1 Peter 4:1–11
1 Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, 2 so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God. 3 For the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry. 4 With respect to this they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they malign you; 5 but they will give account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. 6 For this is why the Gospel was preached even to those who are dead, that though judged in the flesh the way people are, they might live in the spirit the way God does.
7 The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. 8 Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. 9 Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. 10 As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: 11 whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies - in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To Him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
Why are we here? Why did God create us? What is our purpose in life?
The first question and answer of the Westminster Catechism addresses these same questions: What is the chief and highest end of man?
Man’s chief and highest end is to glorify God, and fully to enjoy Him forever.
Most Christians know and would agree that we were made to glorify and enjoy God, but how do we do that and what does it mean?
St Augustine said, “You have formed us for Yourself, and our hearts are restless till they find rest in You.” God is a God of glory. Moses sang in Exodus 15:11, “Who among the gods is like you, O LORD? Who is like you - majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders?”
The Lord is glorious. The Glory of God is a major theme of the Bible. God exists to be glorified, which is what the catechism points us to. God does not exist for us. We exist for God. We were created by God to glorify Him.
Our first purpose in life is to glorify the God who created us. 1 Corinthians 10:31 says, “whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” Paul also writes in Romans 11:36, “From Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever! Amen.”
But what does it actually mean to glorify God, and how do we do it?
Glorifying Him means to acknowledge His greatness and give Him honour by praising and worshipping Him, primarily because He, and He alone, deserves to be praised, honoured and worshipped.
God made us in His image, which means that our call as His born-again children is to reflect that image - to display and manifest His glory. We are to be like well-polished mirrors of God’s truth to the world. There’s an old saying that to many non-believers, we are the only Bible they’ll ever read, and there is a lot of wisdom in that.
I was watching one of RC Sproul’s teaching videos some time ago. He was a keen golfer in his younger days, and he tells how he was always amused at how other golfers would react when they asked him what he did for a living. When he replied that he was a minister, it would sometimes make his playing partners feel quite awkward, and they would find it difficult to have just a normal conversation about arbitrary things with him while strolling down a fairway. And every time they used colourful language after a bad shot, they’d apologise to him. Then Sproul said something very interesting. “Imagine being uncomfortable because of me. That’s ridiculous. But people are uncomfortable in our presence, not because we’re holy, but because we represent the One who is.”
One of the primary ways that Christians glorify God, is by reflecting His holiness in an unholy world – a world that wants nothing to do with Him.
But in order to correctly glorify and accurately reflect the nature of God to the world, we need to know that it is impossible to glorify Him if the heart isn’t right. Now of course, we know that no-one is perfect. Every Christian will acknowledge that, so how do we even begin to glorify God with a heart that isn’t right? The answer, as always, is the Gospel – the Cross of Jesus Christ, and what He accomplished there for us. A right heart can only be had by someone who is spiritually born again from above.
Once we have been transformed by the atoning sacrifice of Jesus, we begin this new journey of hearing God’s Word through the Scriptures, and by obediently following His commands.
Another crucial point to remember here is this: We don’t try to keep His laws in order to be saved. That is a works-based salvation which will fail every time. Instead, we strive to keep His laws because we are saved. As believers, we have a new Master, and we are to submit to Him, rather than to Satan and the ways of the world as we did before coming to faith.
Glorifying God is more than just saying that God is holy. We need to be holy too. We are to imitate the holiness of God, as He, by His Spirit equips us for that task that we simply are incapable of doing in our own strength.
Listening to God and agreeing with Him is important. But just making a mental assent of that does not glorify Him. We must also submit to Him and obey His commands in order to glorify Him.
When the prophet Samuel told Saul that God had rejected him as king of Israel, Saul tried to defend himself by saying he had performed the required sacrifices, but Samuel rebuked him by saying, “Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the Word of the LORD, He has rejected you as king.” (1 Samuel 15:22-23)
Glorifying God involves not only loving Him. It includes obeying His Law and His commandments, but we must guard against regarding the Bible (and the Old Testament in particular) as some kind of rule book. Instead we should see it for what it really is: A treasure that reveals the holy character of God, who calls us to be holy as He is holy, all made possible by the indwelling Spirit of God, given to those who have heard and accepted the Gospel of Jesus Christ. As Christians we should be excited by the privilege we have of obeying and glorifying God.
Because we are given these new hearts and we have been born again from above, we are called to be faithful in our study of Scripture, seeking the Spirit’s help in transforming us more and more into the likeness of Jesus each day.
When we come to faith in Christ, there is a radical inward transformation in our hearts which needs to manifest itself in our outward lives.
The simple answer to the question, how do we bring glory to God, is this: Bear fruit which gives evidence of the change He has made in our lives.
Our words and our actions reflect the truth of what is in our hearts.
We are to find delight in God. Psalm 37:4 says, “Delight yourself in the Lord; and He shall give you the desires of your heart.” This concept is so often misunderstood, because our view of God is distorted by our sinful and selfish nature. God is not a blessing vending machine. Glorify Him first, align your will with His for your life as you joyfully obey Him, and the blessings He gives you will delight you, because the desire of your heart is to bring Him glory in the first place.
We can learn to enjoy God by having the right attitude and approach in prayer. The importance of a healthy prayer life for the Christian can’t be over-emphasised. It is one of the keys to allowing His Spirit to shape and change our desires to conform to what He wants for us.
Some people believe the purpose of prayer is simply to get us out of trouble when we find ourselves in a desperate situation.
Absolutely, God does invite us to bring our requests to Him, but prayer should never be primarily a matter of coming to God to ask for things.
Prayer is not about trying to get God to do what we want. The significance of prayer is to fellowship with God, and to spend time with Him. The opening line in the prayer Jesus taught us reminds is that when we pray, we glorify God. “Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name.” He goes on to teach us to ask for our daily bread, but the prayer begins and ends with the same theme. “For Thine is the Kingdom, the power and the glory, forever and ever, Amen.”
We also need to spend quality time in His Word.
Psalm 119:47-48 says, “I delight in your commands because I love them. I reach out for your commands, which I love, that I may meditate on your decrees.”
The Christian who does not enjoy God’s Word will find some other distraction to enjoy. This doesn’t mean that we are to read the Bible and nothing else, but regular and methodical time in the Scriptures is vital for our spiritual health.
What is the chief and highest end of man?
The world has many answers to that question, and we are often drawn into believing the lies, because our natural tendency is to live for ourselves.
But remember, as a Christian you have been set free by the blood of Christ. You now have a new Master and a new purpose for living. Your chief and highest end now is to glorify God, and fully to enjoy Him forever.
1 Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, 2 so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God. 3 For the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry. 4 With respect to this they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they malign you; 5 but they will give account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. 6 For this is why the Gospel was preached even to those who are dead, that though judged in the flesh the way people are, they might live in the spirit the way God does.
7 The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. 8 Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. 9 Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. 10 As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: 11 whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies - in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To Him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
Why are we here? Why did God create us? What is our purpose in life?
The first question and answer of the Westminster Catechism addresses these same questions: What is the chief and highest end of man?
Man’s chief and highest end is to glorify God, and fully to enjoy Him forever.
Most Christians know and would agree that we were made to glorify and enjoy God, but how do we do that and what does it mean?
St Augustine said, “You have formed us for Yourself, and our hearts are restless till they find rest in You.” God is a God of glory. Moses sang in Exodus 15:11, “Who among the gods is like you, O LORD? Who is like you - majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders?”
The Lord is glorious. The Glory of God is a major theme of the Bible. God exists to be glorified, which is what the catechism points us to. God does not exist for us. We exist for God. We were created by God to glorify Him.
Our first purpose in life is to glorify the God who created us. 1 Corinthians 10:31 says, “whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” Paul also writes in Romans 11:36, “From Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever! Amen.”
But what does it actually mean to glorify God, and how do we do it?
Glorifying Him means to acknowledge His greatness and give Him honour by praising and worshipping Him, primarily because He, and He alone, deserves to be praised, honoured and worshipped.
God made us in His image, which means that our call as His born-again children is to reflect that image - to display and manifest His glory. We are to be like well-polished mirrors of God’s truth to the world. There’s an old saying that to many non-believers, we are the only Bible they’ll ever read, and there is a lot of wisdom in that.
I was watching one of RC Sproul’s teaching videos some time ago. He was a keen golfer in his younger days, and he tells how he was always amused at how other golfers would react when they asked him what he did for a living. When he replied that he was a minister, it would sometimes make his playing partners feel quite awkward, and they would find it difficult to have just a normal conversation about arbitrary things with him while strolling down a fairway. And every time they used colourful language after a bad shot, they’d apologise to him. Then Sproul said something very interesting. “Imagine being uncomfortable because of me. That’s ridiculous. But people are uncomfortable in our presence, not because we’re holy, but because we represent the One who is.”
One of the primary ways that Christians glorify God, is by reflecting His holiness in an unholy world – a world that wants nothing to do with Him.
But in order to correctly glorify and accurately reflect the nature of God to the world, we need to know that it is impossible to glorify Him if the heart isn’t right. Now of course, we know that no-one is perfect. Every Christian will acknowledge that, so how do we even begin to glorify God with a heart that isn’t right? The answer, as always, is the Gospel – the Cross of Jesus Christ, and what He accomplished there for us. A right heart can only be had by someone who is spiritually born again from above.
Once we have been transformed by the atoning sacrifice of Jesus, we begin this new journey of hearing God’s Word through the Scriptures, and by obediently following His commands.
Another crucial point to remember here is this: We don’t try to keep His laws in order to be saved. That is a works-based salvation which will fail every time. Instead, we strive to keep His laws because we are saved. As believers, we have a new Master, and we are to submit to Him, rather than to Satan and the ways of the world as we did before coming to faith.
Glorifying God is more than just saying that God is holy. We need to be holy too. We are to imitate the holiness of God, as He, by His Spirit equips us for that task that we simply are incapable of doing in our own strength.
Listening to God and agreeing with Him is important. But just making a mental assent of that does not glorify Him. We must also submit to Him and obey His commands in order to glorify Him.
When the prophet Samuel told Saul that God had rejected him as king of Israel, Saul tried to defend himself by saying he had performed the required sacrifices, but Samuel rebuked him by saying, “Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the Word of the LORD, He has rejected you as king.” (1 Samuel 15:22-23)
Glorifying God involves not only loving Him. It includes obeying His Law and His commandments, but we must guard against regarding the Bible (and the Old Testament in particular) as some kind of rule book. Instead we should see it for what it really is: A treasure that reveals the holy character of God, who calls us to be holy as He is holy, all made possible by the indwelling Spirit of God, given to those who have heard and accepted the Gospel of Jesus Christ. As Christians we should be excited by the privilege we have of obeying and glorifying God.
Because we are given these new hearts and we have been born again from above, we are called to be faithful in our study of Scripture, seeking the Spirit’s help in transforming us more and more into the likeness of Jesus each day.
When we come to faith in Christ, there is a radical inward transformation in our hearts which needs to manifest itself in our outward lives.
The simple answer to the question, how do we bring glory to God, is this: Bear fruit which gives evidence of the change He has made in our lives.
Our words and our actions reflect the truth of what is in our hearts.
We are to find delight in God. Psalm 37:4 says, “Delight yourself in the Lord; and He shall give you the desires of your heart.” This concept is so often misunderstood, because our view of God is distorted by our sinful and selfish nature. God is not a blessing vending machine. Glorify Him first, align your will with His for your life as you joyfully obey Him, and the blessings He gives you will delight you, because the desire of your heart is to bring Him glory in the first place.
We can learn to enjoy God by having the right attitude and approach in prayer. The importance of a healthy prayer life for the Christian can’t be over-emphasised. It is one of the keys to allowing His Spirit to shape and change our desires to conform to what He wants for us.
Some people believe the purpose of prayer is simply to get us out of trouble when we find ourselves in a desperate situation.
Absolutely, God does invite us to bring our requests to Him, but prayer should never be primarily a matter of coming to God to ask for things.
Prayer is not about trying to get God to do what we want. The significance of prayer is to fellowship with God, and to spend time with Him. The opening line in the prayer Jesus taught us reminds is that when we pray, we glorify God. “Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name.” He goes on to teach us to ask for our daily bread, but the prayer begins and ends with the same theme. “For Thine is the Kingdom, the power and the glory, forever and ever, Amen.”
We also need to spend quality time in His Word.
Psalm 119:47-48 says, “I delight in your commands because I love them. I reach out for your commands, which I love, that I may meditate on your decrees.”
The Christian who does not enjoy God’s Word will find some other distraction to enjoy. This doesn’t mean that we are to read the Bible and nothing else, but regular and methodical time in the Scriptures is vital for our spiritual health.
What is the chief and highest end of man?
The world has many answers to that question, and we are often drawn into believing the lies, because our natural tendency is to live for ourselves.
But remember, as a Christian you have been set free by the blood of Christ. You now have a new Master and a new purpose for living. Your chief and highest end now is to glorify God, and fully to enjoy Him forever.