I'm sure we have all found ourselves at one time or another asking ourselves this question. I'm sure deep down in every Christ follower's heart, we all would say it is to glorify God, but do we live our lives as if we really believe this? We live in a day and age where we have slowly, but surely, assimilated God into our worldview. The past couple days, I have really been gripped with this, especially as it pertains to the salvation message. Now before you allow yourself to get offended, as I did when the Lord started revealing this to me, please hear me out. Let me share a couple of building blocks the Lord has given me through a teaching from this past week, a bit of a frame work for us to draw from.
First let's look at the one singular and colossal purpose that shapes all reality and stands as the ultimate end of everything in the Divine heart: "The Glory of God". Jesus is to have preeminence. That is really what everything is about, no matter how much we would like to deny it. Here is a couple of verses we can look at: John 17:24, Romans 11:36, Colossians 1: 15-18, and countless others. The leading problem is that we allow this to fade into the background in light of the affairs of our everyday life.
This leads to our next building block, the definition on what sin is. The essence of sin cannot be confused with the deeds that often accompany it. At the heart of man's sinful condition is rebellion of God's glorification and substituting our own honor as our goal for existence. As Paul states, we have all fallen short of the glory of God. (Acts12:23) Instead of existing to magnify God, we in our sin exist for our own exaltation and fulfillment, and we misuse created things to try to achieve that supreme end. Through this human-centered view of reality, existence (including God's existence) is evaluated with man as the reference point. Therefore, God is seen in terms of His relation to man rather than man's relationship to God. We are in danger of believing that God exists for us rather than us existing for Him. Whereas the gifts of God, which are too bountiful to number, exist to lead man into the exaltation of the Giver, sin seeks to convince the heart that the Giver exists to bestow the gifts. The cumulative effect of this distortion is that in salvation, man's self-fulfillment remains the final goal rather than the Glory of God, and Christ simply becomes the means to achieve that goal. How many times does salvation get presented from the lens of how bad the punishment of hell is or from the perspective that life is so much better in Christ because He hears our prayers, gives us the desires of our hearts, and on and on it goes. It takes absolutely nothing supernatural for anyone with common sense to say, " Gee, I don't really want to burn in hell for eternity... I would definitely like a better life and have someone who would listen to me... Of course I want the desires of my heart! Where do I sign up???" Now I am not saying that these statements are false or that they don't have a place in the process of leading someone to Christ, but have they become the main motivation of salvation rather then simply the fact that He is worthy. Maybe in our zealous affection to see souls won, we have done an injustice to these people by giving them a false motivation and purpose for salvation. Are we giving them a wrong framework in which they view and base their relationship with Christ? Maybe this is why we see willful sin on the rise in the church today. I wonder if we have forgotten that salvation really means, we die - Christ lives through us. This is really the only way it works.(2 Cor. 5:14-15) The salvation we have experienced through Jesus (and all subsequent sanctification) is primarily to free us from the enslaving self-compulsion caused by sin, so that we could fulfill our created purpose of magnifying Jesus and yearning for the Day of the Lord when He alone will be exalted. Scripture simply does not endorse the idea of Christianity being primarily the benefits we will receive through Jesus now. We are saved for Him, because we exist for Him. Repentance, holiness, and good deeds are vital, but the primary fruit of regeneration is not moral reformation, zeal for certain causes, or faithful attendance at Christian events. Rather it is an ever-increasing adoration for the beauty of Jesus and lover for the preciousness of who He is. It is this fruit within the soul that is utterly miraculous and impossible apart from the power of the Spirit in new birth. (2 Cor. 4:6)
I by no means have completely grasped this, but it has definitely challenged the way I look at some things. Especially the motivation with which I press into each day now. Just some thoughts on which to ponder.
Owen
