Pastor John Piper tells us both what glorifying God doesn’t mean and what it does mean when he shared: “What does it mean to glorify God? It does not mean to make Him more glorious. It means to acknowledge His glory, and to value it above all things, and to make it known.”1 Let unpack his quote by first looking at what glorifying God does not mean and then what it does mean.
What it does not mean
Glorifying God clearly does not mean to make Him more glorious since God’s glory clearly transcends our highest ideas and definitions of what glory looks like. God’s amazing glory is supremely glorious and we, in this lifetime, will never completely be able to fathom its height nor depth. I am reminded that God’s glory is so awesome that no one can truly see its fullness and live for we read this fascinating portion of Scripture from (Exodus 33:18-23) when Moses asks God to show him His glory:
“And he said, “Please, show me Your glory.” Then He said, “I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.” But He said, “You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live.” And the Lord said, “Here is a place by Me, and you shall stand on the rock. So it shall be, while My glory passes by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock, and will cover you with My hand while I pass by. Then I will take away My hand, and you shall see My back; but My face shall not be seen.”
For you see God’s glory is so far above anything we can imagine that to behold it in its fullness is not humanly possible.
What it does mean
John Piper shares three things that explain what glorifying God does mean.
First, it means to acknowledge His glory. As Christians we are to just realize that God’s glory is so glorious that we just need to stand in complete awe at this most amazing characteristic of who God is.
Second, if we say we love Jesus then we should value His glory above all things. I know in my own life my one consuming passion is to glorify God in everything I do. And the more I realize that I was created to be a God glorifying vessel, the more I strive to live each day in ways that put Jesus first in all I do. I love what John Piper shared regarding this point: “God created me-and you-to live with a single, all-embracing, all-transforming passion, namely, a passion to glorify God by enjoying and displaying his supreme excellence in all the spheres of life.”2
And third, we are to make God’s glory known for all the world to see. I believe as I shared in my second point above that we were created to be God glorifying vessels and the way we do this is to follow the advice of Scripture: “Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” (1 Corinthians 10:31). My friends, one of the greatest privileges we have as Christians is to showcase God’s glory to the world around us.
So, let’s get busy to glorify God in all we do!
1 50 John Piper Quotes | ChristianQuotes.info
2 Quote by John Piper: “God created me—and you—to live with a singl…”