We speak often in Christian circles of glorifying God. We want to live lives that bring glory to God, to glorify Him in all we do. As the Westminster Catechism says and John Piper reminds us, this is the chief end of man: to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. This is why we were created and the most foundational purpose of our lives. But what does that really mean? We so easily reduce this idea of glorifying God to a set of guidelines for how we should live, for what doctrine we should hold to. Glorifying God comes to be about a set of beliefs that in some way inform our actions, our politics, our lives. On the surface, there’s nothing wrong with that—except that it masks a much deeper truth, one that is found in our very identities. The thing is, we don’t glorify God primarily because we believe, say, do or don’t do certain things. We glorify God because we are carriers of His glory.
Some song lyrics caught my attention the other day. The song is called “Shine On Us” and the first part of the first verse says:
O Lord we cry out, long for the day
To see your glory radiate
It’s a powerful song that we as a congregation sang passionately, full of hope and vision for the coming glory of God in the earth. But that particular sentence grabbed me. We long for the day when we will see God’s glory radiate, we sang. And it’s true, we do long for that day. We all of us imagine what the world will be like in full revival, or at the return of Christ, when He rules and reigns and His glory spreads unhindered throughout the earth. In all our excited visions of future glory, though, I think we lose sight of the simple fact that we are carriers of God’s glory now. Today. It’s deeper than a set of beliefs and closer than the distant future. It’s who we are.
Colossians 1:19 says, “God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him (in Christ), and through (Jesus) to reconcile to Himself all things.” This fullness of God, this “mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations but is now disclosed to the saints” (that’s us!), is “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (vv. 26-27). Christ in you, Christ in me. In this truth is found the glorious riches of the mystery, the very fullness of God (2:2). Wow. Can you feel the depth of it? Can you sense the profound power, the unfathomable nature of this union with Christ? Paul goes on to say in Colossians 2:9 that “in Christ all the fullness of the Deity”—all the fullness of the God of the universe—“lives in bodily form.” Oh, but that’s not all. Actually, that’s only half of it. The rest is this: “and you have been given fullness in Christ” (vs. 10). All of the fullness of the Deity, which dwells in the incarnate God, has been given to us, now that we’re in Christ. It is more than a transformation that takes place when we become Believers. It is that, but it is so much more than that. It’s union with Christ. We have died and are now hidden with Christ in God (3:3). We become new creations because we become one with Him, Who is the glory of God.
“The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being” (Hebrews 1:3). We become carriers of God’s glory when the Son of God takes up residence in us, reconciling us with the Father, Who crowns us with glory and honor and puts everything under our feet (Hebrews 2:7-8). This is how we shine like stars in the universe as we hold out the word of life (Philippians 2:15-16). We can’t help but radiate God’s glory. Not only does His glory rest on us, since we are crowned with honor and glory, but it is impossible for His glory to depart from us because the very radiance of that glory and the exact representation of His being is in us as we are brought into perfect union with the Son. How can we not be transformed? How can we not transform our cities and nations? We can’t help but carry His Presence everywhere we go, bringing transformation as we go. Not primarily by what we say or do (although how we live will naturally reflect that glory) but simply by being who we are.
So when we sing about the glory of God radiating in our cities and nations, as we cry out for revival, as we seek to glorify God in our lives, we first must know who we are: carriers of His glory. His glory is to radiate in us, because He is radiant in us. Our longing to see Him glorified is fulfilled as we carry his light, demonstrating the power and freedom of the Kingdom of God. We see His glory in each other as He lives and moves and has His being in each of us. It’s Christ in me—Christ in you—the hope of glory.
“Glorify the Lord with me;
let us exalt His name together.
I sought the Lord, and he answered me;
He delivered me from all my fears.
Those who look to him are radiant;
Their faces are never covered with shame.”
~Psalm 34:3-5
