For Him

Romans 11:33-36

Welcome to the last Sunday of 2025! Thank you for being in church today. Many of our people are traveling to be with their family and perhaps some of you have traveled here to see your family. I am thankful for my son Nathan and his wife Angela for being here. It has been a wonderful time with family.

If this is your first time here with us, thank you for being here. We would love to connect with you. Please be sure to stop by the welcome center as you leave today.

Have you ever wondered, why am I here? What is my reason or purpose for being on this planet at this time? Many people struggle with this thought; yet, God in these verses answers that question. We are here: For Him. We have been given a free will and God never intrudes on that free will . With that free will, God gives us a choice to follow Him.

The focus in these verses is on salvation primarily so that the Jews would understand that they are still a part of God plan through Jesus Christ. In verse 36, God reveals the cause of HIs work in His world. As we finish out this year and prepare for a new year, God wants to be First Priority over everything in our life.

As we approach this new year, let me encourage you to make sure that we Put God First. Matthew 6:33 “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”

There are three lessons God wants us to remember For Him here in the verses we just read. Verse 36 takes us to those lessons.

Lesson 1. . .

God is the Source of all things: “of Him”

This is the opposite of what evolution says where it suggests that the earth evolved into what it is.

God is the creator and originator of all things. John 1:1–3 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.”

These verses assure us that there is a Creator who has no beginning and on end. He initiated creation and is the Source of all things.

John 1:4 “In him was life; and the life was the light of men.” .

Since the Bible says all things are of Him-this is His world in which we are a part of. God owns all there is and as Owner, He has the Authority over it. He has the rights and privileges. All mankind needs to realize that God is the Owner of all things in our world. Psalm 24:1 “The earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof; The world, and they that dwell therein.”

A dead God is the creation of men; a living God is the Creator of men.

Anonymous

As the Creator, God moves to communicate with us on how He is and where we stand with Him.

Hebrews 1:1–3 “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;”

It is through His communication to us that God shows us He is seeking us and communicates His greatest message: the Gospel. He sent HIs Son Jesus to die on the cross to communicate to the world the awfulness and ugliness of sin. The judgement of God on sin and that Jesus took care of the punishment for sin by dying on the cross for us. He was buired and rose again the third day.

There is a God shaped vacuum in the heart of every man which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God, the Creator, made known through Jesus.

Blaise Pascal (French Scientist, Polemicist and Christian Apologist)

Lesson 2. . .

God is the Sustainer of all things: “through Him.”

Colossians 1:17 “And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.”

In vese 33, God shows us that He who sustains us cannot be understand all that God is and His ways are past finding out. You cannot trace His ways because He is God. Man cannot nor will ever have the knowledge of God. His methods, reasons, and designs are past our understanding.

Isaiah 55:8–9 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, Neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are my ways higher than your ways, And my thoughts than your thoughts.” v. 34a

He is beyond man’s counseling v. 34b-He dos not need anyone teach Him or counsel Him. He does not consult the weather app or life principles or eternal truths or philosophy of life.

He sustains Himself, His truth, and all that is in the world. While sin has wrecked our lives, God rescues us from our sin. Paul is describing His ability to sustain the world we live in and we are to see His sustaining power.

There are times when we think we know more than God. Believers may so no we don’t; but, when God doesn’t answer our prayers, then we question God. We may question God when things don’t turn out right or He doesn’t bless my work or service for HIm.

God is beyond our giving and He is never beholding to man. God is a debtor to no man. This means we don’t give anything to God because He needs it, but we give to recognize Him as first place.

1 Chronicles 29:14 “But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort? for all things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee.”

We cannot out give God or give Him anything that He does not already have. He sustains and keeps the universe by the power of His might.

Lesson 3. . .

God is the Summation of all things: “to Him”

He completes our purpose for living. Mankind wrongly thinks he is to look out for himself and he is here for himself. Man is totally unfulfilled without God because God the end of our purpose.

Since He is the summation of all things, everything should glorify God. To glorify means to shine the spotlight on God and who He is. This means we shine the light on Jesus in our homes, in our workplaces, in our recreation, in our activities, and in the decisions we make in life. Every decision I make, you seek God first. He will show you what He wants.

Revelation 4:11 “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.”

So let us begin with God. Back of all, above all, before all is God; first in sequential order, above in rank and station, exalted in dignity and honor. As the self-existent One He gave being to all things, and all things exist out of Him and for Him.4

A. W. Tozer

Every minute you spend with Him, every song to sing to Him, every command you obey for Him, and every witness you give for Him brings glory to Him.

God’s overriding goal is to glorify himself.

J. I. Packer

If we live for Him and to Him, then our life is not to live for this world. We are not to live for the empty pleasures and promised joys of this world. When we live for Him, there will be joy evermore.

‘What is sin? It is failure to glorify God.

David Martyn Lloyd-Jones (Welsh Preacher and Writer)

It is a strange thing how we get so wrapped up on the highlight reels of those on social media or in the spotlight of the news or the local school recognition; yet, we fail to recognize the importance of God’s glory.

Christian

What are your priorities for this new year? Loose weight, save more money, sleep better. These are certainly worthy goals but keep Jesus first place in your life. Keep Him first in your day, keep Him first in your desires, keep Him first in your week by coming to church. Keep Him first in every decision you make.

Unsaved

If you have never accepted Jesus as your Savior, will turn to Him today? Will you start this new year with Jesus?