Newlife

Seeking the Glory of God

[This article is also available in Urdu.]

Many people are hungry for the greatness, grandeur and glory of God, whether they fully realise it or not.  They are looking for something bigger themselves and this worldly, temporal experience.  People are searching for transcendence.

The Bible mentions the glory of God many, many times throughout its pages, and yet it is an elusive concept.  What is the glory of God? And how can we, individually and corporately, glorify God?   One of the reasons why people leave staid, conservative churches is because those churches are not experiencing or displaying God’s glory, or teaching her people how to find it.

God wants his glory to be evident throughout the earth.  He wants his people to live in the shadow of his glory.  He wants his people to reflect his glory.

Moses lived with God’s wonderful, abiding presence, and experienced many amazing evidences of his awesome power (Ex 15:11), yet Moses was hungry for more of God’s glory and asked: “Show me Your glory” (Ex 33:18).  God answered his prayer!

It is a good thing to be hungry for more of God’s glory in our lives and in our churches.  And while the concept of glory may be elusive, God himself is not elusive.  God has promised that when we draw near to him, he will draw near to us (Jam 4:8).  God has promised that when we seek him with our whole heart, we will find him (Jer 29:13)!

When we enter into God’s presence through prayer and worship surely we will find the glory of God, if we are focussed on him alone in awe and expectation, and allow time to seek his face in Spirit and in truth.  (See Heb 10:19-20 and John 4:23-24)

So what are some ways that God is glorified?

Certainly the beauty, intricacy and variety of nature are testimony to the glory of God (Rom 1:20; Psalm 19:1).

Turning away from sin and living holy lives brings glory to our holy God. (See Rom 3:23; Psalm 15:1-2 and 1 Pet 1:15-16)

A strong faith that perseveres and rejoices in trials brings glory to God (1 Pet 1:6-7).

When we do good deeds, which are prompted by God and done in his strength, it brings glory to God.  (It is only the deeds done in cooperation with God that he can use to bring glory to himself.)  (See Mat 5:16 and John 14:12-14)

Unity brings glory to God - unity with other true believers and especially unity with God himself (John ch 17; Psalm 133).

We can glorify God with heartfelt praise and adoration. In Psalm 60:30 King David says: “I will praise God’s Name in song and glorify Him with thanksgiving.”

When the church has a high concept of the sublime majesty and glory of God, and longs for its manifestation, this will be reflected in times of corporate worship which bring glory to God.

In  The Knowledge of the Holy, A.W. Tozer writes: “The heaviest obligation upon the Christian Church today is to purify and elevate her concept of God until it is once more worthy of him – and of her [the church].”  When we truly glorify God, God will reveal his glory!

Tags: glorify, glory, prayer, presence, seeking God

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 26th, 2009 at 12:30 pm and is filed under Christian Living, Worship and Prayer. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.