To him [Jesus] be glory both now and forever! Amen.
Summary: As Peter signs off his letter to us, he also demonstrates one more aspect of Christian life that we should emulate. We need to remember that Jesus gets the glory. Always. Both now and forever.
As Peter wraps up his second letter, he does not simply sign off with, “Sincerely, Peter.” Instead, he brings it to a close by pointing to Jesus: “To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.” To my mind, this is the equivalent of bowing down before Jesus.
Peter’s attitude is important. Jesus is not some far-off imaginary friend. Jesus is very real. Peter knows that Jesus lived, died, and lives again. He has seen the risen Jesus with his own eyes. He will die for Jesus because he understands that physical death is like a bee sting compared to the spiritual death waiting for those who reject Jesus.
In what may be the oldest book of the Bible, Job wrestles with being a righteous person in an unrighteous situation. Life is unfair! His own God has turned against him. Yet, his faith never waivers. Even though he does not know the name of Jesus, he says:
I know that my redeemer lives,
and that in the end he will stand on the earth.
And after my skin has been destroyed,
yet in my flesh I will see God;
I myself will see him
with my own eyes—I, and not another.
How my heart yearns within me! (Job 19: 25-27)
Abraham, the patriarch of all Israel, is famous for his faithfulness to God. When God says, “Jump!” Abraham replies, “How high?” Genesis 17 tells the story of God’s messenger telling Abraham that “every male” must be circumcised (Gen 17: 10). When they are done talking Abraham does not hesitate. He does not say, “I’ll get to that in a week or so.” The Bible says “on that very day” Abraham, his son Ishmael, and all the men in his household were circumcised.
Abraham’s great-grandson, Joseph, is sold into slavery by his brothers. He is mistreated by his master’s wife and thrown into prison. He is kept there for years. Yet, in all this, he never condemns or accuses God. When Pharaoh asks him to interpret his dream, Joseph responds, “I cannot do it… but God will give Pharaoh the answer he desires” (Gen 41:16).
Eventually, David becomes king of Israel. Along the way, while Saul is still king, David sees Goliath taunting the army of Israel. Incensed, he decides God must not be dishonored. With God’s help, he defeats Goliath with a little stone (1 Samuel 17). David depends on God’s help and guidance, and he always remembers to give glory to God.
Peter, like the patriarchs before him, knows his place before God. He understands that all glory and honor belong to Jesus.
This is a hard thing for us mortals to wrap our heads around. We like to take pride in how well we do something. If it turns out what we did is good, we want the credit. Yet the glory belongs to God. Peter knows this. More than that, he lives it, as should we.
Application: Practice giving God the glory in every situation.
Food for Thought: Explain what it means to give Jesus glory.
What a great way to end Peter’s second letter to us,..
A pastor once told me that whenever the name of Jesus is spoken He is glorified,..
Kind of hard to say that I haven’t done anything in my life worthy of glory,..but it has all come from knowing God,..one thing I remember is that I shouldn’t take something that isn’t mine,..and glory happens to be one of those things that isn’t mine,..all glory goes to God,..no matter what I do,..I am conduit to give back what is His,..if there is any goodness flowing through me it’s because of Christ that lives in me,..
Thanks again Jeff for what you are doing with Three Minute Bible,..looking forward to the next letter to study,..
John,
It is good to hear from you! I like your point about speaking the name of Jesus. It is good for the world to hear his name spoken. It honors our Lord, and it encourages our brothers and sisters in faith.
Thank you, too, for the encouragement! 🙂
Explain what it means to give Jesus glory. Giving Jesus glory means thinking, doing, and saying according to His commands: Love God and love others as you would yourself. When we pray, study scripture, and pursue God’s guidance we are glorifying Jesus because we recognize His sacrifice and the bridge He has created for us to God. When we treat others in kindness with truth and grace we glorify Jesus. We we speak to others about our lives and how Jesus has transformed us, we glory Him.
Matthew 12:34b “For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of”
This morning I thought about the passage from Mark 12:41-44, about the comes to mind:
“Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents.
Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.”
It wasn’t the amount that gloried God, it was that she gave everything she had, and in doing so, placed her complete future (faith) in the hands of God. Living a life like that is glorifying Jesus.
Thank you, Chris!
I appreciate the time you put into your responses. Your insights have encouraged me and added to my understanding of the Word.
Great devotion and comments.
Simply put, I think to give God glory is to make Him and His character known. It is to use our lives to put Him in the spotlight. Matthew 5: 14 – 16. To glorify someone is to help others see what they did not see before. We need to help people see the Lord.
Thank you, Rich!
Matt 5: 14-16 offers an interesting perspective!!
“You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”
There is a causal connection between our deeds and our allegiance to Jesus. If I understand this correctly, doing good glorifies Jesus — unless we put ourselves in the middle and take credit. Sometimes it is enough to simply serve quietly and humbly.
01-26-2022, 2 Peter 3:18b, Explain what it means to give Jesus glory.
As we accepted Christ, we became positionally sinless, free from the power of all sin and instruments to be used by God for His Glory. Our bodies became a temple of God as we received the empowerment of the Holy Spirit who came into our hearts. We are now called to glorify God with our bodies.
I Corinthians 6:19-20
We continue to live and serve to glorify Christ in our lives. We are to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice to His will over ours, allowing Him to minister to others through us by the power of the Holy Spirit in us.
Galatians 2:20, Romans 12:1-2, 2 Corinthians 12:9
This is a lifelong process which all christians are called to enter into and none will be 100% successful. It is the process of moment by moment dieing to our flesh, choosing to say no to sin and growing in the righteousness of Christ. As the power of our old self decreases Christ is seen and glorified in our lives. All good done by our bodies is in fact Christ working through us as we use Gods power to exercise self control and restraint.
We received our salvation as we humbled ourselves before Him in repentance and were washed of all sins by HIS POWER. We now continue to humble ourselves as we allow Christ to minister to others through others by HIS POWER.
Wow, Ron. Good thoughts!
It is like we are old dirty mirrors and the more we let the Holy Spirit clean us off, the better we reflect Jesus’ glory back to him.