Since God made me, and he created me to glorify him, how can I go about doing that? If someone has come to know that they have been made by God for his own glory, this is a natural question. It is good and right for an employee to want to know how to perform his job. So also, it is good and right for a man, woman, or child to want to know how to do what they were created for, glorifying God.
Q: How can you glorify God? A: By loving Him and doing what He commands.
(Ecclesiastes 12:13; Mark 12:29–31; John 15:8–10; 1 Corinthians 10:31)
We see in Ecclesiastes 12:13 that man’s whole duty is to “Fear God and keep his commandments”. The fear of God is not a concept that we understand very well in our day, especially in the United States. We have watered the idea of fearing God down to simply respect. The concept of respect would be at least partially true, except in our egalitarian culture (or a culture where we see everyone as absolutely equal) we don’t truly respect anyone. After all, they put their pants on one leg at a time just like I do. The fear of God is terrifying. Not the sort of terror that says God will destroy you, but the recognition that if he so chose, he could destroy you. As Beaver says of Aslan the Lion in C.S. Lewis’ work The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, “Who said anything about safe? ’Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.” It is awe filled wonder. The fear of God may be understood as the reaction to looking upon one who is simultaneously; indescribably beautiful, perfectly good, inconceivably loving, uncompromisingly just, and unbelievably dangerous. This is why fearing God and loving him are synonymous. If one fears God in this way, he cannot help but love him, because He is wonderful.
Next, the Preacher of Ecclesiastes could not be clearer when he says that the duty of man is to obey his commandments. This is both good news and bad. Good news because now we know what we are to do, look to the commands and keep them. Bad news because as we look, even briefly, we will see we have fallen short. In fact, honestly, who among us has always feared (or loved) God perfectly? None of us, no not one. Thanks be to God for the Lord Jesus Christ, who kept God’s law perfectly for all of those who will repent of breaking God’s commands and trust in Jesus alone to make us right with God. Then, having trusted in Christ, we are empowered by His Spirit to keep God’s commands, and we have an advocate when we fall short and sin.
The Lord Jesus himself commends total love of God to us as the greatest of all God’s commandments, as we see in Mark 12:29-31. He connects this second commandment, love of neighbor with the first great commandment. Here we see the Lord Jesus summarizing the whole of the Ten Commandments, and explicitly tying the love of God to keeping his commandments.
In John 15:8–10, we see again the Lord Jesus calling his disciples to love of God, and the keeping of the commandments. Further, he ties both of these, love for God and obedience, to glorifying the Father. Based on the Lord Jesus’ words, none of us should think that if we habitually break God’s commandments that we are glorifying him, that we love him, or that we are abiding in God’s love. What a sober reminder. If you aren’t fulfilling your purpose, glorifying God, then you neither love nor are loved by God. If you read these words and are disturbed, there is good news. Just as I wrote above, repent of (or turn away from) breaking God’s commands and trust in Jesus alone to make you right with the Father.
Lastly, we see that this call to glorify God extends to absolutely every area and facet of life. There is no part of any of your life in which God does not call you to glorify him. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 10:31, “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” Even the heart with which we do such mundane things as eating and drinking are subject, both to this call to glorify God, and opportunities to glorify the one who is worthy of all glory.
The points of application are numerous, but I hope obvious. The question “How can you glorify God?” is a question about applying God’s purpose in creation to yourself. Love God, treasure him above all else, and fear him with right fear. Look to the Scriptures and learn his commands so that you may know and keep them. Examine your own heart and life to see if you are loving God and keeping his commandments. Then in repentant faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, glorify God and enjoy Him forever.
Yours in Christ,