Sermon Tone Analysis

*The ‘Otherness of God’*

 

·      Big question to begin!

·      *What is God?*

o  is ‘God’ the most */awesome/*, */beautiful/*, */creative/*, */delightful/*, */powerful/*, */important/* ‘thing’ ever to have been?

o  *does God agree?*

·      He takes /delight/ in himself

o  He takes delight in us, but not to the level that He takes delight in Himself.

o  in His perfection – ‘altogether’

·      “Loving yourself is wrong, it's self­-centred, you can't love yourself like that” - you can if you're God!

o  *if God didn't love Himself, He wouldn't be God!*

o  one of the most certain things about God.

o  whether or not we believe in God, /He still does/

§  whether we put our trust in Him and His Son or not /He's still God/

o  with or without the Church, /He's still creator and Lord/ of all the earth

§  with or without our worship, /He still knows he's amazing/; He's the best!

·      A kind of ‘self-awareness’!

 

·      Westminster Shorter Catechism begins:

o  *“What is the chief end of man?”*

§  ‘end’ means ‘purpose’ or ‘point’

o  “Man's chief end is to *glorify God*, and to *enjoy him* forever.”

·      Perhaps a bolder second question?

o  *What is the chief purpose of God?*

§  obviously not a flippant ‘What's the point of God?’

§  more ‘What does God see His purpose as being?

·      What has God /revealed/ to us about Himself?

o  turn to *Ezekiel 36:22-32* and some other parts of scripture

§  context: Ezekiel is God's prophet to the exiled Israelites in Babylon.

§  by this stage in his ministry, Jerusalem has been captured, and he is bringing a message of hope to God's people.

o  *v.22*

– “to bring honour to my name…”

o  *v.23*

– “…to show…that I am holy…”; “…know that I am the Lord God…”

o  *v.27*

– “…make you eager to obey my laws and teachings…”

o  *v.28*

– “…you will be my people, and I will be your God..”

o  *v.32*

– “I'm not doing these things for your sake..”

·      *Exodus 9:16* (about Pharaoh) – “But he has kept you alive, just */to show you his power/* and */to bring honour to himself everywhere in the world/*.”

·      *Ephesians 1:11-12* – “In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, 12*/in order that we/*, who were the first to hope in Christ, */might be for the praise of his glory/*.”

·      We can begin to consider a possible answer to our question:

o  *God's purpose is for His own glory.*

·      We may know this in our minds, but do we live our lives as Christians in the light of this?

o  the /benefit/ that we gain from being God's children is wonderful, but it's not the */primary purpose/* of God's actions.

o  God is ‘self-aware’, while we are ‘self-­centred’

§  not necessarily individually, but as created beings

o  we benefit so much that we often *miss the point* behind those benefits:

§  to bring God the glory He deserves!

·      How?

What do we do?

What is the consequent call on the Christian’s life?

·      Give Him all the glory

o  *worshipping* Him

o  *telling* of His greatnessHiHis

o  *serving* Him

·      Other ideas – do they fit anywhere?

o  /not neat categories/

o  overlap and doubling up

§  kind of like the *Trinity*!

(1+1+1 or 1x1x1!)

·      It’s all about the /relationship/

o  looking at each in turn

§  *worship*

§  *evangelism*

§  *justice*

* *

·      Prayer to close