Romans 11:33-36

The Chief End

(Opening) I can remember the most disappointing sermon Emily and I have ever listened too. Without telling you the pastor was or the name of the church. Emily and I had just been saved that year, and we attended our very first Easter service. It just happened that this Easter service was this Pastors last message before retirement. Unfortunately the whole message was what that Pastor had done with no mention of Jesus or the resurrection that day. Without assigning a wrong motive to that man, Emily and I, as recent born again believers were left desiring the Word Christ. As many of you are aware, today is my last message here at Valley Baptist, unless given the opportunity while visiting, to preach behind the pulpit here. And it is my prayer today, like every other Sunday before, that you leave here satisfied in Christ. Not that you came to know or to hear this pastor, but that you leave here knowing and hearing the True Shepherd of the sheep. I want my last message here to cause us to marvel at the glory of God for the eternity to come.

Pray

Read Romans 11:33-36.

Pray

Context

(Context) The letter to the Romans is written by Paul and was written around 56-58 BC. The letter is being sent to the Christians in Rome, who were both Jew and Gentile. And this book is also known by many theologians as one of, if not the most, theologically rich books in our bibles. Some of the major themes of this letter are; the gospel, salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone, the unity of believers in all places and time, Covenant Theology, Christian living, and God’s sovereignty.

However we are jumping today right into the middle of this book. And these verse are known by scholars as the doxology of Paul.

what is doxology? Doxology is a compound of two Greek words; DOXA & LOGOS. Which means; Glory and Word. meaning that this portion of text is considered as Paul breaking out and shouting verbal worship to God. You would rightly think, why is Paul doing this, in the middle of the letter? Well because he has spoken in the previous chapter of salvation, regeneration, justification through faith alone, unity with pre cross believers, federal headship in Christ over Adam, the waging of war with our flesh, the golden chain of redemption, God’s judgment, God’s election, God’s sovereignty, and God’s mercy. This swelling spring in the heart of Paul bursts open doing nothing else than marvel in worship to God here.

(Proposition) So for our proposition for today is What is the chief end of man?; The Chief End of Man is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.

VERSE 33

Read 33

oh the depth- We have all seen different movies that have this common move troupe in it. You are an adventurer and have come to a deep hole that you need to get to the bottom of. You peer over you and can not see the bottom, but just pitch blackness. What do you do? you grab the lantern, glow stick, or torch and you toss it to the bottom to see how really deep it is. Well brothers and sisters, if we were to approach the hole of God that represents all the theological truths that Paul has previous explored, we would find no bottom to that pit. It would be bottomless. And Paul describes those previously mentioned theological truths of God as Riches, Wisdom, and Knowledge.

Riches, and Wisdom, and Knowledge of God- Riches and wisdom and knowledge of God, why is it that these three words here are bottomless in the Mind of God? It is because we could spend the rest of our lives seeking each of the theological lessons previously mentioned in this book, and yet never find an end to how great they are. Let’s just quickly examine Romans 6:23 (Read).The Truth of this one verse does not only satisfy the believers soul, but enriches it beyond measure, for our cup over runs with the goodness of God. This goodness will span all of eternity, that like the bottomless pit of the Mind of God, will too be endless in our rejoicing over even this singular theological truth.

(Compare) Compare that with the world, who eats and drinks and is marry today, for there time here under the sun is short comparatively. Elon Musk right now is the richest man. Many today would look at Joe Rogan as a wise man because of all his off the cuff conversations. Or consider the knowledge from someone like Einstein, who is regarded in history as one of the smartest people who have ever lived. Each of those men have boundaries to their riches, wisdom, and knowledge, meaning there is an end or a limit to them. Their cup can never be satisfied of filled seeking those things outside of Christ. Yet in each of those men’s riches, wisdom, or knowledge, none of them could tell you the number of hairs upon your head.

For instance, could any man tell you how much wood could a wood chuck chuck if a wood chuck could chuck wood? NO! not one could tell you. However, we serve a God, who has sovereignly predetermined and sustained for His own glory the chucking of the wood from a wood chuck if a wood chuck could chuck word. Why? Nothing operates outside of our Creator and Sustainer of all things. Oh the bottomless depth of God’s riches, wisdom, and knowledge.

how unsearchable are his judgments- How unsearchable. This statement reminds me of my first day volunteering as a Firefighter in Parma. Essentially my very first day going to a training meeting, we had the opportunity to train in a vacant house. I had never rode on a fire engine, nor put on any equipment, found myself in turnouts and SCBA gear, which I had never worn, inside a foreign house that was filled with training smoke> I had no clue what I was doing but the training goal was to search the building with very low visibility. I still recall doing the classic left hand search and letting go of my partner, and being somewhere in the middle of the room which had a bright light that was suppose to resemble the training fire. I was lost in their. I couldn’t a wall even in there. After searching and trying to figure out what I was even suppose to be doing, I just stopped as stared at the small glimmering light, because to me this house was unsearchable. My skill got better and I along with other would aggressive search buildings in real world conditions.

However, if God’s “Judgements” which I would contend in speaking about God’s overarching sovereignty, was building that we were to search, we could never actually search it to find its end. Meaning it is to great for us. Romans 8:28

Romans 8:28 ESV

28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

In the book of Genesis, I can guarantee you if you were to ask Joseph if his current condition was “good” as he was being sold into slavery, he would say no. If we asked him why, he would say I don’t know. If we were to ask if there was a purpose for it, he would say it was nothing but evil from his brothers. However, this judgement and situation for Joseph was “unsearchable” to the end of God’s purposes. Joseph later on would proclaim to his brothers who had sold him into slavery “as for you, you meant evil against me, but God mean it it for good.” (Transition to the next phrase)

how inscrutable his ways- There is no spell checking the plans God. there is no fault in His character. There is no shadow there within His nature. As God would say in Isaiah; Isaiah 55:8-11

Isaiah 55:8–11 ESV

8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. 10 “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, 11 so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

Paul following these statements of the endlessness of God’s truths, then asks a serious of rhetorical questions that are quotations from the Old Testament.

VERSES 34-35

Read verse 34

Who is all the world, can tell us the mind of God in all completeness? NO ONE!

Who is all of heaven and earth, as ever acted as God’s counselor? Has anyone worked for God as a aid to bounce ideas off of? NO ONE!

Read verse 35

I do want to turn to reference here. Job 41:11 (Read).

Imagine you are a person going before the throne of King. There is a line before you and everyone has in his hands different gifts and tributes so that the person may speak to and request of the King. You look down to your hands, and being filled with anxiety, you realize you are empty handed. So out of desperation, you grab a pot of flowers that are already in the King’s house thinking that that might appease the King’s appointment. But what would any reasonable King say?: “Those flowers are already mine? What do you take me as? a fool? be gone and depart out of my kingdom”

Even think in regards to our normal progression through the book of Galatians. instead of grabbing a pot of flowers they were cutting our the flesh of their private members thinking that they could present that to God in order to be saved.

And that is the key factor of every false religion. It is man thinking that they can present God with some kind of gift in order that they might be rewarded.

But just as the analogy of the King and us grabbing a pot from his house on the way to meet him, is not all of creation owned by the Creator? Is not everything under the heavens the Make of them? Is not everything in the sea held in the hollows of His hand? Surely they are sustained by Him alone, surely they exists because He wills them to exist alone, why would we think that we could present anything to God, including our actions that would earn His favor in return.

“Has anyone, or will any one, ever to present to God a gift that isn’t already His? and thus every works based salvation is the equivalent to high treason thievery. No man can present to God something that is good, because no man has anything good to offer God.”

I believe it is here that we should remind ourselves, that our salvation is completely and only from and of the LORD. He is both the author and perfecter of our faith. And it is because this grace of God is His gift to us, He now reaps all the praises that are owed to Him. So today, if you have not bowed your knee in humble submission to the King of all creation, today is the day to repent and believe in the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

(Transition by just reading the next verse)

VERSE 36

Read 36

This verse, in regarding the statement “For from Him and through Him, and to Him are all things” is not something we can overlook. This statement is a statement is a exclusionary statement, meaning; It leaves out any other possibility to who should receive the ultimate praise, honor, and reward of all things. It is similar to how Christ is referred to as the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, or Who was Who is and Who is to come. It is essentially saying that the all things are from Him is the “Because”, the through Him is the “Since”, the to Him is “Therefore.” In other words, because all things come from God, and since all things are through God, therefore all things are to Him. Meaning you and I are not owed an ounce of any glory.

Should we receive any glory? No, not to us be the glory, not to us, but to God be all glory, for He has done what we can not.

Conclusion

Read verse 36 again

There is a saying that come about from the early church in roughly the second century known as the Gloria Patri which was a doxology of the early church. It says;

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

Why is man’s Chief end to glorify God? Because you are His creation, living in His creation. Then how can we today enjoy Him forever and ever? It is through place faith in Him. Go back to being in the story of approaching the King, who is lofty and exalted on His throne, and instead of grabbing the pot of flowers from His house, today you ought to fall on your knees and worship Him. Love Him. Cherish Him. and plead unto Him for forgiveness by casting all your hope upon Him and what he has done through Christ.

I promise you today, that you have before you a deep endless pit. Instead of casting the flaming torch down the hole thinking that there is a bottom, trust that in knowing God, His character, His love, His mercy, His justice, and all who God is, there is no end and thrust yourself into that pit of His light.

Pray