Does God love himself more than us?
My answer is 'yes,' because while we are objects of God's affection, the reason for that isn't because of who we are, but because of Christ. We were loved in Christ before the foundation of the world, and we are created for his glory, the very thing he loves most of all. I've heard some people say that this sounds egotistic and arrogant, not just from unbelievers, that he loves himself and his glory more than us, and loves us through himself and his glory. But is that really wrong for God to do? If God did not love himself above all others, wouldn't that be a form of idolatry? Putting others above the one that should be loved the most? I see that if our greatest happiness is his glory, then he must necessarily share in that and cannot descend any lower than that. His glory is exceeds far above his love for us, and his love for us is in light of his glory and through Jesus Christ in whom we were created.
What are your thoughts?
I believe you have firm footing in the Psalms and especially in the Prophets.
When YHWH declares in Ezekiel 36, that He will unilaterally make Israel clean He says so not for their sake but for the sake of His Name.
Ezekiel 36: NASB
16Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
17“Son of man, when the people of Israel lived in their land, they defiled it by their own ways and deeds. Their behavior before Me was like the uncleanness of a woman’s impurity.
18So I poured out My wrath upon them because of the blood they had shed on the land, and because they had defiled it with their idols.
19I dispersed them among the nations, and they were scattered throughout the lands. I judged them according to their ways and their deeds.
20And wherever they went among the nations they profaned My holy name, because it was said of them, ‘These are the people of the LORD, yet they had to leave His land.’
21But I had concern for My holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations to which they had gone.
22Therefore tell the house of Israel that this is what the Lord GOD says: It is not for your sake that I will act, O house of Israel, but for My holy name, which you profaned among the nations to which you went. 23I will show the holiness of My great name, which has been profaned among the nations—the name you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know that I am the LORD, declares the Lord GOD, when I show My holiness in you before their eyes.
24For I will take you from among the nations and gather you out of all the countries, and I will bring you back into your own land.
25I will also sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your impurities and all your idols.
26I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.
27And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes and to carefully observe My ordinances.
28Then you will live in the land that I gave your forefathers; you will be My people, and I will be your God.
29I will save you from all your uncleanness. I will summon the grain and make it plentiful, and I will not bring famine upon you.
30I will also make the fruit of the trees and the crops of the field plentiful, so that you will no longer bear reproach among the nations on account of famine.
31Then you will remember your evil ways and wicked deeds, and you will loathe yourselves for your iniquities and abominations.
32It is not for your sake that I will act, declares the Lord GOD—let it be known to you. Be ashamed and disgraced for your own ways, O house of Israel!
33This is what the Lord GOD says: On the day I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will cause the cities to be resettled and the ruins to be rebuilt.
34The desolate land will be cultivated instead of lying desolate in the sight of all who pass through.
35Then they will say, ‘This land that was desolate has become like the garden of Eden. The cities that were once ruined, desolate, and destroyed are now fortified and inhabited.’
