The following questions and answers from Scripture were part of a message on honoring God from Malachi 1:6. Many of these came from Desiring God, but many are my own additions to that list.
Why did God create people?
Isaiah 43:6-7 ()
6 I will say to the north, Give up,
and to the south, Do not withhold;
bring my sons from afar
and my daughters from the end of the earth,
7 everyone who is called by my name,
whom I created for my glory,
whom I formed and made.
Why did God choose a people for himself and make Israel his possession?
Jeremiah 13:11
For as the loincloth clings to the waist of a man, so I made the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah cling to me, declares the Lord, that they might be for me a people, a name, a praise, and a glory, but they would not listen.
Why did God rescue Israel from bondage in Egypt?
Psalm 106:7-8
7 Our fathers, when they were in Egypt,
did not consider your wondrous works;
they did not remember the abundance of your steadfast love,
but rebelled by the sea, at the Red Sea.
8 Yet he saved them for his name’s sake,
that he might make known his mighty power.
Why did God part the Red Sea, rescue Israel, and destroy Pharaoh’s army?
Exodus 14:15-18
15 The Lord said to Moses, “Why do you cry to me? Tell the people of Israel to go forward. 16 Lift up your staff, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, that the people of Israel may go through the sea on dry ground. 17 And I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they shall go in after them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, his chariots, and his horsemen. 18 And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I have gotten glory over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.”
Why did God spare Israel again and again in the wilderness?
Ezekiel 20:14
But I acted for the sake of my name, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, in whose sight I had brought them out.
Why didn’t God cast away his people when they rejected him as king and asked for a king like the nations?
1 Samuel 12:20-22
20 And Samuel said to the people, “Do not be afraid; you have done all this evil. Yet do not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart. 21 And do not turn aside after empty things that cannot profit or deliver, for they are empty. 22 For the Lord will not forsake his people, for his great name’s sake, because it has pleased the Lord to make you a people for himself.”
Why did God use his sovereign power to bring back his people from exile after punishing four generations of sin?
Isaiah 48:9-11
9 “For my name’s sake I defer my anger,
for the sake of my praise I restrain it for you,
that I may not cut you off.
10 Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver;
I have tried you in the furnace of affliction.
11 For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it,
for how should my name be profaned?
My glory I will not give to another.”
Ezekiel 36:22-24, 32
22 “Therefore say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came. 23 And I will vindicate the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them. And the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Lord God, when through you I vindicate my holiness before their eyes. 24 I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land. … 32 It is not for your sake that I will act, declares the Lord God; let that be known to you. Be ashamed and confounded for your ways, O house of Israel.
Why does God forgive sins?
Isaiah 43:25
“I, I am he
who blots out your transgressions for my own sake,
and I will not remember your sins.
Why did the Son of God come to earth and to his final decisive hour?
John 17:1
When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you”
Why did God refrain from judgment until he sent Jesus to die?
Romans 3:23-27
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
27 Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith.
Why did God predestine our salvation?
Ephesians 1:5-6
5 he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.
Ephesians 1:11-12
11 In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, 12 so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory.
Why did God give the Holy Spirit?
Ephesians 1:13-14
13 In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.
Why will Jesus come again in the great day of consummation?
2 Thessalonians 1:9-10
9 They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might, 10 when he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed.
Why will every knee bow and every tongue confess Jesus as lord?
Philippians 2:10-11
10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Why Does God do all things?
Romans 11:36
For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.
If you were not convinced by the verses above, check out this list of some extra questions that will show you that God does what He does for the sake of His own glory.
What was the purpose of Lazarus’ sickness and death? – John 11:4
Why did King Herod die? – Acts 12:23
Why should we do what we do? – 1 Corinthians 10:31, Colossians 3:17
Why will every knee bow and every tongue confess? – Philippians 2:10-11
What was Jesus’ prayer as he approached his passion? – John 12:27-29
Why does God bring salvation and obedience to the Gentiles? – Romans 1:1-3
Why did God raise Pharaoh to power? – Romans 9:17
Why did Christ accept us? – Romans 15:7
Why was Paul praying for the Thessalonians? – 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12
Why were slaves commanded to behave well? – 1 Timothy 6:1
Why are our sins forgiven? – 1 John 2:12
Why let your light shine before men? – Matthew 5:16
Why would Peter be martyred? – John 21:19
Why will God bring peace to his chosen ones? – Isaiah 60:21, 61:3
What was God’s purpose in judging Sidon? – Ezekiel 28:22
Why did God command the temple to be rebuilt? – Haggai 1:8
Why will Jesus answer prayers? – John 14:13
Pastor Travis Peterson 