Cheat Death, Get Glory
Bryan Johnson has one simple goal: to cheat death. And as one of Silicon Valley’s celebrity millionaires, he’ll probably come as close as anyone. He has responded to the problem of mortality by spending two million dollars a year on a personalized anti-aging program from a private care team. Without fail, he wakes up at 4:30am, eats his last meal of the day at 11:00am, and goes to bed at 8:30pm. Each day, among other things, he takes over 100 pills to supplement his regimented diet, undergoes light treatment therapies and completes specialized workouts. He claims to be reverse ageing, and based on his visible transformation from mid-forties-techie-stubble-guy to mid-twenties-Twilight-saga-character, so far, so good.
But let’s be honest. We all know how Johnson’s story ends.
Regardless, the man is remarkable for his singularity of focus. He has attracted a movement of followers, which he calls “Don’t Die.” Johnson presents himself to his followers as a kind of savior figure, saying that he is doing it for the human species as a whole, offering hope that if people will imitate his practices, they can extend the comfort and duration of their lives. But that’s as far as he goes to when it comes to helping other people out. As it stands, Johnson’s highest priority appears to be self-preservation at any cost. In other words, he lives for his own glory.
There’s another man who was remarkable for his singularity of focus, another whose top priority was glory: Jesus. He also claims to be the savior (John 14:6) and confidently offers eternal life (John 10:28). He cheats death (1 Corinthians 15:54)! But he doesn’t do it by building himself up. Let’s look at his strategy as revealed in his last prayer before being arrested:
“Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.” (John 17:1-5)
In the moments before his death, Jesus asks for his own glorification, which would be an odd thing for anyone else to ask. But not for Jesus, because he never seeks glory for his own sake. As Pastor JR Vassar reminded us, Jesus does everything with a singular motivation: for love of his Father. Everything in his life, including his love for us, is an expression of his ultimate love for God. At the end of his life on earth, he longs for his own glorification because he is one with the Father (John 10:30) so when he gets glory, God gets glory. He longs for his own glorification because he is about to accomplish God’s saving purposes (John 3:16), so when the accomplisher of the plan (Jesus) gets glory, the architect of the plan (his Father) gets glory.
Jesus is so committed to his Father’s glory that he is willing to endure the cross to bring it about. He has already said no to the temptation to make his own name great, and yes to the hard path to make God’s name great (Matthew 4:8-10). As he prays his final prayer, he knows the kind of death he will die (John 12:33). He knows that his immediate future holds humiliation, torture, and excruciating loneliness, to name a few. He knows that he is about to take the full force of God’s wrath against sin and drink it to the dregs (Isaiah 51:17, Luke 22:42). And yet, even in his shattering fear of that moment, he refuses to compromise his Father’s glory:
“Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross…” (Philippians 2:5-8).
The result of this single-minded, sacrificial life? A beautiful reciprocity. As Jesus humbles himself, God is pleased to honor him:
“…Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:9-11).
As the Father gets glory, so the Son gets glory. As the Son gets glory, so the Father gets glory. And let’s not forget the Spirit’s role in all this: after his ascension, Jesus is not only glorified by the Father, but also by the Holy Spirit. As Jesus reassures his disciples, “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you” (John 16:13-14, emphasis added).
Father, Son, and Spirit delight in giving glory to one another. It’s an awe-inspiring bit of insight into the selfless love that exists within the Trinity. A love that Jesus invites us into, praying with some of his last breaths that we would know the same love and unity (John 17:20-23).
In our natural state, we are all like Bryan Johnson, seeking glory for our own sake. The triune glory-dance of God is counterintuitive to us. But because of the sending love of the Father, the sacrificial love of the Son, and the sanctifying love of the Spirit, we get to take part. It is now our honor to be adopted by God as his sons and daughters (Ephesians 1:5). It is now our privilege to imitate Jesus by living single-mindedly for the glory of God and the good of his people (Ephesians 5:1-2). It is now our delight to be strengthened, guided, and prayed for by the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 3:16, Romans 8:26). It is now our assurance to look forward to the day we are glorified with a reflective glory because we will be conformed to the image of Christ (Romans 8:29-30). This is the glory that compels us, the glory we are about to celebrate on Easter. This year, let’s remember that at the heart of Easter is the greatest love story ever told, the love between Father, Son, and Spirit. Let’s spend ourselves in praise of Him. Let’s give Him the glory.
Scripture for meditation: John 17