Don't Waste Your Life
A John Piper Sermon Summary
What is the purpose of your short life on earth?
First, know that our amazing God wants to be known as Yahweh, which means “I am,” with no beginning and no end (Exodus 3:14). He created the universe, including us, to display His glory (Isaiah 43:6-7, 48:9; Psalm 106:7-8, 19:1; John 17:1; 2 Thessalonians 1:10). His name should be honored through us (the Lord’s Prayer).
God wants us to know Him and reflect His glory (Romans 9:22-23). If we treasure, enjoy, and honor Him over everything on earth, we will reflect how valuable He is. When we are most satisfied in God, He will be greatly glorified by us.
However, we inherently hate Him and want to be in His position. Self-denial is not naturally in our bones. For that, we deserve His wrath (Ephesian 2:3).
Christ overcame this major obstacle. He was crucified to cover God’s wrath and become a curse for us (Romans 8:3, Galatians 3:13). Faith, repentance (Ephesians 2:8, 2 Timothy 2:25), new birth (John 3:8), and Christ Himself (John 6:44) are freely given to us. We can love and praise God and let God be our center. This is the glorious grace from God given to us before the world existed (Ephesians 1:5-6, 2 Corinthians 4:4, 2 Timothy 1:9, Revelation 13:8).
An unwasted life shows Christ as more precious and satisfying than life itself. An unwasted life considers everything is rubbish compared to knowing Him (Philippians 3:8).
If we suffer because of Him but we are still joyful, then we can clearly show Christ being most precious. If we can rejoice even when someone persecute us for being the salt and light of this world, then we will show we treasure Christ more than anything on earth (Matthew 5:11-16). Then we will show we are most satisfied in Him, and we consider seeing His glory as our ultimate reward (John 17:24). And our life will not be wasted.
Summary of a sermon by John Piper:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHdB1dYAteA
First, know that our amazing God wants to be known as Yahweh, which means “I am,” with no beginning and no end (Exodus 3:14). He created the universe, including us, to display His glory (Isaiah 43:6-7, 48:9; Psalm 106:7-8, 19:1; John 17:1; 2 Thessalonians 1:10). His name should be honored through us (the Lord’s Prayer).
God wants us to know Him and reflect His glory (Romans 9:22-23). If we treasure, enjoy, and honor Him over everything on earth, we will reflect how valuable He is. When we are most satisfied in God, He will be greatly glorified by us.
However, we inherently hate Him and want to be in His position. Self-denial is not naturally in our bones. For that, we deserve His wrath (Ephesian 2:3).
Christ overcame this major obstacle. He was crucified to cover God’s wrath and become a curse for us (Romans 8:3, Galatians 3:13). Faith, repentance (Ephesians 2:8, 2 Timothy 2:25), new birth (John 3:8), and Christ Himself (John 6:44) are freely given to us. We can love and praise God and let God be our center. This is the glorious grace from God given to us before the world existed (Ephesians 1:5-6, 2 Corinthians 4:4, 2 Timothy 1:9, Revelation 13:8).
An unwasted life shows Christ as more precious and satisfying than life itself. An unwasted life considers everything is rubbish compared to knowing Him (Philippians 3:8).
If we suffer because of Him but we are still joyful, then we can clearly show Christ being most precious. If we can rejoice even when someone persecute us for being the salt and light of this world, then we will show we treasure Christ more than anything on earth (Matthew 5:11-16). Then we will show we are most satisfied in Him, and we consider seeing His glory as our ultimate reward (John 17:24). And our life will not be wasted.
Summary of a sermon by John Piper:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHdB1dYAteA