Our Purpose

                                     Our Purpose

       In last week’s blog post, I wrote about the biblical worldview metanarrative of creation, fall, and redemption and how we are created with a purpose on purpose by a
loving heavenly Father. I told you that our purpose, at least in part, is to have dominion over the earth. But our purpose is even greater than just having dominion over God’s creation, and that is the topic of this week’s post: Our Purpose from a Biblical Viewpoint.
Throughout the entire story of the Bible: creation, fall, and redemption, we can
see a thick thread of a theme that runs clearly through the storyline of Scripture. We see
it in the Old Testament, “The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear (to fear,
reverence, honor, respect) God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty
of man” (Eccles. 12:13, ESV); “Let them give glory to the Lord, and declare his praise in
the coastlands” (Isa. 42:12). We also see the same theme throughout the New
Testament, “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God”
(1 Cor. 10:31); “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see
your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 5:16). (There
are so many other verses that are worth noting, but I am limited by time and space.)
However, do you see the thread? Our main purpose is to glorify God! The God Who
created us, loves us, and redeems us deserves glory, so we need to bring Him the glory
that He deserves. But how does someone glorify the God of the universe?
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      To glorify God, you must be saved. You cannot glorify God if you are not serving
Him, and you cannot serve Him unless you belong to Him. “And without faith it is
impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he
exists and that he rewards those who seek him” (Heb. 11:6). To be saved you must
“…confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised
him from the dead, you will be saved” (Rom. 10:9). There is a component of repentance
or the turning from one’s sins that exists in confessing and believing because there is a
change of heart that happens when we believe in what Christ has done for us. So,
salvation is the first step in glorifying God, but what else can we do to bring glory to
God?

     Glorifying God isn’t a one-time situation; it is a lifestyle. We should aim to glorify
God in everything we do. Looking back to the verse I noted earlier, 1 Corinthians 10:31,
we are supposed to do everything to the glory of God, even eating and drinking! This
means the way we get out of bed, speak to our spouses, the way we treat others, the
way we do our job, the way we take care of the blessings God gives us, even the
thoughts that we think. When we want to bring glory to God, bringing Him glory involves
EVERYTHING we do. It also involves all of who we are.

       In Romans 12:1-2 we are taught several things about glorifying God with all that
we are: “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your
bodies as a living sacrifice, holy acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do
not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by
testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and
perfect.” What does it mean “to present your bodies as a living sacrifice”? In the Old
Testament, when a sacrifice was offered, the priest would lay his hands on the head of
the animal to consecrate the sacrifice (to set it apart for use by God). We, however, are
supposed to be living sacrifices. This means our entire lives should be set apart to be
used by God. Our lives are no longer our own; they belong to God. In the matter of
“being transformed by the renewal of your mind,” we are supposed to have “the mind of
Christ” (1Cor. 2:16). The mind of Christ comes about by allowing the Holy Spirit to wash
our minds with God’s Word so that we think like Christ. In order to have the washing of
the Word (Eph. 5:26), we must be in God’s Word daily, reading and studying.

      I hope that you can see that our purpose here on earth, and one day in heaven,
is to bring God the glory that He deserves. We must do that with all that we are and all
that we do. You and I will fall short in our purpose sometimes, but the good news is that
there is forgiveness in Christ Jesus (Eph. 4:32), and God’s mercies are new every
morning (Lam. 3:22-23). Strive to allow the Holy Spirit to guide your life because He
never fails to glorify God.

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