PASTOR’S CORNER, Jeremy Harris, First Southern Baptist Church, Liberal
As a guy who has grown up Southern Baptist all my life, I do not have much experience with the practice of catechism. It’s just not something we do. However several years ago I heard this statement from the Westminster Shorter Catechism that has stuck with me. The question being answered is “What is the chief end of man?” Basically, why are we here? The answer given in the catechism is “The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.” Have you ever considered that our failings can point out our purpose?
Romans 3:23 is a very well known verse. It says… “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” In pointing out our failings, this verse also points out our purpose. You see, we cannot fall short of something we were never intended to reach. This verse tells us that in our sin we fail to reach what we were designed for. You and I have a glorious purpose! We are designed to reflect God’s glory and enjoy God’s presence.
The problem with sin is that it messes up what God intended for us as well as the people around us. We cannot reflect God’s glory to others while living in rebellion against God. We cannot enjoy being with God while at the same time living in ways that separate us from Him.
Romans 3:24 tells us “they are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” We have a glorious purpose, we fall short of that purpose, but God has made a way through Jesus for us to be justified before God. Asking Jesus to forgive us makes it just as if we never sinned in God’s eyes. As we enjoy living in God’s favor we do our best to live out our glorious purpose and point others towards our great God who has forgiven our sins.
We all have sinned, but Jesus has paid for those sins. When we surrender our lives to Jesus, we are able to live out our glorious purpose of glorifying God.
