1992 issue 9 - honor for honor: glorifying god with your life - counsel of chalcedon

8/12/2019 1992 Issue 9 - Honor for Honor: Glorifying God With Your Life - Counsel of Chalcedon

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What are your

living for?

What

is

your goal in

life?

Wesuninster Shorter Catechism:

Whatisman'schiefend?

Answer:

Man's

chief end is

to

glorify God and

to enjoy

Him forever.

ICorintlriansl0:31:

Whetheryoueat

or

drink

or

whatever

you do, do all to the

glory

of God.

Augustine:

Let

God be all in all to

you, for inHim

is

the entirety of

all

you

love.

I

Samuel

2:30:

Those

who honor Me

I will honor.

G

OD'S

ULTIMATE PURPOSE

FOR YOUR LIFE

These verses and quotations present

uswith theultimatepurposeGod has for

yourlife. Nothinge1seisworthlivingfor.

The question, Whatismycltiefend? ,is

the most important question you will

ever ask. Ifyou answer it

with

the words,

My chief

end

is

to

glorify God andenjoy

Him forever, it reveals the most

important thing about

you,

that you are

more concerned with

the living

God

with pleasing Him, than with yourself,

and with pleasingyourself. It eveals that

you love GodbecauseHeis God,andnot

just because of the

benefits

you

can

receive by loving

Him

. lf that

is

your

answer it shows that

you

are a real

Christian,because a

Christian

isa

peISOn

who withdrawing

his

eyes

from

himself,

even from

his

own

salvation,

as the chief

objectofconcern, furesthem on Godand

His glory, and seeks his highest

blessedness in

Him

.

The reason for the God-a:nteredness

of life and the universe is

the

God

centerednessofGod. Goddoesallthings

for His

own glory

and

enjoyment,

Rom.

11:35,36; Rev.

4:11; Eph. 1:11;

Prov.

16:4;Psa.23:3;25:11;31:3;

79:9;

106:8;

109

:

21;

143:11. He

is

totally

self

sufficient

and

absolutely

independent of

His creation, which is utterly dependent

upon

Him,

Acts

17

:24, 25;

lo 22:2 3.

He possesses in Hintself

everything

that

is necessary for His life and happiness,

In. 5:26. He needs nothing or no one

outside Himself. He

lives

by His own

power and contains

the

fuJness of ife in

Himself. He is totally

and completely

happyin Hintself, ITun. 6:15. He loves

Himself supremely, In. 17:5,24, with a

perfect, eternal love.

lf God were not God-centered He

wouldnotbeGod.ltwouldmeanthatHe

needs

something or

someone

outside

Himself

to

be

complete

and

satisfied.

But

ifGod

needs

us as muchas we need Him,

He is in worse shape that we are. On the

other hand, if God is God


2/5

mind and hean a high

opinion

of

God,

(as

He

has revealed Himselfin the Bible).

We glorifY God when

we have God

admiring thoughts.

And

it

involves

(e).

giving

a good opinion of

God by the

witness ofyour ifeand

verbal

testimony.

When weuulyhonorGod,

we receive

thegreatesthappinessfromGodahuman

being

can experience:

we

are

honored

andglorifiedbyGodI-Jimself.

Remember

H1s

promise is that ifwe honor

Him, He

willhonorus. WhenGodhonorsus,He

makes us

impressive.

He will

hold

and

give a good opinion of

us. He

will

more

deeply reveal

Himself to

us in Christ in

H1s

word.

He

will

manifest

His own honor, glory,

splendor, powerand

radiance

to us in the mce of Christ

throughmith,IICor.

4:3f. He

will

display

H1s perfections

dramatically

in our

lives

and

our

futures.

He

will make

us

redpients ofsalvation. What

an honor

to

be

heirs

of God

and joint-heirs

wit Christ.

Charles Spurgeon

once

said, God can honor

you,

even

though nobody

else sees

that

He does

it, in such a

way

that you will be more

contented with that honor

thanifyournameandfamewereblazoned

fonh

before

the

whole world.

But,

there

is

another

side

of

this verse

inISamueI2:30- ThosewhodespiseGod

will

be

lightly

esteemed

by

God. Ughtly

esteemed denotes to curse, to remove

fromcovenantblessing. Despise means

to

attribute

little

worth

to something, to

undervalue,

to

treat something with

contempt.

So then, you have

two

choices:

(1).

Follow the

greatest purpose

for

living

and enjoy the

greatest

happiness

in

life-honor

God

and

He

will

honoryou.

Or (2). Undervalue

God

and treat

knowing

im

and

following Him as

if

they

were unimponant

things,

and

He

will curse

you.

SECOND, I Chronicles

16:7-36 tells

us how to

glorifY God. his passage is

a

psalm

of

hanksgivingsungby KingDavid

afterthe ark of he covenant

was

brought

to Jerusalem making that holy city of

David

thecenterof

religious life

for

Israel.

The

ark

was the

symbol

and pledge of

God's

active

presence with His covenant

people. This

brought

greatjoy to David's

hean, and

so

he called upon

Israel

to

glorify

God

with

him:

Glory

in

His

Name

... , (vs.

10).

Ascribe

to the

Lord .

the glory due

His

Name,

01s 28-

29).

A study of

the

exhonations

given to

Israel in this passage

will

help us

understand how to glOrifY

God. Study

I

Chronicles

16:

7-36

and

find

suppon

for

the

following

points:

Glorifying God

involves(l).

verbal

and

musical

praise to

God; (2). conscious

dependence upon

God for

all things; (3).

meditation on

God, His perfections, promises and

works; (4). evangelism

and

dlscipleship;

S).

worship and adoration of

God;

(6).

ascribing to Him

the

glory (KABOD,

DOXA) due

to His Name, i.e.,

holding

and

giving

a

good

opinion of

God.

Todo

this last exhonation

we

must

believe

whatever

He

has

revealed

aboutHimself

in the Bible;

we

must make sure our

testimony

to

the world

is

an

accurate

(biblical) one;

and

we

must

live so

that

our behavior in

society reflects God's

holy

character.

THIRD,

I Corinthians 10:31

tells

us

how

to glorifY God.

This

verse

is the

classic

statement of the

goal

of the

Christian life-''Whetheryou eat or

drink

or

whatever

you

do do

it all for the glory of

God. The principle here is obvious-

everything, specifically

and

generally,

must

be done

in order

to

bring

God

praise

and

to please

Him. Butdlecontext

of

this

verse makes

this point

even

more

specific. Chapters 8-10 are concerned

with eating and drinking-eating meat

offered to idols,

(chap. 8), eating and

making

a

living

by preacher, (ellap. 9),

and feastsofidolsand the Lord s Supper,

(chap. 10).

When our

verse

isseenin the

light of these ellapters, its

point is

clear: we glorify

God when we are not

concerned with ourselves

and our liberties; but when

we

are concerned with

whatever will manifest and

promote the

glory

of God

and the kingdom of Christ.

(I). We eat and drink to

the glory

ofGod

when

we

aclmowledge

His good

gifts

to

us with thanksgiving,

1O:2S, 30; I Tim.

4:3-S.

(2).

We eat and drink

to

the glory of God when

we

eatanddrinkwithlove,8:lf;

8:

13. We must put the spiritual

welfare

of others before the enjoyment of our

Christian liberties and pleasures.

Sometimes we

will

forego

what

we

have

libenyinChristtodo,inordertoadvance

the gospel and build up a brother in the

faith.

We

will

avoid anything that

interferes with

our

full effectiveness

for

Christ, 8:(f; 9:19f;

1O:23f.

(3). We eat

and drink

to

God s glory

when

we eat

and drink in Communion

with

Him

in Christ,

10: IS-I7.

In whatever

we do, we are to

do it all

to

the glory of God, in order

to

praise

Him and to declare His perfections to

others so they

will

praise Him.

Wedo so

gladly

because we

are not our own.

We

have

been bought with the price of the

October, 1992 TIlE COUNSEL ofChalcedon 5


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dead

at the second coming of Christ,

we

shall enjoy God eCSIaticaIly,

perfectly,

totally,

constantly, and eternally, T

Cor

.

5:8. But, as we have said, believers

donot

have to

wait until death to

enjoy

God.

We

do so now through faith in Jesus

Christ:

"Our (present)

fellowship

is

with

the

Father, and with

His

Son, Jesus

Christ,"

IJn. 1:3.

The Psalmist rejoiced that the

Lord

was

guiding him in

this

life, and

was

bringing him into

His glory

after death.

Today,

the Christian can

say,

"Whom

havelinheavenbutYou? Thereisnoone

on earth that 1 desire besides

You. My

llesh and

my

hean fuil; but

God

is

the

strength of

my

hean and

my

portion

forever," Psa.

73:24f. This kind of

relationship with God is

initiated and established

by

God

not man.

It

isbased

on

the fact

that it is the desireof

God that all His people be

one

with

Him, as

God the

Father,

Son and Spirit are

one in each Other. Jesus

prays

that

all

of

God's

people

be

one

"as

Thou, Father, are

in

me

,andI in thee, that they

alsomaybeoneinus

... And

the

lory which thou gavest

me

I

have

given

them; that

they

may be one,

even as we

are one ..."-Jn. 17:21.

Thisenjoyment of Godas

thefountain oflifeforusis foundinJesus

Christ, through

faith

in Him and in

His

finished workinour

behalf,

bywhich

we

are

reconciled with

God,

I

Pet. 2:24.

From this union and communion with

Christ flows

ourjoyin

God.

Ourpresent

enjoymentofGodisapledgeandforetaste

of

the

full and perfectenjoymentof

Him

when

we

are

admitted into His

glorious

presence at death and the resurrection,

whenwe

will

be given a full

sense

ofHis

love

and

fully

and eternally

rest

in

Him

with inconceivable and incomparable

ecstasy, Psa.

4:6,

7; 16:1l.

How

are we to

enjoy God? How

are

we

to

maintain and deepen

this

joy?

Exodus 20:24 gives us the answer. God

says: In all

places

where I record My

Name, (Le., reveal

My

character and

will),

I

will come to you

and 1

will bless

you." In

otherwords,

God

is

Imown

and

enjoyed inall those

places

where He has

chosen

to

reveal

Himself,

where He has

commanded His people to meet with

Him: in Christ, in the church, in

worship, in prayer, praise, the sacra

ments, the preaching of the word, the

study of he Bible,

Christian fellowship,

and in the fulfillment of all those

responsibilities and privileges which

God has

set before us to do according

to

His

word. lnallthese"places', these

means of grace, the enjoyment of

God

will never come to an end.

ThomasWatson.thegreatPuritan,in

his

own

colorful

way, said

it

this way:

"Let it be our

great

care to enjoy God's

sweet

presenceinHis ordinances,

(means

of

grac

e). Enjoyingspiritualcommunion

with God

is

a riddle and mystery to most

people. Everyone that hangs about the

coun does not speak with the king. We

may

approach

God

in ordinances, and

hang about the coun ofheaven, yet not

enjoy communion with God.

We may

have

the letter without the

Spirit, the

visible signwithoutthe

invisible grace. It

is the enjoyment ofGod ina duty that

we

should chielly look

at. Psalm

92:2

says,

My soul thirsts for God,

for

the living

God.' Alas What are all

our

worldly

enjoyments without the enjoyment

of

God It should be our great design

(purpose),

not

only to have the

ordinances of God, but the God of the

ordinances. The enjoyment of God's

sweet presence here is the most

contented

ife

:

He

isahive

of

sweetness,

a magazine of riches, a fountain of

delight,

Psa.

36:8,9. The higher the

lark fiies the sweeter it sings; nd the

higher we

fly

by the wings

of

faith, the

more we enjoy ofGod. Howisthehean

inllarnedinprayerandmeditation What

joy and peace is there in believing Is

t

not comfonable being in heaven?

He

that enjoys much of God in this life

carries heaven about withhim.

WHAT

IS

THE RElATION

BETWEEN GLORIFYING GOD

AND

ENJOYING

GOD?

"Not to enjoy God,

certainly, without

gloritying Him,

for

how

can He to whom glory

inherently belongs be

enjoyed without being

glorified? But just as

cenainlynotto gloruyGod

without enjoying m-

forhowcanHewhoseglory

is His

perfections be

glorified if

He

be not

also

enjoyedT'- Benjamin B.

Warfield.

"

Th

e

gloritying

and

the

enjoyment of

God are here connected

as

one chiefend,

because

God has

inseparably connected

them; and no one can truly design and

seek the

one,

without, at the same time,

designingandseekingtheother. Andwe

may

here remark, that the gloritying of

God is here

set

before the enjoyment of

Him

forever,

to

show that the former is

the means bywhich thelatteris obtained;

that holiness on earth must precede

happiness in

heaven;

and thatnoneshall

enjoy God

forever

,who haveno desire to

glorify

Him in this world, Heb. 12;14;

Mat.

5:8."-AlexanderPaterson

October, 1992 THE COUNSEL ofChalcedon 17


5/5

WHAT IS THE PREREQUlSill FOR

GLORIFYING ND

ENJOYING GOD

~ O W I N GOD IS THE

PREREQUISITE FOR GLORIFYING

AND ENJOYING GOD. John Calvin

began

his

catechism with this question

and

answer:

What is the prindpal and

chief end of man's life? Answer: To

know God. What moves

you

to say

so?

Answer:

Because He

has created us, and

placed us in this world to set foIth His

glory

in us; and it is good reason that we

employourwholelifetoHisglory,seeing

Heis the beginning and fountain thereof.

Whatis then the chiefhappinessofman?

Answer: Even

the

same;

Imean to know

God, and to have His

glory

showed

forth

in us. Why do you call this man's Chief

happiness? Answer: Becausethatwithout

it, our condition or state

were

more

miserable than the state of brute beasts.

Hereby then we may clearly see, that

there can no

suCh

misery come

to

man,

as not to live in the knowledge of

God.

That is most certain. But what is the true

and right

knowledge

of God? Answer:

Whenamanso knows

God,

that he

gives

Him due honor. WhiCh is

the

way

to

honor God aright?

Answer:

It

is to

put

our whole trust and

confidence

in Him;

tosrudytoserveHiminobeyingHiswill;

to call upon Him in our

necessities,

seeking our salvation andall good things

at

His

hand;

and finally to

acknowledge

both withheanandmouth that Heis

the

lively fountain ofall goodness.

CONQUSION

No man is truly Refonned (by the

Word of God) in his thought, then,

unless he

conceives

ofman, not merely

as destined to be the ittstrument of the

Divine glory, but

also

as destined to

reflect the

glory

of God in

his

own

consdousness,

to

exult in God; nay,

unless he himself

delights

in God

as

the

ali-glOrious One. -BenjaminB. Warfield.

Therefore, itcanbeseen thatlifemust

be goal-oriented, ifit is to be lived to

the

fullest.

But

not any goal will do.

Setting

happiness as the goal of your

life

will

never

make you happy. Why? Tomost andinstincts. Happinessisaby-product,

people happiness is the satisfaction ofall not a

goal.

The only

goal big

enough to

of one's sense-taste, touCh, sight, bring real and lasting satisfaction

at

the

hearing,

smell. That goal may bring deepest levelsof your

life

isthegloryand

happiness

to

a

dog,

butitwillneverbring

enjoyment of

God in Christ. When our

happiness to a humanbeing.

Why?

You

goal is to

bring

God

a little

glory

before

are more than a

dog.

You are a

person

in

we

die and to

enjoy

Him

forever,

then

we

the image of

God,

with deeperneedsand are truly and eternally happy. Nothing

goals

than

those

on

the

level

of our

senses

else

satisfies

the human hean.Q

We believe in

the

full authority

of the

Bible as

expressed

in

the

Westminster

Confession

ofFaith, the Heidelberg Catechism, the

Belgic

Confession, and the

Canons of Dort

We

are

Reformed in

theology.

We teach

a comprehensive

Biblical Worldview

in all areas of study. God s

word

is

the

foundation

of all knowledge.

> We have ahigh view ofGod s revealed law in both Old andNew

Covenants,

as abasis for

social and

political ethics.

: We believein the ultimate triumph

of

God ssovereigngracewhichwill impact

the

world.

>

We

believe

in very limited

constitutional

civil

government

and

a

ree enter

prise economic s t e m

> Webelieveinandencourage Christian home-education

(and

enthusiastically

accept homeschoolers), as well as Christian schools.

We

offer

a Bachelor degree in

Theology,

Philosophy,

History,

Political

Economy, and Christian Education.

Students may also take

cour.;ewom

(e.g.

Accounting,

Business,

Modem Languages,

Sciences) at nearby Liberty

University,

aChristian

schoo

>

Board

ofTrustees:

Dr.

GregL

Bahnsen,

M.Div., Th.M., Ph.D.; Dr.

Kevin

L.

dauson,M.A.,j.D. President; Dr. Carl Curtis, M.A, Ph.D.; Rev. RichardE.

Knodel,M.Div. (HEAVBoard); Dr,

RodMays,

M.Ed.,

D. Min.; Rev. Donald

H. Post, M. Div.

Many nationally-known

Christian scholar.; involved.

Current resident

faculty

of

six

men

18 TIlE COUNSEL

of

Chalcedon October, 1992

1992 issue 9 - honor for honor: glorifying god with your life - counsel of chalcedon

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