All of Jesus’ life and His death were for the purpose of bringing glory to God. From the moment of His birth the angels declared “glory to God in the highest”. Throughout His life, Jesus “always did what was pleasing to the Father”. And in His death, Jesus “glorified the Father on earth, having accomplished the work that He gave Jesus to do”.

So, it makes sense that if Jesus came to bring God glory…then God created us for the very same purpose. God’s aim in creating and redeeming the world has always been the exaltation of His name and the declaration of His glory! At the cross of Jesus, God’s pursuit of His glory and praise reaches its pinnacle. At the cross, God upholds His glory and provides for our forgiveness. At the cross, God magnifies His worth and satisfies our soul. The purpose of the Gospel is to glorify God. Which is why, “every knee will bow & every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father”.

How does this apply to us? How do we become like Jesus and glorify God in our living and in our dying? I am grateful for John Piper’s description of how we can glorify God and enjoy Him forever. Piper says, “God is most GLORIFIED in us when we are most SATISFIED in Him”. This statement echos the words of the Apostle Paul when he wrote to the church in Philippi. 

Philippians 1:20–23 “it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.”

Paul is saying that his great passion, in both his living and his dying, is that Jesus would be magnified and glorified. Paul wants to live in such a way that when people look at his life…they will say, “Christ is great”. The key to Jesus being glorified in our lives is found in verse 21, “for to me to live is Christ and to die is gain”. 

In other words, Paul is saying that Jesus is glorified in us when He is more valuable, more precious, more satisfying that all that life can give OR death can take away! 

God is most GLORIFIED in us when we are most SATISFIED in Him. 

If we want to begin glorifying God with our lives, we have to start by asking where our satisfaction comes from. Does our satisfaction come from our accomplishments, our kids, our careers, our marriages, our relationships? Or do we find ourselves completely satisfied in the fullness of God’s presence? Do we have our greatest delight in God and pursue Him as our greatest treasure? Do we find our greatest contentment in God Himself? Can we say with the Apostle Paul, “to live is Christ and to die is gain”? 

In reality, God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him. When we see God as the treasure that He is…when we go to Him as the fountain of living water…when we trust in Him to be enough for us…when we see that in His presence is fullness of joy (Psalm 16:11)…that’s when God is most glorified.