Created for Glory: Understanding Our Divine Purpose

"Isaiah 43: 6 to7 it's essential to know and study and maybe even memorize it's so rich which is why it comes up all the time on this podcast which you'll see in the apj book on pages 87 to 88 Isaiah 43: 6 and 7 is on my mind today because we read it today we read Isaiah 42 and 43 together in our bible plan alongside three other text is a lot of reading today and again Pastor John one of my fears with the Bible reading plan like the one that we're on trying to read the whole Bible in a year is that we just make it so easy to Breeze past important texts especially ones that you draw from all the time so I want to hit pause and have you slow us down to meditate on Isaiah 43: 6-7 uh for 10 minutes or so to draw out the points we need on this text it seems like a huge and awesome blessing that the Creator would explain to us why we exist it is huge one of the reasons these verses from Isaiah 43 have been so Central to my thinking is that at 55 years ago when I was in seminary I bought a book by the Seminary faculty titled things most surely believed in that book Daniel Fuller one of the faculty my most influential teacher had a chapter titled why God created the world and that chapter was an exposition of these verses wow so I was drawn in to a living discussion of that text and what seemed to me to be just about the most important question in the world why do I exist why does anything exist and I've never tired of returning to these verses because when I read them in context over and over I not only see fresh glimpses of God's peculiar design for me as a human being but I also feel welling up in my heart fresh Zeal to bring my life into alignment with God's ultimate purpose and so experience the the greatest significance possible in this life and not waste my one single life that I have to live on this Earth and and that just has been huge for me I mean over and over again it has kindled in me don't waste your life life there's a purpose for your life God has revealed it get in line with it this will make everything count and that's what I would love for our our listeners in this session so he are the words that uh I've returned to over and over bring my sons from afar this is verse six of Isaiah 43 bring my sons from afar my daughters from the end of the Earth everyone who is called by my name whom I created for my my glory whom I formed and made so let's gaze at The Wonder of this statement through five different lenses first let's look at it through the Jewish lens this is a statement made to Israel we just have to own that right off we're Gentiles reading it and we take it for ourselves as we should but but you have to give that a little bit of thought this is made to Israel the paragraph verse one begins now thus says the Lord he who created you oh Jacob he who formed you oh Israel there are unique ways by which God is glorified in the history of Israel no doubt about that and he's talking about that here but it would be a mistake not to see ourselves as Christians lovers of Messiah Jesus in this verse and not to see his purpose for the Nations as as well in this verse because the Bible teaches that not just Israel but all the nations indeed All Humans created in God's image to image forth God that is to glorify God by virtue of being created in His image all of us exist for the glory of God every tongue Paul says in Philippians 2 willingly or unwillingly will confess Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father father not just confess Christ but confess Christ to the glory of God the Father And as far as Christians are concerned the whole new testament is designed to show that Gentile Believers like me and you Tony and most of the people listening probably Gentile Believers in Jesus are now included in God's chosen people the true Israel so if you are in Christ in the Jewish Messiah by faith you are Abraham's offspring HS according to the promise Galatians 329 therefore the fullness of God's blessing in Isaiah 43 applies not only to Jewish Believers but also to Gentile Believers so we should read this chapter and revel in it as ours Gentiles Believers in Messiah number two let's look at it through the the lens of God's self-exaltation verse 7 I created my sons and daughters for my glory whom I created for my glory this is just inescapably and plainly an instance of God's self-exaltation he's saying in effect the universe is about me folks it's about me the the bigness of the universe is about my bigness the workings of the universe in their amazing intricate wisdom are about my wisdom the weight and greatness of the universe are about my power the gift of the universe to the human race is about my grace God's purpose in creation is self exalting it's about him from him through him to him Paul said are all things so that's the second lens and we'll Circle back to that to show why that's good news third to say that God created the world and us for his glory does not mean he created us in order to become glorious that's really important to clarify but rather to show display communicate share his glory God's son Sons and Daughters do not Magnify Him like a microscope which makes small things look bigger than they are but like a telescope that makes unimaginably great things look more like what they are he created us to glorify him like a telescope people should put their eyes to the lens of our life and see through it the greatness of the glory of God how satisfying he is to us fourth therefore we are able to see God in this text through the lens of his self-sufficiency he did not create out of need he wasn't desperate for a friend if you heard that growing up like God made you because he needed a friend not true he was free and not constrained by any defect or any deficiency it is no defect in a fountain Edward said that it is prone to overflow God did not create out of the deficiency of need he created out of the fullness of Love fifth this brings us to the most wonderful part of this text that I hadn't meditated on for a long time and it it really jumped out at me in a most wonderful way in getting ready for this namely looking at it through the lens of Our Own experience of God's purpose to glorify God in us if God created us for his glory what does that imply about our experience of God's glory now here are the key words from verses 1 to 5 and if you read them slowly and you count them they are simply glorious amazing wonderful encouraging here they are fear not for I have redeemed you I have called you by name you are mine when you pass through the waters I will be with you and through the rivers they will not overwhelm you when you walk through the fire you shall not be burned and the flame shall not consume you for I am the Lord your God the Holy One of Israel your savior because you are precious in my eyes and glorified and I love you fear not for I am with you I mean that's just to have the creator of the universe talk to you that way yeah wow I mean what could be more glorious loved redeemed called owned protected precious glorified God has said everything he can say has he not he said everything he can say to make it plain that his own self-exaltation is good for me it's good for us we fulfill the destiny of the universe we fulfill God's purpose to be glorified in us when we Revel in being loved by him Revel in being Redeemed by him Revel in being called by him Revel in being owned by him Revel in being protected by him Revel in being precious to him Revel in being glorified actually sharing in the glory that he created the world to display God created us for his glory and this is spectacularly good news because as is so plain in this text God is glorified in us when we are satisfied in him that's why he made the world Amen our own experience of God's purpose to glorify God in us so deep so precious so grateful for you drawing our attention here thank you Pastor John and if you want more on Isaiah 43 veres 6 and 7 in the rich role it has played in Pastor John's life and Ministry development over the the decades see the apj book on pages 87 and 88 well we just heard all of those we statements we fulfill the destiny of the universe we fulfill God's purpose to be glorified in us when we Revel in being loved by him Revel in being Redeemed by him Revel in being called by him Revel and being owned by him Revel in being protected by him Revel in being precious to him Revel and being glorified God is glorified in us when we are satisfied in him a lot of we statements there so does John Piper believe in self-denial that's a common push back we hear about Christian Hedonism and it's up next I'm Tony rangy Pastor John and I will see you on Thursday to look at self-denial see you then" [00:00:22]