Sermon by Dr. Jeffrey Jeremiah
September 11, 2005

"Why Did God Put You Here?"
Isaiah 43:1-7

When it comes to the choices we can make, the relationships, interests, and vocations we can pursue, there’s no question that we live in an era of incredible freedom and diversity. The culture we live in says, "Do your own thing." Our legal system has declared that you have the "right to define your own existence," to pursue happiness as you understand it. Many argue that there should be no laws that would restrict in any way your pursuit of personal happiness, well being, and purpose in life. What I find fascinating in this era of freedom and diversity is that there are so many people living lives without any sense of direction, meaning, purpose, or hope. They just don’t have a clue as to what they should be doing with their life. Many books have been written addressing this problem that so many people face. Their authors attempt to answer this pressing question, "Why are you here?" Some of what they write is quite positive and helpful.

As we begin a new series today, "God’s Great Desire for You," I’d like to address this problem, but first I’d like to rephrase the question. You see, the question you ask will determine the answer you find. The problem I have with the question, "Why are you here?" is that it puts the focus on you: you decide, you find the answer, you determine why you’re here, you conclude how you’re supposed to live your life. I’d like to ask a different question: "Why did God put you here?" or to put it another way, "Why did God create you?" Do you see the shift in emphasis by asking the question in a different way? This question puts the focus on God, and we look to Him for the answer to this question, as opposed to deciding for ourselves why we’re in this life and how we’re supposed to live it. So the question is "Why did God put you here?" It should come as no surprise that God would answer a critical question like that in His Word. In verses six and seven of the passage we just read God says, "Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth, everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory" (Isaiah 43:6-7). God created us, He designed us to live for His glory. He put us on this earth to glorify Him, to magnify all that He is, to amplify His greatness and goodness and truth and beauty and love and wisdom and justice and grace! But that’s not all. The first question of the Westminster Shorter Catechism asks a slightly different question ("What is the chief end of man?"), but then provides the full answer we’re looking for: God put you here "To glorify Him and to enjoy Him forever." I’d like us to look today at what it means to do just that: to glorify and enjoy God, to do what we were created for, to live lives in accordance with His desire, His purpose for our lives.

First, God put you here to glorify Him. To glorify Him means you set God highest in your thoughts, you respect and revere and highly esteem Him more than anyone else. In His Word God has told us that there are a number of ways that you glorify Him. First, you glorify God when you receive His Son as your Savior and Lord. Indeed, you can’t even begin to glorify God unless you first do this. While every human being created by God should live for God’s glory, the reality is that every human being has sinned, and note in Romans 3:23, "has fallen short of the glory of God." In sin, we’ve chosen to believe a lie, which is that happiness, purpose, meaning, and joy come not from glorifying God, but from rejecting God and glorifying ourselves. In sin, we’re self-centered, we make ourselves the focus, we respect and revere and highly esteem ourselves. God’s response to glorifying ourselves is to put us under His condemnation, wrath, and judgment. I think you’ll agree that it’s pretty hard to glorify and enjoy someone who in their wrath has judged and condemned you. In John 3:36 Jesus said, "Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him." God sent His own Son to save us from our sin, to free us from God’s wrath and judgment. Only in Jesus Christ can we can get into a relationship with God in which we’re God-centered instead of self-centered. When we’re living God-centered lives, we can rightly and truly glorify Him.

Second, you glorify God when you live a fruitful life. In John 15:8 Jesus said, "This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit." This may sound a little strange. We usually talk about an effective life or a meaningful life, but not a fruitful life. Galatians 5:22-23 gives us this insight into a fruitful life: "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control." This fruit is the character of Jesus Christ Himself alive and working in you. If Jesus Christ is your personal Savior and Lord, and you’re growing in that relationship, then your character will become more and more like Christ’s; there is more and more love, peace, joy, and so on as you grow in your relationship with Him. You will be fruitful in your life and God will be glorified in your fruitfulness.

Third, you glorify God when you worship Him. "Give to the Lord the glory that is due His name; worship the Lord in the splendor of His holiness," Psalm 29:2 tells us (also Psalm 34:3). In worship our focus is on God. We do all we can to set Him highest in our thoughts; we revere, respect, and highly esteem Him. We do this by praising Him with our singing, by praying to Him, by presenting our tithes and offerings to Him. We worship God as we listen and respond to His Word and as we celebrate the sacraments.

God tells us that we glorify Him when we’re unified in our relationships with one another. When we’re on the same page, when there’s unity in our marriages, our families, in our church, God is glorified. Look at what Paul wrote to the Roman Christians, "May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ" Romans 15:5-6). And then listen to John 17:22-23, where Jesus prays to His heavenly Father, "I have given them (believers) the glory that you have given me, that they may be one as we are one." There is a perfect unity, harmony between God the Father and God the Son. That unity, that harmony has been given to us to experience and enjoy in our relationships. That is glorious, Jesus says. And as we pursue, work toward and as we grow in that unity, that oneness in Jesus or God is glorified.

Another way you glorify God is by the way you take care of your body. In I Corinthians 6:19-20 Paul writes, "You are not your own; you were bought with a price." And I have to say here, a great moment in preaching for me. I’m doing a message on being God-focused, and then I left Him out of this verse on the outline! "Therefore, honor God with your body." What you do with your body; what you put into it, how much you put into it, how you care for it, makes a statement about God.

A sixth way God says you glorify Him is in serving Him. Jesus said, "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father in heaven" (Matthew 5:16). Ephesians 2:10 says, "We are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." Do you know that in Jesus Christ God has already prepared in the week ahead good works for you to do that will bring glory to Him? Let me pause here to encourage you to come to our Ministry Fair, which we’re holding on September 25, two weeks from today. I hope you’ll all be a part of that event. It’s a great way to find out about the many excellent opportunities to serve God in your church, to "shine your light" in a way that brings glory to God.

If our first point is that God put you here to glorify Him, our second is that God put you here to enjoy Him. Let me ask you a question. What could God give you to enjoy that would show He is most loving, most pleased with the fact that you’re doing what you were designed to do: to glorify Him? Would He give you prestige or popularity, power, success, or great wealth? Would that be the best way for Him to show He’s pleased with you? God’s desire is to give us what is best and most pleasing and satisfying and enjoyable. To make good on that desire, He can give you no less than Himself, a full-blown vision of and companionship with Him. It’s in that vision and companionship that you’re fully satisfied, delighted, happy, and full of joy. David knew that satisfaction, that joy in his life. He sang in Psalm 16:11, "You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand." In John 15:11 Jesus says, "I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete." The life that glorifies God leads to the fullness of that joy that is God Himself.