[article.] Made For God

Published on February 8, 2014

He’s fabulous, his status is immaculate; I’m lacking the vernacular to adequately capture his glory.  Incomparable, unconquerable, all-powerful, unstoppable, absolutely phenomenal.  No obstacle he can’t navigate, he’s God and so fascinates, with Him it’s impossible to exaggerate.  – shai linne (@ShaiLinne)

Joe RomeoIn his Confessions, Augustine wrote that God awakens human beings “to take joy in praising [Him]” because “you have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until in rests in you.”[1]  We were created to “glorify God and to enjoy him forever.”  One gathers from the opening of his Confessions that Augustine envisions created beings as thirsty souls longing for a satisfaction and refreshment that can only be found by gazing at the panoramic perfections of an all-glorious Triune God.  Captivated by his ineffable love, man’s response should be like of David’s: “O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my souls thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water” (Ps. 63:1).

We were made for God. We were created to find life in Him.  The ultimate purpose of our existence is to stand in awe of the resplendent majesty of God, to “gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his temple” (Ps. 27:4).  That’s why we exist.  This kind of life doesn’t come naturally to us, however.  Why?  Solomon tells us: “God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes” (Eccl. 7:29).  We were not content to live as God had originally designed.  We thought we knew better; we wanted moral and epistemological autonomy.[2]

But God hasn’t stopped coming after us.  He beckons us with words like Psalm 34:8, “Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good!”  That is, come and experience life with God.  What we desperately need is forgiveness.  And that’s found in Jesus: “To him [Jesus] all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name” (Acts 10:43).

So in the words of the prophet Isaiah, “Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat!  Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price” (55:1).  And allow me to add my voice to the words we read in Revelation 22:17, “The Spirit and the Bride say, ‘Come.’ And let the one who hears say, ‘Come.’ And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.”

God, your ways are beautiful.  God, we find you merciful.  God, your ways are lovely.  God, your kindness is bountiful.


[1] Augustine, Confessions (trans. John K. Ryan; NY: Doubleday, 1960), 1. 1.

[2]  For more on this see, e.g., Stephen G. Dempster, Dominion and Dynasty: A Theology of the Hebrew Bible (Downers Grove: IVP, 2003), 63.

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