2002.2.3. Washingtonians(34) - Rev. Young Jin Cho

Glory to God

Romans 16:17-27

In 1648, Scotland Presbyterian churches adopted a famous Westminister Doctrine which contained this question; "What is the chief and highest end of man?" The answer to this question is; "Man's chief and highest end is to glorify God, and fully to enjoy Him forever."

Since last January, during the celebration of our church's 50th anniversary, I started a series of sermon entitled "Washingtonians". We analyzed Paul's letters to the Christians in Rome and tried to discover God's intended messages for today's Washingtonians. This 34th series of sermon will be concluded today.

Let's see the last part of 16:26-27; Paul closes the book of Romans by saying "Through the gospel, may all nations believe and obey Him -to the only wise God be glory forever, Amen." Yes, that is right. Paul's last was "glory to God." Why so? The reason is glorifying God is our ultimate and most important objective of our lives whereas other objectives are secondary. This last sermon has to be for God's glory also. With the sermon's title of "Glory to God", I am also concluding the letters to the Washingtonians.

I.

This morning we all have a question to ask. Why is glorifying God so important? What is the reason that glorifying God is man's chief and highest end?

(1) The first reason is that God created all of us and our life came from him. Friends, where did our life come from and where is returning to? Why are we existing? Do you have answers to these questions? Is it alright to live without knowing the answers; where we came and where going to and how long to live? Are you contented with the perception that the life is like the cloud dispersing around? The Bible definitely testifies that we all are not happened to exist by chance. We all were created according to God's image. If we confess that God created us, then we should be living for God's glory. He created us and gave us the life, and without his presence we cannot exist. Our creator's will is our highest objective and His will indicates that our obligation is to glorify God. We are to live for that purpose.

(2) The second reason we all must live for His glory is that His will was manifested clearly through Jesus Christ. Friends, what is gospel? What is good news? Let's read 16:25, "Now to him who is able to establish you by my gospel and proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past, but now revealed and made so that all nations might believe and obey Him." This sentence is complex and may be difficult to comprehend. What is good news" God's love was hidden for long ages and God's commands in Old Testament were revealed only through the prophets, but now is clearly revealed and this revelation is Jesus Christ. Through Jesus Christ, God showed us the way of salvation and true life. This way of salvation is awakening us that our ultimate objective is to glorify God. Through the obedience to this gospel, we are pleasing our God. Therefore, we all should live to bring the glory to God.

(3) The third reason is that by glorifying God, our life becomes enriched and full. Friends, when we glorify God, who receives the benefit, God or us? Of course God will be pleased but we are the ones benefiting most. Friends, if you believe God's existence, is it worthwhile to live for money or live for God? Is it worthwhile to live for the prestige, which will fade, or live for God? You may have your most valuable things such as material possessions or prestige. If you live for it, is that life more precious than living for God's glory?

In spiritual journal, a misconception prevails; that is our faith journey is undertaken for God's benefit. This is definitely a big misunderstanding. Actually, a healthy faith life brings the benefits to us. God commands us to live for His glory because it is the best way for enriched and meaningful life, however we think that we are doing a big favor for God. It is really frustrating and annoying. The Bible, repeatedly, emphasizes that to be renewed, one must choose the way of life. Definitely , glorifying God is our chief and highest purpose of life. St. Augustine who discovered this command at later stage of his life said, "I started to believe too late and discovered love too late. My life is full of contentedness and new desire for new life but too late. Glorifying God creates new desire for new life. That is why we must bring glory to God. If I really love my life, glorifying God should be my life's ultimate purpose.

II.

There is one more question. Friends, when we all live for God's glory, what kind of life are we talking about? To glorify Him, what should we do?

(1) First of all, we need to understand who much God loves us and after realizing His love, responding with faith is the first step. In Romans chapters 1-11, what was the proclaiming message? Simply speaking, it describes how much God loves us. It is a proclamation of His love for us. We all, including Jews and Gentiles, were sinners in front of God rather than before the laws of human's. Through Jesus Christ, God showed us his amazing love and the way for new life. As the old beings faded, the Lord opened the door for new life. When we accept God's grace with our faith, we experience his amazing love and grace. From the bond of laws, we become not only free but also start new life gifted by the Holy Spirit. In all tribulations and even in death, we will be able to overcome them and sustain full and enriched life.

How can we glorify God? Just accept and trust His love by opening your heart. Without faith we cannot please God. To this amazing love, cast your trust then you will have new desire for new life which contains profound values.

(2) There is another way to glorify God. That is establishing and serving the church that is a body of Christ. From the chapters 1-11, Paul testifies the gospel but from chapter 12 he admonishes about the life pattern of the believers. Mostly, it embraces churches' mission, conflict, eating meat, observing special days and accepting different views, etc. The similar advice also surface in today's reading. From 16:17, Paul urges to watch out for those who cause divisions and keep away from them. Such people, with smooth talk and flattery, deceive the minds of naive people. They are not serving the Lord but their own appetites. He urges the churches to unite as one and not be influenced by false teaching and doctrine.

Friends, establishing and serving the church reflect the living according to God's will. In church, practice faith and love one another. Love encourages one another and produces healthy church. Without love in deed, an angel-like words are worthless. Church is the place where loving can be practiced, and the Lord built it for that purpose. If loving is not practiced in church, can that individual love others at outside of the church? Is such a miracle possible? A leaking cup in church will most likely leak also at outside of the church. Serving church and people with love is also a manner of glorifying God.

(3) However, the life of glorifying God should not be practiced only in church. It should prevail in all cross-sections of our living. Among the Korean Christians, one of the misconceptions in conjunction with God's glory is confining the territory only inside of church. People think that since the secular world is outside of church, it is alright to live contrary to God's will. This is a big misunderstanding. Friends, what did our Lord say? Did He say that we are the light of church or light of the world? Are we to shine our light only inside of church or to the world? The Lord definitely said "Let your light shine before men, that they see your good deeds and praise your father (Matt 5:16)." Here the "men" and "they" signify the people in the world because we were designated as the light of the world. God's glory should be expressed throughout our entire living sectors; especially outside of church, such as family, work place, society, etc.

If I become God's holy child producing the fruits of love, our God will receive the glory. Therefore, Paul urges in I Corin 10:31, "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for glory of God. Johann Sebastian Bach lived just like that. His composition, Cantata Oratorio, always contained three Latin initial at the end-S.D.G. (Soli Deo Gloria) which means "only for God's glory." Also the overtures for chorus contained writings at the side of manuscript - "To Mighty God". And at the beginning of organ compositions, initials of I. N. J. (In Nomine Jesu- in the name of Jesus) were written. All his compositions were dedicated for God's glory.

III.

Until today, through the book of Romans, we attempted to discover God's intended message for us living in Washington area. The gospel had revealed that we were justified in spite of our sins, and this justification was manifested in Jesus Christ. Now, the righteous have new life by faith. If God's amazing love is trusted and accepted, this gospel becomes God's power of salvation for the Washingtonians of today. Therefore this gospel is boastful and there is no reason to be of shame.

At Eastern College in PA, there was a minister teaching sociology and ministering for the ghetto youth - Rev. Toni Campolo. He was one of the spiritual leaders for President Clinton during his difficult time of scandal. The following story came from his book. Long ago he worked as a Junior-High camp counselor. Helping youth camp was not an easy task. Teenagers often have cruel sense of humor picking on some unfortunate kid. There was a 13-year old boy named "Billy" who could not walk right or talk right. His camp mates often would mimic his gesture and ridicule him. One day Billy asked for direction to craft shop. The boy he asked responded mocking his slurred speech. During the session, Billy's cabin had been assigned to lead morning devotion, and his cabin mates all voted for Billy to be the speaker. Rev. Campolo found this and became furious but there was nothing he could do. Somehow, it did not seem to bother Billy. During the devotion time, many kids were anxious to see Billy dragging himself up. Finally, Billy stood in front of students and spoke markedly slurred as follows: "Je- sus …. Loves me…and …I love…Je-sus." When Billy finished, there was stunned silence. Rev. Campolo saw that all over the place there were boys with tears. That day a revival broke out and many accepted Jesus. After many years, when

What is the main message in book of Romans? The main message is "Jesus loves me." How can you glorify God? "I can do it by confessing that I love Jesus and live accordingly." Let's glorify God by loving Jesus. --- to the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ. Amen!