What is God’s end goal for this world, all humans of this world, and me personally? Where is He taking it and what does it look like for me to be a part of that goal, and how can I have a role and purpose in that goal, and find meaning, and value, and my joy in that goal?
Again to quote the Westminster Shorter Catechism, the chief end of man is to glory God and to enjoy him forever. The goal put before humanity made in God’s image is to be in God’s presence forever in an environment of holiness glorifying and enjoying him in full. The realization of this goal is tied to the work of Jesus Christ in history. As Savior, he is the author and perfecter of our faith. As Second Adam, he is the leader of a new humanity. His death is unto the end of establishing righteousness in us, which is life to God. His resurrection is our resurrection. When we are raised on the last day, there will be a glorious transformation as our bodies are made fit for fellowship and full communion with God forever. The totality of his work means that we have been crucified with him. We no longer live, but Christ lives in us and the life that we now live in the flesh we live by faith in the Son of God (Gal. 2:20).
The sabbath in the creation narrative should not be thought of as a memorial of creation, a looking back to something that cannot be changed. Rather it is the climax of the narrative pointing forward to the purpose and goal of creation. Hence the grounds for sabbath observance in Deuteronomy 4:15 rest on the new creation brought about by the deliverance from Eqypt. See further under point 5 above. God offers eternal life to sinners that begins now: it’s good news, so repent and believe the Gospel!
I have to say my heart is delighted reading Sam Storms’ responses. They are glorious! Simply steep like a tea bag in what he has written until it gets ingrained in you! I have nothing to add to what he has said. But let me show what this might look like, from my perspective, worked out on a daily basis- let me put shoe leather to these grand statements. How will you do this…how will it happen? First, seek to encounter God, encounter Jesus in truth. What this means is that when you come to the scriptures, do not read them for mere doctrine or for biblical understanding. Rather, read until 2 Cor. 3:18-4:6 becomes true of you. Read, like Peter says “until the Morning Star arises in your heart.” Read until “his Spirit is bearing witness with your spirit.” Read until your spirit is actually “tasting and seeing that Jesus is good.” Secondly, pray! Grab these promises and come to the throne of God like the man in Luke 11:5-9 praying with “impudence” (a kind of inappropriateness considering who we are and who God is) saying that we will have nothing for life and to give this world unless he makes these things true of us. Pray expecting to receive. Pray until these things are true. Finally, go and be the “witness” he has called us to be (Acts 1:8). Go be the people whose lives give testimony to the fact that we have been given eyes to see and ears to hear, that we know the living God and that we have encountered him in the gospel and that life in his kingdom is abundant and deeply satisfying. Go and BE these kinds of people to the world…which is being the salt of the earth and light of the world.
God’s ultimate goal is the restoration of all the created world in unity and harmony with him. We often talk about personal relationships with God, but that is only a part of God’s Grand Story. Adam and Eve were called to be stewards of his good creation, to take care and expand the garden. This includes not only good relationships with the Creator but with each other and the wise use of the world. After the fall, the whole creation is groaning and waiting for the day of final restoration (Rom. 8:20-22). It means that we are God’s agents of restoration and peace, and should respect the gifts of creation, not misuse them. We serve the Lord in many ways, capacities, and professions, which are not limited to the church. Hence, every day at work there is time and opportunity to be a steward of God’s resources, talents and energy for the benefit of society and his glory. A well-done job at a store, school, market and so forth is as honorable as a well-preached sermon. My goal as a Bible teacher is to impact students’ thinking, giving them tools to understand God’s Word better, to evaluate their life situations, church ministries and make right decisions about where and how things need to be improved.
God’s ultimate goal in creation is to manifest his glory in the salvation of his elect through judgment against sin. He displays this most at the cross of Jesus Christ, where glory, salvation, and judgment meet. You are a part of that goal, whether by your salvation by grace through faith in Christ and everlasting enjoyment of God as his renewed image-bearer, or by your damnation by justice on account of your sins. The believer’s purpose and meaning in life revolves around doing God’s will by his grace, for his glory, in the good of his creatures.
The only way we can know God’s goal for the whole world and for ourselves personally is by reading the story of the Bible and seeing how it ends. It’s a love story: God makes world; God loses world; God gets world back.
God did not need to make the world. God, one being in three persons, already had eternal fellowship as Father, Son, and Spirit. God’s goal in creating and redeeming the world was simply to share his life with those who were not God and, in so doing, to expand further his own glory.
I think the Westminster Shorter Catechism gives the best answer to your question: the chief end of humanity is to glorify God and enjoy him forever. We glorify God when we live up to our vocation as creatures in his image, persons who can act as prophets, priests, and kings as God’s representatives: speaking truth, singing praise, doing right.
God’s idea of perfection has a big place for biodiversity and human diversity alike. His wisdom and glory is magnified by the immense variety of stars and species. And he has given different kinds of gifts to different people. There are many ways to glorify God, and each of us should take satisfaction in using our respective gifts as we seek to serve God in our respective posts, whether as artists, musicians, athletes, teachers, doctors, architects, and so forth. There is meaning in doing what God created you to do to the glory of God, and this involves white- and blue-collar work alike. They also serve who stand and wait tables…
God’s end goal is his own glory which includes a new heaven and a new earth where resurrected believers will live in full communion with God and each other, without sin and its consequences such as suffering, pain, and tears. We find our joy in the assurance that this is our destiny especially when we are burdened by the sufferings of this age (Romans 8:18–39). It is this confident hope that has sustained the countless Christians martyrs over twenty centuries; they knew that they were part of something that was eternally significant and therefore greater by far than themselves or the powers of this age that were hostile to them; they were certain that the God who created all things and redeemed them in Christ would vindicate their cause. Jesus is Lord!
God created everything out of his abundant and overflowing love. Because God is so great, so far beyond our comprehension, it is right that he love himself. He is perfect and so loves with a perfect love. This means, among other things, that he is zealous for what is due to him. We can think about this in terms of his will or his glory. God is perfectly glorified when his will is perfectly done. So the ultimate end or purpose of creation is the manifestation of God’s will in the created order, and his will is that he be fully glorified in that creation. We know both from God’s creative work as well as his redemptive work in Jesus Christ that the world matters to God. Every molecule matters, or else he wouldn’t have made it. And people especially matter to God. We are created in his image in a way that nothing else in the cosmos is. That’s in part why Jesus says that a person matters “more than many sparrows.” It isn’t because sparrows and trees and rocks are worthless. Not at all. God cares very much about all of these things. He has purposes for them and they, in their own way, manifest his glory. But humans are different, and so God has taken special interest and care in the lives of each person who has and who will ever live.
Very simple! God wants people to flourish as his image-bearers. He wants them to reach their full potential as his creatures. This requires living in daily fellowship with him by reading the Bible, praying genuinely and daily, and being part of a spiritually vibrant church for worship, service, accountability, and encouragement. If God is our Father, a true church is our nurturing mother. If we live by this simple code, we discover increasingly that all of life—every part of it—is blessed and flourishing.
Fides quaerens intellectum † Faith seeking understanding † Aithfay eekingsay understandingya
