THE GLORY FOUND IN SERVING JESUS

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

I myself am convinced, my brothers and sisters, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with knowledge and competent to instruct one another. Yet I have written you quite boldly on some points to remind you of them again, because of the grace God gave me to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles. He gave me the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

Therefore I glory in Christ Jesus in my service to God. I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done-by the power of signs and wonders, through the power of the Spirit of God.

Romans 15:14-19a

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

We see the word “glory” used a lot in the Bible. In fact, between the Old and New Testaments we find it around 600 times. That would make it a pretty important word, right?

Given this, we should make sure we understand the meaning of the word so we can translate it when we read it. For the purpose of today’s message, we’ll be looking at the word “glory” as a noun.

So what does the word mean when applied to biblical understanding?

In an English dictionary, we find that it translates to extending praise, honor, distinction, and thanksgiving toward someone.

And when we look at the Greek word used in the New Testament, applicable to our study of Paul’s writing in the Book of Romans, we find these meanings:

1. the condition of being bright or shining, brightness, splendor, radiance.

2. a state of being magnificent, greatness, splendor.

3. honor as enhancement or recognition of status or performance, fame, recognition, renown, honor, prestige.

We can see where the English definition matches up nicely with the Greek and given this, we can now approach our passage for today, verse 14 through the first half of verse 19 found in the 15th chapter. Paul writes:

I myself am convinced, my brothers and sisters, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with knowledge and competent to instruct one another. Yet I have written you quite boldly on some points to remind you of them again, because of the grace God gave me to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles. He gave me the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

Therefore I glory in Christ Jesus in my service to God. I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done-by the power of signs and wonders, through the power of the Spirit of God.

Before Jesus ascended to sit at the right hand of God the Father, placed in full authority over all things in heaven and on earth, He gave all His believers specific orders to carry on His work. Here’s what He said:

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” Matthew 28:18-20

This tasking wasn’t made optional nor is it a passive calling. Rather, Jesus commands us to take action, to be proactive and make disciples, baptizing them in the names of the Holy Trinity, and teaching them to obey everything He commanded.

Paul embraced Jesus’ charge and made it his life’s work as he set out on four separate missionary journeys. His commitment to the Gospel was unrivaled in the New Testament outside of Jesus Himself and he fully recognized and grasped the glory found in serving Christ as he shared the good news of salvation through his Savior, the very Lamb of God who came to take away the sin of the world. God had given Paul the grace (or privilege) to minister, a priestly duty to bring the Gospel to the Gentiles with the hope of sanctifying them by the Holy Spirit and making them acceptable to God through their belief in His Son. He also allowed Paul to have the power of the Holy Spirit so that he might be able to perform signs and wonders before those he ministered to.

As Paul prepared to close out his letter to the Romans, he made sure they knew he didn’t see them in a negative way. Rather, he was convinced that that the people of Rome were “full of goodness” and “filled with knowledge”, “competent to instruct one another”. Still, the church in Rome needed reminded of what the Lord expected from them in the way of personal conduct and service. Ultimately, Paul wanted his readers in Rome to experience for themselves the glory that results in serving Jesus, a glory he fully enjoyed as he extended praise, honor, distinction, and thanksgiving toward Jesus, His Savior, making His magnificence, greatness, and splendor fully known.

As we carry out the call of Jesus ourselves, let us do so with the zeal and fervor of Paul as we too get to share His majesty and brilliance with others.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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