Why Glorifying God Leads to Our Greatest Fulfillment
Glorifying God is the central purpose of human existence and the source of true happiness. This isn’t just a Sunday activity but encompasses all aspects of life. There is no conflict between glorifying God and experiencing deep joy, as living in alignment with God’s design leads to genuine fulfillment. Glorifying God through attributes like forgiveness and love leads us to personal transformation and spiritual growth.
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20 “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word,
21 that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.
22 The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one,
23 I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.
24 Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.
25 O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me.
26 I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”
Church, Fix Your Eyes on the Great
How do we respond to God’s glory? I submit that the answer is rather simple: We glorify Him.
Consider it this way: We all know that we were born; however, it’s another thing to know why you were born. Understanding why God made you and how you’re supposed to live, in light of the fact that you’re not your own idea and God has given you life, is a big deal. Understanding why God made you, how you’re supposed to live, and how you’re supposed to “be” is of great significance.
“…everyone who bears my name and is created for my glory. I have formed them; indeed, I have made them.” Isaiah 43:7
Many years ago, I had a member of my extended family pass away. She was a very bubbly person, and I loved her deeply. However, it was never about anything of substance when I entered a conversation with her. She was fascinated with celebrities and the gossip that surrounds them. If the conversation elevated to spiritual matters, particularly regarding life’s deepest questions, she disengaged with no apparent desire to engage or contemplate these matters.
I don’t share that to belittle her memory but to point out that we have a tendency to magnify the glory of that which satisfies us most deeply. She fed her life on gossip and shallowness, which kept her from focusing on the deeper meaning of life.
The author and pastor John Piper said, “If you don’t feel strong desires for the manifestation of the glory of God, it is not because you have drunk deeply and are satisfied. It is because you have nibbled so long at the table of the world. Your soul is stuffed with small things, and there is no room for the great.” Thus, as a church family, we should focus on the great.
Recently, I read an anonymous definition of the word “glorifying.” They said it “means feeling, thinking, and acting in ways that reflect His greatness, that make much of God, that give evidence of the supreme greatness of all His attributes and the all-satisfying beauty of His manifold perfections.”
The Christ Methodist mission statement is: We exist to glorify God and make disciples of Jesus Christ among all peoples. Our lives are meant to be verbs; We live best when we live lives that aim to glorify God. Let’s continue to substantiate that statement.
Woven Into the Totality of Our Lives
Often, we hear the word “Puritan” or “Puritanical” in the context of being prudish. While I will affirm that the Puritans had some misguided zeal, I invite you not to overlook the good things they did.
In the 17th century, the Puritans broke off from the Church of England because it had become formal and dead. They believed the relationship with God in Christ should not only inform the mind but also enlighten the heart. It’s important to know that they generally thought deeply about God. They wrote with an intellectual substantive capacity regarding God that helped us think and be moved not just with the mind but also with the heart.
They came to America because they were fleeing religious persecution because they knew how to live and move through life. They embraced life in fullness with great joy. The Puritans knew they had something special because they knew great joy in God.
For example, they were monumental in the 18th century Industrial Revolution century, but what’s notable is as they worked the assembly line, they were outspoken that they did so for God’s glory. They knew they were created for His glory and expressed it in every facet of life because they believed there was no distinction between the sacred and the secular; all of life is sacred. All of life is the Lord’s life (1 Corinthians 10:31).
Worshipping God isn’t reduced to only what we do on Sundays; instead, it’s about worshipping Him in all of our lives. Whether singing a hymn or feeding our children, we give glory to God, who has provided. The Puritans understood that living a God-glorifying life brought great joy to their families, relationships, leisure, celebrations, and vocations.
“We do not segment our lives, giving some time to God, some to our business or schooling, while keeping parts to ourselves. The idea is to live all our lives in God’s presence, under God’s authority, and for God’s honor and glory. That is what the Christian life is all about.” R.C. Sproul, theologian
The gift of glorifying God is woven into the totality of our lives. John Wesley was hugely influenced by the Puritans, which is why he was passionate about Christians being developed not only with head knowledge but also with heart experience. The awakening of the heart generates affection toward God. Wesley spoke at length about heart religion and how that led to the transforming work of the Holy Spirit.
In The Way to the Kingdom, John Wesley said, “True religion, or a heart right toward God and man, implies happiness, as well as holiness.” There’s no distinction between developing in holiness properly understood and your happiness and joy.
When we think of holiness, our minds can envision prudishness or what could be called spiritual deformities, which is when we don’t give the full expression of God’s heart a chance. So, regarding Wesley’s quote and when we contemplate happiness, let’s be clear that it doesn’t equate to the 21st-century context we’re perhaps associating with it. In this context, happiness refers to the gift of the deep and abiding sense of peace and joy that only God can supply your inner being.
Even the U.S. Constitution declares that all men are endowed by their Creator with certain rights, including the pursuit of happiness. While not all of the founding fathers were Christian, many were influenced by Puritan thought. Thus, we should be mindful that the definition and intent, based upon the quotes supplied by the Puritans, John Wesley, and the founding fathers, are something far deeper than the way we might define happiness today.
Holiness means our development into the image of Jesus Christ, which happens after we put our faith in Him. Through sanctification, God develops us because we’ve been created for this image to be restored within us. This is why God’s glory and your happiness are one and the same. Jesus has the power to save us through His death, burial, and resurrection, which is unto our restoration into the image of the Father within us.
“The Incarnation is … not only a revelation of God to humanity but also a revelation of humanity to humanity. In Jesus Christ, we learn what it means to be fully human.” Timothy Tennent, former president of Asbury Theological Seminary.
To be fully human is to flow in God’s design for us, and it’s only through Jesus Christ that we can learn what it means to be fully human.
How Do We Express a God-Glorifying Life?
So, if God is restoring the image of Christ within us, and we’re also saying that a God-glorifying life is also a joyful life, how do we express that? To answer that, we need to address Jesus and His nature.
We could pull from many examples, but let’s specifically examine God is forgiving.
Forgiveness is part of the Christian practice if we’re to take on God’s nature. We also know that if someone is unforgiving, then they’re more susceptible to higher anxiety levels and a compromised immune system. Your physiology doesn’t operate optimally when you carry bitterness over betrayal. I’m not minimizing those things because those hurts are very real. However, Jesus teaches on forgiveness, and when someone begins to forgive, you hear vernacular like, “My heart has been set free. I’m not carrying that weight any longer.”
In John 17, Jesus said, “The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one… (John 17:22). In Jesus’ teachings, we see God’s glory through His attributes. Therefore, since God has forgiven you, it’s our turn to forgive others. That’s what Scripture teaches.
JESUS: “My Father is glorified by this: that you produce much fruit and prove to be my disciples.” John 15:8
What is your fruit? The fruit described here is the desired will of God. For us to live a God-glorifying life that can only happen when we practice God’s attributes to produce God’s desired will in our daily lives. This isn’t a practice reserved for Sundays but all of life.
The Methodist missionary E. Stanley Jones said, “When we are in The Way, the way works. When we are not in The Way, the way does not work.” There is no conflict between glorifying God and your happiness. Nor is there a conflict between glorifying God and knowing deep inner soul satisfaction. In Psalm 63, the psalmist records, “My lips will glorify you because of your faithful love. It’s better, it’s better than life (Psalm 63:3).”
With that consideration, as a Christ follower, is there a lie you’ve told yourself that prevented you from being “all in”? Perhaps it’s subtle, or maybe it’s quite profound.
Let’s remember that we glorify God for our own good. When we choose to glorify God, it opens our perceptions of God. Here are a few examples of this:
When we participate in forgiveness, it opens our perceptions of God; therefore, God is glorified.
When we participate in repentance and forgiveness, restoration opens our perceptions of God; therefore God is glorified.
When we participate in magnifying God in song, liturgy, Scripture, sacrament, and prayer, it opens our perceptions of God; therefore God is glorified.
When we glorify God, it doesn’t add anything to His glory. He’s all-glorious whether we glorify Him or not. Yet, there are trillions upon trillions of reasons to glorify Him. There’s no hyperbole in that statement either because He is infinite. God doesn’t seek glory because He’s worthy of glory. No, He seeks glory for our sake so we can discover our satisfaction in glorying God. That’s why John Piper said, “God is most glorified when we are most satisfied in Him.” Your life is designed to have meaning. Read that again, “You are designed to have a meaningful life.”
The late Puritan John Owen had this to say:
“By beholding the glory of Christ, we shall be made fit and ready for heaven. Not all who desire to go to heaven are fit and ready for it. Some are not only unworthy of it and excluded from it because of unforgiven sin; they are not prepared for it. Should they be admitted, they would never enjoy it. All of us naturally regard ourselves as fit for eternal glory. But few of us have any idea of how unfit we really are because we have had no experience of that glory of Christ, which is in heaven. Men shall not be clothed with glory, as it were, whether they want to be or not. It is to be received only by faith. But fallen man is incapable of believing. Music cannot please a deaf man, nor can beautiful colors impress a blind man. A fish would not thank you for taking it out of the sea and putting it on dry land under the blazing sun! Neither would an unregenerate sinner welcome the thought of living forever in the blazing glory of Christ.”
The glory of God and your greatest joy aren’t antithetical. Instead, in Christ, your joy is His joy because of the fruit of the Father, which is love, joy, peace, and so much more.
The theologian Augustine said, “Because the face of God is so lovely, my brothers and sisters, so beautiful, once you have seen it, nothing else can give you pleasure. It will give us insatiable satisfaction that we will never tire of. We shall always be hungry and always have our fill.”
As a church, this is why we declare that We exist to glorify God and make disciples of Jesus Christ among all peoples. We do this so that others may fall in love with glorifying and worshipping God.
