Purpose
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9 And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in
Christ,
10 to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment - to bring all things in heaven
and on earth together under one head, even Christ.
11 In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out
everything in conformity with the purpose of his will,
12 in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory.
We talked about these verses a couple of months ago, but I want to further examine the point here.
Our purpose is to bring glory to God. It is not about you; it is about Him. The purpose of salvation is not
primarily to make you happy, or to get you to heaven, or any of that. Those are great benefits of
salvation, but not the purpose.
The ultimate purpose of life is to live for somebody other than yourself. God created us for His pleasure –
not for our own. The purpose of life is not to have a good time, or to make money, or even to be happy.
The purpose of life is to glorify God – to honor Him – to please him.
We see in Genesis that God created man in his own image – that is, God made man enough like himself that
God could have fellowship (relationship) with man.
God put man in charge of all creation, and Gen 3 tells us that God walked in the Garden of Eden with man.
God actually came to visit with Adam, because he wanted to have fellowship with him.
What is fellowship? Well, when have coffee together, that is fellowship. When you have a meal together,
that is fellowship. When you have a conversation, that is fellowship.
God wants to spend time with you. He wants to walk with you and talk with you. He wants you to get to
know him on a close personal level.
(i.e. “The Lord said Hey.)
We seem to live in such a way that we believe God is obligated to give us pleasure. Really, it is the other
way around. We were made to give him pleasure.
Revelation 4:11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created
all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.
So, the original plan was that man would please God and bring glory to Him. When I write a song, I want to
enjoy it. If it does not please me, I work on it until it does please me – until I like it.
God created us that we might bring him pleasure. In the process of creation as recorded in the book of
Genesis, every time God created something, he would look at it and say, “That’s good!” God was pleased
with His creation and it brought honor to him.
But then something went wrong. Man chose to please himself instead of God. Man disobeyed God and did
what he wanted instead of what God purposed for him.
When man decided to please himself instead of God, it spoiled the purpose of creation. Sin broke the
fellowship God had with man.
The prophet Isaiah explained, “But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have
hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.” Isaiah 59:2
Sin comes between you and God and prevents fellowship, which interrupts the purpose of God for your
life.
Jesus came for the purpose of restoring fellowship between God and man. The purpose of life was not the
plan of salvation – the plan of salvation was to restore the purpose of life – fellowship between God and
man.
Today, we live for everything except God. We do what pleases us instead of what pleases God. We do
what makes US feel good. We seek pleasure for ourselves.
Jesus said, “… for I always do what pleases him (the Father)." John 8:29
Paul expresses his desire in this way: “So we make it our goal to please him…” 2 Corinthians 5:9
Throughout the letters to the churches, we are instructed to please God:
1 Thessalonians 4:1 “Finally, brothers, we instructed you how to live in order to please God…”
We see it in the beginning – in the first chapters of the Bible – and in the last book of the Bible – that we
were created for God’s pleasure. When we please ourselves, it leads to problems.
We will only find true fulfillment in life when we live to please God.
How do you please God?
1. You spend time with God – prayer, worship, meditating on his Word, the Bible. Spend time talking
with him and thinking about what he says in the Bible.
2. Obey him – do what he instructs you to do. The Bible is full of instructions on how to live life the
way God designed it. When we violate those principles, we get into trouble.