“Glory in His holy name; let the hearts of those rejoice who seek the LORD!” (Psalm 105:3 NKJV)
THE CHURCH GLORIFIES GOD
The very existence of the church glorifies God and proclaims His manifold wisdom to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places, according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord (Ephesians 3:10-11).
What is the church? Christ’s body is the church (‘church’ and
‘body’ are the same and Christ is the head, Ephesians 1:22-23, Colossians 1:18).
To be in the church, you must be in Christ, in His body – how?
By being baptized into Christ (Romans 6:3-4, Galatians 3:27).
It is only in Christ (His church/body) that every spiritual blessing is found (Ephesians
1:3) and it is only in Christ that we can be to the praise of God’s glory (Ephesians
1:6, 12).
How does the church declare God’s manifold wisdom? No organization of man has ever brought together
people from every nation and every language, regardless of sex, cultural
status/income, or knowledge and unified them to work toward a common goal. With
everything man-made, divisions are evident and people are inevitably excluded,
but in Christ “you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus…
there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave not free, there is
neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians
3:26-29, see also 1 Corinthians 6:9-11, John 1:12-13, 1 Corinthians 1:26-31,
Revelation 5:9-10).
The church gives God all the glory and plainly
declares His wisdom – when we worship together as He commanded (Acts 20:6-7,
1 Corinthians 11:21-26; 16:1-2, Ephesians 5:19-21, etc.), when we,
individually, obey His will every day (Ephesians 5:1-18, James
1:21-25, Titus 2:11-14), when we call on Him in prayer (Hebrews 4:15),
when we work together, each part doing its share (Ephesians 4:15-16),
when we help each other walk the narrow and difficult way (Romans 14:13,
Philippians 2:1-4, Galatians 6:1-2, Hebrews 3:12-15, 2 Timothy 2:22, James
5:13-20, etc.), and when we share the gospel message with others (Mark
16:15-16, Luke 24:47).
PUTTING ON GOD’S WHOLE ARMOUR GLORIFIES HIM
While there is no verse (that I’ve found) that
states that wearing God’s armour glorifies Him, this is another area in which
we are proving to the powers and principalities, the rulers of the darkness of
this age, and the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places that God
and His way is the BEST way!
When we put on the whole armour of God we prove
that we trust Him, His instructions and His prohibitions; we prove that with
God we can be strong and mighty to stand against them and their leader in the
evil day because God is the absolute source of our strength and might (Ephesians
6:10-18)!
When we stand firm with God, prepared and ready in
His armour, and give our very best efforts to humbly do what He has commanded
us, we give glory to Him and tell all, in every realm, both physical and
spiritual, that God is (Hebrews
11:6), that He is holy and must be revered, and that He is worthy of
our every sacrifice (Romans 12:1), and of every word we can speak in
praise and thanksgiving (Hebrews 13:15, Psalm 116:16-17)!
OUR TRANSFORMATION FROM HAPLESS TO HOLY GLORIFIES GOD
“The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me, because the LORD has anointed Me to preach good tiding to the poor; He has sent ME to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound… to give beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.” (Isaiah 61:1, 3 NKJV)
God plants those who come to Him (through Jesus,
John 14:6) in His courts so that we may grow and flourish with His
blessings (Psalm 92:12-15) – why? That He may be glorified!
We may come to God withered and wearied by our sin,
but He washes us (baptism for the remission of sins, Acts 2:38-39, 22:16, 1
Corinthians 6:9-11), renews us, and we grants us newness of life (Ephesians
2:1-10, Romans 6:1-4). We continue in “newness of life” by
determining daily to put off the “old man” (sinful
thoughts and conduct) and put on the “new man” which was created according
to God, in true righteousness and holiness (Ephesians 4:17-24, also see
Colossians 3:1-17). We grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:18), always remembering that we were
cleansed from our sins. We turn our backs to sin and keep our focus on God and
His will (Colossians 3) so we can be kept from stumbling and be fruitful
in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Peter 1:5-11, Jude
24-25, 1 Corinthians 7:9-10)
Our transformation comes about when we let our
minds be renewed by God’s word (Romans
12:1-2). When we allow God’s word
to correct us, guide us, and motivate us as we grow up in Him (2 Timothy
3:16-17) the focus of our daily effort will go from pleasing the world to
proving to them that God’s will is good and acceptable and perfect. We will
joy so much in walking in the light that we will seek to help others in the
darkness of sin come to the Light (John 8:12, Matthew 5:14-16, Ephesians
5:8-14).
God called us (by the gospel, 2 Thessalonians
2:13-14) out of darkness into His marvelous light so that we may
proclaim His praises (1 Peter 2:9)!
Only when we are walking in the light, conforming
daily to the image of Jesus (Romans 8:29, 1 John 2:3-6), and allowing
ourselves to be transformed through obedience (1 Timothy 4:15) can we be
called "trees of righteousness;" only then can we bring
proper glory to God!
Are you part of the Lord’s church? Are you putting
on the whole armour of God? Are you allowing God’s word to transform you more
each day? Outside of these things we are
unable/unprepared to give Him the glory due His name! Let today be the day!!
Make the necessary changes and determine to let your light so shine in God's
service that He is glorified!!
You can do it! So can I!!
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