Glorify Me, Glorify You

August 10, 2022

Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You . . .” (John 17:1).

Jesus did not seek His own glory personally, but that His sacrifice on the cross would bring glory to God. It was a selfless request. It was a holy and righteous request. Dr. Leon Morris wrote, “This part of the prayer is often said to be Jesus’ prayer for himself. As he prays that he may be glorified (vv.1,5) there is perhaps something in this. But this in not prayer ‘for’ himself in the way we usually understand this. Since his glorification is to be seen in the cross it is a prayer rather that the Father’s will may be done in him. If we do talk about this as Jesus’ prayer for himself, we should at least be clear that there is no self-seeking in it.”

The Apostle Paul encourages the Christian to demonstrate the same attitude as Jesus when he wrote, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God (Romans 12:1-2), and again,

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them (Ephesians 2:8-10), and again,

I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me (Galatians 2:20).

Salvation in Jesus Christ is made possible by His willful sacrificial death on the cross. Salvation is made real by our willful sacrificial death to self in life. In His death He proved the will of God and glorified God for His righteousness, justice, and holiness in requiring the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot (1 Peter 1:19) to be the propitiation for our sins (1 John 4:10). He glorified God for His grace, mercy, and love, in that God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons (Galatians 4:4-5).

Because we are saved, we are to live our lives as a living sacrifice, a ‘thank offering’ (peace offering) to the Lord (Leviticus 3:1-17). Dr. William Smith observed, “The general principle of the peace offering seems to have been that it should be entirely spontaneous, offered as occasion should arise, from the feeling of the sacrificer himself” (Leviticus 19:5). What more could we give the Lord than to willingly sacrifice our life a living sacrifice so that His glory may shine through us, bringing Him greater glory through the salvation of others who see His glory in us (Matthew 5:14-16). Amen.

Pastor Martin

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