The God Who Created Us to Glorify Him
1. Luke and I returned from a simple vacation to Michigan.
2. Our family has gone on a few more exciting vacations: Disneyworld, Missouri, and Mammoth Cave come to mind; but most have been simple.
3. Others among you have hit the national parks.
4. As you drive through some of America’s National parks, you
are constantly reminded by numerous sings, "Don’t feed the bears!".
However, every year, more and more bears are seen wondering along the
roadside, or rummaging through the parking lots, looking for easy food.
Why do they do this? Because they have lost the purpose of their
existence. They were created to hunt for food in the depths of the forest,
not on the side of the road!
5. Mankind in general, and the church specifically, struggles with the purpose of its existence.
6. Part of the confusion within the church involves confusing the major categories with subcategories.
7. For example, is God’s holiness an extension of His goodness, or does His goodness flow from His holiness? Is worship part of edification, or is edification part of worship? Is our biggest purpose to evangelize and disciple, with a sub-category of glorifying God, or is glorifying God the big category with evangelism and discipleship providing one of several means to do so? Are worshipping God and glorifying God the same thing, or is one a sub-category of the other?
8. I happen to agree with the missionary in this story:
Young man going to China. A skeptic said to him, ¡¥I
suppose your going to China to convert the hearten!’ To which the young
missionary responded, No! I’m going to China for the glory of God!’
9. In my studies, I have concluded that the broadest category as to why creation exists and what the church is about is glorifying God. I see everything else, reaching, connecting, deepening, evangelism, wholesome culture, obedience, spiritual maturity, spiritual gifts, good works, thankful eating, worship, salting the earth as simply means to do so.
10. This is not as easy to prove as one might think, which is why many people quote the Westminster Confession rather than Scripture.
MAIN IDEA: Glorifying God is central to everything about everything.
TS----- Today, I will try to offer Scriptural evidence that leads us to believe that the purpose of God’s Creation, His Choice of Israel, and the Church primarily exist to bring glory to His Name, that glorifying God is indeed the big, overall category under which all the pieces of the puzzle are given meaning. Then I will show how Glorifying the Name of God is the foundation of prayer and the plan of salvation.
I. All Exists To Glorify God
Romans 5:2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.
1. God is not "co-dependent" (He does not have an empty love tank)
2. Glorifying God means acknowledging and in some way displaying His splendor.
3. Psalm 19 begins with creation in general and then focuses in upon us as individuals.(turn there)
(1) this idea of declaring God’s glory: before the angels, before the Persons of the Trinity
(2) John Piper writes,
"if God wants to love us infinitely and delight us fully and eternally, he must preserve for us the one thing that will satisfy us totally and eternally; namely, the presence and worth of his own glory. He alone is the source of full and lasting pleasure. Therefore, his commitment to uphold and display his glory is not vain, but virtuous. God is the one being for whom self-exaltation is an infinitely loving act" (Pleasures of God, p. 282).
(3) We, as individuals, glorify God by our words and thoughts! (14)
---the real battle is how well we glorify God-----
4. Let’s look at why God choose Israel
Isaiah 43:6-7, "I will say to the north, `Give them up!’ and to the south,`Do not hold them back.’ 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, whom I formed and made."
Isaiah 60:21, "Then will all your people be righteous and they will possess the land forever. They are the shoot I have planted, the work of my hands, for the display of my splendor."
Isaiah 61:3, "Kand provide for those who grieve in Zion-- to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor."
5. Let’s look at why God chose us
Ephesians 1:5-6, "he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will--to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.
Ephesians 1:12 in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory.
6. Let’s look at why God keeps us saved:
Ephesians 1:14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession--to the praise of his glory.
7. Let’s look at why God the Son created all things, why the human nature of Christ was holy and pure, and why Jesus is the head of the church:
Colossians 1:16-18, "For by him all things were created [God the Son]: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church [Jesus]; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.
8. God is not some reactionary weakling, panicked and takend by surprise, desperately trying to control people through threats and zappings, frantically trying to fix a creation defiled and diseased by sin..
He warns out of goodness, He had a plan for redemption before the world began. This drama called life is all part of that plan. The purpose of it all: to bring Him glory and to include others in celebrating and acknowledging His wonderful nature.
Revelation 13:8, "All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast--all whose names have not been written in the book of life belonging to the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world."
Glorifying God is central to everything about everything.
II. Glorifying God Focuses Upon Bringing Honor and Fame to His Name
1. There are so many verses about this:
1 Samuel 12:22 For the sake of his great name the LORD will not reject his people, because the LORD was pleased to make you his own.
1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
2 Samuel 7:23-26, "And who is like your people Israel--the one nation on earth that God went out to redeem as a people for himself, and to make a name for himself, And now, LORD God, keep forever the promise you have made concerning your servant and his house. Do as you promised, so that your name will be great forever. Then men will say, `The LORD Almighty is God over Israel!’ And the house of your servant David will be established before you."
Romans 9:17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: "I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth."
Isaiah 63:11-14, "Then his people recalled the days of old, the days of Moses and his people-- ¡Kthey were given rest by the Spirit of the LORD. This is how you guided your people to make for yourself a glorious name."
Ezekiel 39:25 "Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I will now bring Jacob back from captivity and will have compassion on all the people of Israel, and I will be zealous for my holy name.
Isaiah 48:9-11, "For my own name’s sake I delay my wrath; for the sake of my praise I hold it back from you, so as not to cut you off. See, I have refined you, though not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction. For my own sake, for my own sake, I do this. How can I let myself be defamed? I will not yield my glory to another.
2. Our prayers and arguments before God should argue the case of glorifying His Name (in Jesus’ Name)
Joshua 7:8-9, "O Lord, what can I say, now that Israel has been routed by its enemies? The Canaanites and the other people of the country will hear about this and they will surround us and wipe out our name from the earth. What then will you do for your own great name?"
Psalms 25:11 For the sake of your name, O LORD, forgive my iniquity, though it is great.
Psalms 79:9 Help us, O God our Savior, for the glory of your name; deliver us and forgive our sins for your name’s sake.
3. Forgiveness and evangelism are for His Name’s sake
1 John 2:12 I write to you, dear children, because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name.
Psalms 23:3 he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
Romans 1:5 Through him and for his name’s sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith.
Acts 21:13 Then Paul answered, "Why are you weeping and breaking my heart? I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus."
3 John 1:5-8, "Dear friend, you are faithful in what you are doing for the brothers, even though they are strangers to you.
They have told the church about your love. You will do well to send them on their way in a manner worthy of God. It was for the sake of the Name that they went out, receiving no help from the pagans. We ought therefore to show hospitality to such men so that we may work together for the truth.
Glorifying God is central to everything about everything.
III. Salvation Was Brought About In A Way that Glorified God
1. Romans 3:21-27, "But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.
There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished--he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.
Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. On what principle? On that of observing the law? No, but on that of faith.
2. No human effort = God gets all the glory!
Most of us know Ephesians 2:8-9, but we forget, "lest any man should boast."
Isaiah 53:10 Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand.
Glorifying God is central to everything about everything.
CONCLUSION
1. Glorifying God is what it is all about.
2. Evangelism, discipleship, worship, conducting our family life God’s way, employment, culture, arts, hobbies, sports, health, education --- all those things should be submitted to the greater task of glorifying God..
3. We should not confuse WAYS we glorify God with the overall AIM of glorifying God in all we do¡K
4. I Cor. 10:31, "Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all the glory of God¡K
5. If I enjoy the fine things in life with an appreciative spirit, I am glorifying God; when I use my talents, I can be glorifying God if I am conscious that they are on loan to me from the creator¡K
6. Glorifying God is an attitude; it answers the question, "Who is at the center of it all?" When we choose to consciously acknowledge and submit to God, we glorify Him.
