Man's Chief End

Man's Chief End

1 Peter 4:10-11

Why are you and I here? Why did God create us? What is our purpose in life? With this thought in mind Augustine said, "You have formed us for Yourself, and our hearts are restless till they find rest in You." God is a God of glory. Moses sang in Exodus 15:11 " Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?" The Lord is glorious. The Bible speaks of the glory of God as one of the major themes that appears about 275 times in our English Bibles, occurring 50 times alone in the book of Psalms. God exists to be glorified. 1 Peter 4:11 states that it is God's design that God in all things may be glorified. Which brings us to the chief end of man and the answers to our questions. God does not exist for us we exist for God. We were created by God to glorify Him. C.S. Lewis said, "In commanding us to glorify Him, God is inviting us to enjoy Him.”

I. Our First Purpose is to Glorify God

A. 1 Corinthians 10:31 "Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God."

B. Romans 11:36 "For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory forever. Amen."

C. What does it mean to glorify God?

1. Glorifying God means to acknowledge His greatness and give Him honor by praising and worshiping Him, primarily because He, and He alone, deserves to be praised, honored and worshipped.

2. To glorify God is to admire, exalt, praise, and tell of His attributes—His holiness, faithfulness, mercy, grace, love, majesty, sovereignty, power, and omniscience.

3. "Glorifying” means feeling and thinking and acting in ways that reflect his greatness, that make much of God, that give evidence of the supreme greatness of all his attributes and the all-satisfying beauty of his manifold perfections." - John Piper

4. Psalm 46:10 " Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!

D. How can we glorify God?

1. Isaiah 43:21 "This people have I formed for myself; they shall show forth my praise."

2. 1 Peter 2:9 "But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light"

3. God made us to reflect or display or manifest his glory. We are supposed to be like well-polished mirrors of God's truth to the world. Or like prisms that take the beams of God's greatness and break them up into lots of varied colors for the world to see in our actions and words. - copied

4. It is impossible to glorify God if the heart isn’t right. A right heart can only be had by one who is born again, or born from above.

5. By hearing and obeying God's commandments

a. Listening to God and agreeing with Him is important. But just making a mental assent does not glorify Him. We must also submit to Him and obey the commands in order to glorify Him.

b. 1 Samuel 15:22 "Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord?"

c. Glorifying God involves loving Him and obeying His Law and His commandments.

d. Romans 6:23 "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."

e. Sin (disobedience) falls short of and fails to achieve reflecting the glory of God.

f. John Calvin believed that following the Old Testament law was not an end in itself, but rather a means to glorify God and "reflect gratitude" to Him.

6. By living faithful purposeful lives.

a. Matthew 5:16 "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven."

b. 1 Corinthians 10:31 “Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”

c. You can glorify God by having a strong desire and purpose to serve God in every aspect and activity of your life. Do you seek honor God even in the smallest detail of your life?

7. By being bearing spiritual fruit

a. John 15:8 "Jesus said, “By this My Father (God) is glorified, that you bear much fruit.”

b. The practice of “bearing fruit” in the Christian faith, means to demonstrate certain spiritual virtues.

c. Galatians 5:22-23 “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.”

d. When we give evidence of the reality of the new birth by showing that we are indeed new creations in Christ through the outward demonstration of the fruit of the Spirit we glorify God.