What is the Purpose of Man? Part 2

Psalm 86:12 “I will praise You, O Lord my God, with all my heart, And I will glorify Your name forevermore.”

During our Wednesday night Men’s Bible Study last week, while in the first chapter of the book of Ephesians, the group came upon verses 11-12: “ In him we were also chosen,[a] having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory.” The question was raised and discussed: “What is the purpose man?” By the Scriptures, we agreed that our central purpose was to glorify and worship God. The Westminster Confession of Faith states: “Man’s Chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.” All our tributary purposes flow from this main fact, and all structural purposes of our life are built upon this foundational purpose … to glorify God; for He is our Maker, our Father, our Providence, our Fortress, our Savior, and our Lord God. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 & 10:31 "Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s. Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”

American Christian pastor, preacher, and author, A.W. Tozer (1897 – 1963) writes: “Worship is man’s full reason for existence. Worship is why we are born and why we are born again. You will be worshiping God long after everything else has ceased to exist. Every Christian church in every country across the world in every generation exists to worship God first, not second; not tacking worship at the end of our service as an afterthought, but rather to worship God primarily, with everything else coming in second, at best.”(The Purpose of Man). Psalm 47:1-2 & 6-9 tells us, “Oh, clap your hands, all you peoples! Shout to God with the voice of triumph! For the LORD Most High is awesome; He is a great King over all the earth. Sing praises to our King, sing praises! For God is the King of all the earth; Sing praises with understanding. God reigns over the nations; God sits on His holy throne. The princes of the people have gathered together, The people of the God of Abraham. For the shields of the earth belong to God; He is greatly exalted.”

The late American Christian pastor, preacher, and author, D. James Kennedy (1930 – 2007) wrote: "What is the purpose of your life? Not how you are making your living, who you are living with or where you are living, but what you are living for. We are senescent and rational creatures. We live by purpose, whereas animals live by instinct. We have reason and purpose. We all have a main purpose in life towards which all the other purposes are merely tributary, ancillary purposes. No matter what other minor purposes we have, we have to have a central purpose. Purpose is something given to us by God, who is the God that is working out, in everything, His own purpose in the world. We have been sold the humanistic bill of goods that says that we are autonomous. Now the word “autonomous” comes from two Greek words: autos, which means self, and nomos, which means law. The autonomous man is a law unto himself. He would be “god”, and he will have whatever purpose he decides to have. And this concept has overspread this nation and many, many people have bought into it. But we are not gods; we are not autonomous, We are creatures made in the image of the almighty God and we have been created for His purposes! To God be the Glory! But, we look at what is taught in our American schools, what is found in our libraries, what is found on our computers, on the internet worldwide web, what is found in our theaters and on television, and it is the Devil that gets the glory for this world all too often, I am afraid. When we realize that we have failed to do what God puts us on this earth to do, we realize the results of that. I hope that I’ve been very clear that when a life is unexamined and the purposes that God had for making us in the first place are ignored, denied, refused, there can only be one outcome. Ah, but dear friend, if they are obeyed, the results can be glorious."

Micah 6:8 “He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?”

Glory to God in the highest! Brian