Glorifying God

There are some words we use as Christians that are a regular part of our vocabulary and yet we never stop to define them or to think about what they mean. There is no word of which this is truer than that of “glory” and “glorify.” We often talk about glorifying God and yet what does that mean and how do we glorify God?

 

If you can’t answer that, you have come to the right place, that is the sixth question and answer of The New City Catechism. We learned in question and answer four that one of the purposes for which God created us was to glorify Him. Now, the catechism explains how to do this. Here is what we read: “How can we glorify God? Answer: We glorify God by enjoying him, loving him, trusting him, and by obeying his will, commands, and law.”  

 

The Hebrew words behind “glory” and “glorify” mean literally “weight,” “weighty,” or “to show to be weighty.” God’s glory, then, is His weightiness, His magnificence and greatness that is unique and which He does not share with anyone else (Isaiah 42:8; 46:9-10). When we glorify God, then, we are not making Him look weighty or magnificence, but we are acknowledging and showing the weightiness, the magnificence which is part of the essence of God (Psalm 96:6-8). The Greek terms used in the Old Testament Greek translation and then the New Testament itself mean the same things (cf. Matt. 5:16; 1 Cor. 10:31). 

 

This sixth answer of the Catechism highlights some of the key ways we glorify God.

 

First, we glorify God “by enjoying Him.” Paul explains this in Philippians 1:20-23. Paul affirms that Christ is magnified in him when he values Jesus Christ even more than life. The way that this plays out for Paul in 2 Corinthians 9:6-15 is that God is glorified through the cheerful giving of self, resources, and finances to meet the needs of others. One of the points of each of these passages is that when the Lord is served out of delight, this glorifies Him more than doing it merely out of duty, just like when a wife is more honored when a husband brings home flowers out of delight for her as opposed to mere duty. 

 

Next, we glorify God by “loving him.” Since God is eternally and essentially love (1 John 4:8), one who has loved for eternity within the Trinity (John 17:24-26), and since He created us in His image (Genesis 1:26-28), this means that God made us to love Him (Deut. 6:5; Matt. 22:37) and others (Lev. 19:18; Matt. 22:39). In fact, love of others flows out of our love for God (Matt. 22:37-40; 1 John 4:20). We are made to love and we will love something(s) or someone(s) first and foremost. We are to love our Lord and Savior more than anyone or anything else (Luke 14:25-26), for this not only displays His glory in whose image we are created, it also displays His worth, He is preeminent over all (Rom. 11:36; Col. 1:15, 17), and we should love Him as such. This glorifies Him.  

 

What is more, we glorify God by “trusting him.” One place we discover this is in Psalm 50:15, where Asaph reveals why God has ordained prayer as a means of provision. He has done so because in our dependence upon Him, our trust in Him, through prayer, we glorify Him: “…and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.” Let me illustrate how this works.

 

Imagine that you have had severe abdominal pain for a couple excruciating days and you finally meet with your physician about it. Tests are run and then he shares with you the good news. He has determined what is wrong and there is a medication for you to take for two weeks that will stop the pain. In fact, the pain should diminish within a couple days of starting on the medication. The question is, “Will you take the medication?” Imagine that you have been treated by your physician for several years and always found him to be very capable. You have had very good success with him. Let me ask again, “Will you take the medication?” No doubt the answer would be, “Yes.”

 

Suppose you go on the medication, and it works as he said it would. Two months later you have a friend who has the same abdominal pain you previously had. You tell them about your experience and recommend your physician. 

 

What has happened in this scenario? You went to your physician and asked for help, which is similar to prayer and asking God for help. Your physician receives the honor because you asked—demonstrating you were not sufficient to treat yourself, but he knew how to help you. As a result, you receive the benefit.

 

The same is true when we trust in God and go to Him in prayer.

 

There is something else that happened in this scenario. Not only did you trust your physician and asked for help. You also trusted him with his prescribed treatment, and you did what he told you to do. You took the medication. This leads us to the next and last way we glorify God, according to The New City Catechism.

 

Finally, it is said here that we glorify God by “obeying his will, commands, and law.”  In Deuteronomy 11:1 we read: “You shall therefore love the Lord your God and keep his charge, his statutes, his rules, and his commandments always.” See also John 14:15, where Jesus Himself said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” 

 

What we have shown, then, is that since God is glorified through enjoying, loving, and trusting Him, He also is glorified through our obeying Him.

 

The New City Catechism has reminded us in question and answer four God created us to glorify Him. Now, in this sixth question and answer, we have learned how to glorify Him. Nothing could be more important for us to understand and to do than this. May we, then, glorify Him in whatever we do (1 Corinthians 10:31). 

 

Tom