Hello, friends, and welcome back to Nations 4 Jesus. Today I want to ask you a question that every human being wrestles with at some point in their life: What is our purpose?
All of us want to live a life of purpose and meaning. We were created with that desire—it's wired into us! But friends, how do we know what the true purpose of our life should be? Do we look inwardly to find the answer? Do we search the self-help section at the bookstore? Do we look at the world around us to find the answer? Or do we look to God, our Creator, and His Word to find the answer?
I believe it's this last place that we must look. And when we do look to God's Word, the answer is crystal clear—but it's not what our culture tells us it should be.
[God's purpose in creation - the foundation]
God's purpose for creating people was to glorify and worship Him. He desires that His name be worshipped, glorified, revered, sanctified, and honored by all nations. Notice I said "all nations"—not just some, not just the easy ones, but all. He wants people to know Him and to love and worship Him.
Throughout the Bible, the call to praise and worship God is foremost. Psalm 97:1 says, "The Lord reigns, let the earth be glad; let the distant shores rejoice." Psalm 67:3-4 declares, "May the peoples praise you, God; may all the peoples praise you. May the nations be glad and sing for joy." Psalm 96:3 commands, "Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples."
And in Revelation 15:3-4, we get a glimpse of Heaven where voices cry out, "Great and marvelous are your deeds, Lord God Almighty. Just and true are your ways, King of the ages. Who will not fear you, O Lord, and bring glory to your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you."
Friends, do you see the theme? All peoples. All nations. God's glory displayed everywhere!
[Our selfish nature - the distortion]
Yet our selfish, sinful nature time and again tries to convince us that this world is all about us. We want to believe that God created this world solely for our enjoyment, our happiness, our comfort. We read the Bible and somehow make ourselves the main character of the story.
Let me give you two examples from Scripture that show how we've distorted God's purposes into being about us. Many of us believe—and I certainly did until recently—that God saved Israel out of Egypt and from numerous other tribulations because, for some reason, they pleased Him and He wanted to help them. That it was all about rescuing His favorite people.
And we believe that Jesus Christ came solely to save us from Hell, and that Heaven is our reward for doing the best we can at living our lives in obedience to God and His Word. It's all about us getting saved, us going to Heaven, us being blessed.
[The truth about the Exodus - God's glory to the nations]
Now friends, while there's truth in each of those statements, these beliefs miss the underlying reason or purpose for creation, the Exodus, Jesus's time on Earth, and Heaven. They are not about us. They are all about God and His glory!
Let's start with the Exodus. Why did God save Israel from Egypt? Was it just because He liked them? No! The Exodus occurred so that the nations—especially Israel and Egypt—would see that God was much more powerful than any of the gods that Egypt worshipped. And remember, Egypt was the greatest world power at that time!
The plagues weren't random disasters. Each one showcased God's power over a specific Egyptian god. The Nile turning to blood? That was God demonstrating His power over Hapi, the Nile god. The plague of frogs? That challenged Heqet, the frog goddess. The plague of darkness? That showed God's supremacy over Ra, the sun god. Friends, the plagues were a direct confrontation between the one true God and the demonic powers behind Egypt's false gods!
And here's what's crucial: God's purpose was for His name to be known among all nations through what He did in Egypt. Exodus 9:16 says, "But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth." It was never just about rescuing Israel—it was about displaying God's glory to the watching world!
[All creation points to God - the universal testimony]
In fact, all that has been created was made to glorify and point to God. Romans 1:20 tells us, "For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse."
Friends, when you look at a sunset, it's pointing to God's glory. When you marvel at the intricacy of a human cell, it's declaring God's wisdom. When you stand at the edge of the ocean or look up at the stars, creation is shouting, "Look at how great our Creator is!" Nothing was created just for our enjoyment—though we do enjoy it! Everything was created to display God's glory.
[Jesus's purpose - manifesting God's name]
Now let's talk about Jesus. Yes, Jesus certainly came to Earth to seek and save sinners—that's true! But friends, that wasn't His main purpose. His main purpose was to glorify God. Listen to Jesus's own words in John 17:4-6: "I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do." And what was that work? "I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world."
Jesus made known to the world who God was! He caused His followers to know and adore Him—God incarnate. Everything Jesus did—His teaching, His miracles, His death, His resurrection—was ultimately about revealing the Father's glory. Yes, we benefit from that! We're saved through it! But the primary purpose was God's glory being displayed to the world.
[Heaven's purpose - eternal worship]
And lastly, let's talk about Heaven. Friends, Heaven will be a place of happiness, joy, peace—all the good that we can ever imagine! I'm not minimizing that! But our primary purpose in Heaven will be to worship God. We see this in the numerous visions of Heaven that God gives us in Scripture.
In Revelation 15:3-4, John tells us what is said around God's throne: "Great and marvelous are your deeds, Lord God Almighty. Just and true are your ways, King of the ages. Who will not fear you, O Lord, and bring glory to your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous acts have been revealed."
All nations! Heaven is a place where people from every tribe, tongue, and nation will worship God together! And here's the incredible thing about this worship—through worshiping God, we find our greatest happiness! God will be worshipped, and we will be filled with endless, incredible joy!
[The radical reorientation - what this means for us]
So in light of all this truth from God's Word, our purpose in life is not to find the most happiness, prosperity, success, and peace we can find. Our purpose is to glorify the Lord! Everything else—our happiness, our fulfillment, our joy—flows from that primary purpose.
This is a radical reorientation for most of us! Our culture tells us to "follow our hearts," "find ourselves," "live our truth," "pursue our dreams." But God's Word tells us something completely different: Live for God's glory! And friends, when we do that, we discover something amazing—we actually find the satisfaction we were looking for all along!
[John Piper's famous quote - the key to satisfaction]
John Piper summed it up perfectly when he said, "God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him." Think about that! When we're most satisfied in God—when we find our joy, our peace, our fulfillment in Him—that's when He's most glorified! It's not a competition between God's glory and our joy. They're the same thing! We glorify God by being satisfied in Him, and we find satisfaction by glorifying Him!
This changes everything about how we approach life, doesn't it?
[Practical application - five ways to live for God's glory]
So how do we actually live this out? Let me give you five practical ways to make God's glory the center of your life. First, reframe every decision by asking, "Will this bring glory to God?" Not "Will this make me happy?" or "Will this be successful?" but "Will this point people to God's greatness?" That question changes how we spend our money, our time, our energy.
Second, pursue God Himself, not just His blessings. We often come to God asking for things—and that's okay!—but do we come to God just to be with Him? Do we delight in Him for who He is, not just for what He gives? Third, make your life point others to God. This is where missions comes in! When we live in a way that displays God's character—His love, His justice, His mercy—we're pointing others to Him. When we tell people about Jesus, we're making His name known among the nations!
Fourth, worship God in everything you do. First Corinthians 10:31 says, "Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." Cooking dinner for your family? Do it for God's glory! Homeschooling your kids? Do it for God's glory! Working at your job? Do it for God's glory! And fifth, care about what God cares about—all nations worshiping Him. If God's purpose is for all nations to glorify Him, and that's not happening yet with 3.4 billion people in unreached people groups, shouldn't that concern us? Shouldn't that shape our prayers, our giving, our going?
[The missions connection - all nations will worship]
This is why missions is not optional for Christians! If God's purpose is for all nations to worship Him, and we claim to live for God's glory, then we must care about the nations! We must pray for unreached people groups. We must give to send missionaries. We must go ourselves if God calls us. We must use our lives to make God's name known where it's not yet known!
[Personal testimony - when I discovered this truth]
Let me be honest with you—when I first really understood this truth, it was both humbling and freeing. Humbling because I realized how much of my Christian life had been about me—my happiness, my comfort, my blessings. I'd made myself the center of the story when God should have been.
But it was also freeing! Because when you realize life isn't about you, the pressure comes off! I don't have to create my own purpose or meaning. I don't have to figure out how to be happy. I just have to live for God's glory, and everything else falls into place. My satisfaction comes from Him being glorified!
[The eternal perspective - what will matter]
One day we're going to stand before God. And on that day, what's going to matter? Not how successful we were by the world's standards. Not how comfortable our lives were. Not how much we accumulated. What will matter is whether we lived for His glory. Whether we made His name known. Whether we pointed others to Him.
And one day, as Revelation promises, there will be people from every nation, tribe, people, and language standing before the throne worshiping God. Will people from unreached nations be there because of your prayers? Because of your giving? Because of your going? Or will there be empty spaces because we were too focused on our own comfort and happiness?
So friends, I want to challenge you today: Stop making your life about you. Make it about God's glory! Pursue satisfaction in Him, not in the world's promises. Live in a way that points others to His greatness. And care deeply about all nations coming to worship Him.
Let me pray:
Thank you for joining me today, friends. This truth about living for God's glory rather than our own purposes is foundational to everything else we talk about on this podcast. When we get this right, missions becomes the natural overflow of a life lived for God's glory.
Until next time, remember—keep your eyes on the nations and live every moment for the glory of God, not yourself.
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