Glory To God In The Highest
When the angels announced the birth of Jesus to the shepherds out in the fields, they were praising God. In Luke 2:14, the angels said,
Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.
To “glory” in something is to give one’s most exuberant praise and honor. The joy, praise, and honor that are in “glorying” are beyond words. To glory in something is expressing a worshipful adoration. It is one’s most beautiful and splendid showing of honor.
The angels praise God alone. It is God alone who worked all of His prophecies throughout the Old Testament to come true in Jesus Christ. God alone has the power to fulfill His promises. So, we need to see how God’s almighty power is proving His love for us in the birth of Jesus Christ. We do have to live in a world filled with all sorts of troubles and sadness, but, in the midst of all this, we are loved by God.
With this in mind, giving glory to God is not just for angels to do. It’s for us, too. After all, we are the ones who are being saved from eternal hell. When we fully realize that, we will glady and with relief give glory to God.
When the angels glorified God “in the highest”, that refers to the fact that there is absolutely no other power higher than God’s power. He alone is LORD and God over all things. There simply is no other lord or god. Since God is the Creator and Sustainer of all things, it is vital that we recognize that truth and accept His loving will for our lives.
“In the highest” also refers to the fact that God lives in the highest — that is, in the heavens. And that is where He would like us to be with Him. But — only those who give honor where honor is due will be privileged to live eternally with the Lord of all. That is why we need to pay attention to all that God has done to send us a Savior from all of our sins.
Some people in this world bitterly look at all the sin going on and grumble that there is no “peace”. They feel it’s a mockery to claim “peace” when there is nothing but war, hatred, fighting, cheating, and on-and-on. But, they did not pay attention to all of what the angels proclaimed. The angels said, “And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.”
In other words, those who please God by putting their trust and faith in the Savior, whom God has so faithfully sent us, are the ones who will have an inner peace in this troubled world. There will certainly continue to be wars and hateful acts of all sorts until the end of time. But, those who trust the love of God in Christ Jesus have the inner peace of being assured that God is rightly working all things for our good in the end. The peace is in regard to our eternal salvation — our being loved by God throughout all our troubles — our assurance in seeing how God has kept all His promises since the beginning of time.
So, yes. This Christmas season, we have real peace and give glory to God for His almighty love for us in Jesus’ birth, suffering, death, and resurrection — all so that we might be saved eternally and be with our Lord on high. Therefore we say, “Hallelujah! My Lord on high, how low You condescended to be with a sinner like me! Let me glorify Your holy name as it ought to be glorified by one such as me.”
Love, Margaret
A devotional to glorify the LORD of lords and King of kings…
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