Magnify: Recent Episodes
David W. Hegg
Over the next three months, we will be exploring what it means and looks like to “magnify the glory of God.”
This weekend we end our series on “magnifying the glory of God.” All the character traits we have examined have one thing in common: They are hard to display consistently! Living in our broken, dangerous world makes obedience to Christ difficult, and too often we lack the courage to persevere.
What we need is courage, built from a strong belief in the truth of God and trust in his promises. May the Lord grant us a persevering faith, an uncommon passion to courageously walk the narrow path of God-glorifying lives, turning neither to the right nor the left, but always focused on our Savior.
The forgiveness of God works in concert with his grace and mercy. In Matthew 18:21-35, Jesus tells a parable that sets the standard for how his followers should forgive one another. As Christ-followers, we enjoy the benefits of being forgiven by God, but how does that translate into how we forgive other people? What are the consequences of withholding forgiveness? This weekend we will explore what it means to be forgiven by God and how that informs our forgiveness of others.
Jesus calls His church to unity, both corporately and individually. But what is the nature of this unity? This weekend we look at the crowds who cheered Jesus as He entered Jerusalem, who were united around what they hoped He would be. But when He emerged as the suffering servant rather than the conquering king they turned on Him rapidly.
What we learn from this and other biblical exhortations is the stark difference between visible unity and vital unity. The vital unity Jesus calls us to, which reflects the essential unity of the Triune God Himself, rests on shared truth and expresses itself in a unity that is not broken by external circumstances, but demonstrates to a watching world the power of the Gospel in all circumstances.
This weekend we remind ourselves just where knowing, believing, and telling the truth fit into the life of the Christ-follower. Satan is the “father of lies.” When we lie, when we are deceitful for unrighteous purposes, and when we conceal or manipulate the truth, we are exalting him. But when we are people of truth, committed to truth in every situation, we magnify the glory of God as we mirror his attribute of truth.
When Jesus sent his disciples “into all the world,” he was embarking on an audacious mission: to gather together a multiethnic people to glorify his Name. This weekend, we take time to understand how our ethnic prejudices can keep us from “magnifying the glory of God” before a watching world.
Today contentment is rare. After all, our society prides itself in progress, in never being satisfied, always looking for the “new and improved.” We suffer from FOMO (fear of missing out), and take every opportunity to check our mail and twitter accounts. Frankly, being content is now thought of as unengaged, uninformed, or uncaring. But maybe we’ve just lost the true meaning of this cardinal virtue. This weekend we travel to Rome, and learn from Paul the joy of being content.
As we saw last weekend, walking humbly in obedience to God, in imitation of Christ will not be easy in our broken world. What is called for – if we are to deny self and follow Christ – is the same trait we see in our Savior: Endurance!
Like the marathon runner, we must continue running on the path of righteousness despite the obstacles. Endurance and perseverance presuppose there will be challenges, disappointments, obstacles, hardships, and trials that seem overwhelming. Yet as we “look to Jesus,” we find the strength to run the race set before us, and in so doing we “magnify the glory of God.”
As we have seen, so much of “magnifying the glory of God” is simply obeying God and imitating Jesus. Humility is a much maligned and misunderstood character trait. This weekend we understand it not so much as a denial of personal ability, but of personal importance.
Our view and vision of God is often too small. What is needed in our Christian lives is to think about our glorious Lord as He has revealed Himself in Scripture. When we properly know God, we do great things for God. We worship, pray, and live for Him. Our goal today is to remove our cloudy vision of the Lord and substitute it for the true and living triune God of Scripture.
There is a growing belief, even among Christ-followers, that hurtful, mean-spirited pronouncements are acceptable. We also are hearing more and more crude and foolish things coming out of our mouths. Sadly, we are blending in with the critical, cynical, and ungodly speech patterns of those who don’t claim Jesus as Lord. But we are called to magnify the glory of God both through what we say and what we do.
In Part 2, we finish our look at financial generosity as a means of magnifying the glory of our generous God by looking at the last three reasons for using our financial resources to further the mission of Christ through the church to the world.
Taken together, these six reasons remind us that the benefit in giving really belongs to the giver. God does not need our money; His work is not dependent upon the gifts of men for He is sovereign and no one can thwart His plans. We give because we desperately want to obey Him, to worship Him, to grow in dependence upon Him, to imitate Him in His mercy, to tell others about Him, and to discipline our hearts not to run away from Him.
The Bible is very clear that God has a standard for the disciplined and honorable management of every area of our lives. Certainly, this includes the area of our finances. The righteous use and management of our money speaks volumes about our self-control, our faith, and our commitment to the Kingdom of God. Over the next two weeks we look at honoring God and the mission of the church with our money, our time, and our abilities.
Our understanding of God’s great redeeming love for us must raise in us a sincere love for him in return. And it is out of this love that we shape our lives to “magnify” his glory. But where do we start? Peter tells us in no uncertain terms that the family of God – you and me! – are to be most conspicuous in this broken, sin-intoxicated world, by being “for” God in every area of our lives. The obvious consequence will be a growing distaste for the selfishness of sin. Being “for” God is what Peter calls holiness, and it is this holy preference for what God loves that forms the foundation for all the other things we will do to “magnify the glory of God.”
Every other means by which we can “magnify the glory of God” flows out of our heart of love for God. In response to his great love for us, our hearts leap at the opportunity to love God with all that we are … with heart, soul, mind and strength. In other words, the fountain from which every stream of obedience flows is a sincere and knowledgeable love for all God truly is, flowing from every part of who we are.
True love for God is the primary way we “magnify his glory.” But Scripture is clear: our love for God is our response to a proper understanding and experience of his great love for us. We love because he first loved us (1 John 4:19)! As we explore how we are to magnify the glory of God, we begin with an examination of God’s great love for us, demonstrated in the amazing plan of redemption.
Over the next three months, we will be exploring what it means and looks like to “magnify the glory of God.” But first we must come to grips with what the “glory” of God really is. Moses actually asked to see God’s glory, and in God’s response we learn precisely what we need to know: God’s glory is the sum of his nature, character, and person. And when we live in light of who he is, reflecting as best we can his character through our obedience, it is then we can say we are “magnifying the glory of God.”