Why Glorify God? Part 1
by Claude Stau er | Mar 24, 2020 | Gorifying God |
“Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” – 1 Corinthians 10:31
We don’t always understand the plans of God. We don’t always see how God can use hardship, tragedy,
even death, to bring glory to His name. But He can. And, when we are going through a time such as this, a
pandemic, what should our priorities be? How should we respond in times such as this?
It’s no accident that we are where we are when we are. We are, “God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus
for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10). The words
of Mordacai to Esther are words we should take to heart. At a critical moment in the life of God’s people,
when Esther was wavering a bit in her faith and trust in God’s plan, Mordacai reminded her, “Yes who
knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” (Esther 4:14). What is God’s purpose
for you now, “for such a time as this”? How should you and I and those who follow Jesus respond to current
events?
In his rst letter to the Corinthians Paul discusses how we can cure self-centeredness. Today we see self in
the hoarding of food, cleaning supplies, even toilet paper. People are consumed with self. They are either
hyper vigilant to social distancing or totally dismissive to consider the welfare of others. Our elected
leaders, rather than pass an economic stimulus to help the populace in these dire nancial times, are at
loggerheads as one party sel shly seeks to use this crisis to secure self-serving legislation. From top to
Convert web pages and HTML files to PDF in your applications with the Pdfcrowd HTML to PDF API
Printed with Pdfcrowd.com
bottom, in many ways, it’s a sad sel sh self-seeking time. These di cult times are clearly exposing the sinful
nature of many.
The most sel sh church in the new Testament was the church at Corinth. Paul’s letters to this church are an
object lesson in how to respond to sel shness. When Paul addressed the issue of the sinful self nature, his
conclusion is to say, “do all to the glory of God.” This phrase is of critical importance to the Christian for it
marks a reason for our existence and de nes a purpose for living. “Do all to the glory of God,” is a phrase
that raises a few questions for us. What does it mean to “give glory” or glorify? Why should we glorify God? And
if we are to glorify God then we need to ask, how do we bring glory to God? The Bible reveals the answers to
these questions.
What Does It Mean to Glorify? In 1 Corinthians 10:31 it states, “Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or
whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” If giving glory to God is something we are to do in “whatever
you do,” then that tells us it is something that is very important. But what does that mean, what does giving
glory or doing all to the glory mean?
The word “glory” in this verse is translated from the Greek term doxa which means, “dignity, glory (-ious),
honour, praise, worship, . . . good opinion, praise, honor, glory, an appearance commanding respect,
magni cence, excellence.” We derive the word doxology from this word which is an expression of thanks
and glory to God. Doxa is derived from the base Greek term doma which means, “a gift.” When we speak of
“gift” here we should think grace. The word “glorify” is translated from the Greek term doxadzo which
means, “to render (or esteem) glorious; (make) glorify (-ious), full of (have) glory, honour, magnify.” Therefore,
to give glory or glorify means to give the dignity, honor, respect, praise, and worship appropriate to the gift or
standing of object or person. To glorify God means to give Him the dignity, honor, respect, praise, and worship
due God as the gracious gift He is to us.
Why Should We Glorify God? We should glorify God because we are commanded to do so in God’s word. This
is true based on 1 Corinthians 10:31 and it is also true based on an earlier verse in 1 Corinthians where it
states, “For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are
God’s.” (1 Cor. 6:20). God’s command to give Him glory is not some proud totalitarian demand of a divine
despot; far from it. This verse commands us to give glory to God because He bought us, or redeemed us
from our sinful state “at a price” which is His only Son Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:18-21; 1 Peter 1:18-19). We owe
glory to God because of His great gracious loving sacri ce on our behalf. God gave His all for us and the only
appropriate and respectful response from those He gave His all for is to glorify Him (compare Romans 12:1-2).
That is the primary reason we should glorify God.
The Bible gives a number of other reasons why we should glorify God.
First, we should glorify God because of His holiness. The Bible says, “Exalt the Lord our God, and worship at His
holy hill; For the Lord our God is holy.” (Psalm 99:9). In the New Testament it states, “Who shall not fear You,
O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy. For all nations shall come and worship before
You, For Your judgments have been manifested.” (Rev. 15:4). The word “holy” means sacred, pure, unique,
special, one of a kind, when it is used in reference to God. God is holy because there is none other like Him
and we are to glorify Him because of that.
Convert web pages and HTML files to PDF in your applications with the Pdfcrowd HTML to PDF API
Printed with Pdfcrowd.com
Second, we should glorify God because of His mercy and truth. The Bible says, “Not unto us, O Lord, not unto
us, But to Your name give glory, Because of Your mercy, Because of Your truth. (Psalm 115:1; See also
Romans 15:8-9). Mercy is when we don’t get what we deserve in terms of a penalty. All humanity deserves
eternal damnation, but God made a way through His only Son Jesus so that we could be saved from that
penalty. And He did this in a way that was truthful. God’s merciful plan of salvation is truthfully all He says it
is and all we could ever hope for it to be. That is reason to give glory to God.
Third, we should glorify God because of His faithfulness and truth. That God is faithful and true is good reason
to glorify Him (Isaiah 25:1). God is faithful. When God tells us something or promises us something, we can
depend on it because He is true and faithful to His word. Pagan God’s are capricious, they say one thing and
do another; they say or promise one thing, but are unable to deliver on their claims. That is not our God;
our God is faithful and true and powerful enough to deliver on His word and promises. For that we ought to
give Him glory.
Fourth, we should glorify God because of His wondrous miraculous works. The Gospel accounts show that
when they saw the miracles performed by Jesus, they glori ed God for them (Matthew 15:31; cf. also Acts
4:21). When Jesus did miracles God was glori ed because the impossible had been accomplished. When the
apostles performed miracles in the power of the Holy Spirit, (such as heal a lame man – Acts 3-4), the
people gave glory to God for God’s power to do the impossible. Notice, God was glori ed when Jesus
performed the miracles. Notice, when the apostles were used by God to do a miracle, God was glori ed.
The point to be made here is that God should get the glory for miracles, not men. Jesus is of course God and is
to be glori ed (Luke 4:14-15; John 7:39; 11:4; 12:16, 23; 13:31-32; 17:4,5, 10; Acts 3:13). But people should
not steal God’s glory for the work He does through them. What glory we are associated with is the glorifying
of God in and through us as people see His work in us (John 17:10; Galatians 1:24; 2 Thessalonians 1:10-12).
When Paul and Barnabas were exalted as gods by the pagans after the Lord healed a man with a crippling
birth defect, they tore their clothes and quickly corrected the people (Acts 14:1-18). To take glory to self is a
characteristic of the lowest of the unsaved (Romans 1:20-25). In the book of Revelation Babylon the Great is
judged for self-glori cation (Revelation 18:1-8). We are to give glory to God, not take it upon ourselves.
Fifth, we should glorify God because of His just judgments. In Revelation God is glori ed for His just judgments
(Rev. 14:6-7). God’s judgments are just, fair, good and righteous and we are to give glory for God for them.
He is powerful enough to assert and enforce His judgments and for that we are to give Him glory.
Sixth, we should glorify God because of His deliverance. The Bible says, “Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I
will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.” (Psalm 50:15). Whenever we are in trouble, we can call upon God
and He will deliver us and for that we should glorify Him. The greatest example of this is our salvation. We
were living in sin and by nature children of wrath, lost. But God in His rich mercy made a way for us to be
saved out of our predicament and so we give Him the glory due His name (Ephesians 2:1-10). Psalm 50:15
tells us that the way we give glory to God is through our testimony. Have you testi ed to the glory of God
lately?
Seventh, we should glorify God because of His gracious salvation and blessing. When people are convicted of
their sins and realize they need to be saved and that God has provided salvation from sin through faith in
His Son Jesus, it causes them to give glory to God (Acts 11:15-18).
Convert web pages and HTML files to PDF in your applications with the Pdfcrowd HTML to PDF API
Printed with Pdfcrowd.com
When in the book of Acts, it became apparent that God was opening the door of ministry to the gentiles
God was glori ed for His gracious provision. Grace is getting what you don’t deserve and that is what we all
receive when we are saved from our sin. Paul is a great example of God’s gracious provision for which we
should glorify Him (Galatians 1:23-24). We should give glory to God for His grace.
Now that you know what giving glory to God is and why we should give glory to God, in the second part of
this teaching we will consider how we can give glory to God. How do you think we can give glory to God?
Pray about it and follow the leading the Spirit until Part 2.
Convert web pages and HTML files to PDF in your applications with the Pdfcrowd HTML to PDF API
Printed with Pdfcrowd.com