 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 不要浪费生命 我们在地上短暂生命的目的是什么呢？ 首先，要知道奇妙的上帝希望我们认识祂是耶和华，就是“我是”的意思. 祂没有开始，也没有结束（出埃及记 3:14）。 祂创造宇宙（包括我们）之目的乃是显示祂的荣耀（以赛亚书 43：6-7, 48：9; 诗篇 106：7-8，19：1; 约翰福音 17：1; 帖撒罗尼迦后书 1：10）。祂的名应该受到尊崇（主祷文）。 上帝要我们认识祂，反映祂的荣耀（罗马书 9:22-23）。 如果我们珍视、享受和尊崇祂胜过世上的一切，就会反映出祂是何等宝贵。 当我们在上帝里面最满足时, 祂就在我们身上得到大大的荣耀。 但我们生来就恨上帝， 并且想站有祂的位置。 舍己不是我们的天性。 因此，祂的愤怒临到我们身上（以弗所书 2:3）。 基督战胜了这个主要的障碍。 祂被钉在十字架上以掩盖上帝的忿怒, 为我们成为诅咒（罗马书 8：3，加拉太书 3：13）。 上帝将信心、 悔改、 重生和基督自己都白白地赐给了我们（以弗所书 2:8, 提摩太后书 2:25，约翰福音 3:8，约翰福音 6:44）。 我们可以热爱和赞美上帝， 可以让祂成为生命的中心。 这是世界存在之前上帝就赐给我们的荣耀恩典（以弗所书1：5-6，哥林多后书4：4, 提摩太后书1：9，启示录13：8）。 没有虚度的生命表明基督比生命本身更宝贵， 更令人满足。 没有虚度的生命以万有为垃圾， 惟有认识基督是至宝（腓立比书 3:8）。 如果我们为基督受苦仍可喜乐, 便能清楚地表明基督为最宝贵。 如果我们因为是世界的盐和光而受到迫害仍欢欣鼓舞, 就表明珍视基督胜过世上一切（马太福音 5:11-16）。 如此也就表明我们在祂里面最满足， 将得见祂的荣耀视为最终奖赏（约翰福音 17:24）. 如此我们的生命也就不被浪费。
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