ULTIMATE PURPOSE
ALL THINGS, INCLUDING MAN, WERE CREATED TO FULFILL THE PURPOSES OF GOD, FOR THE GLORY OF GOD
Our first reaction when we hear that we were created for the glory of God is often unsettling. We immediately have this image of a narcissistic, self-serving God who created us and this world to be his play things. Nothing could be further from the truth.
God created this world and mankind to be a physical extension of heaven – a form of heaven on earth. The majesty of this world and the universe are a testimony to the existence of a creator and of the glory of God! In this new realm, God created a new species, humans, who like his angels in heaven, would care for this new creation. In heaven, angels are not God’s play things. They work with God and obey God, and as such are an extension of his glory. When anything or anyone fulfills the purposes of God, it brings God glory and pleasure.
But this is not a one way street. When we live out the will and purposes of God, we are rewarded with contentment, peace, joy and a sense of purpose, much the way a child feels the pleasure of his parents approval for a task well done. The Westminster Catechism puts it this way, “What is the chief end (or purpose) of man? To love God and enjoy him forever.” That’s what God wants for us.
What exactly is God’s glory? There are two aspects of this glory taught in scripture. One is God’s internal or intrinsic glory, which is the magnificence and magnitude of who he is (he is holy, just, loving, sovereign, etc.). He has this awesomeness with or without us. That is his nature. The other is the external glory of God, which is the praise, worship, and pleasure God receives from the angels, from believers, and from his creation. It is the love, admiration, awe, fear, and respect to which God and God alone is entitled.
At the heart of God’s purpose for all things is that those he created would love him in return. When people are born again, they become lovers of God, once again able to fulfill the purposes of God, for the glory of God. Salvation’s primary purpose is not to save people from Hell, but to redeem and restore a people who will love God and join him in his work forever, first on earth, then in heaven. Humans are not the ultimate objects of salvation. God the Father is! We are the recipients of salvation. Christ’s gifts to the Father.
The works of winning a soul to Christ, the worship of a community of lovers of God, and the filling of a nation with “Christ followers," are all for the purpose of demonstrating to all men the glory of God. John Piper expresses it this way, “The ultimate aim of world missions and evangelism is that God would create, by his Word, worshipers who glorify His name through glad hearted faith and obedience. Missions exist because worship doesn’t.” [1]
What does it actually mean to glorify God?
- We glorify or honor God by having no other gods, people, possessions, or ambitions that are more cherished by us than he is. God has said that he is a jealous God!
- We glorify God by praising him in song, prayer and worship, both privately and publicly for who he is, what he has done and what he is doing.
- We give God glory by being part of his redemptive plan and serving as his ambassadors on earth – that is advancing the interests of the Kingdom of God in our sphere of influence in a way that brings God pleasure. He wants us fully devoted to the business of caring for his people and his world.
- We glorify God by openly talking about our love for him to others, especially non-believers and proving that we love him by our obedience and holy living.
If I claim to be a follower of Jesus, every moral choice, or my choices of how I use the time, money, giftedness, and influence I’ve been entrusted with does one of three things:
- It either brings God glory (because I’ve been obedient).
- Or it brings God no glory (as when I pass up an opportunity to do the right thing).
- Or it robs him of his glory (when I sin, especially publicly, or when I take personal credit for some good thing God really did, or provided).
That’s why all public sin is first an offense against God and second, an offense against all believers everywhere --because sin shames both the King and his kingdom before the world. On the other hand, our reward for seeking the glory of God is having God take delight or pleasure in us.
A good test for all our actions, thoughts, or behavior is this: “Will what I’m about to do bring God pleasure, or will it cause him to be more respected by the world?”
I Chron. 16:24; Ps. 29:1,2; Ps. 115:1; Isaiah 42:8; Isaiah 43:5-7; Matt. 5:16; John 15:8; John 17:1-15; I Cor. 10:31; Eph. 1:12; II Thess. 1:11, 12; Daniel 4:30-32, 34-35; Rom. 8:8; John 15:5; Heb. 11:6; Rev. 5:9-10
The author gratefully acknowledges many of the concepts regarding the glory of God are edited from the writings of Rich Correll, a friend and co-worker in the kingdom.
[1] John Piper, Don’t Waste Your Life, Wheaton, Illinois, Crossway Publishing, p. 162.