GLORIFYING JESUS

2 Thess 1:11-12 Wherefore also we pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfill all the good pleasure of His goodness, and the work of faith with power: 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.

The prayer of Paul, and his fellow laborers in Christ, for the church of Christ in Thessalonica, was that our God would count you worthy of this calling,thatis, God's calling to all people of the world to accept Jesus Christ as their Savior, in order to receive the hope of salvation, and the eternal rest promised to all that faithfully obey His will. Once a man or woman hears God's calling, obeys His will, is baptized for the remission of their sins, and is added to the church of Christ by God, he or she becomes a Christian. Then, by living a faithful and righteous life, one is assured to experience the persecutions and tribulations of others that remain in the world of sin. Just as Jesus Christ, and his disciples were persecuted, so will all Christians suffer the same treatment from those that refuse to follow the will of God. This is how all Christians manifest themselves, are recognized, and are noticeably set apart from the world. The manner in which they endure those trials of life is their token of God's righteousness; it is their badge of honor, that is joyously worn for the entire world to see. Verse 5, above, tells us why: that they may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God.

To be worthy of God's calling is to fulfill all the good pleasure of His goodness, and the work of faith with power. God is good (Psalm 73:1), and it is by His goodness that all people of the world were called to come to Him, and accept His plan of eternal salvation, offered through His Son, Jesus Christ. His good pleasure is fulfilled each time a man or woman hears His call, and accepts Jesus as their Savior. There is nothing that mankind can do that is more pleasing in the sight of our Creator - our Heavenly Father, than to hear and obey His call to salvation. This work of faith is powerful enough to overcome the world. For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God (1 John 5:4-5)?

Each Christian should conduct their life in a manner that will bring glory and honor to God and His Son, Jesus Christ. And in doing so, God will bestow His glory on each of His faithful children. This is proven in Jesus' prayer for His apostles, and all that believed on Him by their teaching. That they all may be one; as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that Thou hast sent Me. And the glory which Thou gavest Me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that Thou hast sent Me, and hast loved them, as Thou hast loved Me (John 17:21-23).

God's grace to mankind was extended to us by the gift of our eternal Savior - His Son, Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 1:4). Christ's graceful gift to mankind was His death on the cross of Calvary, to redeem us from our sins. This is exactly what Paul's letter to his fellow laborer, Titus, tells us. For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ; Who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works (Titus 2:11-14). The grace freely given to all mankind by God and His Son, Jesus Christ, is, indeed, a gift; it cannot be earned by the most benevolent acts of mercy and kindness mankind can bestow on others. This unmerited grace, by which we have the hope of eternal salvation, is truly an amazing gift.

When we glorify Jesus, we also glorify God, His Father. God's children - brothers and sisters of His Son, Jesus Christ, must be shining examples in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation (Phil. 2:15). Jesus tells all of His followers that they are the light of the world. Therefore, Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven (See Matt. 5:14-16). Jesus Christ will not have died in vain, as long as Christians glorify His name, to the world around them.