Q. What is the chief end of man?
A. Man's chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever
It is an unfortunate thing that a lot of Christians seem to agree with the first part of this Q&A (glorify God), but they have no understanding of the second part (enjoy Him forever). So many professing Christians seem to think that glorifying God and enjoying Him are completely antithetical to one another. I am here to tell you that that cannot be further from the truth. God does not want us to be mere robots who blindly follow Him. God desires for us to glorify Him while at the same time finding our ultimate fulfillment in Him. We may think material things will fill us, but as St. Augustine wisely put it, "our hearts are restless until we rest in Him." No material thing can ultimately satisfy us because we were made for a more eternal purpose. But, I digress. As I read the Scriptures, I have found three reasons why we can find joy in the Lord. I will list these three reasons under the categories of Never Abandon, All Spiritual Blessings, and Our Belonging. I know that we have many more reasons to find joy in the Lord, but these are the most pertinent ones. If you can think of any other reasons, please comment on them below. I will not elaborate more on these reasons.
Never Abandon
Most of you may be familiar with Hebrews 13:5, but I will quote it here for your remembrance. It says,
"Keep your life free from the love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, 'I will never leave nor forsake you'."
This is such an amazing verse! The Writer to the Hebrews is essentially reminding us that since God will never leave nor forsake us, we have no reason to worry about how to take care of our needs. Do you understand the gravity of what this Writer is saying? If not, please take a moment to meditate on this truth. The omnipotent, omniscient, omnibenevolent God of the universe is always on our side, and He refuses to let us go. Elsewhere in Scripture, Jesus reminds us that nothing can separate us from His Father's care. If this were the only reason we have, this would be sufficient for us to have joy. However, there are more reasons, but this is probably the most important reason, in my opinion. The reason I say this is because in my life, I have experienced homelessness, jail, and much more. It was because of the fact that God never left me that I got myself through the most horrific events in my life.
All Spiritual Blessings
As we turn to Ephesians 1:3-6, we read the following,
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love, he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved."
As you can see that God has blessed us in Christ with "every spiritual blessing the the heavenly places". What exactly does this mean, though? Obviously, it does not mean that God will bless you by winning the lottery any time soon. While that could happen, it is not a promise from God. As I read this text, I see a few applications as to what it means to be blessed with every spiritual blessing. First, God has predestined us to salvation since before the foundation of the world. This means that before God created anything, He had you and me and all of His individual elect members of the Body of Christ in mind. Secondly, when God predestined us, He made sure that we stood holy and blameless in His sight. This means that no matter what we do or say, we are always and forever covered by His grace found in Jesus Christ. This is no excuse to live in sin, but it does mean that even when we do sin, we are still seen as blameless in God's eyes. Finally, the last piece of evidence is the fact that God elected us because He loves us. Think about that for a second. The most infinite and holy, and majestic God truly loves His children. This means we can trust that He will be there for us no matter what because of His forever abounding and steadfast love. As the Apostle Peter tells us to cast all our anxieties upon God because He cares for us.
Our Belonging
Ok, this truth has honestly been the most impactful in my life, and I trust it will be for you as well. You may or may not be familiar with the Heidelberg Catechism, but I will quote it here for your remembrance:
"Q. What is your only comfort in life and death?
A. That I am not my own but belong with body and soul, both in life and death, to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ. He has fully paid for all my sins with His precious blood and has set me free from all the power of the devil. He also preserves me in such a way that without the will of my Heavenly Father, not a hair can fall from my head; indeed, all things must work together for my salvation. Therefore, by His Holy Spirit, He also assures me of eternal life and makes me heartily willing and ready from now to live for Him."
As you can see from this text, we do not belong to ourselves, but instead, we belong to our Lord Jesus Christ. He purchased us with His precious blood. Elsewhere, the Apostle Paul tells us that we were purchased for a reason. When someone goes to the store to buy a new television, that television no longer belongs to that store. The TV now belongs to its new owner. I know that this is a silly comparison because we are worth more than a new TV. However, the analogy does suffice because just like that, television now belongs to its new owner, in the same way we belong to God. Since He paid the ultimate price by shedding His blood upon the cross, we now are His people. We are no longer slaves to sin and the devil. We are now slaves to righteousness who are called His sons and daughters. Since God is a most holy King, this by default makes us royal heirs to God's rich inheritance forever and always. It is for this reason that we must not go on living in sin. How can we go on living in sin when He has set us free from sin? I am not saying that we will never struggle with sin, so please do not misconstrue my words. There is a difference between intentionally living in sin and struggling with sin. We will always struggle with sin on this side of eternity, but when we do sin, we can boldly come to God and ask for His forgiveness. God is always ready to forgive us because of what His Son has accomplished on our behalf. However, when one lives in sin, this means that they do not care if their sins offend the holy God, and they show no remorse when they do sin. Actually, these people revel in their sin. This type of attitude should never be found in a professing Christian's life, and if it is, that is pretty good evidence that they were never saved to begin with. God loves His elect people with such an undying love that He promises to take care of our needs, and He promises to work out everything for our good. He is fully able to do this because of His omnipotence.
I hope that this blog helps you better understand how we can enjoy God forever. Like I said above, I know how hard this is because the world, the flesh, and the devil are always looking for ways to bring us down. I hope that when this happens, you will remind yourself of the truths found in this blog because they come straight from Scripture. I thank you very much for taking the time to read this, and may the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ richly bless you all!!
-David Lee Chu Sarchet
Christian Mental Health Advocate
Check out the CCMH Ministry Website
