
One of the things that people struggle with the most is a sense of purpose. We try to find it in all kinds of things, from relationships to sports and careers. The reality is that we know none of these things truly fulfill our purpose. This can be seen when something happens. The person we love passes away or leaves us, or the career that we spent our lives building up begins to fall apart, and then the emptiness that has always been there becomes overwhelming. None of these things really fulfill us completely, although they can feel like they do for a time. This is because we were created for a different purpose. We were created to glorify and enjoy God. The very first question of the Westminster Larger Catechism deals with this question. It tells us that our chief end, or primary purpose, is to "Glorify God, and fully to enjoy him forever." It is not that other things like family and jobs are not important, but they must be ordered rightly. The more we understand who we are and why and how we were created, the better we will be prepared for everything we face. To quote John Calvin, "True wisdom consists in two things: knowledge of God and knowledge of self." So, let's dig right in.
Question # 17
The seventeenth question of the Westminster Larger Catechism asks a simple but important question. It asks;
How did God create man?
If you have been to Sunday School or Vacation Bible School as a child, you can likely give a simple enough answer to this question. Genesis one and two say that God spoke and man was created. He formed man from the ground and breathed the breath of life. Then later that day, he formed woman from the rib of the man. But there is more to the question than the simple answer. The answer that the catechism gives is;
After God had made all other creatures, he created man, male and female; formed the body of the man of the dust of the ground, and the woman of the rib of the man; endued them with living, reasonable, and immortal souls; made them after his own image, in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness, having the law of God written in their hearts and power to fulfill it, with dominion over the creatures; yet subject to fall.
You can see from the answer that the simple elements are there. God formed man from the ground and woman from the rib of the man. But it goes deeper than that. We are more than physical bodies. We are body and soul together. Some people like to say that we are bodies that have souls, and others that we are souls that have bodies, but neither is really accurate. Both body and soul are who we are. The soul, as the catechism makes clear, is where our less tangible attributes come in. Our reasonableness, knowledge, and the like are not found in the physical matter of our bodies but in the immaterial soul.
Adam Vs Us

There is an element here that can be misunderstood if we are not careful. The catechism makes it clear that when Adam was created, he was created good. He had the law of God written on his heart, something that we inherited from him, as well as the full ability to keep that law. If you read through the Genesis account, this can also be missed. We read about God only giving one prohibitive command to Adam, not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. What we overlook, though, is that part of man's creation is that he is created in the image of God and, as such, is given knowledge. We can see this knowledge in us now. No one has to tell you that murder is wrong, although many today need to be reminded of that fact. What Adam had, but we do not, because it was lost at the fall, was the lack of sin as an influence. Put another way, he was spiritually alive. He was created that way. This means that he had both the ability to sin and to not sin, but after the fall, he lost the ability on his own to not sin. This is where we start. Because of our sinful nature, we are born without the ability to not sin. This, however, does not excuse us from our responsibilities.
How to Glorify God

Man was given more than one command when he was created. He was commanded to be fruitful and multiply. To fill the whole earth and subdue it. What is left unsaid is that all this is to be done for God's glory. This is where we fall so short. Throughout history, more and more of the world has indeed been filled and subdued, but it has been done for selfish and sinful reasons. All of human history can be summarized by saying that one person or another is always seeking to take the things of his neighbor. This is the selfish part. Rather than seeking to glorify God, we constantly seek to glorify ourselves. Even as Christians who have been brought from death to life and had the ability to not sin restored to us, we struggle with this. This is because we are still influenced by our sin. We must constantly be in prayer and the study of God's Word so that we might be better equipped to fulfill our purpose. To glorify God in everything we do. We are called to grow in wisdom and knowledge for his glory and our good. This can only be done if we understand what we were created for. We were created for his glory. Live every day for him. Seek to glorify him in every part of your life. From washing the dishes to getting your kids ready for school, do all for the glory of God. Our purpose as image-bearers of God is to glorify him.
Soli Deo Gloria
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