We have all learned from experience at being humans to ferret out and subsequently be disgusted by self-centeredness. The paradox is that this tendency toward pride in one’s self may be one of the great hallmarks of humanity (and is the plague of those in pursuit as well). And due to the recent collapse of restraining virtues, it has become a condemning feature of our culture at large.
We hate this in others, yet we tolerate it in ourselves. Why?
I’ve been thinking about how God is perfectly justified to be self-centered. He embodies perfection; angels and humans were created to know and worship Him. Does this trigger our revulsion to self-centered behavior? Probably, if we don’t think through the situation much. Perhaps this is a chief complaint made by those offended by God—His glory conflicts with an unreasonable expectation of our own.
But pondering this honestly, we quickly realize that if God is exactly as He describes Himself, He fully possesses the right to be self-centered—meaning, He organizes reality to demonstrate His glory. This would indicate that He is the center of all things and knows this because it is true. Does this still bother us?
One more thing is puzzling—something we as imperfect beings don’t yet understand. The one who should rightly elevate Himself over all others chose to demonstrate that perfect self-awareness also involves sacrifice.
Where Do We See This in Scripture?
All throughout, if one pays attention. For instance, in Hebrews 2 we read:
But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering.
A Monumental Change Happened
For a “little while” He “was made” lower than the angels. This was not His normal state. He is the one “for whom and by whom all things exist.” But He became lower than the angelic forms and joined humanity.
The Paradox, Resumed
Why did this change happen? The one who is the very definition of truth demonstrated that His form of self-existence was not complete without the rescue of the ones who were created to love and adore Him. For God’s glory is not the shadow of self-centeredness we have authored. It is something true and higher.