The God Who Created Us To Glorify Him Series

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