Glorifying God in Life and Death

As Jesus and Peter walked along the Sea of Galilee in John 21, Jesus not only restored Peter to a preeminent place of service, He also predicted how Peter would die.

"Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hand, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go" v.18.

Jesus has told Peter how he could glorify Him in life: Feed My Sheep. Now He has told Peter how he WILL glorify Him in death: You will die FOR Me by the hands of others. John, the writer of this Gospel, adds an editorial comment, "This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God" v.19.

Ultimately following Jesus is about glorifying Him. There is no way TO glorify Jesus except by following Him. This following means to take up our cross daily, to say "NO" to our desires and plans and glory in order to pursue His (Luke 9:23f). And to follow Jesus means to follow Him in another day of life or in the final day of our life: death. In life or death, Jesus says, "Follow Me."

The life of a disciple of Jesus is never wasted, in life or death. Every moment is an investment in glorifying God by being a light that shines in this dark world and salt that is rubbed into the rotting moral decay of our culture. The ultimate life-purpose to glorify God never stops. There is no retirement from glorifying God. There are no vacations from glorifying God. My work is to glorify God. My parenting is to glorify God. My leisure is to glorify God. My eating is to glorify God (1 Corinthians 10:31). My speech is to glorify God. My spending is to glorify God. My home is for the glory of God. My sickness is to glorify God. My death is to glorify God. My funeral is to glorify God.

If I live for the glory of my glorious God, ALL ELSE will receive its rightful and needed attention and blessing from God. Family does lose out. Work does not lose out. Others do not lose out. Rather, they all receive from me the best of what I can give because now I give it out of the overflow of a life satisfied with and supplied by God.

To live for the glory of anyone or anything else is to raise it in my heart to god-hood; it becomes my idol and it reduces me to living on the fumes of what man or matter can supply.

Finally, don't miss the absolute SOVEREIGNTY of the Lord Jesus Christ that is evident in His statement to Peter about His death. Peter WILL die a death for Christ's glory. He WILL die as others take him bound to execution. Tradition tells us this happened, indeed. Peter was crucified upside down to the glory of God. But Peter could NOT die, Peter would NOT defect, angry leaders could NOT kill Peter, accidents could not unexpectedly take his life, sickness could NOT be his end...WHY? Because Christ had planned, pre-ordained Peter's death and therefore he could not die otherwise.

Therefore, know that your entire life and death is about God's glory and that the life you live and the death you die are all under the sovereign control of the Lord Jesus Christ. Don't fear disease, or accidental death on a plane or by a terrorist or in a car crash, don't live in anxiety about that hereditary heart condition or high cholesterol. Do what you should to be safe and be healthy, but above all - LIVE and DIE to the glory of God.