Glory to God
in the highest.
─Luke 2:14
I’m
fascinated by this angelic proclamation. What’s more, I’m even more fascinated
by Scripture commanding us to give glory to God.
What does it
mean for us to give glory to God? Do we have any glory to even give to God?
Doesn’t our glory actually come from God? And if this is true, then are we
really giving back to Him what He’s already given to us?
In Luke
17:18, Jesus said:
“Were
there not any found who returned to give
glory to God except this foreigner?” (Emphasis mine)
The context
is ten lepers implored Jesus to heal them by crying out, “Master, have mercy on
us.”
In fathomless
compassion Jesus granted their wish, provided they followed His instruction to
go show themselves to the priests. In obedience they marched off toward the
priests. On their way, they were cleansed, healed of this fatal malady. Of the
ten whom He healed, only one came back to Jesus to “give glory” to God.
This is an interesting
record on many fronts. Of particular note is Scripture indicates that by this
man’s faith he was saved. His faith was demonstrated by his return to Jesus to
give glory to God; the man knew that only God could perform this miracle.
Setting
Aside Self
But aside
from that, we need to note that the man turned from his own plan, moved off his
own course, and come back to “give glory” to God. He was on a very serious
mission, healing for himself. However, even in the midst of his self-concern he
recognized that the miraculous had just happened; he was healed of his leprosy.
And setting aside his own agenda, he came back to Jesus to acknowledge, to
proclaim, to publicly express his gratitude, his praise, his love for such a
great God.
Suddenly, by
way of this divine intervention, he no longer had to move away from people
while yelling, “Unclean, unclean;” no longer would he have to endure the
accusation of what caused him to contract such a fatal disease; he would no
longer have to endure his own countrymen assuming some dastardly sin on him that
invoked God’s wrath. Now he could go to the market and blend in with everyone
else. He could move away from the leper colony where he’d been banished because
of his disease and move back into his home—if he still had one. He was, for the
first time in years, whole.
Making Sense
of Words
The word
“give” in this account is a present-active-indicative showing us that the man
intentionally endeavored to render, or give, glory to God. The definition of
“give”, at least according to Strong's Concordance, is “of one’s accord to bestow or grant
something to someone.” In other words, he purposed in his heart to return to
Jesus to bestow something upon Him.
The word
“glory” means “a good opinion resulting in praise.” Synonyms include adoration,
devotion, and worship.
Putting
these together we see a man diverting from his own agenda to intentionally
return to Jesus for the purpose of bestowing upon Him praise, adoration, and
worship because of this miraculous gift of deliverance.
Now think
about the angels appearing to the shepherds in Luke 2 proclaiming “Glory to
God!” In what were they referring to? Simple, the salvation of the world; by
way of the little infant, Immanuel, God with us, all of humanity has
opportunity to, by faith, be saved, to be delivered from a destiny separated from
God because of sin.
Resolution
So now that
Christmas 2012 has come and gone, one question remains: do we “give glory” to
God? Are we like the one healed leper that came back and recognized Jesus for
His gift? Do our lives praise Jesus for pulling us out of the “leprosy of our
souls” and placing us into His saving grace? Or, instead, do our lives show
indifference just as the other nine lepers?
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