I can’t forget the story one of our members tells about his childhood. He asked his dad the big question: "Why am I here?" That’s a thoughtful question from a little boy. Here’s what his dad said. "How the h___ do I know?" My friend is still reeling from the shock of that response.
But how would you answer that? Why are we here? What is your reason for living? Why do you get up and go about your business each day?
Most of us have many things that motivate us. I want to provide well for my family to show them that I love them. I want to be successful so I can make a difference in this world. I want to be a decent citizen because I want to live at peace with others. I want to do a good enough job at work so I can make enough money live comfortably and have some fun. Many things motivate us.
But I’m convinced that all these things and many others we could mention are merely secondary reasons for living. The Bible is clear that we exist for one primary reason.
Life on Purpose: Honoring God
Series: God’s Values for Your Life
Text: I Peter 4:11
The Westminster Shorter catechism begins with "What is the chief end of man?" The answer? "Man's chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him for ever."
Our main reason for being - our main aim - is that God be glorified. Isaiah 43:6, 7 quotes God, "Bring My sons from afar and My daughters from the ends of the earth, everyone who is called by My name, whom I created for My glory." Why are we here? For God’s glory!
Now, what does it mean to glorify God? If we exist to glorify God, we must know what it means. The Bible itself uses a variety of words and images to communicate what it means to glorify God.
When God does something "for His name’s sake," the issue is the glory of God. When you pray, "Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name…" you are praying that God be glorified - that His name, His reputation, would be set apart and known. You are praying that He would gain fame.
And the scriptures are full of talk about honoring God and praising God and exalting God and magnifying God. Again, these are other ways of talking about the glory of God.
Glorifying God is…
Putting God at center stage
Giving God the applause
Turning the spotlight on God
Giving God the credit
Spreading God’s fame
Building God’s reputation
The Bible is clear about why God deserves the glory. He’s number one! He’s the Cause! He’s the Source! He’s the Creator! Revelation 4:11 says, "Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and be cause of Your will they existed, and were created."
God is entitled to the glory because He’s the glue who keeps things together, who keeps the planets spinning, who makes the breath you’re breathing and the heart that keeps your blood pumping. He’s the Beginning the In-between, and the End; the Start, the Middle, and the Finish. Romans 11:36 says, "For from Him and to Him and through Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen."
Are you intentionally, purposefully, strategically glorifying God with your life? When people see how you live your life, do they applaud God? When someone tells you "good job," do you somehow seek to turn the spotlight onto Him?
The reason we need to spend some time on this together is because we often fail to glorify God. We don’t honor Him like we should. In fact, it is at the heart of our sinfulness. If the chief purpose of life is to give God glory, then the chief failure - the chief sin - is not giving Him glory. Listen to Romans 3:23: "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."
We have fallen short of prizing the glory of God. We substitute the pursuit of glorifying God for other things; for pursuing images of glory, like a new home or car or computers or vacations or impressive resumes or whatever makes our tickers tick more that the wonder of God’s glory.
Glorifying God is opposite of our natural desires. The fallen desire within us is to want the glory for ourselves. We want to build our reputations. We want people to applaud us, to think we are good, decent, nice, competent, successful. In short, we, the creatures, want the applause that belongs only to the Creator. So, much of what drives our behavior is not a desire for the glory of God, but a desire for comfort, recognition, affluence, personal peace…
This morning, I hope you’ll slow down long enough to ask the "why" questions. "Why do I want to have a good marriage? Why do I want to handle my finances well? Why do I want my children to be good citizens? Why do I want a successful career? Why do I want to experience happiness?" Too often the answer is "so I’ll look good and feel good." We want honor.
We are in desperate need of recovering a God-centered perspective. This reminder is needed today because we have a tendency to slip to a man-centered focus. God created us, not we Him. And we exist for His glory, not He ours. When we aren’t glorifying God, we aren’t doing what we were created to do.
Now, what we want to see happen in the life of our church is that we as a body will glorify God. In fact, it’s one of our core values.
We state is this way: we value "God-honoring Ministry."
"Because of the ministries of CVCC, God Himself will be known and honored by those inside and outside our church. We will depend on God to accomplish things that would be impossible apart from His supernatural intervention." That’s our desire as a church - that we do ministry in a way so that God is honored.
If the glory of God is such a critical issue, then we have to ask, "How do we do it?" And that’s basically the second question of the shorter catechism: "What rule has God given to direct us how we may glorify Him?" The answer? "The Word of God which is contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments is the only rule to direct us how we may glorify God and enjoy Him."
So, let’s open our the Word of God and begin with I Peter 4:11.
Whoever speaks, is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God; whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
I Peter 4:11
This scripture gives us 6 commitments every Christian should make in order to honor God.
We will glorify God…
1. … because we are able.
Some of you might be thinking, "Well, he can glorify God and she can glorify God, but that’ll be a reach for me." Please don’t think that way. God wants you to know that glorifying God is not beyond the reach of any person here. Look at our verse. Two words in it tell us that glorifying God is for everybody. That means me and that means you.
"Whoever… whoever…"
These words might be translated "if anyone" in your version. Glorifying God is not for the select few. It’s not for the staff and elders only. It’s not for nuns and priests only. It’s not for limited to Sunday School teachers and small group leaders. Every Christian has the ability and the responsibility to glorify God.
If anyone can glorify God, then everyone ought to glorify God.
It’s commanded, you know. I Chronicles 16:28 says, "Ascribe to the LORD, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength." Honoring God is possible for us because of what Jesus did to purchase our salvation. I Corinthians 6:20 says, "You have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body."
Do you believe that you can glorify God? You can!
We will glorify God because we are able.
2. … in what we say.
"Whoever speaks, is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God…"
You want to glorify God with your mouth, with your tongue, with your words? You simply say what God would have you say. You speak the utterances of God. Good questions to ask ourselves: "Would God say what I’m saying? Would God say it the way I’m saying it? Would God say it when I saying it? Am I speaking the utterances of God? Am I His mouthpiece?"
This is why pastors often pray before they speak, "Lord, please speak through me today. Let these words from my lips be Your words." But, you know, that’s not just a prayer for pastors to pray. Moms, you can pray it when speaking to your children. Husband, you should pray it when speaking to your wife. Managers, you ought to pray it when speaking to your employees. We can all ask God, "Would You communicate to others through my words today? Let my statements be Yours." That’s the way to glorify God with what you say.
Now, the Bible gives us two very specific ways we can glorify God in what we say. It’s through our prayers and our praises.
In Psalm 50:15, God invites us to pray during our hard times: "Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I shall rescue you, and you will honor Me." Prayer honors God because we demonstrate our dependence on Him and when we see (and others see) that He is our Rescuer. If you don’t pray when you are in trouble then when you get out of trouble, you are tempted to think that you rescued yourself. And God doesn’t get the credit. You see, God exalts Himself by working for those who pray. We admit our helplessness and acknowledge His power. He is honored when we pray and ask Him to work for us. We glorify God in what we say when we pray.
We glorify God is what we say when we praise. Psalm 22:23 gives us a command, "You who fear the LORD, praise Him… glorify Him …and stand in awe of Him…" Do you praise God? C. S. Lewis says that the world rings with praise. Lovers praise each other. Readers praise their favorite authors. Fans praise their favorite team. We spontaneously praise what we value. And we want other to join us. "Isn’t she beautiful? Wasn’t that awesome? Don’t you think this is fantastic?" Praise is what we all do when we speak about what we value.
Lewis continues: ""I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment. Lovers keep on telling one another how beautiful they are… The delight is incomplete until it is expressed."
Do you value God? Then, use your words to praise Him! Sing to Him on Sundays! We are not a God-honoring church unless we speak and sing His praise! God is glorified when we praise Him and when we pray to Him.
We will glorify God in what we say.
3. … in what we do.
"…whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies…"
Every moment is an opportunity to serve and, therefore, live to the glory of God. All the everyday stuff of life can be a service that honors God if we’ll consciously make the choice. What would it mean to wake up as an act of service that glorifies God? To eat as an act of service that glorifies God? To drive as an act of service that glorifies God? To go to work as an act of service that glorifies God?
Shopping, doing household chores, volunteering for ministry, reading, exercising, even going to sleep can be acts of service that glorify God. Matthew 5:16 says, "Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven."
Now, I must hurry to add that not all service - even in the church - gives God glory. There is an inappropriate way to serve that does not bring God glory. It’s service in our own strength, our own energy, our own flesh. Seeking to serve Christ in our own energy is not effective. It’s draining. It does not honor God. Look at our verse. We are to serve by the strength which God supplies. We must approach things the Philippians 4:13 way: "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."
We must lean on God and serve by the strength He supplies, not in our own strength.
We will glorify God in what we do.
4. … in all things.
Just in case our minds aren’t convinced that glorifying God in what we say and in what we do is comprehensive, God gives us a tiny phrase that has mega implications.
"…so that in all things God may be glorified…"
"All things" means just that - "all things." Some of you might be thinking, "That’s easy for you, Rick. After all, you are a pastor. You are focused on God for your job." That’s true, but even a pastor can be guilty of professionalism - turning ultimate realities into trivial routines. When that happens, all things - even in the ministry aren’t being done for the glory of God.
But I wasn’t always a pastor, you know. I used to play baseball. In the dugout, ballplayers have their own cubby hole for storing bats. When you are ready to hit, you walk up to the bat rack and what is facing you is knob end of the bat. Now, most players put their uniform number there. But I wanted to remind myself that I was playing ball for God. So, I put 3:23 or 6:33 on the knobs of my bats. 3:23 was for Colossians 3:23 - "Whatever may be your task, work at it heartily from the soul as Something done for the Lord rather than for men." 6:33 was for Matthew 6:33 - "Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness."
Why’d I do that? I wanted to remind myself that I was playing baseball for something and Someone beyond myself and my own success. My motives needed to honor Him. How I handled a strikeout needed to honor Him. How I handled a hit needed to honor Him. What I did when a bad call was made against me needed to honor Him.
I believe that it’s possible to play baseball to the glory of God. And it’s possible to mop the kitchen floor to the glory of God. To cut the grass to honor God. To work in your job in a way that exalts God. To relate in your home to magnify God. Everything we do should give God glory.
Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. I Corinthians 10:31
We will glorify God in all things.
5. … through Jesus Christ.
"…God may be glorified through Jesus Christ…"
When you listen to Christian athletes after a ballgame, you’ll often hear them say, "I want thank God or thank the Lord for giving me the strength…" That’s great as far as it goes. But it doesn’t go far enough. We must be point people to Jesus.
God is glorified through the Son, Jesus Christ. Many people in the world from many different religions are comfortable with us saying, "God, I thank You for this or that." But when we name Jesus as the Lord we are seeking to serve and honor, we draw a line in the sand that makes many people feel very uncomfortable. But God wants to be glorified in the Son. Listen to John 14:13: "Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son."
There’s a reason for this. Only in Jesus and His cross can we see the glorious love and justice of God most clearly. Only through Jesus can our sin of not glorifying God be forgiven. Only through Jesus can we find the strength to speak and serve in a way that glorifies God.
If you don’t know Jesus personally, you can’t really glorify God.
We will glorify god through Jesus Christ.
6. …because glory belongs to Him.
"… to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen."
Look at that word "belongs." Glory belongs to God. It’s His. We must not steal what belongs to Him.
In Acts 12, you can read a story about a king, Herod, who did not give God glory. Leaders from another country came to visit him. They heard him give a speech and said, "The voice of a god and not a man!" Evidently, Herod received and enjoyed the praise and didn’t deflect it to God. God had enough of His arrogance. Verse 23 shows what God can do when we fail to give Him glory: "And immediately an angel of the Lord struck him because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and died."
Our prayer must be the prayer found in Psalm 115:1: "Not to us, O LORD, not to us, But to Your name give glory Because of Your lovingkindness, because of Your truth." God says, "I am the LORD, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another" (Isaiah 42:8).
Don’t steal God’s glory! Give Him the credit, the honor, the praise for any accomplishment - any good thing. That’s why we are careful to say about the growth of our church, the land that we own, the churches we’ve started, the ministries we have that we owe it all to God.
We will glorify God because glory belongs to Him.
As individuals, we exist for one primary reason. Our families exist for one primary reason. This church exists for one primary reason.
Soli Deo Gloria = To God Alone be the Glory!
Bach signed his compositions Soli Deo Gloria. And it’s this phrase that still graces the old buildings in the great cities of northern Europe. But the message has been abandoned. That must not happen to us. We must never forget why we are here! To God alone be the glory!
If you’ve been half asleep through most of this talk today, please wake up for the next thirty seconds. We are going to look at a passage that ought to ignite the fear of God in our lives. It’s a warning. We must take to heart our responsibility to glorify God. To make sure you get it, I want to ask you to read it out loud with me.
"If you do not listen, and if you do not take it to heart to give honor to My name," says the LORD of hosts, "then I will send the curse upon you and I will curse your blessings; and indeed, I have cursed them already, because you are not taking it to heart."
Malachi 2:2
What is it that we are to take to heart? It’s giving honor to His name. This is not optional. It is essential.
Now, what area of your life is least honoring to God? What changes need to be made for you to begin to honor Him?
