God's Ultimate End
[communal interaction over Bob's message 1.8.05]
1) Truths Worth Remembering
First off, memorize with your kids (if you have them) the first question of the Westminster Shorter Catechism:
Q: What is the chief end of man?
A: The chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.
Jonathan Edwards' scholarly tome "The End for Which God Created the World" concludes as follows:
Thus we see that the great end of God's works, which is so variously expressed in Scripture, is indeed but ONE; and this one end is most properly and comprehensively called THE GLORY OF GOD... [T]he good of the creature... consists in the creature's exercising a supreme regard to God, and complacence [satisfaction] in him; in beholding God's glory, in esteeming and loving it, and rejoicing in it, and in his exercising and testifying love and supreme respect to God.
Edwards is a complex writer. John Piper summarizes it much more simply:
God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.
2) Communal Application of Truth
Let's interact over 1) all the other reasons we do things besides the glory of God, and 2) how a God-centered view of life applies to different aspects of our reality. I'll start...
1) I do lots of things not for the glory of God, but because I want to be sweet. Lurking in the back of my soul is the selfish desire for Coram Deo to be successful so that I will look good, so that my ideas will be vindicated, so that my vision of what church should be will be validated and approved by others. On my better days, I want Coram Deo to be a success so that God will be glorified and so that thousands of people in Omaha will find their true delight in Him. But on my worse days, my true delight in God is obscured by my desire for my own fame and glory and exaltation. That's ugly... but that's reality.
2) A God-Centered View of Theology: We must know God in order to delight in Him. And the fuller our knowledge of Him, the more complete will be our joy in His character and works. So theology is neither a) an idolatrous attempt to figure God out so we can control him, explain him, and fight against those who don't share our view of him, nor b) an academic discipline that really doesn't matter and can be left to "the professionals" (whoever they are). Theology is a means to treasuring Christ. Theology should lead to doxology. Studying God matters because the more I know Him, the more I can love Him for who He is. So mature followers of Jesus should have a theology that is God-centered, humble, and leads them to prayer and worship instead of (or at least before) argument and defense.
Hit "comments" below to offer your musings on these two questions.
1) Truths Worth Remembering
First off, memorize with your kids (if you have them) the first question of the Westminster Shorter Catechism:
Q: What is the chief end of man?
A: The chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.
Jonathan Edwards' scholarly tome "The End for Which God Created the World" concludes as follows:
Thus we see that the great end of God's works, which is so variously expressed in Scripture, is indeed but ONE; and this one end is most properly and comprehensively called THE GLORY OF GOD... [T]he good of the creature... consists in the creature's exercising a supreme regard to God, and complacence [satisfaction] in him; in beholding God's glory, in esteeming and loving it, and rejoicing in it, and in his exercising and testifying love and supreme respect to God.
Edwards is a complex writer. John Piper summarizes it much more simply:
God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.
2) Communal Application of Truth
Let's interact over 1) all the other reasons we do things besides the glory of God, and 2) how a God-centered view of life applies to different aspects of our reality. I'll start...
1) I do lots of things not for the glory of God, but because I want to be sweet. Lurking in the back of my soul is the selfish desire for Coram Deo to be successful so that I will look good, so that my ideas will be vindicated, so that my vision of what church should be will be validated and approved by others. On my better days, I want Coram Deo to be a success so that God will be glorified and so that thousands of people in Omaha will find their true delight in Him. But on my worse days, my true delight in God is obscured by my desire for my own fame and glory and exaltation. That's ugly... but that's reality.
2) A God-Centered View of Theology: We must know God in order to delight in Him. And the fuller our knowledge of Him, the more complete will be our joy in His character and works. So theology is neither a) an idolatrous attempt to figure God out so we can control him, explain him, and fight against those who don't share our view of him, nor b) an academic discipline that really doesn't matter and can be left to "the professionals" (whoever they are). Theology is a means to treasuring Christ. Theology should lead to doxology. Studying God matters because the more I know Him, the more I can love Him for who He is. So mature followers of Jesus should have a theology that is God-centered, humble, and leads them to prayer and worship instead of (or at least before) argument and defense.
Hit "comments" below to offer your musings on these two questions.
posted by Bob | 4:01 PM
4 Comments:
After a day spent doing report card comments, none of my comments may be very clear...I will read them in the morning...but I wanted to respond. Especially to the question on all the other reasons we do things besides the glory of God.
My reality is that I often do things so that people (mainly parents of the children that I teach) think that I am doing a good job and doing justice to their child's education. As I think back and reflect on long hours, projects, etc., there are many times when I am trying to do what is best for the kids ( so that they believe in themselves, learn, develop). However, the newsletters, programs at school, and other things in that realm fall in the category of trying to please parents. I guess I too fall in the category of wanting to be thought of as "sweet."
In a lot of ways, trying to "measure up" is one of the ugly things that I strive for and often looks like something bordering on making perfectionism as an idol. I am not happy in this state, and by no means do I just chalk it up to "that is the way that I am." The hang-up seems to happen against my better judgement and attempt to slack a little. It all stems back to why I am doing things, and why I want people to think that I work hard or am good at something or whatever. Therefore, the glory is not for God, but for Brittany. Yeah...not so sweet.
1)Many of the activities I embark on are for MY glory and not God's. I become jealous and envious if God doesn't put me in a lead role or visible position. I say to myself "I have as much talent and skill as that person". If someone gives me a compliment on the small part I did play watch out! I now have more ammunition to prove I am right about the situation. I also work to put on a good front because I say to myself "If they knew the real me they would turn and run".
2)I find I am most satisfied when I humbly accept a less visible role knowing that's what God has for me at this point in time. I just need to step back and remind myself of this reality when trying to steal God's glory for myself.
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The other day I was at the first meeting of my American Literature class. We were doing the standard ice-breaker, "What's your name, etc, etc." One of the questions was "What is your best and worst quality?" It was weird because out of 25 people, 20 claimed procrastination as their worst quality and organizational skills as their best quality. Apparently, I'm in a class full of lazy secretaries. I can understand that it is a scary thing to tell people what you're bad at, and perhaps harder still to claim what you're good at (no one wants to be a braggart), but for us and His purposes there is no room for that sort of timidity. Honesty in love--yes. Deprecating self-protection--no. We are called in 1 Peter 1:15 to "Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect...."
Now I realize that the teacher who asks for your best quality isn't exactly asking "Evan, why do you hope in Jesus Christ to gloriously redeem you from all your sins?" But I also don't think a question like that often comes to a person who never stands for his or her belief. Instead of being the witness I must be for God, too often I do what the people in my class did: change the subject, skirt the issue, downplay, hedge, waffle, or to call it what it really is, lie. We all want affirmation, but only in God are we going to get it. A God-Centered person is going to have a lot to praise.
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