Glorifying God

 You hear the phrase thrown around a lot amongst Christians, “I want to glorify God." But have you ever stopped to think about how this is done?  Now, I could write a whole book on this, but for our purpose here I will try to summarize this topic for us.

As Christians, we must always look to Jesus Christ as our example of life as He IS life.  In the gospel of John, Jesus makes a bold, yet simple, declaration:

 I glorified Thee on the earth, having accomplished the work which Thou hast given Me to do.  (17:4)

 How did Jesus glorify God?  By accomplishing the work that the Father had sent him to do.  It is that simple!  We glorify God by accomplishing the work He has us here to do.  And only as we do the work He has given us to do will we find real peace and contentment.  Just look at God’s creation.  All of God’s creation glorifies God (Psalm 19:1) by doing the work He created it to do.  We are encouraged to consider the ways of God’s creatures. Why?  Not only to learn from their habits and hard work but also to learn how to glorify God.  The ants do their work day after day, never changing their pattern or lifestyle.  They are content and satisfied in doing the work God created them to do and as a result they are glorifying God.  When disruption comes to their life they stay focused and keep doing what they were created to do.

 Of course it’s easy to see the example of the ant and say, “Well that’s all fine and dandy – but I’m not an ant!  My purpose is not to make an anthill.  What is God’s purpose for my life?”  Let us again look to Jesus as our example to discover the work that He was sent to do and see if there is something that we can learn about the work we are to do in order to glorify God.

 The work that Jesus accomplished can be summed up in three words – Service, Sacrifice, and Suffering.  These three words may not immediately produce warm fuzzies for us but they are crucial for understanding the work of Christ and the life of the Christian if we desire to glorify God.

 Service 

In the gospel of Matthew, Jesus tells us that He did not come to be served but to serve (20:28).  Jesus’ life was a life of serving.  He constantly gave of Himself for the sake of others.  In the verses prior to the above Jesus tells us that the greatest people will be those who do the same – serve others.  If we are to glorify God we must have the mindset of service – we are not here for ourselves and our own selfish desires; we are here to fulfill the work that God has given us to do and this involves the giving of ourselves for the sake of others. 

Sacrifice

In the above mentioned verse Jesus says that not only did He come to serve but He also came to give His life as a ransom for many.  Here is where we see the greatest service that Jesus did.  If all that Jesus had done while on earth was to serve others’ physical needs then we’d still be lost in our sins.  But because of the finished work of Christ – His sacrifice for our sins – we have freedom from our sin and life eternal. Through His sacrifice on the cross we were reconciled to God.  His sacrifice was the ultimate service for mankind.

 Here, too, we can learn of the work we are to do in order to glorify God.  If we are going to serve God here on earth, it will require sacrifice.  Now, I’m not saying that we must physically die for the sake of others (although martyrdom may come to some of us who take the gospel to others), but living for the glory of God will require sacrifice on our part.  We must give up our own selfish desires, goals, and dreams for something greater.  We must daily die to ourselves so God can work in us and through us.

 Suffering

Jesus knew that His time here on earth was going to be a time of suffering.  After His resurrection, while on the road to Emmaus, he stated to his disciples, "Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?" (Luke 24:26).  If Jesus hadn’t suffered there would be no glory – no life – no salvation.  How hard it is for us to realize this.  It’s hard because we don’t like it – we don’t want to suffer.  But suffering is part of the Christian life and it is essential for us if we are going to fulfill the work God has for us – more precisely, the work that He has to do in us (Philippians 1:6; 2 Corinthians 4:16-18).  The first century disciples considered it an honor and a privilege to suffer for Christ and so can we (Acts 5:41), thus fulfilling the work He has for us. 

Again, we must look to Jesus to discover how He was able to suffer and how we can, too.  The answer is found in the book of Hebrews:

Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance, and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.  (12:1-2)

 Jesus had His eyes, His heart, and His hope fixed on the right thing – the things eternal.  When we turn our eyes upon Jesus and our eyes are opened to the things eternal, the things of earth will be dull and lifeless to us and suffering will be quite bearable. 

Let’s learn to be content in the work that God has given us to do, just as the rest of God’s creatures are, and to realize that this work involves service, sacrifice, and suffering. 

May we glorify God by accomplishing the work that He has given us to do – Proclaiming Jesus Christ, the love of God, the work of God, and the grace of God.  As we do this, we will begin to realize that service is a joy, sacrifice is no sacrifice at all because of the greater good that comes, and that suffering is quite bearable because of the hope that is ahead.

By God's Grace ~ Through God's Word ~ For God's Glory!

Chuck Long

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