The story you live in determines both your purpose and how you process your pain
To understand the STORY OF GOD, we have to understand the PURPOSES OF GOD
Romans 8:28
28 We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.
“CHEAT CODE” for life…
God has a purpose FOR all things and IN all things
This is the MAIN POINT of the story
God’s Purpose will be accomplished
- Regardless of what happens, God’s purpose will be accomplished
The question we must ask is…
What is God’s PURPOSE, and what does it have to do with us?
1: God’s Purpose is to pour out His GLORY in all of creation
Why is art made?
Why are pictures taken?
Why are movies made?
- “Honor the creator”
- To bring joy
It’s an outpouring of CREATIVITY
- Artist creates because of who they are
Points us to something “MORE”
- More meaningful
- More beautiful
- More powerful
Similar with God’s Glory
Isaiah 46:9-10
9 Remember what happened long ago, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and no one is like me. 10 I declare the end from the beginning, and from long ago what is not yet done, saying: my plan will take place, and I will do all my will.
- Our cheat code… (God’s purpose will be accomplished)
What is God’s Glory?
The glory of God is the beauty and excellence of his manifold perfections. It is an attempt to put into words what God is like in his magnificence and purity. It refers to his infinite and overflowing fullness of all that is good. ~ John Piper
- The “atmosphere” of God
- The “weight” of God
Things to know:
1: God did not “LACK” in glory before creation
2: God does not need us for his Glory
2: God’s Purpose is to display His GLORY to creation through us
Isaiah 43
6 Bring my sons from far away, and my daughters from the ends of the earth— 7 everyone who bears my name and is created for my glory. I have formed them; indeed, I have made them.”
This is the main point of the story the Bible is telling
- This is the purpose of your life
You are created to display God’s Glory
- Anything less than that is SIN
1 Thessalonians 4
7 For God has not called us to impurity but to live in holiness. 8 Consequently, anyone who rejects this does not reject man, but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit.
SIN = Us rejecting God’s glory for something much less worthy
But there is HOPE..
3: God’s Purpose works through our mistakes for the Glory of God
Romans 8:28
28 We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.
This is the story the Bible has been trying to tell us…
Every time we try to gain GLORY for ourselves, we lose it. But God chooses to work through our mistakes for our GOOD and His Glory
- But it is given to us freely by our Heavenly Father
TOWER OF BABEL
Genesis 11
1 The whole earth had the same language and vocabulary. 2 As people migrated from the east, they found a valley in the land of Shinar and settled there. 3 They said to each other, “Come, let’s make oven-fired bricks.” 4 And they said, “Come, let’s build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the sky. Let’s make a name for ourselves; otherwise, we will be scattered throughout the earth.”
Ziggurats were built to bring DOWN “gods” and build humanity UP
Symbolized a connection between the human and divine realms, acting as a bridge between the earthly and celestial, and were dedicated to the patron god of each city
Reverse order of Creation
- Don’t go “UP to God. Bring God “DOWN”
Create their version of humanity that GLORIFIES THEMSELVES
- This is humanity’s attempt to deify its own cultural heritage, homogenize humanity, and make everything “one.”
Why was this a bad thing?
This was God’s command after the flood…
Genesis 9:9
9 God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.
- The same charge as Genesis – Multiply and fill the earth
They were choosing THEIR GLORY- NOT GOD’S GLORY
Genesis 11:8
So from there the Lord scattered them throughout the earth, and they stopped building the city.
God’s Purpose will be accomplished
This means:
When you mess up – God’s purpose is bigger
When you are afraid – God’s Purpose is bigger
When you are heartbroken – God’s Purpose is bigger
Your best life is found in God’s purpose
Matthew 6:9-10
9 “Therefore, you should pray like this:
Our Father in heaven, your name be honored as holy. 10 Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.