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CREATED TO GLORIFY GOD
A. Introduction: As followers of Jesus, it is important that we understand who Jesus is, why He came into this
world, and how He wants us to live. In this particular series, we are working on why Jesus came, and have
more to say in this lesson.
1. To appreciate why Jesus entered time and space two thousand years ago and was born into this world, we
need to first state why God created humanity. Almighty God created human beings to become His sons
and daughters through faith in Him, and then live in loving relationship with Him. Eph 1:4-5
a. But there’s more to God’s plan for men and women. God created human beings with the capacity
to receive Him into our being, and then reflect Him and express Him to the world around us.
1. Note this statement about God’s creation of man: God said, Let us [Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit] make mankind in our image, after our likeness (Gen 1:26, Amp).
2. This passage was originally written in Hebrew, and the word in, used this verse carries the idea,
as. According to this statement, we were created as God’s image, to be His imagers. In other
words, we were created and are meant to be His representatives in the earth.
b. The Lord fashioned us (made us) with the capacity to receive Him into our being and then image or
reflect, represent, and express Him to the world around us. This brings honor and glory to Him.
2. However, because of our sin, men and women are no longer fit to be sons and daughters of God (imagers
of God), or fit to be the dwelling place of God. Because of sin, we’re lost to our created purpose.
a. Jesus came into this world to die as a sacrifice for mankind’s sin. Jesus’ death and resurrection
opened the way for all who believe in Him to be restored to their created purpose as sons and
daughters of God, who are indwelled by Him, and image and reflect Him. Heb 9:26; I Tim 2:15;
John 1:12-13; I John 5:1; etc.
b. Jesus not only recovered God’s family by dying for sin, He is also the pattern for God’s family.
Remember, Jesus is God become fully man without ceasing to be fully God. In His humanity,
Jesus is the standard of righteousness, purity, and holiness for God’s sons and daughters.
1. Rom 8:29—For whom God foreknew he did also predestinate to be conformed to the likeness
of his Son (NIV); For God, in his foreknowledge, chose them to bear the family likeness of his
Son (J. B. Phillips).
2. Quick note: Predestinate does not mean that God chose only some people for sonship.
Predestinate means to decide beforehand. Before we existed, God decided (planned) to have a
family, and all who believe on Him become part of His family.
A. Believers in Jesus don’t become Jesus. We become like Him in our character—our
motives, attitudes, words, and actions. We become the person we were meant to be before
sin damaged the family.
B. We are restored to our created purpose as sons and daughters of God, who image or
accurately express and represent Almighty God to the world around us.
3. The passage about being conformed to the image or likeness of Jesus (Rom 8:29) is followed by a
concise statement of how God accomplishes this transformation in men and women.
a. Rom 8:30—And those whom he (God) predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also
justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified (ESV).
1. God calls or invites us to come to Him. When we respond to His call, He justifies us (forgives
our sin, declares us righteous and in right standing with Himself). Then He glorifies us.
2. To be glorified means to be made alive with God (His Spirit, His uncreated life) in every part of
our being so that we can express Him and His glory.
A. Glorification gives us new life (God indwelling us by His Spirit and life), and raises us to
an exalted position as sons and daughters of God: He chose them long ago; when the time
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came he called them, he made them righteous in his own sight, and then lifted them up to
the splendor of life as his own sons (Rom 8:30, J. B. Phillips).
B. Glorification means our ultimate deliverance from every trace and effect of sin and death
by an infusion of eternal life (God, by His Spirit). Ultimately, our bodies will be glorified
or made immortal and incorruptible like Jesus’ resurrection body. Phil 3:20-21
b. Glorification (being conformed to the image of Christ) is a process that begins when we believe on
Jesus. This process will not be fully completed until we see Jesus face to face. I John 3:2
1. Right now you are a finished work in progress. You’re fully God’s son or daughter through
faith in Christ, but not yet fully like Jesus in every part of your being.
2. The word glorified is in the past tense in Rom 8:30 (whom he justified, them he also glorified).
Why is that statement in the past tense if we are not yet fully glorified? Because He who has
begun a good work in you will complete it—if you stay faithful to Him. Phil 1:6
3. The New Testament writers understood and taught that we have conformity to the image of
Christ (glorification) in a measure now, increasingly as we walk in obedience to Jesus, and then
in fullness when we see Him face to face.
B. We stated above that God created mankind in His image and likeness to be imagers—sons and daughters who
reflect and express Him to the world around them.
1. Consider another statement about the creation of human beings: What is man, that You are mindful of
him, and the son of [earthborn] man, that You care for him? Yet You have made him but little lower
than God [heavenly beings], and You have crowned him with glory and honor (Ps 8:4-5, Amp).
a. Humankind has been created for a position of glory. But because of our sin, humankind has fallen
from this position of glory: Rom 3:23—For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God
(ESV); lack the glory which comes from God (Montgomery).
b. Possibly you’re thinking: Doesn’t the Bible say that God won’t share His glory with anyone? Yes
it does (Isa 42:8; Isa 48:11). But let’s look at these passages in context and get the meaning.
1. Isaiah prophesied during a time of rampant idol worship in Israel that culminated with Israel
being conquered by foreign powers. Prior to their destruction, God sent Isaiah the prophet to
His people to call them back to Him. Isaiah’s book was written as part of this ministry
2. In chapters 40-48 Isaiah pointed out the ridiculousness of their idolatry—the fact that they were
worshipping idols which are nothing more than lifeless blocks of wood or stone. In that
context, Isaiah quoted the Lord as saying:
A. Isa 42:8—I am the Lord! That is my name! I will not give my glory to anyone else. I
will not share my praise with carved idols (NLT).
B. Isa 48:11—I will rescue you for…my own sake! That way, the pagan nations will not be
able to claim that their gods have conquered me. I will not let them have my glory (NLT).
3. The context makes it clear that God was referring to the glory that belongs to Him as the only,
Almighty God, the Creator and King of the universe, not the glory given to humankind as His
imagers, as His sons and daughters who were created to express God’s glory to the world.
2. Jesus came into this world to die for our sin and open the way for us to be restored to our created purpose
as people who express God’s glory (His nature and His acts). One way the word glory is used in the
Bible is when God reveals Himself. God’s manifest (or visible) presence is called the glory of God.
a. Note statement about what happened when Solomon’s Temple was dedicated in 949 B.C. and God
showed Himself in the Temple: At that moment a cloud filled the Temple of the Lord. The priests
could not continue their work because of the glorious presence of God (II Chron 5:13-14, NLT).
1. Although this was a real event that really happened, as with many things in the Old Testament,
it also pictures something in God’s plan of redemption.
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2. God desires to fill His people with Himself (His glory) and show Himself to people just as He
did in Solomon’s Temple. The New Testament refers to Christians as the Temple or dwelling
place of God. I Cor 3:16; I Cor 6:19; II Cor 6:16
b. God’s plan for man is that we be saturated with Him (His life, His Spirit, His substance) and then
express Him. Note two statements written by Peter the apostle, an eyewitness of Jesus.
1. II Pet 1:4—(We) become sharers (partakers) of the divine nature (Amp). We don’t become
God. We don’t lose our individuality. You’re still you. He’s still Him. He is the Creator
and we are the created. But we express Him (His character and actions) by the way we live.
2. I Peter 2:9—But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a dedicated nation, [God’s] own
purchased, special people, that you may set forth the wonderful deeds and display the virtues
and perfections of Him Who called you out of darkness into His marvelous lights (Amp).
c. God has progressively or gradually revealed Himself and His plan of redemption—His plan to
recover His lost family and transform sinners into holy, righteous sons and daughters.
1. Paul the apostle wrote that God commissioned him to “present to you the word of God in its
fullness—the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but now is disclosed
to the saints. To them God has chosen to make known among (believers) the glorious riches of
this mystery, which is Christ in you the hope of glory” (Col 1:25-27, NIV).
2. In that same letter Paul wrote: For in Him (Jesus) the whole fullness of Deity (the Godhead)
continues to dwell in bodily form—giving complete expression of the divine nature. And you
are in Him, made full and have come to fullness of life—in Christ you too are filled with the
Godhead: Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and reach full spiritual stature (Col 2:9-10, Amp).
3. Note more passages written by Peter and Paul. They knew that just as Jesus revealed the Father’s glory,
God’s sons and daughters are to express His glory. Jesus came to restore us to our created purpose.
a. Paul wrote: We (apostles) impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God (a mystery) which God
decreed before the ages (before the creation of the world) for our glory. None of the rulers of this
age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory (I Cor 2:7-8,
ESV). Note that this plan was intended for our glory.
1. God’s plan of salvation and restoration was devised before the world began. Jesus took on a
human nature so that He could die as a sacrifice for our sins and bring those who believe on Him
back to God.
2. This plan was and is aimed at restoring us to the position of glory for which we were created—
sonship and conformity to the image of Christ (glorification).
A. Paul wrote: By God’s grace, Jesus tasted death for everyone in the world. And it was
only right that God—who made everything and for whom everything was made—should
bring his children into glory. Through the suffering of Jesus, God made him a perfect
leader, one fit to bring them into salvation (Heb 2:9-10, NLT).
B. Note that through His death and resurrection, Jesus brought God’s sons and daughters into
glory—Christ in you the hope of glorification (Williams); Christ within and among you,
the hope of [realizing] the glory (Col 1:27, Amp).
3. Paul also wrote: He (God) called you to salvation when we told you the Good News; now you
can share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ (II Thess 2:14, NLT).
b. Peter’s first epistle was written to Christians facing increasing persecution, to encourage them to
stay faithful to Jesus no matter what they experienced as they served the Lord. Peter told them that
these trials test the genuineness of our faith, and that glory and honor awaits them (and us).
1. Peter wrote: I Pet 1:7—[This proving of your faith is intended] to redound to [your] praise and
glory and honor when Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed One, is revealed (Amp).
2. In the context of exhorting the church leaders to tend their flocks as humble, Christ-like
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servants, Peter wrote: And now, a word to you who are elders (the pastors and spiritual guides)
in the churches. I, too, am an elder and a witness to the sufferings of Christ. And I will share
his glory and honor when he returns…And when the head Shepherd comes, your reward will be
a never-ending share in his glory and honor (I Pet 5:1-4, NLT).
4. Jesus’ death was a means to an end. He died to open the way for sinful people to be restored to our
created purpose as men and women who express God’s glory and are fully glorifying to Almighty God.
a. In the context of telling men how to treat their wives, Paul wrote that Jesus loved the church and
gave Himself for it. The Greek word that is translated church literally means a calling out.
Believers are called out ones (Rom 8:3), called out of darkness into God’s kingdom and light.
1. Note Paul’s words: Eph 5:25-27—Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; that he
might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he might present it to
himself a glorious church, not having any spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should
be holy and without blemish (KJV).
2. Note how the word glorious is translated in different Bible translations: a radiant church (NIV);
glorious splendor (Amp); all glorious (NEB); present the church to himself in splendor (ESV).
b. This glorious church has been misinterpreted to mean a special company of believers who will be on
the earth at the second coming of Jesus. (Many say that Jesus can’t come back until this glorious
church appears.) This is incorrect.
1. When we read the context of the verse (Eph 4:1-6:24) we see that Paul was not talking about the
second coming. (He doesn’t mention Jesus’ return at all.) He was instructing believers on
how to conduct themselves (live, behave) in light of what Jesus has done for us.
2. In the context of instructing husbands to treat their wives like Jesus treated the church (He gave
Himself for it), Paul states the end result of salvation, or why Jesus died for us. Jesus died to
obtain believers who are holy and without blemish (free from sin and all its consequences).
3. Glorification is the end result for every human being, from Adam and Eve to the end of this age,
who has believed on Jesus (or the revelation of Jesus that was given to their generation).
A. Consider something Jesus said during His earth ministry, as He told several parables about
what will happen when He returns to establish His visible, eternal kingdom on earth, and
God’s plan of salvation and redemption is completed.
B. Matt 13:41-43—I, the Son of Man, will send my angels, and they will remove from my
Kingdom everything that causes harm and all who do evil…Then the godly will shine like
the sun in their Father’s kingdom ” (NLT).
C. Conclusion: Words fall short when we talk about how a transcendent, eternal God indwells finite human
beings. But the New Testament makes it clear that God desires to indwell and then reveal Himself through
His people.
1. Almighty God created us to bring praise, honor, and glory to Him by who we are as His sons and
daughters and by how we live. Consider these two thoughts as we close.
a. God has given us the glorious privilege of bringing honor to Him: (We) [have been destined and
appointed] to live for the praise of His glory (Eph 1:12, Amp).
b. Our words and actions can honor God and bring glory to Him. Jesus said: You are the light of
the world…let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly
Father (Matt 5:14-16, NLT).
2. We were created to glorify God. Through our sin, we forfeited our destiny. But on the basis of what
Jesus did for us at the Cross, Almighty God can indwell us and restore us to our created purpose.
3. We are sons and daughters of God. He is in us by His Spirit and life. This fact should affect the way
we live—how we behavior toward God and toward our fellow men. More next week!!