To Glorify God & Enjoy Him Forever.
A Summarization by Ps. Nelson Attwood
Why Must We Glorify God?
There are many answers to this particular question, but for the sake of time and space we will consider only a few.
1 – Glorify God because He gives us our being.
Psalm 100:3. It is a great kindness for one man to spare another his life, but how great a kindness for God to give us our lives. He gives us health, breath, food, and water. If all that He supplies is from His bounty to us, to live, to sweeten our lives, surely it is reasonable to glorify Him in all we do. The scriptures say: “For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever.” Rom.11:36. All that we have recieved from God’s kind hand should motivate us to give back to God the glory due to His name.
2) Glorify God, because He has made all things for His own glory,
Prov. 16:4. All things were made by Him and for Him, Col.1:16. He will obtain His glory even from the wicked, Exod.14:17. God has also made the godly man for His glory, Isa.43:21. No man can add to God’s intrinsic glory, but they can exalt it, they can raise God in the esteem of others. God has adopted us into His family and formed us into a holy, royal priesthood, to sound and show forth the glories of God, who has made us and saved us, for the glory of His name.
3 – Glorify God because God’s glory has intrinsic value and excellence,
It goes far beyond the thoughts and the tongues of men and angels. God’s glory is His treasure, all His riches lie there. God’s glory is more than the heavens, more than the salvation of our souls. It is far better that man be annihilated than from God to suffer the loss of one jewel in His Crown; one beam of radiance from His glory.
4 – Glorify God because His creatures above and below all render glory to God
So, should we sit idle and not glorify Him also? If man, who was made to glorify God, fails in His designed purpose, then it is a pity that man was ever made, Rom.3:23. The heavens above and the stars set in their courses above all rise to shout the glories of their creator’s praise, Psalm.19:1. The birds that soar and sing in beautiful anthems of praise glorify God with every note and breath; the lion’s roar; the cricket’s chirp; the wolf’s haunting howl, all join to glorify their maker, Isaiah.43:20. The rocks below us would cry out in ceaseless praise if mankind fell silent in their praise of God. The angels themselves arrayed in perfect submission and order around the throne of God never cease to call back and forth, one to the other of the Holiness of the Name of the Lord of Hosts, never allowing a moment of silence to suggest that they have failed to recognize and glorify Him for His intrinsic glory, Isaiah.6:1-8. God has set mankind higher than the angels, with the freedom of will to speak forth of the glories of God’s Name, Person and works.
5 – Glorify God in all that you do, for all your hopes hang upon Him,
Psalm.39:7. Our hopes for life, breathe, health, the salvation of the souls of ourselves and others all hang on Him. A child that is good-natured will honour her parents for all the benefits she regularly receives from them. We glorify Him for He is our hope of salvation. We glorify Him because He is our hope for rescue from trouble and affliction; because He is our hope of eternal life; because He has given His forgiveness to us. We glorify God because He is our hope for daily bread; because He is our hope for deliverance from temptation. We must glorify God because all glory for all that we are and have and ever hope to be is all held in His loving hand.
How May We Glorify God?
Let me list a number of ways:
1) We Glorify God when we make His glory our aim and goal in all that we do, John 8:50.
2) We Glorify God when we make full and honest confession of sin, Luke 23:41, Josh.7:19
3) We Glorify God by trusting and believing in Him, Romans.4:20
4) We Glorify God by being sensitive to His Glory, as it is very precious to God, Psalm 69:9
5) We Glorify God by our fruitfulness, John 15:8 6) We Glorify God by being content in the state that His providence has us, 2Cor.11:23, Phil.4:13
7) We Glorify God by working out our own salvation, Phil.2:12-13.
8) We Glorify God by living to God, 2Cor.5:15, Rom.14:8, Phil.1:20.
9) We Glorify God by walking/living cheerfully,
2Cor.1:4, 1Thess.1:6.
10) We Glorify God by stranding for His truth, contained in His Word, Jude 3.
11) We Glorify God by Praising Him, Psalm 86:12, 100:3
12) We Glorify God by being zealous for His Name,
Numbers 25:11, John 2:14-17…There are so many more ways to Glorify God.
The challenge is whether or not we will strive to glorify God for all that He is in Himself, all that He has done, and all that He is still doing.
To God be the Glory, forever and ever, amen!