Shane Legler

What is the source of human misery? The simple answer would be sin. True, but is there a sin that is a primary source of misery? As I think on it, I’ve concluded that it is a rejection of our purpose. The modern world provides much distraction but very little purpose or meaning for anyone, especially when it comes to questions of existence. On the chief end of man, the shorter Westminster Catechism concludes that man’s chief end is to glorify God and enjoy him forever. Truly, that is indeed the chief end of all people. That said, what does it mean?

Sadly, we must take a quick trip to the dictionary. The Oxford American English dictionary defines “glorify,” as it pertains to God, as giving him worship and praise. Truly, the words “glorify” and “worship” are synonymous. One cannot separate them, and it may help to know that worship was originally defined as an acknowledgment of worth. I like that as it helps us to understand why we worship or glorify God; namely, he is worthy of it.

Why is he worthy to be worshipped and glorified you ask? First, God is glorious, having his own intrinsic glory that is inseparable from who he is. He is the highest definition of magnificence, grandeur, majesty, greatness, nobility and exceeding beauty. There are none who can compare to him. His glory is unique to him alone, and to worship him is to acknowledge this. One of Scripture’s greatest indictments against people is that they “exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things” (Romans 1:23). Only God is worthy to be worshipped and glorified, and it dishonors him and demeans us when we give worship to another.

Secondly, he is worthy of our worship because he is the sovereign creator and sustainer of all that is. We are the works of his hands. What sad, ungrateful creature would withhold thanksgiving and praise from the one who made them? Who would deny that their maker is worthy of their worship? The elders before God’s throne in revelation reflect the perfect attitude as they proclaim, “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created” (Rev 4:11).

Lastly, God is worthy to be glorified because he is our redeemer. Christ died on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins. We deserved that death, but he gave himself in our places. He is certainly worthy of our worship! In the end, those who recognize his worth will sing before the throne of grace, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might
and honor and glory and blessing!” (Revelation 5:12). 

If one really knows God, one will naturally worship and glorify him with thanksgiving and praise. Likewise, one cannot know God without enjoying him. God is so good, and he showers us with his goodness. In “Screwtape Letters,” C.S. Lewis had old Screwtape (a demon) accuse God of being a hedonist because he gave so many pleasures to his creatures.

That said, one can only truly enjoy all that God gives when they have come to enjoy God himself. What are things without someone to enjoy them with? Yet, it is God who gives to us freely from his abundance. He is love and exists in a threeness that is a oneness. Therefore, he said, “It is not good that the man should be alone” because aloneness is not him. From the beginning, marriage was his gift. Children and family were his gift. Laughter was his gift. How could we truly enjoy his gifts without considering the giver and giving him glory?

Even though this poor world is dying, it still amazes me to see the glory of God permeating it all. Our ancestors couldn’t look down into a human cell or even fathom the subatomic. Yet, here we are. The more we discover, the more the world is filled with wonder. He has created worlds within worlds. Surely, I’m not the only one who has taken pleasure in the fact that my God has painted the fish in the depths of the ocean. He is the only one who ever sees them regularly; yet, he has given them color!

The utilitarian evolutionist strains to find some utility in a painted fish in the darkest depths, but the answer is that God is not utilitarian. He is the artist. He loves to paint and so he does. It all reflects his glory, and I cannot but fall on my knees as I consider it all. Enjoying God and glorifying God go hand in glove. It is impossible to enjoy him without glorifying him or vice versa. 

This is our purpose, but the wonder of wonders is that Jesus says, “The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one” (John 17:22). The one we enjoy freely shares his own glory with his children, and they all fall on their knees and worship. This is pure joy. May God grant that you should know your purpose, fulfill it and be filled with joy.

(Shane Legler is pastor at Garland Community Church Of God.)