Glorify God

"For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's." 1 Cor 6:20

This phrase 'glorify God' is an interesting one. You often hear it spoken and get the impression that some sort of performance is involved... an effort to preserve a testimony. That could not be farther from the truth.

I so much want to glorify God today and it will only happen absent of my effort.

We can think of glory in the Hebrew scriptures in terms of the Shekinah or 'brightness of His prescence' but many more times the word that is translated glory is Kabad (H3513) or Kavowd (H3519) which speaks about honour, dignity or reputation.

The Greek mirrors this in the word Doxa (G1391) or Doxazō (G1392) which is to render something or someone excellent. It carries with it a revealing, acknowledging and expressing of a viewpoint that is accurate.

Here is something Jesus said,

"Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and glorify him at once." John 13:31b-32 ESV

What honour and oneness... The cross would be a place where the Father turned His back on His Son for our sakes but in it there would be a revealing and a resurrection. The Father would 'glorify him at once' in that Christ would not be long in the grave and His body would not see corruption but would be raised incorruptible forever.

Peter got a glimpse of Christ's brightness on the mount of transfiguration and later said,"but were eyewitnesses of his majesty." (in 2 Pet 1:16) and John said "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life." (in 1 John 1:1)

Oh! My soul shouts and sings! The Son reveals the Father and the Father reveals the Son. What glory are we witnesses of?

"They lift up their voices, they sing for joy; over the majesty of the LORD they shout from the west (from the sea). Therefore in the east (in the realm of light) give glory to the LORD; in the coastlands of the sea, give glory to the name of the LORD, the God of Israel. From the ends of the earth we hear songs of praise, of glory to the Righteous One. " Isaiah 24:15-16a ESV

Glorifying God can't be what I do. It is always what Christ has done. The honour due His name is like a sunrise in the East that shines out over the oceans of humanity and shines a light that is life giving.

"Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name." 1 Pet 4:16 ESV

What is our report? We can look to the East in our suffering and let the sun bath us in light. If it is still dark we wait facing that way knowing joy will come in the morning.

Perhaps our 'testimony' deals more with our hope... with the light of a sunrise that others see reflected on our face as they are walking in the opposite direction.

Just like the Father glorified the Son 'at once'... all those that know Christ will soon be glorified...

When all this over our glory will be revealed. Our true state will be known. It will have a brightness and truth will not be hidden anymore.