Man’s Chief End and the Means of Grace - Josh Starnes

 

 “What do you want to be when you grow up?”

 

“What college are you planning on going to, and what will you study?”

 

“What career do you plan on pursuing?”

 

“Do you plan on getting married?”

 

“Who do you plan on marrying and when?”

 

If your experience has been anything like mine, you have most likely been asked these sorts of questions at some point in your life. Especially in high school and college, these questions seemto be at the forefront of everyone’s minds. While an education, acareer, and marriage are certainly important things, there is a far more important question that ought to be at the forefront of our mind: “What is the chief end of man?”

 

As many of you already know, this is the first question in the Westminster Shorter Catechism, and its answer is this: “Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever.” It is this truth concerning man’s chief end, or man’s primary purpose, that ought to dictate how we answer life’s other questions and ought to help us keep those things in their proper place. In other words, to live a properly ordered Christian life that is pleasing to the Lord, we must grasp what it means to glorify and enjoy Him, and the primacy those two things have over our lives. 

 

First, what does it mean to glorify God? Matthew 16:24-27 says this:

 

Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done.”

 

In these verses, Jesus makes it clear that glorifying God involvesself-denial. It means dying to self and living soli Deo gloria, for God’s glory alone. In other words, we must cast aside our own desires, both good and evil, and pursue wholeheartedly what God desires for us. As Christians, it’s a no-brainer that evil desires, or those desires that violate God’s will, must be done away with completely. If you are uncertain what those things are, consult Exodus 20 and Galatians 5 for guidance. 

 

Good desires are those things that are in accord with God’s will. Examples of good desires are an education, a career, a spouse, and a family. We often don’t pause to consider our good desiresin relation to glorifying God. However, this is where we tend to get in the most trouble. As Timothy Keller says, “The human heart is an idol factory that takes good things like a successful career, love, material possessions, even family, and turns them into ultimate things.” Thus, we must be ever watchful over our good desires and keep them in their proper place. Although it is completely possible to glorify God through things like an education, a career, and a marriage, such things become sinful when prioritized above spiritual things.  

 

What spiritual things am I referring to? The means of grace. The Westminster Shorter Catechism Question 88 asks, “What are the outward means whereby Christ communicateth to us the benefits of redemption?” The answer is, “The outward and ordinary means whereby Christ communicateth to us the benefits of redemption, are his ordinances, especially the word, sacraments, and prayer; all which are made effectual to the elect for salvation.” What’s being taught here is that the simple means of grace—the Word, the sacraments, and prayer—are the instruments by which God spiritually transforms us and sanctifies us. In other words, God desires to make us more like His Son; therefore, if we seek to glorify God, we must die to self and prioritize the means of grace. 

 

Practically speaking, what does this look like? It looks like waking up an hour earlier when you want to sleep in to spend time with the Lord in His Word and in prayer. It looks like turning down a well-paying job or a spot on a really good sports team because it requires you to miss worship on Sundays. It looks like planning your schedule around church (especially the Lord’s Day) and not church around your schedule. In other words, it looks like dying to self and living for Christ. After being converted at Pentecost, Acts 2:42 says that the newly converted Christians “devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” Can you truthfully say the same thing about yourself? Have you “devoted” yourself to growing in Christlikeness through the means of grace, or have you devoted yourself to everything else?

 

This leads me to my next point: what does it mean to enjoy God? Three passages help us here. 

 

Psalm 73:25-26 – Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

 

Psalm 142:5 – I cry to you, O Lord; I say, “You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.”

 

Lamentations 3:24 – “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.”

 

In each one of these passages, the phrase “my portion” shows up. In Hebrew, the phrase “my portion” refers to an inheritance. In the Old Testament, an inheritance was something of great importance. It often referred to a portion of land, which was highly valuable and regarded as a source of happiness and blessing. For example, think of just how important the land of Canaan was for the Israelites, and the joy they experienced when they finally gained possession of it. Thus, by referring to God as “my portion,” the authors are communicating that God is their true source of happiness and blessing. In God and Him alone did they find lasting joy and contentment. This is what it means to enjoy God. 

 

Enjoying God has implications for the means of grace as well. We are not only commanded to prioritize the means of grace, but we ought to desire to partake of them. In other words, we ought not to begrudgingly partake of the means of grace out of obligation, but rather cultivate a heart that seeks after them in love. If we are truly enjoying God, finding ultimate delight and blessing in Him, and truly striving to grow in godliness, ahunger and thirst for the means of grace will naturally follow—just like the new converts in Acts 2! It follows that, if the means of grace are not a priority in your life, your heart is not in the right place. 

 

In conclusion, your purpose, your chief end, is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. It’s what you were made for, and it’s the only thing that will ultimately fulfill you. Your chief end is not to be the smartest, the richest, the most successful, the most liked or respected. It is to glorify God by dying to self and growing in Christlikeness, which is achieved by the means of grace. Your chief end is not to find ultimate joy and contentment in the things of this world. It is to make the Lord your portion, which involves taking hold of Him through His gracious means. So, ask yourself, “Is glorifying God and enjoying Him forever my priority?” Your level of commitment to the means of grace will provide you with the answer.