Glorifying God

Have you ever wondered just what it means to “glorify God”?  If you’re like me, you’ve spent a lifetime with some sense of that phrase, but never really sure just what it means.  And it’s important for the Christian to know what glorifying God really is and means, because we are called to glorify God just as Jesus recognized that his work was to glorify the Father.  (Romans 4:20, I Corinthians 6:20, Matthew 5:16, and many others)

In reading through the book “Foundations of the Christian Faith” by Boice, he gives a good, succinct definition of glorifying God.  He uses Jesus as the ultimate example.  Here is the quote taken from his book.

Glorifying God means “to acknowledge God’s attributes” or “to make God’s attributes known.”  God’s attributes are best seen at the cross of Christ.  There above all other places God’s sovereignty, justice, righteousness, wisdom and love are abundantly and unmistakably displayed.

·         We see God’s sovereignty in the way in which the death of Christ was planned, promised and then took place, without the slightest deviation from the prophecies of the Old Testament concerning it, or adjustment to meet some unforeseen circumstance.

·         We see God’s justice in sin’s actually being punished.  Without the cross God could have forgiven our sin gratuitously (to speak from a human perspective), but it would not have been just.  Only in Christ is that justice satisfied.

·         We see God’s righteousness in recognition of the fact that only Jesus, the righteous One, could pay sin’s penalty.

·         We see God’s wisdom in the planning and ordering of such a great salvation.

·         We see his love.  Only at the cross do we know beyond doubt that God loves us even as he loves Jesus.  “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish by have eternal life.”  (John 3:16)

Jesus fully revealed these attributes of the Father by his death.  Hence, his obedience to the Father’s will in dying fully glorified him.

-----James Montgomery Boice in “Foundations of the Christian Faith”

When we glorify God, we acknowledge all that God is.  We also express thanksgiving to God for who and what He is, because it is the attributes of God…His righteousness, justice, mercy, wisdom, love, etc…that have made it possible for us to be sons and daughters of his, and co-heirs with Jesus Christ.

It seems to me that unvarnished gratitude should be at the foundation of any glorification efforts on our part…gratitude for all that God is and is to His creation.  For we can offer nothing to God other than our devotion, gratitude, and love because of His great work of salvation on the cross.

“To God be the glory; great things He has done!  So loved he the world that he gave us His Son; who yielded his life an atonement for sin; and opened the life gate that all may go in!”

“Praise the Lord!  Praise the Lord!  Let the earth hear His voice!  Praise the Lord!  Praise the Lord!  Let the people rejoice!  Oh come to the Father through Jesus the Son; and give Him the glory, Great things He has done!”

Tribute to Bill Altaffer

A good and humble man is no longer with us. Bill Altaffer passed away today after a long bout with cancer. No longer suffering, Bill now is in the presence of the God he loved, and is thanking his Lord Jesus for taking the penalty for his sin.

Bill was a different sort of guy. I guess I am sort of attracted to that type of person for some reason. He and I just seemed to know each other well, and got along from the first. He was the kind of man who made friends easily, and just as easily shared his faith. Here is one example of that.

I recall one trip he and I made to Oklahoma. We weren't in a hurry to get there, and it was a good thing we weren't as we had to stop at every rest area on the interstate so he could drop off some homemade gospel tracts in the men's restroom and wherever else he could leave them. Those tracts asked anyone who responded to contact him. I don't know if he ever got a response, but he wasn't afraid to put his name out there for the cause of Christ.

Bill loved the Psalms and was a sort of local expert on the poetry that makes up that book of the Old Testament. He expecially liked Psalm 119...the one that talks over and over about learning, loving, and meditating on the Word of God.

He wasn't afraid to go door-to-door, "cold calling," trying to find someone who would hear the Good News.  He expected results from the presentation of the Gospel. He never talked about “If” we would get a response...but “when.” The community where he and I met...and became friends...Oakley, Kansas...was a difficult place to share the gospel. He and I talked a lot about that difficulty, and what could be done to break through, so to speak. Although he never had the apparent success in converting many while in that community, he left a lasting mark on many, and demonstrated to many what true humility and service were like.

Rest now, my friend. There are no more doors you need to knock. No more tracts you need to hand out. No more sermons or lessons to prepare. You'll not need to wonder any longer what some passage in the Psalms means. The glass that you have been seeing through darkly is now removed and you are seeing face to face. You'll never need to present the Gospel ever again to a lost and dying world. Your work is done.

The Communion

I’ve been doing some research into Catholic teaching, especially as it pertains to the Eucharist or Communion.  As you may or may not know, Catholic teaching is that once the bread and wine are consecrated by a priest, they become the actual body and blood of Christ.  Protestants generally believe that the bread and wine are symbols of the body and blood of Christ, with some variation of that among the high church Protestants.

Although I don’t believe that Christ’s body is actually present in the elements, I do believe that we Protestants many times approach the communion service with a less-than-appropriate attitude and thought process.  It is just something we do along with everything else on Sunday morning, and many times is relegated to second, third, or even a perfunctory place in our services.

We do, or should, understand the literal presence of Christ as we take the elements and celebrate the Communion.  Again, the elements are just that…bread and wine.  Christ’s presence is not in the form of his literal body and blood, but is indeed truth.  After all, he said that he would take it along with us in the Kingdom (Matthew 26:29).  Just how his presence manifests is and should remain one of the mysteries of the faith.  It is sufficient that his word said he would be with us.  We need not have a scientific explanation for it.

We need to remember that and approach the communion as if Jesus Christ was standing in the front of the auditorium, he himself offering thanksgiving for the elements.  Because somehow, some way, brothers and sisters, he is.