What Does It Mean To Magnify God?

In our evangelical churches, we often hear it said or sung, “We magnify You.” Does that mean that we are making God bigger by anything we are doing? Absolutely not!! God is already as big as he ever was and ever will be. He is not dependent on us to determine his size. When we “magnify” God it only means that we make his image larger in our own understanding—it is his image, not his actual size that is modified by our attitude.

In Luke 7:36-50, we read about a woman whose sin (greater than that of the Pharisee) learned to love God more than the Pharisee. That was because her sin was considered by her peers greater than that of the Pharisee.  So…she probably loved the Savior more than the Pharisee did. But, did that change God? No. He remained the same.

But God does want his image magnified in our minds. He had even left sins of the people who lived before Jesus’ time unpunished so that he could show his mercy, kindness, and grace in an even larger format to those of us who have lived after Jesus. (Rom 3:25-26) The salvation of those who preceded Jesus was based on their faith that the Messiah was coming and their faith that he could atone for their sins (Habakkuk 2:4b). Their faith was pictured in the sacrificial system.

Does the preceding mean that if we sin more, God will be pleased with us more because his image is enlarged more in our minds? ABSOLUTELY NOT! God’s baseline for sin’s punishment was laid out in its entirety long before we were ever created; and it does not change. Our behavior does not have anything to do with God’s mercy. The criteria for his mercy, grace, and salvation was determined long ago; and it remains stable—it is all about our repentance and faith.

That repentance and faith can only be complete when we absolutely die to ourselves. Until that time, our faith must be dependent on our feelings and the blessings that God has given to us. But…when the maturity of faith actually comes, we can have absolute trust and faith even in the face of adversity. But, above all, we do not need to demonstrate our faith by sinning just to “magnify God” in our minds. That will displease God to the max.