Glorified

The Bible is clear. Our primary purpose for being created is to glorify God. God said He made us for His glory (Isa 43:7). Jesus said we were to do our good works in such a way that God is glorified (Matt 5:16). We are told that whatever we do we are to glorify God (1 Cor 10:31). In Psalm 35:26 David famously says, "Oh, magnify the LORD with me and let us exalt His name together." Elsewhere he says, "I will praise the name of God with a song; I will magnify Him with thanksgiving" (Psa 69:30). Glorifying God. It's a common theme in Scripture.

What does it mean, though, to "magnify" Him? If we say we are to "magnify" His glory, what are we trying to say? We use the term "magnify" in two different senses. We might use it in the sense of a microscope. The purpose here is to make very small things visible. Thus, "microscope." We take something microscopic and blow it up big enough to examine. There is another sense of "magnify," however. That would be the telescope. With a telescope we look at things that aren't small, but are not well visible to our eyes. You can see a star quite clearly, but it appears small and, frankly, insignificant. But with a telescope you can magnify that image and see how truly huge that star really is. It's not small; it just looks that way because of the distance. In a similar way, we magnify God. He's not small. He's not minor. He's not "micro." We are just not seeing Him right.

We are called over and over to glorify God. The truth is we never add to that glory. We never increase His glory. We only highlight it. We point to it. We draw attention to it. We "Ascribe to the LORD the glory due His name" (1 Chron 16:29). An entire life lived with God's glory as its aim is a truly purpose-filled life as it is designed to be. And the tendency of man is to exchange the glory of the immortal God for ... our own. So we need to be telescopes directing attention to the true magnificence of God in all His glory.