famous and recognized
and will possibly reap huge financial windfalls
as a result of that. And that raises a question,
doesn't it, regarding the motives for Olympic
achievements? It must be difficult for these
great athletes to separate their love of the
sport from the allure of fame and power that
comes with great accomplishment. Is it possible
to conceive of making a name for oneself unselfishly?
Well, it's pretty hard to do so, I think. The
human nature, sinful as it is, makes it nearly
impossible to make a name for oneself unselfishly.
But we're going to see today in God's Word that
God has made a name for Himself and has done
so with the highest motive. It is not wrong for
God to make a name for Himself. For you see,
for God to make a name for Himself is for our
greatest good and for His highest glory. I invite
you to open your Bible to Jeremiah chapter 32
and verse 20 where once again we come to this
prayer of the prophet Jeremiah as he shares with
us his understanding of God, what he knows about
God. And in doing so, he tells us what we ought
to know about God as well. There is no knowledge
that is greater than the knowledge of God. Jeremiah
writes the word of the Lord when he says, don't
glory in your riches, don't glory in your might,
don't glory in your power, in your wisdom, but
let the one who boasts, boast that he knows me.
that he understands me. And so through this summer
we have sought to understand God. We have sought
to know God as He is. He is a mighty God. And
today we're going to see that God is mighty in
renown. Regarding God, Jeremiah says, who has
set signs and wonders in the land of Egypt. It's
easy to read over that part of the sentence,
isn't it? We must not do that. His reputation
can only be described by the word glorious His
name he has made glorious And today as we think
about this theme I want us to consider what God
has done To make a name for himself and I hope
we will leave here excited as well as challenged
with the role that He has given to us in carrying
forth His reputation. Now there are two questions
that I want to ask to open this theme to our
hearts. What does it mean that God has made a
name for Himself? And secondly, how has God made
a name for Himself? Now once again, when we think
of making a name for oneself, it's not necessarily
interpreted by us in the most positive light.
Because we think of the arrogant athlete. Or
we remember the school bully who made a name
for himself by punching others in the nose. Or
we think of the pretentious real estate tycoon.
who's made a name for herself or himself. Or
we think of the self -worshipping entertainer
whose name is in the lights. Or the imperious
intellectual or the braggart in the carpool that
you put up with every day of the week. When we
think of making a name for ourselves, it's not
interpreted necessarily in a positive light.
But here we are thinking of God. Men love to
make names for themselves and men do it with
the wrong motive very often. We do that because
we are separated from God and lost without a
relationship to the Creator by which we could
gain identity. And so without that relationship
and the identity that comes with it, Lost men
seek to make names for themselves. You understand
what I'm saying? That is the way of lost mankind.
And we see it in the Bible as early as in the
book of Genesis. Look back with me in the chapter
11 of the first book of the Bible. Here we have
the record of humanity after there was a population
explosion following the flood. In those days
the whole earth used the same language and the
same words. And it came about as they journeyed
east as they found a plain in the land of Shinar
and settled there. And they said to one another,
come let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly.
That is, make bricks with which to build. and
they used brick for stone and they used tar for
mortar and they said come let us build for ourselves
a city and a tower whose top will reach into
heaven and let us make for ourselves a name lest
we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole
earth so that's exactly what God said to do scatter
abroad over the face of the earth. They said,
we don't want to do that. We don't want to do
what God says to do. We want to stay together.
And we will build a city. And we're going to
put a tower in that city by which we will reach
to the heavens. Now they knew they could not
reach heaven. What does this mean? Well, there
are several possible understandings of it. The
one that seems to fit the best, I think, is they
were talking about building a tower from which
they could observe the heavens. And what we have
here is probably the very beginning of astrology.
And the worship of the stars. And the following
of the astrological signs. That was their intent
in building this tower. It was in rebellion against
God. They would not serve the Creator, but rather
they worshiped what He had created. And they
said, we will make a name for ourselves. You
see, man seeks to establish his own significance.
not in relation to the Creator, but on His own
terms and by His own potential. Dr. John Piper
has written, creation exists for man. The instinct
of self -preservation in fallen man seeks fulfillment
not by trusting God and thereby His name, but
by employing His own human genius. thereby making
a name for Himself. And that is the attempt of
our culture too. We do not want to see ourselves
in relation to God. We want to see ourselves
in relation to what we can do, what we can accomplish.
And so our age is very much like that of Babel.
It is an expression of independence from God.
It is an evidence, indeed, of rebellion against
God. It shows the human heart saturated by sin
and self. But when God makes a name for Himself,
it is an action totally untainted by sin. When
God makes a name for Himself, it is a holy and
good action on His part. What does it mean for
God to make a name for Himself? Well, God's name
is more than a title or a designation or a label
that He gives us to put on Him. It means much,
much more than that. When God makes a name for
Himself, it's not just saying, here is what you
can call me. God's name is really a disclosure
of His nature. When God makes a name for Himself,
He is telling us what His character is like.
The names that He uses means something. And they
tell us what God is like. And so for God to make
a name for Himself means that He shows what He
is like so that we might know Him, that we might
worship Him. And that, my friend, as we learned
last week, is man's highest good and chief end.
You remember that Phil had us recite to him from
the Catechism. What is the chief end of man?
And our response was to know God. To know God
and enjoy Him forever. And so for God to make
a name for Himself is for Him to show His glory,
to manifest His perfections so that we might
know Him. That's our chief end. And so the greatest
thing that God can do for us is to make a name
for Himself. The best good that God can accomplish
for us is to make a name for Himself so that
we might know Him. And because of His perfections,
it's His highest glory. Now, how has God gone
about this process of making a name for Himself?
We know what Carey Strugg did. and her courage
in making that final vault that led our ladies
to a gold medal. We know what Janet Evans has
done, not only this year, but for a number of
years in swimming. And we know Dan O 'Brien from
the decathlon. We know what they did to make
a name for themselves. The question is... What
has God done to make a name for Himself? Well,
let me suggest several things. First of all,
God has made a name for Himself through the things
He has made. In the creation of the universe,
God has made a name for Himself. Again, in the
book of Genesis, look in chapter 1 this time,
the very end of the chapter to these familiar
verses. Where it says in verse 26, God said let
us make man in our image according to our likeness
and let them rule over the fish of the sea and
over the birds of the sky and over the cattle
and over all the earth and over every creeping
thing that creeps on the earth. And God created
man in his own image. In the image of God, he
created him male and female. He created them.
In the things that God has created, He has made
a name for Himself, not only in the inanimate
things and in the animals, but in man and woman.
God has showed us something of Himself, and especially
in man and woman. Never think of human beings
as some evolved animal. That is to blaspheme
the name of God. God has made a name for Himself
in human beings who are created uniquely in His
image to show us something of what He is like.
Our friend John Piper again says, since God made
man like Himself, Man's dominion over the world
and his filling the world is a display, an imaging
forth of God. God's aim therefore was that man
would so act that he mirror forth God who has
ultimate dominion. Man is given the exalted status
of image bearer. Not so he would become arrogant
and autonomous. but so he would reflect the glory
of his Maker whose image he bears. God's purpose
in creation therefore was to fill the earth with
his own glory. And so God has made a name for
himself in the creation of the universe and most
particularly, human beings as man and woman.
Let me suggest, secondly, that God has made a
name for Himself through the nation that He has
redeemed. I am thinking of the nation of Israel
and her deliverance from Egypt. Turn with me
to the book of Isaiah, chapter 63, where this
is most clearly stated. Isaiah 63. Well, we'll
pick it up in verse 11, the last part of the
verse, where it says, Where is he who put his
Holy Spirit in the midst of them? Now Isaiah
63 12, who caused his glorious arm to go at the
right hand of Moses, who divided the waters before
them to make for himself an everlasting name.
who led them through the depths. Like the horse
in the wilderness, they did not stumble, as the
cattle which go down into the valley, the Spirit
of the Lord gave them rest. So didst thou lead
thy people to make for thyself a glorious name.
Now God is telling us what he has done to make
a name for himself. The first thing is that he's
created everything, and especially human beings.
Secondly, he says, I want you to look back in
the record of the Old Testament, and I want you
to see what I did in delivering my people. How
I split the waters of the Red Sea, and they went
down into the sea as cattle going down into a
valley. And He gave them rest on the other side.
He gave them safety. And so He made a glorious
name for Himself. My friend, that is God's reputation.
That is God's reputation. He is the God who can
split the oceans. He is the God who can deliver
His people from a hopeless situation and give
them new life. That is the God. who has made
a name for himself. Third, let me suggest to
you that God has made a name for himself through
the victory he provided. And here I think of
his driving out the Canaanites before his people,
so as to give them the land of Abraham, Isaac,
and Jacob. To see this, I want you to turn to
1 Chronicles 17. God is telling us about his
reputation. And here he uses the words of David
who is praising the Lord. Verse Chronicles 17
and verse 21. Well let's back up to verse 20
where David says, Oh Lord, there is none like
thee, neither is there any God besides thee,
according to all that we have heard with our
ears. In what one nation in the earth is like
thy people Israel whom God went to redeem for
himself as a people to make thee a name by great
and terrible things in driving out nations from
before thy people whom thou didst redeem out
of Egypt and so you see God's reputation is not
only linked to the creation and to the redemption
of Israel from Egypt but from the conquest of
the land, the victory that He gave His people.
Now those Canaanites had lived there for hundreds
and hundreds of years. They were there in the
days of Abraham. And then the time came for them
to be judged for their evil, and for God to give
that real estate to His people Israel. And so
He drove them out before His people. And God
says, that's my reputation. I've made a name
for myself in giving my people victory and rest
in the land that I promised them. But, alas,
the people that God redeemed and gave the land
to were not always faithful to God. Indeed, there
were times when they worshipped the gods of the
nations around them, and God disciplined them.
And they would come back to God. And then the
cycle would be repeated again and again. And
if you know your Old Testament, you know I'm
describing for you the book of Judges. When everyone
did that which was right in his own eyes, there
was no king in Israel, and the Lord was not allowed
to be their king. They refused him. And yet,
God did not reject utterly his people. And that
brings us to the fourth way in which God has
made a name for himself. It is through the preservation
that he promised. You see, God made a pledge
to Abraham that He would preserve His seed and
bless the whole world through Abraham's seed.
God had promised to preserve the descendants
of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and He did. I invite
you to turn to 1 Samuel chapter 12. And here
we have the words, of Samuel. And he says, beginning
in verse 20, Do not fear you have committed all
this evil, yet do not turn aside from following
the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart.
And you must not turn aside, for then you would
go after futile things which cannot profit or
deliver. because they are futile. For the Lord
will not abandon His people on account of His
great name." You know what Samuel's saying? He's
saying God's reputation rests on you. And so
even though you have done evil, stop it. Worship
the Lord. God will not abandon you because of
His great name, because the Lord has been pleased
to make you a people for Himself. And so through
the preservation that He pledged, God made Himself
a name. And to this day, to this day, there are
Jews in the world. And there is a nation of Israel
that has been restored in these last days according
to the word of God's prophecy. That is God's
reputation, my friend. He's made a name for Himself.
But now I want us to think in terms that are
New Testament. and how God has made a name for
Himself under the new covenant. And to do that,
I invite you to turn to the Gospel of John, the
12th chapter. By the way, I'm leaving out a lot
of things. There would not be time in one sermon
to give all of the references by which God made
a name for Himself. But in the Gospel of John,
the 12th chapter, we have another reference.
regarding God glorifying His name or His reputation.
Verse 27. Jesus says, my soul has become troubled.
And what shall I say, Father, save me from this
hour? You see, the hour had come for the Son
of Man to be glorified. His death was imminent.
He says, what shall I say, Father, save me from
this hour? But he says for this purpose I came
to this hour and then he says father glorify
thy name He says father exalt your reputation
in the world father exalt who you are And there
came a voice out of heaven I have both glorified
it and will glorify it again. God says in response
to His Son, I have laid my reputation out. I
have upheld my reputation. I have glorified my
name and I will do it again. And what I submit
to you that through the Son that He gave, through
the Son that He gave, God made a name for Himself.
He made a name for Himself that He is both holy
and righteous and just and will deal with sin
and that He is merciful and gracious in providing
a Savior for sinful men. Oh, how God made a name
for Himself at the cross. But I must go on. For
God has made a name for Himself, or will make
a name for Himself through something else that
has yet to occur. And to see this I invite you
to turn to 2 Thessalonians chapter 1. 2 Thessalonians
chapter 1 in verse 9. Paul says in these who
do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ
will pay the penalty That is for their disobedience
The penalty of eternal destruction away from
the presence of the Lord and from the glory of
his power When he comes to be glorified in his
saints on that day and to be marveled at among
all who have believed." What is he saying? He
is saying that God is going to advance His reputation.
He is going to glorify Himself. He's going to
glorify His name in the return that He promised,
the return of Jesus Christ. For on that day,
at the appointed hour, there will be a release
of divine energy that is described as flaming
fire. And with that, the sun will make his entrance
into our dimension. And his glory will be seen.
And the saints who've been glorified will be
with him. And all will marvel at the glory of
the Son when He returns. Oh, how God's reputation
among all will be known on that day. God will
make a name for Himself. But I have one other
reference that I want us to turn to before we...
stop our exploration this morning in the Scriptures,
and that is Ephesians chapter 1. And we might
reference just one other text as well. Ephesians
chapter 1 verse 6. Well, we'll start in verse
5 where it says, The Father predestined us to
adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to himself.
according to the kind intention of His will,
to the praise of the glory of His grace, which
He freely bestowed on us in the beloved." What
is he saying here? He is saying that God is praising,
He is lifting up the reputation of His grace
by what He has done in calling you and me to
Himself. God is advancing His reputation through
the people that He's called. That's the seventh
way I want to talk about it. God is advancing
His reputation through you and through me. Now
we have looked at some amazing events in the
Old Testament. We have looked at the work of
the cross. We've looked ahead to the return of
Jesus Christ. And now, I think we see the most
amazing of all the ways in which God has made
a name for Himself. It is through you and me.
He has predestined us to be like Jesus Christ,
to the advance of the glory, the reputation of
His grace, and the angels' marvel. And throughout
all eternity, they will be marveling at the grace
that God has demonstrated, what He has shown
about Himself in you and in me. God is advancing
His renown through His people. And not only to
the angels, but to the world. Because you see,
in contrast to the paganism and the false religion
of the world, God is calling out a people for
His name, right? For His reputation. And through
the holy living of those people, He is advancing
His reputation in the world. Look in 1 Corinthians
10 -31, and I think this will be the last time
I have you turn to a reference. This morning
first Corinthians 1031 It says whether then you
eat or drink or whatever you do Do all for the
reputation of God The glory of God that's the
point Whether you eat or drink or anything that
you do realize that in doing that It is your
opportunity to advance God's reputation in the
world. God is mighty and renown. How does it
make you feel to know that He intends to extend
the reputation He has established through your
life? That God's purpose right now in August
of 1996, is to advance his reputation in your
office, in your store, in your neighborhood,
through your life, through your words, through
your actions, through your attitudes. That's
pretty humbling, isn't it? I remind you of the
words Peter, who says, you are a holy nation,
that you should show forth the praises of Him
who's called you out of darkness, moral darkness,
to His marvelous light as holy living. He says,
you are a special people, you have been Set apart
by God that you should show forth the praises
of Him. What is that saying? That you should
advance His reputation. That you should show
His renown to the world. Because He's called
you out of the darkness to walk in the light.
I think it is an amazing thought to consider
that God has entrusted His reputation in the
world to you and me. And how that ought to affect
the way that I live. How that ought to influence
how I treat my fellow workers. To recognize that
I'm carrying His reputation to the places that
I go. To understand that His reputation is linked
with the things that I do. God entrusts His name
to you. And He says to you and me, be holy. for
I am holy." Stuart Briscoe writes these words.
It is sometimes not adequately understood what
is included in the divine call. For instance,
when some people read God has called us into
fellowship with His Son, they could think that
the call of God is an invitation to enjoy a relationship
with His Son. and nothing more. It would be a
serious mistake to assume that the call of God
is solely a generous offer from God for undeserving
people to have a nice time with Jesus. The invitation
is also a summons. By all means rejoice in the
fellowship to be enjoyed with the Lord Jesus,
but not at the expense of ignoring the summons.
to live a holy life without which the fellowship
would not be real and true. There is no freedom
for individuals to go to God's garden party other
than on the conditions outlined, and these include
the call to be holy. Living a holy life is no
more an optional extra for the called than is
behaving appropriately for those who respond
to a royal invitation. In responding to the call,
accepting the invitation, there is an acknowledgement
of what is involved. God has called you, says
Peter, out of darkness into light. He has called
us to show forth His reputation to the world.
And surely as we come to the Lord's table, and
we remember what Jesus has done for us, and how
he has established the reputation of God in the
work of his cross. Our hearts must be humbled
and broken, and we must cry out to God afresh,
O Lord, you know my sins, forgive me of my sins.
and renew a heart within me for holiness. Renew
within me, Lord, the vision to show forth your
reputation to the world, to glorify your name,
for you are a God who is mighty and renowned.
Let's pray. To me this is a very convicting message,
that this God who is mighty and renowned entrusts
to me and to you the privilege of extending his
reputation into the world. Let us determine in
our hearts that we would do nothing and say nothing.
that would bring a stain to the reputation of
God, that would cause the world to look at us
and say terrible things about God. But because
God is holy, let us be holy. Father, will you
please, by your Spirit, impress us in our hearts?
and do it so permanently that our lives will
be forever changed. And this we pray in Jesus'
name.