What does it mean to magnify something? The dictionary gives two meanings.
- To make (something) appear larger than it is, especially with a lens or microscope.
- In Hebrew it means to extol; glorify.
Five times in the Bible we are told to magnify God. In Psalms 34:3 the psalmist ask others to magnify the Lord with him. The word “magnify” means literally “to make great.” We are to have a just sense, of the greatness of God.
Paul had a great grip on what it meant to magnify the Lord. If you study his life you will see that he had no desire to exalt himself, but Christ and Christ alone.
In the following verse, Paul is keeping the main thing the main thing.
Philippians 1:20 “According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death.”
He is stating that it is his greatest desire for his life to magnify the Lord. He intends to make Christ known with all boldness. All boldness? With this statement, I am sure there was no one that was around Paul that had a doubt about his allegiance to Jesus Christ. He is not ashamed of the gospel. He is the total opposite of being ashamed. Paul wants to leave no one guessing where he stands in relation to his walk with Christ. He wants it to be known not only in this life but also in his death. He is living for one reason only!
He states why he is not ashamed in Romans 1:16. Because it is the power of God that leads to and gives us salvation for eternal life.
Romans 1:16 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.”
His boldness made Christ magnified in his life. He extolled and glorified God from the day he was saved, until the day he died. He literally gave the rest of his life magnifying our Savior. He did not magnify him by making him larger than he is because that is impossible. I heard someone say this week, “isn’t good that we have a God that we cannot exaggerate about. No one can make God more than he is, but Paul certainly gave us a great picture of the vastness of our Savior’s love, mercy, and grace.
Think about your own life. How are you magnifying Christ? How long are people around you before they realize you are sold out to Jesus Christ? I’m not asking if they know you are a Christian, or if they know you go to church. I’m asking do you share with boldness? Are you timid and keep your feelings and thoughts about Jesus to yourself? Are you ashamed? Do you take a stand? If people plan things on Sunday that would require you to miss church, do you go, or do you explain you have church services? Not that you “have” to go to church, but that you “want” to go?
I want to serve Christ with complete abandonment of myself. To serve with boldness. To serve him and magnify him, to the point of making him so large, that there is no doubt I stand firmly for Jesus Christ. I know I fail many times, but my goal is to press toward the mark of the high calling of Jesus Christ!
Philippians 3:14 “I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”
