Glory. How can I possibly display God’s glory if I can’t define it? How do we glorify God more? We can’t. At least not by our own volition. I’ve tried. My last post was all about how my attempts to work harder ultimately failed at glorifying God. If I am correct in that the Bible calls us to glorify God, how does one actually do it?
For starters, you can’t glorify God if you are glorifying yourself. Ouch! It may be hard to admit, but doing things in our own strength is glorifying ourselves. What you are ultimately saying when you take the approach of just working harder is that you don’t trust God and you are strong enough on your own. The world sees your abilities and strength and you get all the credit.
When I began to search God’s Word for some insight on this matter, I was surprised at what I learned. Romans 1:20 says, “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.” This verse, among several others, seems to say that God’s creation declares His glory. There is something in our very makeup that declares God’s glory because we are His creation. That means it is impossible for you not to display God’s glory. Does that mean that even people who do not believe in Jesus Christ are displaying His glory? Short answer, yes!
Now before I lose you, there are different degrees of glory. 2 Corinthians 3:18 says, “And we all, with unveiled faces, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” This verse is fascinating! Pay close attention to who is doing the work here. The verse says that “we are being transformed.” We are not the ones doing the work, God is! There is also a cause ofthis transformation. Those who “behold the glory of the Lord” are the ones who are transformed into Christ’s likeness with an ever-increasing glory. That means the more we look upon Jesus the more we look like Him.
As I continued to ponder this transformation process, I thought about the people in the Bible who glorified God and what they had in common. Right away people like Moses, David, Paul, and the prophets came to mind. All of these people lived epic, glorifying lives. One of the things I noticed that they all had in common was that they understood God’s character. They believed in a big, powerful God. By rightly understanding who God is, they also understood who they were. Moses said the words, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?” (Exodus 33:15-16). David said, “Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house, that you have brought me thus far?” (2 Samuel 7:18). Isaiah said, “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” (Isaiah 6:5). Over and over again, I saw a pattern that when someone was allowed to understand and see the grandeur of God, humility was always the appropriate response. If we are to be a people that glorify God, we need to be a humble people. The people God chose to use were also people that clearly understood that their calling was not about them.
The apostle Paul had another interesting point to add to this topic. If you don’t know the story of Paul, he was a proud and educated man that God humbled and confronted. Upon being confronted with his sin, Paul confessed and from that point forward used his weaknesses to glorify God. It was Paul that said the words, “But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.” (2 Corinthians 4:7-10). As well as, “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:9-10). Paul knew that being weak and frail was not self-deprecation, it was an opportunity for Christ’s glory to be revealed through him.
How do we glorify God? Spend time with God and He will do it for you. Understand that it is a process and even though you may not see a difference from yesterday, I bet you can see a difference from ten years ago. As our understanding of the character of God grows, so does our ability to glorify God since only then will we rightly see ourselves. Finally, God has a tendency to use people that aren’t going to steal His fame. Our ultimate ability to glorify God comes from a willingness to let Him use our weaknesses. When I am broken, God’s light shines through the cracks.
In the words of John the Baptist, “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30). This is glory.