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Created for God’s Glory
Because we were created for God’s glory, our ultimate goal in life should be to live for his glory.
Giving God glory will give our lives purpose and meaning; it will give us the joy in our life that we all long for.
Giving God glory is part of the life Jesus said
One of the ways we glorify God is by enjoying him.
As David said in Ps. 16:11
Fullness of joy is found in knowing God and delighting in him.
When we do this, we give him the glory that he desires and that we long to give to him.
In the midst of this, we find God rejoicing over us “with gladness” and exulting over us “with loud singing” (Zeph.
3:17).
Created in God’s Image
If all the Bible told us about ourselves is that we were created for God’s glory, this would be a wonderful thing, but it wouldn’t really distinguish us much from the rest of creation.
Part of our uniqueness, however, comes from the fact that we are the only part of God’s creation made “in the image of God” (Gen.
1:27).
As creatures made in God’s image, we were made to be like him.
Therefore the more we understand about God, the more we understand about ourselves.
And the more we understand about ourselves, the more we understand about God.
For example, we are moral creatures, created with an innate sense of right and wrong.
This is a reflection of God’s perfect sense of right and wrong.
In addition, we are not merely physical creatures; we are also spiritual creatures, which means we are somewhat like God, who is spirit.
Our spirit is a reflection of God’s nature and allows us to relate to him personally.
To take another example, our ability to think about and process information is a reflection of God’s knowledge.
And our ability to relate to others, as well as our desire for community, is a reflection of God’s perfect community within the Trinity.
The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit have forever related to each other perfectly.
Because of sin, God’s image in us is partly distorted.
His image is not seen as clearly as it once was.
Although the Bible is clear that man is still “made in the likeness of God” (James 3:9
that likeness, defiled by sin, doesn’t look like everything it is supposed to.
For example, sin distorts our moral judgment, clouds our thinking, and hinders our fellowship with others.
The good news is that God’s image is being restored.
God redeems his children through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus so that they can be “conformed to the image of his Son” (Rom.
8:29
Christ is (Col.
1:15
Paul says that fellow Christians have a new nature, “which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator” (Col.
3:10
And while here on earth, we “are being transformed” into Christ’s image “from one degree of glory to another” (2 Cor.
3:18
At the end of time, all of God’s children will become like his son, Jesus Christ.
For, “just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven” (1 Cor.
15:49
Christ “is the image of God” (2 Cor.
4:4
in a perfect sense.
In Jesus we see God’s likeness as it was intended to be.
And because of Jesus, we will eventually be changed to reflect God’s image as we were intended to do.
Responsibilities as Creatures in God’s Image
As creatures made in God’s image, we were also made to be his representatives on the earth.
Much like a king who places images (through statues and pictures, for example) of himself around his kingdom to show where he rules, God has, through us, placed images of himself across his world.
This is why he commanded Adam and Eve to “be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth” (Gen.
1:28).
When they replicated God’s image across the earth, they demonstrated all the places where God rules and reigns.
And since “the earth is the LORD’s and the fullness thereof” (Ps.
24:1),
God desires that his image “fill the earth” (Gen.
1:28).
When we fill the earth with God’s image, we demonstrate all the places where he reigns and rules and bring him the glory he desires and deserves.
As God’s representatives on the earth, we are also called to take care of his land.
When God commanded Adam and Eve to “subdue” the earth and “have dominion over … every living thing that moves on the earth” (Gen.
1:28
he did so as a king telling his representatives to care for his kingdom in a way that honored him.
Therefore, although we are free to take from the abundance of God’s earth, we are to do so in way that demonstrates care for it and respect for its Creator.
And when we take the opportunity to make improvements to the world we live in, we are bringing God the glory he deserves by making his world look more like he designed it to look.
As God’s image bearers—as representatives of the king of the universe—we have the awesome responsibility to help restore his people and his land to the way they were meant to be.
We get the opportunity to work alongside the king who is “making all things new” (Rev.
21:5).
Therefore, we have great hope and respect for all people—regardless of their state.
They, like us, are the culmination of God’s infinitely wise and skillful creation.
They have the potential to return to the beauty of Jesus Christ, the “image of the invisible God” (Col.
1:15), by turning away from their sin and turning to their Creator.
We also have great hope and respect for the world God has entrusted us with.
We long to see it returned to its original state—a world without “thorns and thistles” (Gen.
3:18).
And as we joyfully work toward this goal, we give God the glory we were created to bring to him.
Grudem, Wayne A. 2005.
Christian Beliefs: Twenty Basics Every Christian Should Know.
Edited by Elliot Grudem.
Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
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