Who but the Lord could look up to heaven and say to the Father, “I have glorified You on the earth.” Alas! Fallen man has dishonored God on the earth. Man was made in the image and likeness of God, to be a true representative of God before the universe. If, however, now that man has fallen, the world were to form its ideas of God from man, the conclusion would be reached that God is an unholy, selfish, cruel, and vindictive being, without wisdom, love, or compassion. This indeed is the terrible conclusion that the heathen have reached, through presuming that God is like themselves. Thus they have fashioned gods that, like themselves, are filthy, cruel, and selfish. Thus, instead of glorifying God by a true representation of Him, man has dishonored God on the earth.

When, however, we turn from man fallen to the Man Christ Jesus, the Son, we see One who, in every step of His path, has glorified God. When He was born into this world, the heavenly host can say, as they gaze upon their Maker, “Glory to God in the highest.” Now, at the completion of His path, the Lord can say, “I have glorified You on the earth.” He fully set forth the character of God and fully maintained all that was due to God; He upheld His glory before the whole universe.

Moreover, Christ not only glorified God in His path on earth, but above all, He glorified God on the cross. There He maintained the righteousness of God in relation to sin, and displayed the love of God to the sinner. Here Christ speaks according to the perfect Manhood He had taken. As believers, it is our privilege to walk as He walked, to live for the glory of God and to finish the work given us to do, though never forgetting that the work He came to do at the cross must forever stand alone.