What did St. Paul mean when, in his Letter to the Ephesians, he wrote the phrase…
So that we might exist for the praise of His glory, we who first hoped in Christ. (Ephesians 1:12)
This is an interesting way to describe the followers of Christ, but what does it mean?
It should not be surprising that modern persons might struggle with this question since we are currently living in a post-Christian era, and this phrase, ‘Praise of His Glory,’ is the foundation of what it means to be Christian.
Each of us was created in God’s image (Genesis 1:27). Our entire purpose in this life is to fulfill the vision that God had for us when He created us. We fulfill our purpose by using the talents (Matthew 25:15) God gave to us individually. When we prayerfully identify the talents God gave us, we can see ourselves in the role we are called to play in service to the Kingdom.
And he gave some as apostles, others as prophets, others as evangelists, others as pastors and teachers, to equip the holy ones for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ. (Ephesians 4:11-13)
If you look at this verse from Ephesians and say to yourself, “I don’t see myself anywhere on this list,” consider that there are many talents and roles not listed here, and that whatever your talent may be, it can be applied somewhere in the building up of the Kingdom. Perhaps your role is as one who provides a service, one who encourages others, perhaps you offer your prayers for others, or (and there are not enough of these folks) you offer your sufferings for the body of Christ. Whatever it is, that is our soul purpose (yes, soul purpose) in this life.
To the extent that we fulfill our role, to the extent that we allow our participation in that role to transform us into a person of love, to that extent, and to that extent only, we will fulfill the purpose for which we were created.
We should not confuse this critical point or mince words… so much of what we humans spend much of our lives in pursuit of is simply wasted time. If we do not direct our actions, aspirations, and desires to the fulfillment of the purpose for which we were created, we are just spinning our eternal wheels.
I just recently heard a minister make the statement that what we are experiencing in our world today is fundamentally a lack of purpose for our lives. So many people are desperately trying to find their purpose in materialism, (which the minister correctly defined as choosing matter over spirit), or some political idea, or some cultural agenda, or in sports, fitness, reputation or even the accomplishments of their children. None of these motivations are bad in and of themselves, but they become misguided when they are not confirmed in prayer, or they are not directed toward the fulfillment of our eternal purpose. We are each called to be Living Praises of the Glory of God, which is the sole and soul profound purpose for each and everyone of our lives. It may be worth asking the Lord to show us how we can fulfill that purpose today.
Copyright © 2024, Deacon Mark Danis
Image credit:"The Adoration of the Name of Jesus," El Greco, Public domain, via WikiArt