Man's Chief End - The Happy Holy Hour

All of us question our life’s purpose at some point. Some struggle with deciding on what vocation they want to commit to. Others aren’t sure if their life purpose culminates in who they are supposed to marry. What is humanity’s ultimate goal? What is the ‘chief’ end of man? How do we answer such difficult questions?

Psalm 73: 25-26 – Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

The Westminster Shorter Catechism states that “Man’s chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever”.

There is a lot to unpack in that very short statement. But according to the Westminster Shorter Catechism, there is such meaning in life. There is an intentional meaning and value to our existence as human beings that we cannot find in ourselves. God created us in His image. Therefore, the only way we can find such ultimate meaning is by looking at God. Before Adam and Eve fell into sin, everything about our being was God-centric. We were perfectly made in the image of God, without blemish. Before sin, the core of Adam’s being was to ponder God’s greatness and enjoy walking with God. But, after the fall, He quickly became focused on ‘self’ rather than God. This is something I am sure we can all relate to because we all can quickly tend to focus on the self, rather than God.

Because we have been justified, we can willingly glorify God and enjoy Him forever with Christ.

Giving God Glory

1 Cor 10:31 – “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”

Rev 4:11- “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.”

It is important to note that we do not ‘make’ God glorious because God is perfect in His glory. There is no need that God has that humans can satisfy. God is glorious. This is an inherent attribute of His being. It is said that Jesus Christ is the glory of God. Even the heavens proclaim the glory of God (Psalm 19:1). The difference between the heavens and God’s people is that our new heart gives us an inclination towards God, which makes us want to live our lives to the glory of God. Through His perfect obedience and faithfulness, Jesus was the perfect example of giving God glory on Earth (John 17:4) and will continue to enjoy God forever. The exciting thing is that, because we are adopted as sons and daughters, we become coheirs of the Kingdom with Christ. Because we have been justified, we can willingly glorify God and enjoy Him forever with Christ.

Some may ask, “well, what about the unsaved? Do they bring God glory?” Simply put, when sinners are saved, it displays God’s glorious mercy and grace. Because God saves sinners, His mercy may be seen, and His people can worship Him for it. For the unsaved, God’s wrath justice will be displayed. Through enforcing His justice, He will ultimately bring glory back to Himself by punishing sin. Ultimately, mankind’s chief end is to glorify God. It will happen whether or not we enjoy His glory or hate His glory.

All of life is to be lived to the glory of God.

Man’s “Chief” End

What does it mean that our ‘chief’ end is to glorify God? Does this mean that God’s glory is just one of many ‘menu items’ of the Christian life? By no means. For the Christian, our sole purpose is to bring glory to God through everything we do (1 Cor 10:31). Because God is worthy to receive honor and glory (Rev 4.11), our complete devotion should be bringing God glory and honor. The Christian strives to do every activity that pleases God. You don’t need to be in full-time ministry to please God. Through repentance and faith in Christ, even by working a normal nine to five job, faithful Christians are able to do what is right in God’s sight. A Christian faithfully serving in a secular vocation is just as able to bring God glory as a Pastor worshipping God with the Church on the Sabbath.

All of life is to be lived to the glory of God. If our lives are God-centered, we will enjoy His glory. If life is man-centered, we will not enjoy God’s glory. The only way for our lives to be centered on Christ is to be saved unto Christ. There is no way for anyone to be God-centered if they are not first found in Christ. Only then will we know what pleases God by studying His Word.