If you were to ask most Christians regarding the purpose for which God created them, there answer would be that "I was created to Glorify God." In fact, Jonathan Edwards wrote a dissertation called "The End For Which God Created The World". I would agree that the end result is that God’s Glory is magnified by all of creation and that our lives should become like a mirror reflecting back God’s own glory thus again magnifying His Glory; yet, I have wondered most of my life about what could possibly be in me that could add anything to God’s glory. The more I learned and saw of God’s Glory, the more I realized that there was nothing within me that could ever add anything to His perfect Glory. In fact, that thought became a stumbling block for me. The harder I tried with my own efforts, the more I would fall; until one day I fell before God with a broken spirit and contrite heart that saw my total unworthiness and inability to Glorify God. I began to wonder if the end result of God being Glorified was indeed the purpose. If so, I felt hopelessly a failure. Or could it be that the purpose was different, even though the end result would be His Glory being magnified. Pleading, I asked God to show me the purpose for which He had created me and had chosen me to be His child. Then one day like a soothing rain, He led me to John 17. This was the prayer that Jesus prayed on the way to the Garden of Gethsemane. Within that prayer, I believe that I found the three purposes for which I and mankind were created. Additionally, I realized that within those purposes I was given the key to living a Christian life that would cause me to empty myself of my own self centered desires and pride so that like a mirror reflecting and magnifying the intensity of light, my life could reflect God’s own Glory and thus magnifying it to be seen by a world lost in darkness.
1. God created man to share His love. This is not an equal sharing, this is similar to my sharing my dinner with the homeless man on the corner by giving of my abundance to a pauper who had none. The love that is known by the Triune God–God the Father’s love for the Son, the Son for the Father, the Holy Spirits love for both and theirs for Him is a love so tremendous, overflowing like a fountain spilling onto everything around them. Therefore, God created man to share that love with them. "that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me." (John 17:23) How different would your life be if you really understood the depth of God’s love for you? What would change in your life if you realized that He created you so that He could share that love with you?
2. God created man to share His Joy. God is a joyous God. "these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves." John 17:13. "The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing." Zephaniah 3:17. So often, we as Christians go about our lives with solemn faces carrying our crosses until Christ’s return. How different would your life be if you truly understood that God is a Joyous God who also created you for the purpose of sharing His Joy with you? Again, sharing like a rich man sharing with a pauper.
3. God created man to share His Glory. "22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them;"(John 17) There it is. It is His Glory, not mine. I can reflect that Glory only when I empty myself of me. On my own, I am the pauper and He is the Glorious King. My life’s mirror reflection of His Glory requires my laying down all my own self so that He can shine forth. The mirror must be polished and cleared of all smudges and dirt to reflect His Glory. That happens by His own polishing it through Sanctification as we feed on His word. "17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth." (John 17)
Let me help you to understand this, by telling you this story. I truly believe that understanding the difference between purpose and ultimate end results will transform your Christian life so that you can become a mirror (void of self) reflecting God’s Glory and magnifying it so that a world in darkness can see the light of God’s Glory.
In 2010, Mom was in rehab recovering from a knee surgery. There began a group of burglaries in my neighborhood in which the burglars entered the homes when people were gone to work. I put in an alarm system; but also decided to look for a large breed dog that could stand guard while I worked sometimes very long hours. After searching through the various shelter pages, I came upon Jason a rottweiler/hound mix. After reading his story, I went to the shelter. The workers and the owner of the shelter tried to convince me that I should take another dog. Jason was 8 years old and had been returned before. I knew very little about his former life; but, they said he had been hit by a car once and when he was found wandering the streets. They had rescued him from the County Humane Society who was preparing to euthanize him. He had been with them a while and though he had a few foster homes; he was always returned to them where he lived in a crate most of the time. He had trouble getting along with other dogs and thus was exiled except for the times they took him out for runs. After much insistence on my part, they locked up all the other dogs and brought him out. When they handed his leash to me to take for a walk before I decided, I saw this rather anxious, eager dog that bore several scars on his face. Did I sense an air of sadness about him, or maybe a little sense of hope as he gazed at me that day? I took Jason home that day and over the next three years, Jason changed. He quit digging through the trash even though I had never yelled at him for it; but he had watched me very tired cleaning it up in the evening. He quit pulling on the leash after he saw me fall once. He was content to just sit in my presence. So often I wondered what stories he could tell were he to talk; but, then I realized that by everything that he did the only thing that Jason kept saying by his actions was a song, “Your grace still amazes me, your love is still a mystery, each day I fall on my knees—your grace still amazes me.” A few weeks ago, Jason died and everyone had praised me for taking a old dog and for the care I had given him. I guess you could say that I was glorified because of Jason; but, you see, my purpose was to give him my love and to share with him my joy and now to share with him my glory as I continue to tell his story. How much like Jason I was before God!! I was a scarred wandering lonely soul caged within this world of my own sin filled heart. There were many others more brilliant, more beautiful, and more capable of displaying their own righteousness. Yet, God chose me. He has shared His love, His Joy and His Glory with me. Because of that, I have been transformed. The more I see His Glorious Righteousness, the more I become emptied of my self-exalting, covetous heart until I become a mirror which reflects back His Glory to Him self. I become content to sit in His presence and I still sing each day “Your Grace Still Amazes Me, Your Love is still a mystery. Each day I fall on my knees, Your Grace Still Amazes me” The end result is that God’s glory is magnified, not because of anything I could ever do; instead because of His Love. God’s purpose in choosing me was not His own Glory and though it is the end result of it all; His purpose was to share His love with me, to share His joy with me and to share His Glory with me.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNClAJO2tnQ