A life that magnifies the Lord is a life that brings God near to those with whom it comes in contact!
That is exactly what the life of the Lord Jesus did. His was the perfect life that glorified and magnified God. In Psalm 69, we read of the inner feelings and sufferings of the Lord Jesus (Ps. 69:2–4, 7–12, 20–21). But we also see what such a life accomplished for the glory of God when the psalm prophetically says of the Lord, “I will praise the name of God with a song. And I will magnify Him with thanksgiving” (Ps. 69:30).
In Hebrews 10:5, we see that the Lord Jesus was the very One God would use to bring Himself near to us. We read, “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but a body You have prepared for Me.” These words come from Psalm 40, a psalm that speaks of the Lord as the burnt offering. It goes on to declare, “Let all those who seek You rejoice and be glad in You; let such as love Your salvation say continually, ‘The Lord be magnified’” (Ps. 40:16).
This is what the life of the Lord Jesus did. He glorified God in every way, and in doing so, He also brought God near to us. Scripture says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God,” and then, “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, full of grace and truth” (John 1:1, 14). In John 14:9, He could say, “If you have seen Me, you have seen the Father.” He magnified God. He was “God manifested in the flesh.” In and through His body, He brought God near to us that we might behold His greatness.
Our lives ought to magnify God as well! I believe Scripture teaches us that our entire being ought to magnify God—our spirit, soul, and body.
Think of what Mary said in Luke 1:46: “My soul magnifies the Lord.” The soul is the seat of our emotions, so in her innermost being she wanted to magnify her God. John the Baptist had the same desire when he said of the Lord Jesus, “He must increase, and I must decrease” (John 3:30).
We too ought to have this same desire—that not only should the Lord be magnified emotionally in our innermost being, but also in and through our bodies. Paul brings this out when he says, “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.”
Ancre du jour :
In a very practical way, our lives should bring the Lord near for all to see!