What Are We Living For?
Scripture Ref: Psalm 19:1-4 2 Corinthians 3:18
Revelation 4:11 Philippians 1:11
John 17:4 1 Peter 4:10-11
Romans 6:13 2 Corinthians 4:15
1 John 13:14 John 12:27-28
Romans 15:7 2 Peter 1:3
John 13:34-35
Additional References: The Bible Knowledge Commentary
The Purpose Driven Life, Chapt. 7, Rick Warren
1. Introduction
a. The TV series Star Trek, and its numerous spin-offs, frequently referred to the prime directive, an order that was held supreme over all other procedures and instructions the federation officers were required to follow.
b. The prime directive held they were not to interfere in the development of any of the alien life forms they encountered in their journeys.
c. An unknown author, years past, took a different spin on the prime directive. I recall hearing it when I was still on active duty in the navy. It was stated this way:
“When you’re up to your neck in alligators, it’s difficult to keep your mind on the fact that the prime directive is to drain the swamp.”
d. Does that sound a little like you today? Are you having difficulty remembering you are supposed to be draining the swamp?
e. When you think nobody is watching, do you ever find yourself asking the question, “What am I living for?”
f. Today, we are going to examine the true prime directive. We are going to look at why we are here and what purpose we are supposed to be doing while we are here.
2. The Ultimate Goal
a. Rick Warren, in his book The Purpose Driven Life, sums our purpose up rather nicely. He says, “The ultimate goal of the universe is to show the glory of God.”
b. Before we can show God’s glory, though, we must know what it is and where we can find it.
(1) Question—What is the Glory of God?
Answer—The glory of God is who He is. It is His fundamental nature, the significance of His importance, the beauty of his grandeur, the demonstration of his power, and the feeling of His presence.
(2) Question—Where is the glory of God?
Answer—Where is it not? We only have to look around us to see it in everything: the beauty of a sunrise or sunset, the laugh of a baby, the unconditional love of a puppy, the might of a raging storm, the soothing breeze on a hot day; His glory is in us and around us.
(3) Scripture answers this question and shames us at the same time.
Read Psalm 19:1-4—The heavens are telling the glory of God; they are a marvelous display of his craftsmanship. Day and night they keep on telling about God. Without a sound or word, silent in the skies, their message reaches out to all the world. (LB)
c. God’s inherent glory is there because He is God. Its His nature. We can neither add to it or subtract from it.
d. Scripture, in numerous places, gives us some specific goals we are to have with respect to God’s glory. We are commanded to recognize His glory, honor His glory, declare His glory, praise His glory, reflect His glory, and live for His glory.
e. Why? Because He is worthy of it.
Read Revelation 4:11—You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.
f. In all of God’s creations, only two of those creations fail to bring glory to Him—fallen angels and us.
g. We fail to give God glory by loving anything else more than we love Him.
h. The biggest mistake we can make is not giving God the full glory He deserves from our lives.
i. The greatest achievement we can make in our lives is living for God’s glory.
3. How Can I Bring Glory to God?
a. In the simplest of terms, we can bring glory to God by doing what we were placed here to do, by fulfilling His purpose for us.
(1) Flowers bring glory to God by blooming with radiant pedals and scent the air with their perfume. The sun brings glory to God by providing light and heat during the day. The river brings glory to God by traveling the path it has been given and providing water and nourishment along its journey. The list is endless.
(2) But those are inanimate objects. What about God’s greatest creation, us? Jesus honored God by fulfilling his purpose on earth.
Read John 17:4—I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do.
(3) There are many ways we can bring glory to God, but they can be summarized in five purposes God has for our lives.
b. One—We bring God glory by worshipping Him.
(1) Worship is our first responsibility to God.
(2) In its simplest terms, worship is enjoying God.
(3) Worship must, however, be driven by the proper reasons—love, thanksgiving, and delight. If we are worshipping because we have to or we feel we are obligated to, then it isn’t worship, it’s just an act.
(4) Worship goes beyond praising, singing, and praying. Worship is a way of life, a life of enjoying God, loving Him, and letting Him use us for His purpose.
(5) Everything we do can become an act of worship.
(a) From washing dishes to mowing the lawn, our every deed and thought can become an act of worship. Worship is not only an, it is also a frame of mind.
(b) Read Romans 6:13—Use your whole body as a tool to do what is right for the glory of God. (NLT)
c. Two—We bring God glory by loving other believers.
(1) Following Christ is more than believing; it includes belonging and learning to love the family of God.
(2) Read 1 John 3:14—We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death.
(3) Read Romans 15:7—Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.
(4) Both John and Paul make it clear that loving others not only demonstrates our love for God, but that it also brings glory to Him.
(5) It is our solemn duty to learn how to love as God does. Why? Because it makes us become more like Him. Because God is love, we should be too.
(a) Read John 13:34-35—A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.
(b) More so than being a duty, it is a command.
d. Three—We bring God glory by becoming like Christ.
(1) Each of us has matured—physically, mentally, and emotionally. But, have we matured spiritually too?
(2) Do you know spiritual maturity when you see it? What does it look like?
(a) Spiritual maturity is looking less like ourselves and looking more like Christ in the way we think, feel, and act.
(b) The more we resemble Christ, the more we bring glory to God.
(c) Read 2 Corinthians 3:18—As the Spirit of the Lord works within us, we become more and more like him and reflect His gory even more. (NLT)
(d) We are not the same as we were just prior to accepting Christ as our savior. We became new creatures. God wants to continue changing us and our character.
(e) Read Philippians 1:11—May you always be doing those good, kind things that show you are a child of God, for this will bring much praise and glory to the Lord. (LB)
e. Four—We bring God glory by serving others with our gifts.
(1) When God made each one of us, He broke the mold. There is no other individual exactly like us in the world.
(2) We were created with unique talents, gifts, skills, and abilities—not by chance, not by accident, but by design.
(3) They weren’t given to us to hoard and to use for our own selfish purposes; rather they were given to benefit others; much like we benefit from the gifts others.
(4) Read 1 Peter 4:10-11—Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.
(5) We must be diligent in using our spiritual gifts to serve or to “minister to” others. It’s a matter of being good stewards with what we have been entrusted.
f. Five—We bring God glory by telling others about Him.
(1) This great love we have been given should not be turned into rerun of I’ve Got A Secret, or chance to run around singing or chanting, “I know something I won’t tell.”
(2) Not only is it a privilege to share God with others, there is an expectation we will share Him.
(3) Just as we learn our purpose in God’s grand design, we are charged with helping others find theirs.
(4) Why? Because it brings God glory.
(5) Read 2 Corinthians 4:15—As God’s grace brings more and more people to Christ,…God will receive more and more glory. (NLT)
4. What Will You Live For?
a. Are you ready to change—your priorities, your schedule, your relationships? Are you ready to accept difficult rather than choosing easy? It is sometimes required.
b. Even Jesus, who was God in human form, struggled with difficult choices.
(1) Knowing what was required of Him, when the time came He struggled with it.
(2) Read John 12:27-28—Now my heart is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name!
(3) Jesus had a difficult choice to make. Would he fulfill His purpose and bring glory to God, or would he take the easy way out and live a comfortable, self-centered life?
(4) You must ask yourself the same question. Will you live for your own goals, comfort, and pleasure; or will you for the rest of your life be all that you can be for God to bring Him glory?
c. It’s a decision you must make now. There is no time to put it off or delay it to a later date. There may not be a later date.
(1) For whom will you live—God or yourself?
(2) There is no need worry about whether you can or whether you are capable. God has promised he will give you everything need you need to fulfill your purpose in Him.
(3) Read 2 Peter 1:3—His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.
5. Summary
a. Do the alligators have your complete attention? Are you so focused on them that you are unable to see or think about anything else?
b. God has a special purpose for us. We have but one calling in life—to bring glory to God.
c. If only all of life could be easy as what it takes to bring Him glory. If only… Actually it can. By bringing Him glory, life does become easy.
d. Bringing God glory can become as natural as breathing: Worship Him continually; Love others; Strive to be more like Christ; Use your talents to serve others; and Tell others about Him.
e. What’s hard about that? What’s hard is that we must die to self and live to Christ. Do you? Can you? Are you willing?
6. Invitation
