‘And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.”’
- Luke 2:13-14 -
What is more important than our words and actions lining up with our position in Christ? We’ve passed from death into life, and from darkness into light, so it’s time to act like it! Both of Peter’s epistles start and end with commands to grow up spiritually because there is nothing more tragic than stunted, immature Christians. Peter said: ‘As newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the Word, that you may grow thereby’ (1 Pet. 2:2). He ends his second letter with: ‘Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever’ (3:18). Notice how Peter equates spiritual growth with giving God the glory. Therefore the key to Christian maturity is realizing what it means to glorify God.
God is to be glorified, of that there is no doubt. When Jesus was born, the angels said: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased!” (Luke 2:14). It was all about glorifying God. The heavens exist to declare God’s glory (Ps. 91:1), as do the beasts of the field (Is. 43:20). We, too, are made to glorify God. It’s why we exist! The Westminster Shorter Catechism says: ‘The chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.’ As Paul said: ‘Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God’ (1 Cor. 10:31). Christ came to glorify the Father no matter the cost (John 12:27-28), and we share that same holy goal when we realize we’re alive to give God all the glory.
Man is condemned when he doesn’t glorify God. As Paul said: ‘Although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools’ (Rom. 1:21-22). This is why Jeremiah prophesied: ‘Give glory to the Lord your God before it is too late. Acknowledge Him before He brings darkness upon you, causing you to stumble and fall on the darkening mountains. For then, when you look for light, you will find only terrible darkness and gloom’ (13:16).
The prophet said to give God the glory or else! If we don’t glorify God, we put ourselves in a place of judgment. Remember King Nebuchadnezzar, who claimed God’s glory for himself and became a beast of the field for seven years, eating grass like an ox (Dan. 4:30-33). Or Herod Agrippa, who usurped God and ‘immediately an angel of the Lord struck him, because he did not give glory to God. And he was eaten by worms and died’ (Acts 12:23). These are dire warnings given in Scripture!
As Christ-followers, it should grieve us when God is dishonored. David said: ‘Passion for your house has consumed me, and the insults of those who insult you have fallen on me’ (Ps. 69:9). John quoted this verse when Jesus cleansed the temple, using a whip of cords to expel the moneychangers who dishonored God. Remember that the risen Lord commended the Ephesian church, saying: “You cannot bear those who are evil” (Rev. 2:2). He rejoiced that this early church was pained when God didn’t receive His rightful glory.
Mankind’s mission is to glorify God. But we can’t give glory to God unless we give glory to His Son, confessing Him as Lord (Phil. 2:9-11). Even Jesus said: “He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him” (John 5:23). In Acts 22:3, Paul recounts how he was schooled in the Jewish law and grew up to be a strict Pharisee. He showed religious zeal by furiously persecuting the early church. Then something stopped Paul dead in his tracks. One day, as he journeyed to Damascus to arrest Christians, Paul met the Lord Jesus Christ and his misguided zeal came to a screeching halt.
Like Paul, many of us grew up religious without being transformed into the image of Christ. We ignored that spiritual growth isn’t only about knowledge. It’s what you do with proper knowledge that determines our measure. For Paul said: ‘Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies. And if anyone thinks that he knows anything, he knows nothing yet as he ought to know’ (1 Cor. 8:1-2). Paul became a great apostle, penning half the New Testament and waging miraculous church growth. God wants us to live supernaturally transformed lives too. He wants us to be set apart like Paul, wholly devoted to Him in each arena of life.
The power to grow spiritually (so as to glorify God) comes from the Spirit: ‘As the Lord’s Spirit makes us more and more like our glorious Lord’ (2 Cor. 3:18). We gaze at the glory of Christ and the Spirit drives our spiritual growth. Beholding God’s glory gladdened David, who said: ‘I have set the Lord always before me; because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices’ (Ps. 16:8-9). Such a heavenly gaze helps us thrive as Christians. If we join God in the work He’s doing, we gain true assurance ‘that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ’ (Phil. 1:6).
Paul said: ‘Everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For His sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with Him’ (Phil. 3:8-9). Christ is all. The rest is trash compared to Him. Radical transformation starts with this realization. Jesus said: “Abide in Me, and I in you” (John 15:4). Therefore only living union with Him glorifies God. We must proclaim that nothing is more valuable than knowing Jesus and being found in Him. Like all relationships, passion comes early while true bonds are cultivated over time. Yes, Christianity is hard work, but it’s well worth the effort.
When we obey God and glorify Him by abiding in Christ, we start giving God glory in all areas of life. We glorify God by delighting in His Word. It’s no burden to read our Bible but a joy and a privilege. We honor our Father when we’re not satisfied with knowing about Him, but knowing Him intimately. As we grow spiritually, we have less and less desire for what the world offers. The closer we draw to God, the more He fills our life with meaning. No longer do we go into debt by sinful spending. No longer do we waste paychecks at the casino. We finally love people we once found unlovable. It’s easier and easier to forgive those who offend us. What joy is made ours!
And best of all, our love for God increases. We gain intimacy with Him that wasn’t there before. With that comes a deep desire to express our love. Praise and worship pour out like water from a faucet, and His will becomes our own. We increasingly desire to obey His commands, and not just because we’re afraid of the consequences. No, we obey God because of our deep love for Him and His deep love for us. Plus our faith grows. As we lean on Him in trials and challenges, our faith is stretched little by little and slowly but surely we put on spiritual muscle.
The more we overcome, the more God trusts us with. By standing firm our in faith, we show God we don’t quit when the heat is on. We stand strong and fight the good fight of faith to give Him all the glory. Paul showed the key to God-glorifying spiritual growth when he wrote the Philippians. He said his goal was ‘to know [Christ] experientially, becoming more thoroughly acquainted with Him, understanding the remarkable wonders of His person more completely and in that same way experience the power of His resurrection which overflows and is active in believers, and that I may share the fellowship of His sufferings, by being continually conformed inwardly into His likeness even to His death, dying as He did’ (3:10). Goodness gracious! What a goal!
We must share Paul’s commitment to know Christ closely. As we know Him more and more, we begin to be transformed into His image. That’s the blessing of abiding and striving to glorify God. After this, Paul said: ‘If, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead’ (Phil. 3:11). He wasn’t discussing what happens after death. Paul was saying that, if possible, he might attain spiritual and moral resurrection that raises us to true life while in our earthly body. He was talking about being raised from the deadness of this life to live a life of godly growth and maturity.
Paul told the Ephesians: ‘And you [Christ] made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins’ (2:1). And to the Romans he said: ‘Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord’ (6:11). Therefore being made alive by the power of the resurrection ought to be the goal of spiritual growth. We are to get up every morning committed to live the life Jesus called us to. We ought to press on to possess the maturity Jesus raised us to attain. And as that happens, may God get all the glory!