If God did not value Himself above all other things, then He would cease to be God. - CCWoody
And yet God was willing to turn His back on His own Son (who became sin for us) so we might have fellowship with God.
Were God to regard man above His glory, He would be an idolater. - CCWoody
I believe Jesus on the cross chose to regard man above Himself for the ultimate glory of God.
Jon. 13:8 Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me.
It would seem that you as well agree that what God did was ultimately for His glory. I will maintain that all of these acts are ultimately for His glory. God is seeking His glory in all that He does. Man benefits from the zeal that God seeks His own glory. If God were to regard anything greater than His name, He would be in idolatry. (P.S. Christ will still be a Servant at the Second Coming and after. He will not give up His glory.)
When the Father looks on the Son, He beholds the brightness of His own glory and the express image of His own person. When God contemplates His own glory in the image of the Son it brings Him great delight (Isaiah 42:1): Behold! My Servant whom I uphold, My Elect One in whom My soul delights! The very method with which God has chosen to effect salvation is designed to reveal His own Glory in the Person of the Son.
John 17:4-5 I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do. And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.
John 12:28-28 "Now is My soul troubled, and what shall I say? `Father, save Me from this hour'? But for this cause came I unto this hour. Father, glorify Thy name." Then there came a voice from Heaven, saying, "I HAVE BOTH GLORIFIED IT, AND WILL GLORIFY IT AGAIN."
God did indeed turn His back upon His Son. He did so ultimately for His own glory. Salvation is not the ultimate end of the Cross Work; it is penultimate to the ultimate goal of His glory.
…God's saving design are penultimate, not ultimate. Redemption, salvation, and restoration are not God's ultimate goal. These He performs for the sake of something greater: namely, the enjoyment He has in glorifying Himself. - John Piper
All the works of God ultimately focus the praises of His redeemed people on the One who is his great delight. God certainly could have fashioned redemption had He so desired so that the Blood of His Son would not have been shed. It would have certainly not had the same impact in the sheer magnitude of the gratitude, awe and wonder that this saint feels when he looks at the cross.
There on a tree hangs the King of Glory, cursed and bleeding for me. As the blood and water pooled after the spear was thrust in, so too the praises of His people are gathered together. He has been given a Name more to be gloried than any other name.
For the joy that was set before Him, Christ endured the cross and has sat down at the right hand of the Father (Hebrews 12:2). We are to look to Him. The Cross of Christ has focused the praises of His redeemed people. Christ has sat down and returned to the glory that He had. And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was (John 17:4).