CHRISTINE GORDON | CONTRIBUTOR

Glory be to God! We say it and we mean it; we want our lives to reflect God’s glory. According to the Westminster Catechism, part of our creation design as humans is to glorify God. But what exactly does that mean? What is a Biblical definition of glory? And how do we give it to God?

This word “glory” is all over the Bible, used in different eras and contexts. In the Old Testament it is the Hebrew word “kavod” meaning weight, value, honor, or respect. In the New Testament it is the Greek term “doxa,” from which we draw our word, “doxology.”

The Glory of Christ

John 16 and 17 are great places to settle in and investigate in order to understand “glory” in the context of Jesus and his church. In these chapters, Jesus just shared the Passover meal with his disciples and was teaching them one last time about why he had come and what was soon to happen to him. After promising the Holy Spirit would come and minister to them, he described the Spirit’s ministry in John 16:14: “He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.” The ministry of the Spirit is to make clear to the world the person and work of Jesus. Like a bright light shining through a dark December night onto a beautiful Christmas wreath, the Spirit highlights the beauty of Christ.

The Holy Spirit takes what belongs to Jesus and show it to his followers. The Spirit displays Jesus’s power, moral excellence, love, grace, and beauty. He platforms the holiness of Christ. Jesus’s glory is all that he is and all he has done. It is his resume and his person.[1] It is the overflowing radiance, intensity, and energy of divine life and holiness.[2] All of these things are revealed to the people of God by the Holy Spirit.

How We Glorify God

So, what about us? How do we “glorify” God? We glorify God when we recognize, acknowledge, and bring attention to his glory. We make clear to other people what God is actually like, in order that they might also recognize, acknowledge, and bring attention to his glory—his public holiness. We platform God’s holiness like the Spirit does.

On a practical level, anytime we talk about God and his character, we glorify him. Imagine yourself as the light affixed to the ground shining on the Christmas wreath. You highlight the wreath, make it easier to see its details, and draw attention to its beauty. You do this when you talk about God’s amazing design in creation. When you admire with a friend the bright color patterns of butterfly wings or appreciate the power of the cobra’s squeeze, you give God glory. When you point out to your children the steady rhythm of the raindrops on the roof or draw their attention to the first crocus of spring breaking through the melting snow, you give God glory.

But that’s not the only way we glorify God.

We can also point to his moral excellence and goodness. When we tell the story of God’s faithfulness to Ruth and Naomi, or his faithfulness to you personally in the early lean years of your marriage, you give God glory.  When we tell the 1^st graders in Sunday school about Jesus healing the woman who had bled for 12 years, we give God glory. When we discuss God’s sovereignty in history, his mercy to those in and outside his church, or his righteousness toward the poor and oppressed, we give God glory.

But that’s not the only way we glorify God.

We not only platform his power and beauty by pointing to him, we also do so by reflecting his character with our lives. Just as Israel was to be a signpost to the ancient world showing them what their God was like, pointing them to his beauty, the church is to do the same. We do so corporately, but also individually.

A church near where I live in St. Louis, runs a small homeless shelter for sixteen women every winter from November to March. They welcome these women for dinner, a shower, a place to do laundry, a cozy night’s sleep, and breakfast. They provide bus tickets to help them get to work or to a day shelter. In this way they reflect God’s character, and corporately give him glory. They show the world God’s compassion as they care for these women.

A friend who runs a small coffee business treats his four employees with dignity, will only buy beans from farms who pay their employees a fair wage, and will only roast the beans after they’ve been ordered, to ensure the best possible quality and flavor. In doing these things he reflects God’s kindness, his justice, his excellence, and beauty.

How God Uses Us

During his prayer to God in John 17:22-23, Jesus says, “The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.” Just as God revealed himself to the world through Jesus, so Jesus reveals himself to the world through his disciples, by sharing his glory. The effects of this are incredible. His words tell us that this revealing of glory leads both to unity in the church, and to lost people knowing Jesus was sent for them out of love. That God would use us–flawed, weak, needy people to show himself to the world, unite his church, and display his love—is absurd. But this is the way of the kingdom, where the weak are used to platform the strong.

We were made to bring honor and glory to the One who created us. Remember as you go about what might feel like an insignificant day that you can glorify God with your attitude, your treatment of another human, your care for his world, your words about his reputation, and a thousand other ways. May the Spirit use us, his people, more and more to glorify the person and work of Jesus.

[1] Michael Gordon, quoted.

[1] Ford, David. The Gospel of John: A Theological Commentary, Baker Academic, Grand Rapids, MI 2021 pg. 265

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