How Is the Statement "God Is Most Glorified In Us When We Are Most Satisfied In Him" True for Those Who Won't Be Saved?
How is the statement "God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him" true for those who won't be saved?
When I say "God is most glorified in us" I mean: if your aim is to glorify God, you will do it most by being satisfied in him.
Now this question raises something that I'm not answering, namely, What if you don't give a rip about glorifying God and you plan to go to hell and be an unbeliever and an atheist to the end? In that case "God is most glorified in you when you are most satisfied in him" doesn't even work. It doesn't even have a bearing on that person. Since they're not satisfied in God at all, then he is not glorified in their being satisfied in him.
So I suppose what is being asked is, Is he glorified in them in any way? And the answer to that is, Yes. God glorifies his wrath in condemning those who won't have him as their satisfaction. He hands them over to their sin, and he punishes them in hell. And the glory of his justice shines very brightly.
"If God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath" (Romans 9:22), that's what will be glorified! His wrath will be glorified and his power will be glorified. And their failure to be satisfied in him will produce that kind of glorification.
But when I say the above statement I'm not even thinking that way. I'm thinking, "Do you want to glorify God the most with your life and experience his glory the most? Then the answer is: Pursue maximum satisfaction in him." That's what so many Christians have never heard, and they have a hard time believing.
And I'm devoting my life to try and make it look biblical—like it is—and to help people overcome the obstacles that are in the way, such as "Duty is more noble than hedonism." Some say that it's more noble to do something because you have to do it than it is because you delight to do it. It's more noble to worship God out of some sense that he deserves it than out of the fact that he is so magnificent and glorious that I can't help it. And I disagree with all of that!
God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him. And I don't want to turn that against the fact that God does indeed glorify his wrath by punishing justly those who refuse to be satisfied in him.
I'll risk this: maybe the statement "God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him" does mean that those who refuse to be satisfied in him and those who do seek their satisfaction in him happen globally or historically in such a way that the greatest amount of glory shines. Mercy shines, wrath shines, justice shines, patience shines, grace shines—the totality of the rainbow of God's perfections shines most brightly because there are some who refuse to be satisfied, thus calling forth his wrath, and there are some who glut their satisfaction on him, calling forth his grace and glory.