I saw a blog post recently titled, ‘why this temptation?’ It was fundamentally asking why God allows us to be tempted in the particular ways he wants to tempt us. Its answer was – via various ways and means – because it brings glory to God.

I wrote a similar article a while ago now asking a question about suffering. Why does God bring us the particular forms of suffering he brings to us. My answer – via various ways and means – because it brings glory to God.

I wrote another article thinking about why God asks us to do evangelism and mission when he could just say the word and save everybody he wants without involving us at all. Given he doesn’t need us to do it, just like the first article said, he must have a good reason for us to do it in the messier ways our inclusion involves. The answer was – you guessed it – because it brings more glory to God this way.

We probably could save ourselves a lot of blogs and articles by recognising this is the answer to most questions that start, ‘why does God…’ The long and short of it is, God does whatever it is, things are the way they are, because they ultimately bring him more glory this way than if he had set it up another way.

This world is setup to the maximal glory of God. If things would glorify God more another way, and God is sovereign over them all, I suspect he would have set them up that way. Everything that happens, everything God permits, everything that is, exists because God determined it better serves his glory this way than had he set it up another way.

This is all well and good, but the rubber really hits the road when we hit upon some really objectively, objectionable stuff that goes on in the world. Did God really allow that because it serves his glory more? How on earth does that serve God’s glory? Surely he would be more glorified if that horrendous thing didn’t happen? There is lots we could say here. Probably all stuff for another post. But two broad responses are worth giving.

First, we often misunderstand God’s glory. There are plenty of examples of people NOT glorifying God when he stopped evil from happening in scripture. There are plenty of examples of people NOT glorifying God when he averts disaster. There are plenty of people today, but throughout history, who have denied the very existence of God because of what they perceive as the ordinary operation of the universe. What leads to God being glorified is often not what we think will lead to God being glorified. It takes an infinite mind who knows all possibilities to setup a world that would maximise his glory; a mind only God has.

Second, we don’t have to be able to explain how every example of each thing specifically serves God’s glory directly to nevertheless maintain that everything that happens does, indeed, serve God’s glory. I can rightly know that everything that happens in a game of football is devised by the manager for the purpose of seeking to win the match without grasping how each action of every individual in any way serves the tactics of the manager. You might know your manager is an attacking manager without understanding how the positioning of his players in any way serves his attacking purpose. In the same way, we can recognise that everything that occurs happens to serve God’s glory without necessarily understanding the exact mechanics behind how this particular event or action directly works to serve God’s glory. Not knowing the latter doesn’t negate the former.

But in essence, the answer to every ‘why does God…’ question starts and ends with God’s glory. The world is the way it is, God permits the things he permits, he commands the things he commands, he does the things he does, all because they ultimately serve his glory.