How Did Jesus Glorify God?

The life and ministry of Jesus Christ provides a powerful example of glorifying God. In everything he did and said, Jesus sought to bring honor and glory to God the Father. If you’re short on time, here’s a quick answer to your question: Jesus glorified God through his obedient life, sacrificial death on the cross, miraculous works, and teachings that revealed the character of God.

In this article, we will take an in-depth look at the major ways Jesus glorified God during his time on earth. We will examine how Jesus’ life, words, works, death, and resurrection all worked to magnify the greatness, goodness, and glory of God.

Jesus Glorified God Through His Obedient Life

Jesus perfectly fulfilled God’s will during his time on earth. Throughout the gospels, Jesus declares that he came to do the will of his Father who sent him (John 6:38). He also says that he can do nothing by himself, but only what he sees the Father doing (John 5:19).

Jesus lived in perfect obedience to God’s commands and will, bringing glory to God the Father.

Jesus perfectly obeyed God’s commands

Jesus subjected himself fully to God’s laws and commands. He said, “I always do what pleases God” (John 8:29). Jesus resisted every temptation to sin, proving his perfect obedience. His life was completely aligned with the ethical standards and moral principles laid out in God’s commandments.

Through his perfect obedience, Jesus honored God.

Jesus only did what he saw the Father doing

Jesus imitated His Father’s character and actions (John 5:19). Every miraculous deed and act of compassion that Jesus did was a direct reflection of His Father’s nature. He perfectly mirrored the words and deeds of God. By living in such union with the Father, Jesus magnified Him.

Jesus glorified God even in times of suffering

Even when faced with undeserved suffering and death on the cross, Jesus submitted to the Father’s will, declaring “not my will but yours be done” (Luke 22:42). In his darkest hour, Jesus trusted the Father’s plan and glorified Him. Through his sacrifice, Jesus brought greater glory to God.

Jesus Glorified God Through His Miraculous Works

Jesus’ miracles displayed God’s power and authority. According to the Gospels, Jesus performed many astonishing miracles that demonstrated God’s supreme power and authority over nature, sickness, demons, and even death.

Through miraculous healings, Jesus showed God’s dominance over infirmities and diseases. By stilling the storm and walking on water, Christ exhibited God’s absolute command over the forces of nature. By casting out demons and raising the dead, Jesus manifested the Almighty’s jurisdiction over the spirit world and His mastery over mortality.

Jesus’ miracles displayed God’s power and authority

Jesus healed all kinds of diseases instantaneously – from skin ailments like leprosy to paralysis caused by strokes. His miracles testified that the Creator is more powerful than any created thing. No sickness or natural occurrence was beyond God’s ability to control and rectify (Matthew 4:23-24).

Through healing and nature miracles, Jesus proved God’s complete supremacy.

The miracles revealed God’s mercy and compassion

When moved by compassion, Jesus used miraculous power to relieve human suffering. He miraculously produced food and wine at gatherings to demonstrate God’s generosity in supplying people’s everyday needs (John 6:1-15).

Christ also miraculously healed chronic health conditions of countless individuals out of deep empathy, including skin disorders, paralysis, infertility, chronic bleeding, deafness, blindness, and more.

Such miracles highlighted how God is a benevolent, merciful, and nurturing Father who cares about each person’s welfare.

Miracles testified that Jesus was from God

No ordinary human being could perform the kinds and quantities of miracles that Jesus did. His miraculous deeds bore witness that he came from God. Christ himself emphasized this point (John 10:25,38). The apostles also used Jesus’ miracles as evidence that he is the divine Son with unique authority and power from the Father (Acts 2:22).

So Christ’s miracles, including healing the sick and lame, were self-authenticating signs that glorified God by confirming Jesus was from Him.

Jesus Glorified God Through His Teachings

Jesus taught people about God’s character and works

Throughout his ministry, Jesus often spoke of God the Father, emphasizing His attributes and works. He described God as perfectly holy (John 17:11), all-knowing (Matthew 10:29-30), all-powerful (Luke 1:37), and full of grace and truth (John 1:14).

Jesus revealed God’s incredible love for humanity by healing the sick, feeding the hungry, and forgiving sinners. He wanted people to know the Father as a benevolent, caring God who desires a relationship with them.

Jesus also taught extensively about God as Creator. He pointed to the beauty of nature – the birds, flowers, and rainbows – as evidence of God’s creative power and artistry (Matthew 6:26-30). Through parables involving sowing, harvesting, and tending vineyards, Jesus underscored humanity’s dependence on God the Creator.

In his famous Sermon on the Mount, Jesus instructed people on how to live in a way that honors God – by being meek, merciful, pure in heart, and peacemakers (Matthew 5:3-12). He emphasized that all God’s commands come down to loving Him and loving one’s neighbor (Matthew 22:37-40).

Jesus emphasized the importance of loving and honoring God

Jesus continually emphasized that the most important command was to love and honor God wholeheartedly. When asked what the greatest commandment was, Jesus replied, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37).

He stressed that people’s love for God should surpass all other loves and allegiances (Luke 14:26).

Part of truly loving and honoring God is worshipping Him. Jesus endorsed heartfelt, genuine worship and condemned mere external religiosity (John 4:24). He also taught that loving God was inseparable from obeying Him – “If you love me, keep my commands” (John 14:15).

Jesus set the example of bringing glory to God through constant prayer. Even though he was God’s Son, Jesus prayed frequently to the Father, demonstrating his total dependence on and submission to God (Luke 5:16).

He instructed his followers on the importance of praying in faith to glorify the Father (Matthew 21:22).

Jesus showed that he and the Father are one

One of the most astonishing ways Jesus glorified God was by asserting his unity and equality with the Father. Statements like “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30) and “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9) would have been radical, even blasphemous claims if coming from anyone else.

But since Jesus is the eternal Son of God, co-equal and co-eternal with the Father, his assertions glorified God by revealing more fully the triune identity of God.

Jesus’ miracles also glorified God by displaying Jesus’ divine authority over nature, sickness, demons, and death. The crowds marveled after miracles, praising God for giving such authority to a man (Matthew 9:8).

The apostle John stated that Jesus performed his signs so people would believe Jesus was the Christ and have life in his name, ultimately glorifying God (John 20:30-31).

Interestingly, 62% of American adults believe Jesus was God according to a 2022 survey by Pew Research Center. Jesus’ claims of divinity and miracles continue to prompt many to glorify God to this day.

Jesus Glorified God Through His Death on the Cross

The crucifixion displayed God’s love for humanity

Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross was the ultimate display of God’s love for humankind (John 3:16). By willingly giving his life as a ransom for sinners, Jesus demonstrated God’s immeasurable love and grace.

As Jesus hung on the cross, he exemplified God’s forgiveness by asking God to forgive those who crucified him (Luke 23:34). The cross reveals the depth of God’s love for us and his desire for reconciliation.

Jesus’ death fulfilled God’s redemptive plan

The crucifixion was central to God’s overarching plan of redemption for humanity. Scripture shows that Jesus’ sacrifice for sins was foreordained by God (Acts 2:23). His atoning death satisfied God’s wrath against sin, allowing forgiveness and restoration of relationship with God (Romans 3:25; Hebrews 2:17).

Without the crucifixion and resurrection, there would be no salvation from sin. But in fulfilling God’s redemptive purpose, Jesus magnified God’s mercy, faithfulness, and justice.

Jesus entrusted himself to God even unto death

As Jesus endured mocking, flogging, and crucifixion, he exemplified profound trust in God. Despite the intense suffering, Jesus submitted himself and committed his spirit into his Father’s hands (Luke 23:46).

By entrusting himself to God’s purposes, Jesus displayed God’s sovereignty and worthiness of worship. His obedience unto death honored God by showing that God is supremely worthy of wholehearted trust and surrender.

Jesus’ unwavering confidence in God even amidst agony glorified God’s trustworthiness and comforting presence.

Jesus Glorified God Through His Resurrection

The resurrection showed God’s power over death

Jesus’ resurrection from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion demonstrated God the Father’s supreme authority and power over death and sin (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). This miraculous event revealed that not even death could overcome or thwart God’s plan of salvation through his Son.

By raising Jesus from the grave, the Father glorified his name and proved to the world that he is the mighty Creator with power over life and death.

Jesus’ resurrection confirmed his divine identity

In addition, the resurrection confirmed Jesus’ assertions that he was the divine Son of God (Romans 1:4). If Jesus had remained dead in the tomb, it would have proven he was merely a human prophet. However, his bodily resurrection powerfully upheld his claims to deity.

This brought glory to God by revealing the incarnation of his eternal Son who took on human flesh to become the atoning sacrifice for sin. As the apostle Paul stated, Jesus was “declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead” (Romans 1:4).

The risen Christ enabled people to glorify God

Furthermore, through his resurrected spiritual body, Jesus could ascend to the Father and send the Holy Spirit to indwell all believers (John 16:7; Acts 1:8-9). This allowed people everywhere to receive Christ as Lord and glorify God for the salvation he provides.

As the book of Romans explains, “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you” (Romans 8:11).

The resurrected Jesus also commissioned his followers to spread the good news of salvation across the earth to lead more people to glorify God (Matthew 28:18-20).

Conclusion

In these major ways, Jesus’ life and ministry brought great glory to God. Even when facing death, Jesus ultimately trusted God and lived to honor him. Through his teachings, miracles, death on the cross, and resurrection from the dead, Jesus magnified the perfect character of God.

He showed the world who God is and enabled people to glorify God with their lives.