Life in the Fast Lane
Life Purpose: Tell Me Again Where We Are Headed
Revelation 4:11
Woodlawn Baptist Church
December 19, 2004
Introduction
When we began this series a couple of months ago, we began with a message titled, Making the Drag: Enjoying the Journey on the Highway of Life. I told you that God’s desire for each of you was to see you get off the drag of life, that tendency we have of spinning our wheels and going much of nowhere and instead take off on the journey of a life, to venture out into the unknown for the life God really intends for you to live. Today I want to return to that thought with this question in mind: where is it that you’re headed? Where are you going? Where is it that God is leading us: both as individuals and as a church?
Today as I speak about your life purpose, I wonder, have you really given it much thought? Whenever Kathy and I get in the van to go somewhere, the kids will almost immediately ask where are we going. It doesn’t matter if we are headed out for a long trip, or just a run across town – they have to know. It is the question we grow up asking about our lives, “Where am I going?” “What will I do?” “How will I spend my life?”
All of these questions and others are really just variations of that one overriding need to know what our life’s purpose is. If you have given much thought to the question lately, I wonder, has it influenced the way you have patterned your life? If there is one thing I am convinced of as a pastor and preacher of God’s Word, it is that we have become masters at knowing all the right things, but most people are failing miserably at doing the right things with what they know. Today will simply be a reminder for many of you, and for others it may seem new, but either way, what will you be willing to do with it? If the Holy Spirit of God so convicted you, would you be willing to stop right where you are in your life and turn around to run in a new direction?
If not, then I am compelled to ask you why you are here. You remember the people who came to Jesus wanting to follow Him. Three different men wanted to follow, but each had an excuse for why he could not. None of them really wanted to follow Him, they just wanted Him and perhaps some others to think that they did. But Jesus knew their hearts, and He knows yours too. I hope and pray that what He sees is a glad willingness to do whatever He says, no matter how off course you may be this morning, no matter what it may cost you, no matter what changes you might have to make. Make it your prayer as well.
We have looked many times now at what I believe is one of the most exciting verses in all of Scripture. Revelation 4:11 says,
“Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.”
And you have heard me say now many times that we were created to give God glory, but today I want to expand on that thought and give you some things to think about that I hope God will use to create great spiritual hunger and thirst in you for Him. In order to do that, we’re going to deal with three questions: First, why did God create man? Second, how did God create man? And third, how are you fulfilling God’s desires for your life?
In The Beginning
When God created man, why did He create Him? Some have tried to explain that man was created because God was lonely and needed fellowship, that God wanted companionship and someone to love Him, so He created man to do that. But there are some important problems with this sort of thinking, and they have to do with who God is. It has to do with the self-existence, or the absolute independence of God.
To say that God is absolutely independent, or that He is the self-existent One is to say that God does not need any part of creation in order to exist or for any other reason. What do the Scriptures say? Look first with me at Acts 17:24-25. In his message to the men of Athens, Paul said,
“God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things…”
Notice what it said. “God…is not worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing.” God doesn’t need anything from man – truth be known, God meets every need of man. That’s not all though. Turn to Job 41:11.
“Who hath prevented me, (come before me, given to me, laid me under obligation to him) that I should repay him? Whatsoever is under the whole heaven is mine.”
Where did all things originate? In God! No one and no thing came before Him – no one has ever contributed anything to Him that He didn’t already possess – “Whatsoever is under the whole heaven is mine.” God doesn’t need you or me or any other created thing for any reason. He doesn’t need you to worship Him. He doesn’t need you to support Him. He doesn’t need you to glorify Him. He doesn’t need you or me for anything! Look at Psalm 50:10-12.
“For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills. I know all the fowls of the mountains: and the wild beasts of the field are mine. If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: for the world is mine, and the fullness thereof.”
You see, God exists absolutely independently of everything else. And it’s not just that God does not need the creation for anything; God could not need the creation for anything. If God had a need that could be met by His creation, then He would be dependent on that thing or person, and if God were dependent on anything or anyone, then He wouldn’t be much of a God.
Now, the problem that most people have with what I’ve said so far is that we’ve built modern-day Christianity around us and not God. Our theology has been built on the idea that God exists for us. For example, you might say that God’s purpose or plan is to redeem the world. Jesus said that He came to “seek and to save that which was lost.” Is that why God exists? To save man from his sin? If it is, then God exists for man, rather than man for God. Folk, we have it backward! God does not exist for us. God simply exists – He always has and always will, and His greatest passion is not the lost, not humanity, not the world, and it is not even the church. God’s greatest passion is His glory!
So if God did not create man for companionship or to meet some need He had, then why did God create him? We’ve already answered that – God created man to glorify Him. Now that leads me to our second question…
The Pursuit of Pleasure
How did God create man? Now I don’t mean the part about dirt and breath – there is something different about man’s nature I want you to consider, and it begins and ends with pleasure and happiness. Think about your own pursuit of pleasure and happiness as I read to you this quote from Blaise Pascal.
“All men seek happiness. This is without exception. Whatever different means they employ, they all tend to this end. The cause of some going to war, and of others avoiding it, is the same desire in both, attended with different views. The will never takes the least step but to this object. This is the motive of every action of every man, even of those who hang themselves.”
You marry and divorce and have children and buy cars and change jobs in your pursuit of happiness. Men turn to addiction in their pursuit of pleasure and happiness. Kids get caught up in perversion in their pursuit of pleasure and happiness. You tell yourself you can’t stand another day on your job because of your drive to be happy. Men will avoid relationships because they have a false sense of what brings them happiness. And on and on it goes. It began in the Garden. Look with me at Genesis 2:8.
“And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.”
God planted a garden eastward where? In Eden. The name Eden means pleasure or delight. The place didn’t get its name by accident – it was truly a delightful place – a place of great joy and pleasure, and in that place was God’s garden – the place He put man, and then later the woman, to enjoy and find fulfillment. Work was satisfying and delightful. God’s creation was satisfying and enjoyable. The physical and emotional and spiritual intimacy known in the first marriage was…say this with me…delightful! All these things and more made man happy.
Is there anything wrong with being happy? Nothing at all! But what we have done is perverted God’s design for man so that now we get the idea that if a thing brings us happiness perhaps God is not in it, or that if we are finding pleasure in it that we have made it about us and not God. Jesus said that we were to take up our crosses, that we are to deny ourselves and follow Him. We are told to mortify our flesh, to be crucified to the world. But does that mean that we are to denounce any feelings of joy or happiness or pleasure as we follow Christ? The book of Hebrews says that Jesus,
“who for the joy that was set before him endure the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
“The longing to be happy is a universal human experience, and it is good, not sinful.” You see, glorifying God, praising God is the highest calling of humanity! It is why we exist! Why did God create man? It is our purpose to glorify God, to praise Him, to magnify Him! And how do we do that? Listen to me – I want you to get this: by enjoying Him! “Praise is not an alternative to joy – it is the expression of joy! Not to enjoy God is to dishonor Him. To say to Him that something else satisfies you more is the opposite of worship.” (John Piper - Desiring God)
Think about it for a moment – in all of life all enjoyment naturally overflows into praise. Why do sports enthusiasts jump and shout and praise their favorite players? Because they are bursting with enjoyment! Why do lovers praise one another? Because they are brimming with pleasure and joy! Why do you praise God at the birth of a baby or during a walk through the woods or when God answers your prayers? Because of the great joy you are experiencing in the moment!
Now – all of this leads me to the third question…
Happiness in God
How are you fulfilling God’s design for your life? Now think about this with me…
“The longing to be happy is a universal experience, and it is good, not sinful. We should never try to deny or resist our longing to be happy, as though it were a bad impulse. Instead, we should seek to intensify this longing and nourish it with whatever will provide the deepest and most enduring satisfaction. The deepest and most enduring happiness is found only in God. Not from God, but in God.” (John Piper)
What does that mean? It means that even though all of us universally pursue happiness, by the design of our Creator true happiness and delight will only be found in Him. Is that fair? It is fair by virtue of the fact that God created us, and because He is God He makes the rules. God created you to for His pleasure: to bring Him glory, and you do that by enjoying Him. Listen: you do that by enjoying Him.
This ought to give a whole new meaning to idolatry in your life. You see, idolatry is not just the fashioning of some object and bowing to it – an idol is anything that you delight in more than God. It is anything that brings you greater pleasure than the pleasure you find in God. This is why the things of earth will never satisfy the hungry heart and the longing soul. It is why you and millions of others spend your lives in pursuit of that next thing that will fill the void, or that activity that will fill the hurt and sorrow. It is why we spend millions on the newest gadgets, jump in and out of relationship after relationship, never finding fulfillment. None of these things can or will ever satisfy – they were never designed to satisfy!
Listen to the Psalms. Psalm 42:1-2 says,
“As the deer panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God?”
Psalm 63:1 says,
“O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is…”
Does that describe you? Or are you like the woman at the well, who kept finding temporary substitutes to fill the void in her life? Psalm 16:11 caps it all off.
“Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fullness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.”
Who knows where we are headed? Who can show us the path of life? Our purpose for being here? It is God and God alone. In His presence is fullness of joy, and at His right hand are eternal pleasures. The pleasure and joy you find in God through His Son Jesus Christ are the only thing that will bring you the fulfillment and satisfaction you are longing for in this life. Anything else is taking you in the wrong direction. Anything else falls short of God’s plan for your life.
Conclusion
Now all of this leads me to address another pressing question. What about everything else? I understand that all of this can sound as though we were to drop everything and everyone and walk around with our heads in the clouds being happy and singing praises to God. But that’s really not the case.
You see, just as man found great delight in work and marriage and play during his days in the garden; delight that culminated in his praise and adoration of God, our lives should also be the same. All that we do must ultimately culminate in the praise of God, and if it is something that cannot or does not direct you in that way, then there is a flag raised that ought to get your attention.
Take salvation for instance. Man in his natural, sinful condition has a heart that is turned away from God and has no conscious need for God. That man may take great delight in many aspects of life, but his joy does not culminate in the praise of God. It may be in nature, or in the wonders of relationships, or even in his own idea of God, but not in God Himself. It is only when you recognize your great need of God, of His forgiveness and of His peace offering Jesus Christ and repent, turn away from sin and self to trusting faith in Him that He is glorified. God saves sinful man because He loves His glory! When sinful man turns to God in repentance and faith he finds great joy and delight in the One who has saved Him and that pleases God!
God provided the sacrifice for sin because He loves His glory. God wants to receive glory in the marriage union, but man perverts it with substitutes. God wants to receive glory through His churches, but man perverts it with substitutes. God wants to receive glory through holy living, but man perverts it with substitutes.
Do you get it? Where are you headed in your own life? And where are we headed as a church? Are we pursuing our own ideas and agendas, or are we in pursuit of the glory of God? Only you can answer that question. Your chief purpose is to glorify God through the joy you find in Him. Are you offering Him a substitute today?
