When God waits for a thousand years to accomplish a purpose of His own, He does not wait a long time. He waits only for “one day.” That is, His purposes are not compromised by a delay of a thousand years, nor are they enhanced by the delay. In fact, what are a thousand years to God if He can accomplish the redemption of many sinners within that time? It is not a “delay” or “slowness,” but it is to His glory to wait!
In what way is God glorified? He is glorified in that the greatness of His salvation is revealed in His patience. Peter notes that the believer is to “regard the patience of our Lord as salvation” (2 Peter 3:15). That is, as he thinks about the patience of God and contemplates its duration and endurance, he is to recognize that it is a means of producing salvation in him. And of course there is no salvation apart from the cross and Christ crucified and resurrected. So God is glorified in His patience by drawing men to Himself through the cross. Or, said another way, because God is patient, more men come to know the wonder of the salvation of Christ and the cross — so God is glorified.
And God is glorified because of the uniqueness of that salvation.
Men are not the only ones who sinned. One third of the angels in heaven also sinned. And God exhibits some measure of patience with them as well, for while they were cast out of heaven following their sin, they did not immediately experience the full and eternal wrath of God. He is patient with them — giving them time before the final judgment. Yet His patience with the demons differs from His patience with men, for while any man might and should repent, no demon can ever repent and have the wrath of God removed (2 Peter 2:4; Jude 6).
So in His patience, God is glorified not only through the gracious work of Christ on the cross, but also through the uniqueness of the salvation provided for mankind.
Words of Grace 