Wednesday, June 29, 2011

CC--Christianese 24c: Glory/Glorify (part 3 of 4)

--Glorify is a simple word which simply means to bring credit or honor (glory) to someone who deserves it, to make them look good, so to speak.
--Naturally, there are two main ways to glorify someone: First, by pointing to and proclaiming what is already truly great about them. Second, by doing good things yourself and then letting people know that you only did it because of that other person.
--So, you might have a mentor and then either you could describe his greatness and accomplishments to others or you could show that he imparted greatness to you in your own accomplishments.
--Since our purpose in life is to Glorify God, we do this by both telling people what is amazing and true of Him and by showing them how He has transformed us by the things we do in His service as His people.
--On the one hand, God is “out there” in the things He has done and is doing in history and today. When we share these things with people, we bring glory (honor, credit, reputation, esteem) to God.
--But if the greatest single thing God ever did was the Gospel, and the proof of this is what it does in us as God comes to indwell us, then our own lives become a living example of the glory of God as the Holy Spirit lives us and brings His own light to shine forth through our lives to others.
--If we say we love God, and we show such a life, we glorify Him, fulfilling our purpose in existing. If we fail to do this yet claim to be His, we sinfully bring disrepute and dishonor (or deglorify Him, so to speak) to other people, much as if we refuse to give Him credit for things He has done.
--Our duty, then is to continually tell the truth about God and to show that it is true in us by letting God act through us Himself.
--That’s what it means to glorify God.

No comments: