“Glorifying Christ In
You”
6)
Seeing it is a righteous
thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you;
7)
And to you who are
troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with
his mighty angels,
8)
In flaming fire taking
vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord
Jesus Christ:
9)
Who shall be punished with
everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of
his power;
10)
When he shall come to be
glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because
our testimony among you was believed) in that day.
11)
Wherefore also we pray
always for you, that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfil all the good pleasure of his goodness, and the work
of faith with power:
12)
That the name of our Lord
Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and ye in him, according to the grace of
our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
|
D |
ue
to man’s desire to receive something for himself, it is difficult for him to
give glory to another. However, the Lord did not grant us pardon from death nor
a “stay of execution” so we could receive recognition and honor for ourselves.
But His redemption plan was extended so that those who would accept Him would
live in His likeness and image. In living to please the Lord, those who still
remain in sin would see God in us and realize that there is still hope for
them.
In
return for our pardon, God does not ask us nor expect us to lay down our
physical life, but requires us to bury the “old man.” The death of the “old
man” through salvation, removes man from the realm of
the flesh and places him into the realm of the Spirit. In this realm, he now
becomes “God’s Issue” or property, even as the military refers to new recruits
as Government Issue (“G.I.”). Once saved, man no longer looks, speaks nor
operates with the same mind-set that in any way resembles the “old man” because
the old nature is dead.
Those
who are born-again spiritual beings seek only to do those things pleasing to
the Father. The knowledge of those things pleasing to the
Father. The knowledge of those things comes innately through the Holy
Spirit and are always confirmed by the Word of God.
Therefore, we cannot feign ignorance as to what is acceptable and what is
appalling to Him.
The
Lord must always be pleased to dwell in those to whom he has imparted
salvation. To demonstrate His pleasure to settle down in us, He parades His
Spirit to the unsaved world. Therefore, His expectation is that we will
maintain our integrity and faith in Him always.
Can
the Lord say of us as He said of Job, have you considered my servants? Can He
be assured of our willingness to deny ourselves and glorify Him since He has
delivered us from all the degrading elements of sin?
Satan’s
response to God is still the same: “Your people will only speak favorably of
you as long as their blessings keep flowing.” However, can Satan also say,
“Those for whom you have shed your blood will revert back to their old
mind-set, regardless of your sacrifice, if you delay those blessings for an
hour, a day or a year?” Can Satan further say (and it be true), “Even the “new”
man will curse you in murmurings and complaints, and will eventually sin if you
delay his blessings. And when he does, is he not proving that your death means
nothing?”
If
Satan can say any of this and it be true, then he has
found something in us.
We
must always find ourselves progressing from faith experience to faith experience
as we glorify the Lord even through our trials and tests. Like Job, we must
prove ourselves faithful the first time by glorifying Him in any circumstance
that presents itself. We must, like Job, not sin against God in word or deed,
thus proving to others that we are new creatures and nothing like the old
man which is dead and buried. Through each experience we face victoriously,
we further prove that this new creation will forever live to please and glorify
God.