Upon These Truths we Stand: The Purpose of Man

Devotional

Day 1: Telescopes Revealing a Star’s Hidden Glory

We exist to magnify God’s inherent greatness, not manufacture new glory. Like telescopes making distant stars visible, our lives display divine beauty others might otherwise miss. This purpose reshapes ordinary moments into sacred acts. Eating meals, working jobs, and speaking words become opportunities to showcase God’s character. The goal isn’t self-promotion but directing attention beyond ourselves. Every choice asks: does this help others glimpse His holiness? [09:27]

“So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” (1 Corinthians 10:31, ESV)

Reflection: What mundane task or relationship in your life could become a “telescope” this week? How might doing it with intentionality reveal God’s patience or creativity to others?

Day 2: Workshop Tools Demanding Their Own Blueprint

Rebellion begins when created things reject their Maker’s design. Like a hammer refusing nails to pursue “self-expression,” we exhaust ourselves chasing lesser purposes. Idols of success, comfort, or control promise fulfillment but drain us. True rest comes realigning with our original intent: reflecting the Creator’s wisdom. Sin isn’t just breaking rules—it’s living as a misplaced tool. [02:45]

“All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way.” (Isaiah 53:6, ESV)

Reflection: Where have you felt drained by chasing something good that became ultimate? How does recognizing it as a “misplaced tool” change your approach?

Day 3: Receipts Proving Ownership After Redemption

Salvation transfers our lives from self-rule to Christ’s authority. Like a receipt confirming purchase, the cross proves we belong wholly to God. Our time, gifts, and relationships aren’t personal assets but entrusted resources. This truth frees us from both selfishness and comparison—we steward what’s His, not compete for what’s ours. [19:40]

“You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20, ESV)

Reflection: What possession, skill, or relationship feels hardest to hold loosely? How might stewarding it (not owning it) deepen your trust in Christ’s care?

Day 4: Road Signs Pointing Travelers Home

Our actions should direct attention away from ourselves. Forgiving enemies, working diligently, or giving secretly become arrows pointing to God’s grace. Like a signpost ignored when focusing on its paint, our lives succeed when people notice His character more than our virtue. The test isn’t applause but whether observers leave hungry for Jesus. [28:00]

“Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16, ESV)

Reflection: When did someone’s integrity or kindness recently make you admire God? How could you intentionally become such a “signpost” today?

Day 5: Echoes in Solomon’s Empty Palace

Earthly achievements without eternal purpose leave souls echoing. Like Solomon’s vacant halls after feasts, worldly success can’t fill spaces made for God. Yet even in loss or pain, worshippers prove His worth. Suffering doesn’t destroy purpose—it tests whether we’ll still reflect His glory when earthly lights dim. [16:20]

“Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity.” (Ecclesiastes 1:2, ESV)

Reflection: What “echo” of dissatisfaction reminds you that only Christ satisfies? How could embracing this ache deepen your dependence on His purpose?

Sermon Summary

Colossians 1:16 gives the basic answer to the biggest question of life: all things were created by Christ and for Christ. God does not fit into a life that already belongs to man. God is the reason life exists in the first place. Before there was human ambition, there was divine intention. Since God made man, God has the right to define man and tell man what life is for.

Genesis 1 shows that mankind was made in God’s image. Man can reason, create, know right from wrong, worship, and commune with the God who made him. An image points beyond itself, just like a portrait points beyond the canvas to the person portrayed. Human life was meant to say, “Look at what our Creator is like.”

Isaiah 43 declares that God created man for His glory. God’s glory cannot be increased, because He is already infinitely holy, wise, powerful, and good. A telescope does not make a star bigger, but it helps people see the greatness already there. A life lived rightly becomes a telescope through which the watching world sees more clearly the goodness, holiness, faithfulness, and wisdom of God.

Romans 1 exposes sin as far more than breaking rules. Sin is the creature refusing the purpose of the Creator. Fallen man does not stop worshiping when he rejects God. Fallen man simply redirects worship toward money, pleasure, family, appearance, reputation, comfort, success, or even ministry. Good things become terrible gods when they become the ultimate thing. Idols always get hungrier, demand more than they promised, and give back less than they claimed.

Romans 3 explains why all the success in the world still leaves an echo in the soul. Finite things cannot satisfy a soul made for an infinite God. Solomon poured the world into his life and called it vanity. A long life lived for lesser things is a greater tragedy than a short life lived for God’s glory.

Christ redeems what sin ruined. The Creator became the Redeemer, made peace through the blood of His cross, and reconciles rebels to God. Christ lived the life Adam, Israel, and every sinner failed to live, perfectly glorifying the Father. Redemption restores relationship, restores rightful ownership, and begins restoring the image sin has marred. Believers are not their own, for they were bought with a price.

First Corinthians 10:31 brings God’s glory into ordinary life. Eating, drinking, working, speaking, giving, suffering, serving, and enjoying God can all point beyond man to the God worthy of all glory. Calling may differ from person to person, but purpose does not. The life God gives is for Him.

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Key Takeaways

1. Created by Him and for Him Colossians 1:16 removes man from the center of his own story. God’s creative ownership means that identity, purpose, abilities, time, and possessions all belong first to Him. A life becomes clear when it quits asking what it can get from God and begins asking how it can glorify the God who made it. [03:05]
2. Idols always demand more payment Romans 1 shows that worship never disappears, even when God is rejected. Money, approval, comfort, success, and even ministry become cruel masters when they take God’s place. An idol keeps bringing the bill again and again, while Christ gives Himself for sinners and restores them to rightful worship. [14:50]
3. The cross restores rightful ownership Christ does not merely make bad people behave better. Christ reconciles rebels, bears sin’s penalty, and brings redeemed people back under the loving ownership of their Maker. “Ye are not your own” is not bondage to a cruel master, but restoration to the God who loved sinners and gave Himself for them. [19:40]
4. Ordinary life can display God’s glory First Corinthians 10:31 puts eating and drinking beside “whatsoever ye do.” Work, family life, integrity, speech, generosity, and unseen faithfulness all become worship when done unto the Lord. A Christian life should function like a road sign, turning attention away from itself and toward God. [25:22]
5. Suffering cannot cancel life’s purpose Comfort, health, and success can all be taken away, but God’s glory remains a purpose that circumstances cannot destroy. Paul in prison, Job in grief, Stephen at death, and Christ at the cross showed that worship can endure where earthly treasures fail. Faith in sorrow can reveal that God, not His gifts, was treasured most.

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Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[00:36] - The Question of Life’s Purpose
[02:21] - Created by Christ and for Christ
[04:35] - Four Movements of Human Purpose
[05:05] - By Him We Were Made
[07:04] - Made in God’s Image
[08:34] - Created for God’s Glory
[11:14] - Against Him We Rebelled
[13:16] - The Exchange of Worship and Idols
[17:21] - Through Him We Are Redeemed
[20:54] - Christ Restores God’s Image
[24:54] - For Him We Now Live
[29:10] - Stewarding What Belongs to God
[31:02] - Glorifying God in Suffering
[33:34] - Enjoying God for His Glory
[36:13] - From Truth Upon Which We Stand to Truth We Live
[38:57] - Questions for an Honest Heart
[40:27] - Come to Christ in Faith
[42:42] - The Highest Purpose of Life

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading

Colossians 1:16
“For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.” [03:05]

1 Corinthians 10:31
“So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” [25:03]

Romans 1:21-23
“For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.” [13:16]

Isaiah 43:7
“Everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.” [08:49]

Observation questions

According to Colossians 1:16, what three phrases describe Christ’s relationship to all created things?
What does Isaiah 43:7 say God’s purpose was in creating and forming His people?
In Romans 1:21-23, what actions show that people did not honor God as God, and what exchange did they make instead? [11:37]
What ordinary activities does 1 Corinthians 10:31 specifically name before extending the command to “whatever you do”? [25:03]

Interpretation questions

If all things were created through Christ and for Christ, how should a believer understand personal identity, plans, abilities, and possessions? [05:30]
Isaiah 43:7 says people were created for God’s glory. Since God’s glory cannot be increased, what does it mean for a human life to display or reflect His glory? [08:51]
Romans 1 describes people exchanging the Creator for created things. Why can good gifts such as family, work, comfort, approval, or ministry become idols when they become ultimate? [13:29]
How does Christ’s death reconcile sinners to God and restore them to the purpose for which they were created, rather than merely improving their behavior? [17:57]

Application questions

What most often shapes your decisions, thoughts, and goals right now: God’s glory, comfort, approval, financial security, success, or something else? What does that reveal about what your life is presently centered on? [38:45]
Is there a good thing in your life that may be taking God’s place as the ultimate thing—such as family, work, reputation, appearance, comfort, or even service in the church? What “bill” has that idol been asking you to pay? [14:50]
Since believers have been bought with a price and are not their own, which area of your life is hardest to see as belonging to God: your time, body, money, abilities, relationships, or future plans? Why? [19:40]
What is one ordinary part of this coming week—work, meals, conversations, family responsibilities, school, or rest—where you could more intentionally do all for God’s glory? What might that look like in a concrete way? [25:22]
When people observe your life, are they more likely to be impressed with you or helped to think more highly of God? What change in your words, integrity, generosity, or forgiveness could point more clearly to Him? [28:27]
What loss, disappointment, or hardship would feel as though it could destroy your purpose? How does the truth that God’s glory remains your purpose in every circumstance bring hope in that area? [31:50]
How can you pursue joy in God this week—not as a duty to complete, but as delight in the God who made and redeemed you? [34:15]

Sermon Clips

35s

#IdolsNeverSatisfied

“And here's why that trade never pays off, church. Because an idol never gets satisfied. It gets hungrier and hungrier. It always asks for more and more from you, more than you meant to give, and it hits back less than it promised. Money asks for your years. Success asks for your family. Approval asks for your integrity, and you pay it, and you put it in, you make the sacrifices. And what does it do? It just brings you the bill again and again and again.”

41s

#CreatedForGodsGlory

“We were created for God's glory. This explains why people can achieve so much and still remain restless. Why a man who finally gets what he has always wanted will eventually, in fact, almost immediately begin looking for the next thing. Success always becomes a greater success. I've to have a greater success. One experience only produces an appetite to go and have another experience, better than that last one. Why is this? It's because finite things can't satisfy a soul that was created for an infinite god to fill.”

40s

#PurposeUnshakable

“If my ultimate purpose is comfort, then suffering will destroy my purpose. If my ultimate purpose is success, then failure can destroy my purpose. And if health is is my ultimate purpose, then sickness can destroy my purpose. Listen, but if my ultimate purpose is to glorify God, then no circumstance of life can take that purpose away from me. Regardless of the circumstances, my purpose remains.”

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