God's Purpose, Our Purpose.

Clint Miller

[0:00] Good morning Village Church. [0:02] Good to see you guys here this morning. I’m glad you came out. Glad you made it out. [0:08] I’m here to come and hopefully hear a good word preached and have your soul fed.

[0:15] Some of you know that I’ve preached here one time before.

[0:22] I don’t know what you’re thinking right now. You’re probably thinking that you should have eaten more for breakfast. [0:28] The good news is we have two services now and so I have to be done. [0:35] Which means that you will get out of here and so the countdown is on. [0:39] I think they installed a little trap door here. [0:44] So at 35 minutes I’m going through it and you’ll be on your way. [0:49] I’m Clint. I’m the youth pastor here for those of you who don’t know me.

[0:53] If you’ve been here the last two weeks you know me as a werewolf and a guy who lies about his marriage.

[1:02] But hopefully you won’t hold those things against me. [1:04] I tried to clean up and look a little more presentable today maybe. [1:10] So hopefully you don’t think I’m a werewolf. [1:13] Let’s pray and then let’s get started. [1:16] Father God thank you for today. [1:18] Thank you for a people that you’ve chosen Lord.

[1:22] Thank you for the people that you’ve called. [1:23] The people that you have redeemed by your blood for the praise of your glory. [1:29] Father I pray this morning that we would be reminded of your goal in creation. [1:36] The end of all that is coming. [1:39] That Jesus will reign forever. [1:42] Lord and that everything was created and aimed at that.

[1:47] Lord I just hope that this morning through your spirit that you would make us dwell on that. [1:53] Make us be in all of that and make us measure our life against that. [1:58] So just be with me today Father as I speak. [2:01] Guard me from error and thank you for all that you’ve done. [2:06] Amen.

[2:09] Alright so we as humans tend to have a struggle with purpose. [2:15] At least I do if you’re like me. [2:18] Sometimes we get caught up in the everyday kind of doing or going through the motions of life. [2:24] We often set out to do things but then become bored in seemingly mundane practices that are required to reach our goals. [2:32] To reach our pursuits. [2:34] We often say what’s the point?

[2:37] And as a teacher especially as a teacher at a detention center I’m used to hearing this. [2:42] I’m so used to hearing man what is the point? [2:46] What’s the point Miller? [2:47] Why are you teaching us this stuff? [2:49] Why does it matter if we know world history, American history, whatever, whatever. [2:56] And those questions aren’t really what I’m after today.

[3:00] But ironically I think sometimes also what’s the point? [3:03] What am I doing today? [3:04] What am I really after today? [3:06] In my job, in my pursuits, in everything that I do. [3:13] The kids often, Miller, I don’t care. [3:17] I’m never going to use this.

[3:18] I hate this. [3:19] In fact I hate you. [3:22] Stop, stop, stop. [3:23] Just leave me alone. [3:24] And at the root of their discontentment is failure to see purpose. [3:28] Failure to see the big picture.

[3:30] Kids fail to see what they do on a daily basis. [3:33] The mundane tasks of learning and seemingly insignificant pursuit has great implications on what they will be in life. [3:43] So in other words what I’m talking about here is if we fail to do an act without thinking of the end in mind, [3:52] ultimately what we’re doing may or may not be useful. [3:56] It may or may not be significant. [3:58] We can also go the opposite way.

[4:00] Sometimes we find great amounts of significance in things that don’t really matter. [4:05] Things that don’t fit in with the big picture. [4:08] We may find ourselves obsessing over things and these are things that don’t really matter. [4:13] Our looks, our hobbies, those kind of things. [4:17] I’m not being a hater but often we do if we’re honest spend a lot of time on things that in the end may be deemed worthless. [4:26] I’m not being a hater.

[4:28] There are things that we are to do. [4:30] We are to enjoy life. [4:31] I enjoy woodworking. [4:33] I enjoy those things and I do those things. [4:36] But sometimes even in the middle of them I’m like what is the point of this? [4:39] Why am I doing this?

[4:41] Is it really going to matter in the end? [4:43] I can create a thousand pieces of furniture and who cares really? [4:49] I mean what is the point of doing this stuff?

[4:54] What I want to get to today is kind of let’s get reminded of the big picture. [4:59] I want to kind of step back and look at what God is doing. [5:02] Look at what God is after. [5:03] Look at what his purposes are in the universe. [5:06] I want to kind of get after that and see what God is up to and remind us of that. [5:12] That’s really where we are going today.

[5:16] This morning I want to take a look at a few texts that give us a glimpse of what God is up to. [5:20] In other words, what is his purpose in all that he does and look into where we fit into that. [5:27] In the end we should see that God is passionate about upholding himself as infinite and supreme [5:32] and he’s after the praise of his name. [5:35] God’s purpose in creation is to glorify God and enjoy himself forever. [5:40] God is passionate about the praise of his name and he will go to great lengths to display that glory.

[5:46] Make it seen. [5:47] Make it known to us. [5:49] He’s done that in the scriptures. [5:50] The scripture is about God. [5:52] The scripture is revealing to us A. God and B. what God has done. [5:58] What he’s after.

[5:59] So that’s what we’re going to look at today.

[6:04] Alright, point one. [6:06] God didn’t create out of any deficiency in himself. [6:10] So what I want to do is just when we look at the question of man, why did God create the world? [6:14] What is he after? [6:15] What is his purpose in it? [6:17] He didn’t create it out of any deficiency in himself.

[6:20] And I want to just ease some of the notions that can distract us from our view of God. [6:27] Having a good view and a view of God that we can worship. [6:32] God did not create us out of need or some deficiency within himself. [6:36] God is independent, self-existent, self-sufficient, and self-contained. [6:42] Alright, if we can see this clearly in Acts 17, 24 to 25.

[7:02] Alright, so fairly simple here. [7:09] God is the creator. [7:11] God existed before creation. [7:14] God made everything. [7:15] He’s not dependent on anything that he made. [7:18] That could not be.

[7:22] Let’s go to one more place to look at this truth. [7:26] John 17 verses 4 to 5. [7:29] It says, I glorified you on earth. [7:32] This is Jesus talking to his disciples. [7:36] I glorified you on earth having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. [7:40] And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.

[7:48] So God is glorious. [7:49] God had this glory within himself, within the Trinity, within himself. [7:55] And there was a loving relationship in the Trinity. [8:01] And God was fully satisfied in that. [8:03] God is satisfied in himself. [8:06] Again, he’s not creating because he needs us.

[8:09] Okay, I think sometimes we think that God really needs us. [8:14] And the error there is us thinking about us and thinking that we’re the point and that God’s not the point. [8:21] God is always the point.

[8:25] Jesus will rejoin that glory in the ascension. [8:30] So what I want us to see here is that when we get to our purpose, [8:35] which is ultimately going to be to glorify God, that doesn’t mean that we’re adding worth to God. [8:42] God is ultimate worth in himself.

[8:48] So that will be key as we kind of walk through this. [8:51] God is glorious. His glory can neither be added or detracted from. [8:55] It always was. [8:56] God is not going to risk his glory being lost. [8:59] In that he is God, it is not even possible that anything could, in the end, take his glory or tarnish it.

[9:08] So really what we see here in the end is this. [9:12] He has designed us to enjoy him. [9:16] All right. [9:16] God is ultimately good because he’s designed us to enjoy him. [9:20] God’s satisfied in himself. [9:22] We are not God’s answer to his problem.

[9:25] Rather, he is the answer to ours. [9:27] If God needed us in some sense and was dependent on us, that would be a huge problem because we’re broken and incapable. [9:36] People think of God as God has a plan or he’s reacting to things. [9:41] He’s kind of not really aware of what’s going to happen in the future, and he’s reliant on human beings to carry out his plan. [9:49] That’s not the case. [9:51] If he was relying on human beings, we would have a problem.

[9:55] God is sovereign. [9:57] God has planned what he has planned. [9:59] He’s ordained what he’s ordained, and he’s brought it to be. [10:03] Why? Because his glory depends on it. [10:05] He’s not going to risk the loss of that. [10:10] All right.

[10:11] What is God’s overarching purpose?

[10:17] What drives him in creating? [10:20] God’s purpose, what drives him in creating, sustaining and guiding and taking history somewhere is not a mystery. [10:27] Remember that God has revealed himself in creation, Jesus and the Bible. [10:32] The Bible reveals his plan to save sinners and redeem the earth to totally restore everything. [10:39] He’s made it known mainly that we would praise him. [10:42] This topic is big, but I’m just going to get us to a point where we can kind of be reminded of it.

[10:48] We can let it hit us if we haven’t thought about it before. [10:53] I understand that when we’re talking about God’s ultimate purpose or his overarching purpose in creating and in everything he does, [11:01] it’s a huge topic. [11:03] Much like many of the cow tipping topics, we can’t do justice to that in the sermon. [11:09] Again, I just want to get us thinking about the idea of what God is after. [11:15] Jonathan Edwards, America’s greatest theologian, in his book, The Dissertation Concerning the End for Which God Created the World.

[11:24] Okay. So the dissertation concerning the end for which God created the world concludes from scripture this clear truth. [11:32] He concludes that the great end of God’s work, which is so clearly expressed in scripture, is indeed but one. [11:39] And this one is most properly and comprehensively called the glory of God. [11:46] John Piper echoes this when he put it this way. [11:50] The chief end of God is to glorify God and enjoy himself. [11:55] Okay. So the chief end of God is to glorify God and enjoy himself.

[11:59] God is upholding himself as righteous, as ultimate value. [12:04] Okay. He has to. Why? Because he is. [12:06] There is nothing greater. [12:08] Okay. And we’ll see why that’s why that’s important to to to know and to think on. [12:16] All right. So let’s see this in scripture. [12:19] Let’s see God’s overarching purpose. He’s created mainly for his glory, for the praise of his name.

[12:25] That’s that’s what he’s after. Let’s go to Psalm 19.

[12:31] Psalm 19 says the heavens declare the glory of God and the sky proclaims his handiwork.

[12:38] The heavens declare the glory of God and the sky proclaims his handiwork. [12:43] So creation is majestic. It all points to a great creator. [12:48] We see from creation that God is powerful, wise, worthy of honor and worship. [12:53] No no creation is ever the point. [12:55] Rather, creation points to a creator. It points to the goodness of the creator. [13:02] So no painting that you see, no statue that you see, no piece of art, no piece of furniture, no house.

[13:09] Ultimately, those things point to that the glory of whoever made them. [13:16] Okay. So what man where man where we go wrong a lot of times is we look at creation and we praise creation. [13:22] You can see this in in in the words and actions and thoughts of kind of unbelievers all the time. [13:29] They’re they’re they’re praising how great and beautiful the morning is. [13:34] Okay. And it is it is beautiful. It is nice, especially the ones some of the mornings we had earlier this week. [13:41] But all that is pointing back to the goodness of God.

[13:45] Okay. When we start seeing creation as something that it is and not something that it points to when we don’t see God, [13:57] we kind of start to go down the path of man. [14:01] We make idols out of things that are designed to point to the glory of God. [14:06] All right. Let’s go to Colossians 1, 16.

[14:12] Colossians 1, 16. For by him all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, [14:19] whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things were created through him and for him. [14:26] All right. So everything in creation has been created through Jesus and ultimately exists for Jesus. [14:33] That means we exist for Jesus. We exist for Jesus. [14:40] We exist for God’s purposes. That kind of rubs us the wrong way. [14:44] Sometimes we like to exist for ourselves.

[14:48] OK, we don’t necessarily think of ourselves as as being created for the glory of God. [14:55] We think that we’re created and a lot of times we think that we’re awesome. [15:01] OK, and we’re thankful that God created us. [15:04] But we need to see ourselves as being created for him, OK, for his purposes, for his glory. [15:10] And we’re going to see that later on in the scriptures.

[15:17] One more two more verses on this Isaiah 43, six to seven. [15:21] Isaiah 43, six to seven. This is God speaking.

[15:39] All right. So so in this, it’s pretty obvious he’s talking about he’s talking about Israel. [15:46] He’s talking about man. He’s talking about future believers. [15:49] And he’s ultimately talking about why he created man, because in this we see that the creation, [15:58] the formation and the completion or the growth of man, the development of us are ultimately all God’s work. [16:06] It’s all done for his glory. OK, so we’ll see more of this right here in this verse. [16:12] The main text I have for this morning. So we’ll spend a little bit more time in it.

[16:19] It’s Isaiah 48, verses nine to eleven.

[16:26] Says, For my name’s sake, I defer my anger for the sake of my praise. [16:30] I restrain it for you that I may not cut you off. [16:35] Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver. [16:38] I’ve tried you in a furnace of affliction for my own sake. [16:42] For my own sake, I do it. [16:45] For how should my name be profaned?

[16:48] My glory I will not give to another. [16:51] So ultimately here, God has chosen Israel and he’s acted time and time again on their behalf. [16:59] There is chosen people. He’s made them his. [17:03] He’s refined them. [17:06] However, they constantly find themselves in the act of disobedience. [17:12] While he’s given them the law and made it clear that they are to worship him alone and trust him alone,

[17:17] they have continuously rebelled against him with disobedience, idol worship, and unfaithfulness. [17:23] So if you know anything about the Old Testament, you know that God chose Israel. [17:28] He made them his people. He gave them the law. [17:30] His design was to bless Israel. [17:34] He wants to bless them. He wants to give them all kinds of these promises. [17:38] And his main goal in doing that is that other nations may see Israel

[17:43] and they may know the glory of Israel’s God, the one true God, Yahweh. [17:48] That was kind of the purpose in the Old Testament. [17:51] Israel was to kind of preach the future gospel to the nations. [17:57] But really in the Old Testament times, it was more, hey, look at Israel. [18:02] They’re my people. Look how I bless them. [18:04] Look how good I am to them.

[18:08] And therefore know that I am the one true God. [18:11] So it’s kind of a come and see religion at that point. [18:14] That shifts in the New Testament. [18:17] That shifts. It’s important to realize that because then in the New Testament, [18:22] in our time, in our place in the world right now, [18:27] we have the gospel and we have the glory of God in the gospel.

[18:32] And we’re to take that to the nations. [18:34] And that’s what we see kind of happen after Jesus’s death [18:37] and the spread of the gospel all throughout the Roman Empire [18:41] and eventually throughout the world. [18:45] All right. So why does God continue? [18:47] Why doesn’t he just crush Israel? They’ve earned it.

[18:50] He’s promised them all these things. He’s given them all these things. [18:53] This helps us see that God acts for the glory of his name. [18:57] God created and called Israel for his glory. [19:02] God promises to continue delivering them, [19:04] to continue showing his mercy towards them for his namesake. [19:08] In other words, for his own glory.

[19:10] It may be helpful to think of Israel and ourselves in the following way. [19:14] As one commentator puts it. He puts it like this. [19:17] Wherever we are, we are not our own, but his. [19:21] All men are by nature servants to the interest of his glory. [19:27] All right. So Israel existed for the glory of God. [19:31] Okay. We exist for the glory of God.

[19:36] That’s our purpose. God’s purpose is the glory of himself. [19:39] Our purpose therefore must be the glory of God. It better be. [19:44] And so God’s goal to display his glory to all nations, all tribes, all people groups, not just Israel. [19:54] Again, it’s New Testament time. [19:56] In order for God to receive glory, people from all nations will need to know God in order that they worship him. [20:05] This will happen in the display of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus who will come from Israel.

[20:12] So God preserves Israel. They deserve to be destroyed. [20:15] They continue to just, they can’t follow them. They can’t do what they’re supposed to. [20:21] God is just. God punishes sin. He can’t look upon sin. [20:26] Why didn’t he wipe them out? [20:28] He didn’t wipe them out because he promised to bring about through him the Messiah. [20:34] He promised to bring about through Israel Jesus.

[20:38] Okay. Why? Because Jesus was going to be what led to the praise of his name throughout the world. [20:44] We needed the gospel. [20:45] The gospel needs to happen in order for the nations to know and praise the name of Jesus. [20:54] Okay. And that was God’s plan all along. [20:58] Okay. It was always God’s plan. [21:00] So the overarching purpose of God in creation is the glory of God.

[21:05] God in creation and in his entire plan and acting in redemptive history is to receive glory, to be glorified. [21:14] God reveals glory to all the nations in order that he might receive glory from the people through worship, through the praise of his name. [21:22] This is God’s chief purpose for creating the world. [21:26] So if somebody asks you what is the world created for, why did God do all this? [21:31] Why did he put it together? Why did he create man? [21:34] It was ultimately for the praise of his name.

[21:36] Okay. God is fully satisfied in himself, but God is good in that he desired to share with a world himself. [21:46] Okay. God is the prize. [21:48] Be blessed if you know Jesus Christ today. [21:51] If you know Jesus, understand that you’re blessed and God created you to enjoy him. [22:01] Okay. Now, did he create us to enjoy this life? [22:04] Absolutely. Is he good?

[22:05] Absolutely. Did he give us awesome things to enjoy? [22:10] Ice cream, right? [22:13] I mean, we should eat ice cream and it should drive us to think about how glorious God is. [22:20] Okay. First Corinthians 10, I think it is 31, says do all that you do for the glory of God. [22:27] And in that it specifically just says, talks about eating, drinking, and whatever you do, do for the glory of God. [22:33] So there’s a way for you to eat ice cream that’s glorifying to God.

[22:38] Don’t worship ice cream. Worship the God who made ice cream. [22:43]

[22:46] Just kind of some of our, sometimes our thinking, our hearts, man, that’s what God’s after. [22:52] Okay. So if our hearts are on him, if our eyes are for him and on him, we’re going to see him in a thousand different places. [23:00] Okay. All right.

[23:06] I’m looking for the countdown. It doesn’t appear to be on, so I really don’t know here. [23:10] All right. God’s display of God’s glory, the third point here, I think it is on your outline. [23:19] God’s greatest display of God’s glory is in Jesus’ death and resurrection. [23:24] All right. So yes, God displayed his glory in a lot of ways in creation, in his creation of man and the things that we can enjoy. [23:34] But mainly if God has a has kind of a crown jewel or a remnant or if he if he has a treasure, if he has something that he really wants to display, it’s this. [23:47] And that’s the glory of Jesus’ death and resurrection.

[23:50] God’s main way of displaying his glory and infinite worth is through the vivid display of grace that was manifested in the cross. [24:00] The cross is the climax, the greatest and most glorious demonstration of glory of God, and it is clearest in grace. [24:08] The grace of God is what God has chosen primarily to display. [24:13] All right. So if God is after the display of his glory.

[24:20] His best way to do that was the cross. It was always the cross. [24:24] So when God’s thinking, hey, I’m going to design the world, I’m going to create man, I’m going to create the universe. [24:31] He’s thinking primarily of displaying his glory. [24:36] How can he do that? Well, he himself can incarnate, come to the world, die for the glory. [24:43] The sin of man and gloriously make a way for people to be reunited with him. [24:50] People who were broken by sin, people who were broken and subjected to a curse that came from man’s rebellion against God.

[25:00] OK, so I think sometimes we don’t we don’t think about that. [25:06] You think that God, you know, his primary purpose in creating the world was to display Jesus, to display himself, to show himself glorious, to show himself graceful, merciful. [25:21] I mean, that’s what he highlights here. He highlights his grace. And we’ll see that in this text. Ephesians 1, 4 to 6.

[25:29] Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him in love. [25:38] He predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, which with which he has blessed us in the beloved. [25:51] All right. So a couple of things here through Jesus, God displays his grace is the climax of his glory. [25:57] The highest the cross, the highest display of God’s grace. This is like I said, the crown jewel. [26:06] Choose he chose us in him before the foundation of the world. [26:10] We see that God planned the cross. God’s plan to reveal his glory has always been the cross.

[26:16] In fact, within the Trinity, God, God worked this out before the creation of the world. [26:22] Jesus agreed to incarnate and die and then and be and then be resurrected and then ascend back in order that he would reign forever. [26:33] OK, so so God and Jesus and the Holy Spirit, they talked this out before creation went down. [26:39] OK, they Jesus agreed to do this before the creation of the world. [26:45] All right. So we need to kind of let that sink in and we need to understand kind of, man, God’s view of the world is to display his glory and to be glorified. [26:57] And that’s everything. That’s everything.

[27:00] There was no plan B. God created to glorify himself. [27:04] He did so in the cross across demonstrates how far God is willing to go in order that his glory will be known and his name will be praised. [27:12] Everything was leading to the glorious display of the cross. [27:17] Right in these in these three verses, these verses are hard for some of us. [27:21] I know for myself, I’ve wrestled through them, you know, over spans of of really years. [27:28] And in these verses, we see major theological doctrines.

[27:31] So it’s not our purpose today to talk about those. [27:34] But I do want to get at a little bit of what Paul is is telling us here. [27:39] This whole Ephesians one verses one through through 13 or 14 is designed to reassure Christians that that they are in fact in Christ and that they are. [27:56] They’re redeemed through Christ and that this is all glorious. [27:59] And our only kind of response to that is a fall on our knees when we think about what God has done for us. [28:06] All right. So in this we see election predestination, adoption and redemption.

[28:12] All of these things are done for the praise of God’s glorious grace. [28:17] OK, so when we think of these doctrines, let’s think about them as what they are intended to bring about. [28:24] Paul’s whole purpose is to reassure us of how glorious Jesus is. [28:30] Again, our only reaction is praise. [28:32] Paul says it three times in here to the praise of his glorious grace. [28:35] That’s the overarching purpose behind all of those things.

[28:40] How’s God going to get praise? All of those things. [28:45] OK, predestination, election through the cross.

[28:50] All those things. OK. [28:52] So in that, don’t question God on these things. [28:58] Hear what he’s saying. And again, fall on your knees. [29:01] God is sovereign. God has made us made made us a way to to be able to say, praise you, God. [29:10] Not everybody can do that. We can. [29:13] If you’re in Christ, you can do that.

[29:15] That’s the greatest treasure in the world. [29:18] OK, take time to dwell on that.

[29:23] God’s purpose in creating the world, a world that fell into sin and became cursed. [29:28] His purpose in electing a nation, his purpose in giving the law, his purpose in promising to bless the nations, [29:35] was all aimed at the praise of his glorious name in the work of Jesus on the cross. [29:41] Everything is about Jesus. How does how does God receive the most glory? [29:45] He saved sinners by enabling them to believe and savor the glory of his grace. [29:50] He has given us the gospel at the hearing of the gospel.

[29:53] Hearts are soft and people recognize their sin and they seek forgiveness and redemption. [29:59] They hear the gospel, the news that Jesus has made a way for sinful men to be to be redeemed, to be restored. [30:07] For anyone who believes and trusts Jesus as savior is seen as holy and righteous. [30:12] The Lamb of God has come, taken our sin and imputed unto us the perfect obedience of Christ. [30:21] So when we go before judgment of God, we stand in Christ. [30:26] We stand righteous.

[30:29] OK, that’s to the glory of his glorious grace. [30:34] All right. That’s that’s not our merit. [30:37] That’s not anything that we’ve done. [30:39] It’s to the praise of his name. [30:41] Did God get praise? [30:43] Yeah, there’s people singing in heaven praising him.

[30:48] That’s where we’re going. OK, that’s what all the world is going to.

[30:55] All right.

[30:58] Lastly, this morning, what we what we must kind of see from this.

[31:03] We need to see that God’s passion is for his glorious grace is the foundation of our passion for his glory. [31:13] OK, so if God is passionate about the praise of his name, we as Christians, those who do praise his name, [31:19] need to be passionate about the praise of his name. [31:23] OK, if God’s after the praise of his name, guess what we’re after? [31:27] The praise of his name. [31:30] How do we do that?

[31:33] We share the gospel. [31:35] OK, we have the gospel. We have the keys to the kingdom. [31:39] OK, ultimately, where we’re going to get in this section is this. [31:43] We have to care about the glory of God like God cares about the glory of God.

[31:50] OK, we need to be jealous for his name. [31:52] God’s jealous for his name. [31:54] God wants the praise of his name. [31:56] He wants the whole world to praise his name.

[32:00] The only thing that brings the praise of his name is people hearing the gospel and people coming to faith in Jesus Christ. [32:09] OK, our lives need to be about that. [32:12] If God exists and creates for the glory of God, we exist to glorify God. [32:18] Now, what does it mean to glorify God? [32:21] Basically, it just means to praise him, to show him for what he is. [32:25] He is of infinite value.

[32:27] OK, we need to show him like he is. [32:30] Show him for what he is. [32:32] So when people look at our lives, when they look at us, they ought to see the glory of God reflected in our life. [32:39] They ought to see that Jesus is our treasure.

[32:44] That man, that guy, man, all he talks about or all he does is Jesus. [32:49] He treasures Jesus. [32:52] He cares about Jesus more than anything. [32:56] OK, and that’s what people need to see. [33:00] Let’s look at this in Matthew 5, 14-16.

[33:21] So that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. [33:28] Alright, so what’s the purpose of your good works?

[33:32] That people see them and give glory to your Father in heaven. [33:35] So again, all of our, everything that we do in our daily lives matters because we are to live in a way that displays Jesus’ ultimate value. [33:45] Our purpose is that people see us, that people hear us, and they see us satisfied in Jesus and they say, man, I want that. [33:56] And we in the same way, our minds have to be, man, I want that guy to praise the name of Christ. [34:01] Why? Because it means he’ll be alive.

[34:05] OK? [34:07] That means he’ll be alive. [34:08] So we want to see the praise of God’s name and we get to play a part in God seeking his own glory. [34:18] Alright, one way we can do this or one way I think we can kind of paint a picture of that is the whole fantasy football craze. [34:26] OK? [34:27] Yeah, I do it.

[34:28] I like it. [34:28] I love it. [34:29] And one of the reasons that we like it, if you’re not familiar with fantasy football, I don’t have time to explain it. [34:37] But I got to think that you surely have heard something about it. [34:41] But mainly you have a team and you compete with other people, maybe from work or whatever. [34:48] But in fantasy football, it gives us really purpose.

[34:55] It gives us, it makes us a part of something. [34:59] [34:59] And so ultimately, kind of with fantasy football, the reason that I think people like to do it is because it gets them involved in it. [35:10] They’re a part of it. [35:11] They’re a part of the whole NFL game day experience. [35:16]

[35:16] And so in the same way, we need to be a part of God’s whole game day, if you want to call it that. [35:23] Alright? [35:25] We don’t want to sit on the sidelines and watch God kind of attain glory for himself. [35:30] That’s not what we’re supposed to do. [35:32] We’re supposed to participate in the game. [35:36] Alright?

[35:37] And when we do this, man, we’re going to love it. [35:39] We’re going to be into it. [35:40] We’re going to be satisfied. [35:42] We’re going to be sharp. [35:44] We’re going to be seeking ways to see the name of Jesus praised. [35:50] OK?

[35:53] Again, this is kind of get back to the introduction.

[35:58] You know, we find significance in knowing that all we do matters because it is in line with the eternal plan of Jesus, which is the praise of his glorious grace. [36:09] So, my day, if I set out to kind of think this way, if I set out to think, man, God wants praise today. [36:18] I want to live for the glory of God. [36:22] Does that change the way I approach the kind of meaningless tasks that I can be prone to kind of doing? [36:30] If I live for the glory of God, am I going to kind of just try to get through the day? [36:36] No, I’m not.

[36:39] I’m going to do things that draw attention to Jesus. [36:44] OK? [36:44] So, I’m going to serve people. [36:46] I’m going to love people. [36:46] I’m going to love the kids that drive me crazy every day. [36:50] I’m going to seek to love them when they call me names.

[36:55] All right? [36:56] Which they do. [36:58] Some cool names. [37:00] But I won’t get into those.

[37:04] But seriously, that really changes the way I approach my day. [37:09] I mean, I’m teaching kids that probably aren’t going to graduate high school. [37:13] OK? [37:14] They’re in detention. [37:15] They have no high school credits. [37:17] It’s a struggle for me to find meaning in that.

[37:22] But where does my meaning come from? [37:24] Am I really there to teach them? [37:26] Ultimately, man, I’m there to pursue the glory of God. [37:29] I’m there to see the name of Jesus come to be known and praised. [37:35] All right? [37:35] That’s what we exist for.

[37:37] Again, remember, what God is after, he’s after the praise of his name. [37:41] He’s after that.

[37:46] Two, we must love the glory of God and desire to see him glorified. [37:49] Our joyful worship of the glory of God’s grace in Jesus must drive us to [37:55] jealously seek the glory of God. [37:57] What this means is that we must live to see God glorified. [38:01] Our adoration for God and deep passion for him, in other words, our worship of him, [38:05] is actually what’s going to drive us to live for the glory of God.

[38:09] We’re so, in a sense, high on Jesus that we want to risk our lives for him, [38:16] for the praise of his name.

[38:22] History has gone to this, Revelation 7, 9 to 10. [38:26] John gives us a glimpse. [38:29] After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number [38:33] from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, [38:37] standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes [38:41] with palm branches in their hands and crying out with a loud voice,

[38:46] Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb. [38:52] Verse 11 and 12 go on to explain that we have seen intense and joyful worship of Jesus. [38:59] That what is seen is the intense, joyful worship of Jesus. [39:03] That’s what’s going on in heaven. [39:04] That’s the glory of Jesus. If you’re going there, that better sound awesome to you. [39:12] You better yearn for that. You better want to see the praise of Jesus.

[39:17] You’re going to be disappointed in heaven.

[39:22] Put it this way. I want to see people at my work, people in Midlothian, people wherever, [39:27] I want to see them praise the name of Jesus. [39:30] I want the nations to rejoice in the glory of God. [39:32] Yes, I want people saved from hell. We all do. [39:36] Nobody wants anybody to go to hell, probably.

[39:43] But I join with God in hurting and raging at the sight of people [39:47] worshipping false gods and money. [39:49] Jesus is the one who is worthy of glory. [39:51] He’s worthy of the chief pursuit of our lives. [39:56] I want to live for the praise of his name. [39:58] And praising him, knowing him, leads to loving his glory,

[40:03] which we must live for if we want our lives to count. [40:09] That’s where creation is gone. That was the purpose. That was everything.

[40:16] If the things in our life that we’re doing on a daily basis aren’t matching up with that, [40:22] if we don’t want to see that, if we don’t want to see that, we need to repent of what we’re after. [40:27] We need to get after the right thing.

[40:32] Like I said, it should hurt us to see people worshipping false gods. [40:38] It drives God crazy in the Old Testament. He can’t stand it. [40:43] Now, people do worship false gods and false religions, but people in our culture, [40:49] they worship idols, they worship money, they worship the things that we’re prone to worship in our sinful flesh. [40:55] That should bother us. I want to see Jesus’ name proclaimed and praised in Midlothian, at my work, everywhere. [41:07] That’s what I want to see. I don’t want to see people wasting their lives on things that don’t match up with the end.

[41:16] John Piper puts it this way, puts the passion for God’s glory this way. [41:22] In other words, living on mission, mission exists because worship doesn’t. [41:27] Mission exists because worship doesn’t. In other words, God’s after worship. We need to be after the worship of his name. [41:33] We need to worship God so much that that drives us to go outside of our worship in the sense of a church service [41:41] and actually worship him with our lives, to paint him as what he is, to glorify him, to seek the praise of his name. [41:51] God’s promised to do it. Right there we read it. People of all nations.

[41:56] I mean, there’s people of all nations right here in Midlothian. [42:02] Okay, we’re all missionaries.

[42:06] We join with God in desiring for his name to be praised. The main purpose is for his praise, for the praise of his name. [42:15] Our purpose and lives must be devoted to seeing the name of Jesus praised by people who don’t. [42:22] Loving and living for the glory of God ensures that we don’t waste our lives. [42:27] Each day is significant when it is lived for the glory of God. When it isn’t, it’s wasted. [42:33] Remember the big picture of what God is after and therefore what we are after as we go through each day in our lives. [42:42] So, this morning what we need to take from this is that.

[42:47] Let’s remember the big picture. What’s God after? Why did he get into all this? [42:52] Why did he do things the way he did? To display the glory of his grace in Jesus Christ. [42:58] We need to worship that, but we also need to join him in that. We need to love that. [43:02] We need to know that when people worship Christ, their lives, they’re made alive. [43:09] It’s the greatest thing in the world. It’s what we were made to do. We were made to glorify God. [43:14] Everybody, everybody was made to do that. Not everybody will. It’s not our business.

[43:20] Our business is to preach the gospel because we know that some will.

[43:27] That’s the only thing that our lives are worth living. That’s the only reason. [43:32] One of the biggest reasons why we exist. That’s why our days aren’t meaningless. [43:40] So, let’s join God in that. As the band comes up this morning, what I want to do is shift into our time of communion.

[43:53] So, this morning, if you know Christ and you desire to see his name praised. [43:59] If you desire to live for the glory of God. If you desire what he is after. [44:05] If you want to join him in that. If you want to live for him. [44:08] If you’re excited about going to heaven and praising Jesus for eternity.

[44:15] I open these tables to you. Come up. Remember what Jesus has done. [44:20] Remember that through his blood, he’s made a way for us to be holy, to be blameless, to go and worship Jesus. [44:28] He’s given us the ability to love and worship himself. [44:34] It’s the greatest treasure ever. Let’s wear it on our sleeves. Let’s make it known. [44:39] Come preach the gospel this morning.