Please now, would you open your Bibles to 2 Corinthians chapter 4. I needed to take just a short break from the other series and go back and consider a subject that we considered a long time ago, the subject of the first question to the shorter catechism. And we're going to look at 2 Corinthians 4, verse 6, as we consider the chief end of man. So please give your attention as I read 2 Corinthians 4, verses 1 through 6. Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart, but we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God's word. But by the open statement of the truth, we would commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God. And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case, the God of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ who is the image of God. For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. For God who said, let light shine out of darkness, has shown in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Let us pray. Lord our God, please open your word to us tonight and shine the light of your glory upon us that we might understand. the life that you've given to us in Christ, that we might indeed live as children who long to glorify and serve our Father with the great joy of your name being praised and glorified in all the earth. We ask for your help now and your spirit's wonderful work in us through your word. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. At some point in your life, you should really ask the question, why am I here? Or what is the reason to live? That's a question that you really should ask instead of just living life, doing whatever you do. And if you were to ask that question publicly and maybe even today on the internet or in media, on cable, just ask that question in a group of people in this world, you're going to find a lot of answers. Philosophers have spent thousands of years trying to give answers to this question about the meaning of life and why are we here, and they've given really great but really wrong answers. You can find folk philosophers and, you know, Amateur philosophers is all around and they're all over they make bumper stickers and you know I live for coffee or craft beer or mountain biking or knitting or Swimming or running marathons Or I live for weekends. That's my whole purpose and in all those things I think in their I in their place can be fun. Somehow knitting in Pride and Prejudice is fun. I don't get that. But I'm sure it is fun, and people I do know delight in those things. And I like beanies, so I'm glad that people knit. Haven't figured out Pride and Prejudice. So we ask this question, why am I here? And there's tons and tons of wrong answers that lead us astray. But the Bible reveals God's clear answer. And so we summarize this question of why am I here, what is my purpose in life, we summarize it This way, in our catechism, man's chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. And so we're going to see this purpose in our life as we consider the truth taught in 2 Corinthians 4, verse 6. And we're going to consider light in two senses. The first, the light of God's glory and its effect. And secondly, the light of God's gospel and its effect on us. Paul wrote, for God who said, let light shine out of darkness. Now, these words should remind us of the first day of creation in Genesis chapter 1, verse 3, where God said, let there be light. And there was light. And on that day, God spoke powerfully and created light out of darkness. But have you ever asked the question, where did all of that light come from? I imagine Einstein had to ask that question when he said, energy equals mass times the speed of light squared equals mc squared. Because it's actually something. Maybe you haven't asked that question, but today's time to ask, where did that light come from? Where did it originate? Well, the answer is simply, it has to do with this. God created it out of nothing. or maybe it's even more complex. We do know that God had not yet created the sun, moon, and stars, so there wasn't light that he pulled a screen away and all of a sudden there's a sun, or there's the moon reflecting the sun, or there's a bunch of stars billions of light years away shining light on us. That's not what happened. He didn't just pull a curtain away to finally reveal light. But I think Revelation 21 answers our question where did it come from. In heaven, You see, as we get this picture from the Apostle John, in heaven there will be no sun or moon, because the glory of God gives it light, and the lamp is its lamb. You see, God did not need an object to emit light. He won't need it in the new heavens and the new earth, and He didn't need it at the beginning when He created the heavens and the earth. He emitted light from His own glory. And so let's ask this question, what is the purpose of that light? I want you to consider three purposes of the light of God's glory that turned into the light that illumined all the world before the stars and the sun and the moon were created. And here are three purposes of the light. The light enables us to praise God's glory, to reflect God's glory, and to enjoy God's glory. Let's consider first that light enables you to praise God's works in all their glory. You see, light shines to illuminate creation so that we can see it. God created us with eyes so that we could see, but we're blind without light. It's like at night when I need to leave my study down in the basement and I turn the light off, then I have to like figure out like I'm gonna step on ski boots or Legos or what. And I'm totally blind and then sometimes I have to like feel around for the wall. But God gave me eyes to see and without light, my eyes and our eyes, they're useless. But because of light, When you turn the light on, you can see the face of your wife, and then praise God for giving your wife. You can see snow-capped mountains in the morning as the sun rises over Kansas and illuminates the Indian Peak Mountains and Mount Evans just to the west of us. You can see the stars, and they paint this beautiful picture in the dark sky. Soon you'll be able to see green grass, which as you get older becomes just great joy if you're a homeowner. Except for the fact that, well maybe because of the fact that your kids are going to get to mow that grass. You get to see colorful flowers. Soon we're going to see those. Actually, this is the time in Los Angeles when you drive up the 5 freeway. And when you get out of town toward the grapevine, you get to see these hills that are normally brown, but they're covered with red poppies and orange poppies and yellow and white. It's beautiful. Light causes you to do that. Light causes you to be able to see cutthroat trout with their beautiful, long, blood red stripes down their sides. and pine trees and thunderstorms and sunsets. Because of light, God causes us to see his work. And so how should we respond to these sites? Well, in Romans 1, 19, and 20, we read, God's invisible attributes, namely his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world in the things that have been made. And I think we need to assume that God gave light so that we may see his glory in his works of creation and worship him. We've sung Psalm 8.1 so that we might worship him, and Psalm 8 does proclaim God's glory for his works. Psalm 19.1 and 2 also gives us this proper response to what we see in creation. You see, we must praise God because the heavens declare the glory of God. And so light enables you to praise God's work in all their glory. And that's one of the ends that God has for us. We who are his people, we basically who are created, God gave us light so that we would look at the mountains, at trout, at grass and trees and stars and sunsets and glorify God for his wonderful works. Because in his work of creation, he's revealed his eternal power and his divine nature. He's written himself into creation. Not in a pagan sense, but he's shown and demonstrated who he is by what he's made. Secondly, light enables you to reflect God's glory as image bearers. Light enables you to reflect God's glory as image bearers. See, when God created man in his image, he entered into what we call the creation mandate, and he gave us work to do. He told Adam to go and work the land, subdue the whole earth, rule over all of the creatures. And since we have eyes and we can't function unless we see what's before us, we need light. to do this work. We need light to be a fully functioning human. It's evident when you drive through Denver at night because the road crews illuminate their work with bright spotlights. Have you ever noticed that you don't have graders and people laying down the asphalt in the dark? But the first thing you see is those huge lights that look like lights in a baseball stadium, right? Why? Because these guys, they can't do work unless they can see what they're working on. Psalm 104.23 says, man goes out to his work and to his labor until evening. just acknowledges how God created us to work. We go out in the morning and we work until evening. Why do we stop at evening? Because the sun goes down. And so why does man stop work at night? He needs light to work. We cannot plow a straight line. We cannot drive a nail unless we can see it. And we cannot bear God's image in our working. unless we have light. So light enables us to reflect God's glory as his image bearers. And then light enables you to also enjoy God's glory in creation. In Genesis 129, God gave man every plant and fruit that he created for food. You can't eat blueberries unless you can pick them. You can't eat the raspberries in our mountains unless you can see them to pick them. Think about how the psalm describes light and its connection to our glory. In Psalm 30, verse 5, we sing, but joy comes in the morning. My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning. And isn't that true, that every morning it seems like the Lord restores us to a new day, and very often just the light that God brings with the sun rising in the east, it does bring joy in the morning. Light, like, refreshes us and opens up our day that we might glorify Him in everything we do. In Lamentations 3.22, we read that the mercies of the Lord are new every morning, such that the very rising of the sun for a new day, it indicates that the earth hasn't come to its end in judgment yet, but yet the Lord has shown us mercy again this morning. You see, the morning light should draw us to think about how our God illuminates His glorious works with light, that we might serve Him as we've created to, that we might see Him and the evidence of His character and attributes as He's written them in creation, and that we might be able to praise Him. Well, that's the light of God's glory. Well, let's consider, second, the light of God's gospel, the light of God's gospel. I want you to notice how Paul compares the creation of light to the work of converting a sinner. That's really a symbol that's used throughout the scriptures. Paul wrote, has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. In other words, God shined light on creation so that we would see the glory of his works. And God has also shone light into our hearts so that we would see the glory of Jesus Christ. And so like created light, The light of the gospel enables us to praise God's glory, to reflect God's glory, and to enjoy God's glory in Jesus Christ. And so let's consider these three points. The gospel enables you to praise God for Jesus Christ, our Savior. See, the gospel which is preached is the message of the offer of Jesus Christ and salvation in him. And it calls sinners with darkened minds to see Christ crucified and raised again to save sinners from hell. And so when the Spirit of God opens our eyes to see our sin and to see God's grace to forgive us, We cry out with David in Psalm 51, deliver me from blood guiltiness. Oh God, oh God of my salvation. And then we see David's response. And my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness. When you see Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, the right response to the truly converted heart is to glorify God with praise, praise that comes from your lips, praise that comes out of a heart that has been freed and ransomed from slavery to sin, whose darkness has been lifted because the light of the gospel of Jesus Christ has shined upon it. See, the gospel enables us to praise God for Jesus Christ. Without the gospel, we're never going to praise God for His work. The gospel also enables you to reflect God's glory as image bearers of Christ. The light of God, it shines into our hearts And what it does is it reflects God's glory in us, that it changes us so that we might now no longer live in reflection of the image of Adam and his fallen sin, but the Lord God and his work of conversion changes us so that we might reflect Christ. That's why we're called Christians, we who are believers in Christ. You see, when the Holy Spirit causes you to believe in Christ for salvation, He unites you to Jesus Christ. And if you believe in Jesus Christ, you must understand that now you are dead to sin. And so Paul teaches that you must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. That's what he wrote in Romans 6. The Holy Spirit conforms you beyond this more and more into the image of Christ and so that as you grow in Christian maturity you might glorify God in the way you live more and more throughout your life. And then in Matthew 5, 16, Jesus commands us, let your light shine before others so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. And the only way that we're going to have light in us to begin with, and the only way we're going to be able to glorify the Lord is if the Spirit of God converts us and transforms us and conforms us more into the image of Christ. It's the gospel that makes us able in any way and in any measure to reflect God's glory in our lives, to put off the old self and put on the new self, which is being transformed again into the image of Christ. And then the gospel enables you to enjoy the benefits of redemption in Christ. See, when God's Spirit shines into your heart, the knowledge of God in Christ Jesus, and you finally come to comprehend not only your sin, but the grace of God in Christ, He fills you with glory. That's why in Psalm 51, David says, deliver me, O God, of my salvation from my guiltiness, and my tongue will sing aloud. It's because The Spirit of God fills us with joy when our sin is washed away clean. When you trust in Christ for salvation, you receive many gifts beyond forgiveness of sins. God adopts you as a son and a joint heir of Christ. He answers your prayers with a peace that surpasses all understanding. His spirit fills your heart with joy because you've been reconciled to God. He assures you of the gift of eternal life so that you might enjoy all that Christ has purchased. When you come to see the benefits of perfect union with God in Christ, the only right response is joy. And just consider how the Psalms teach us to respond to God's work in the light of the gospel. In Psalm 1611, David wrote, in God's presence is fullness of joy. See, the way into God's presence is the gospel. It's the sacrifice of Christ. which deals with our sins, satisfying its penalty, and clothing us in righteousness so that we might enter into the Holy of Holies. And in the presence of God, in communion with God as His covenant people, there's fullness of joy. Psalm 73, 24 shows the depth of joy that a believer has in Christ. where the psalmist wrote, whom have I in heaven but you? And there's nothing on earth that I desire beside you. And so ask, do you have this joy in your heart? Do you long for anyone else other than the Lord in communion with him? Do you desire anything on the earth more than the Lord? I mean, honestly, if we desire even a relationship with someone more than communion and reconciliation with God, we are shooting for something far lower than true joy. The psalmist has been so moved by the grace of God and his journey in Psalm 73, where he begins with a covetous, bitter heart that's angry toward God. And then he sees his sin and is reminded of the grace of God and the fact that as a priest, Asaph, his inheritance is having God and serving Him in such close proximity. And when he has come to see the glory of God and His service in the temple, He's come to see that there's no greater joy than having God as his God. There's no earthly treasure that can compare to being reconciled to the Lord, to knowing Jesus Christ. So ask this question, do you have this joy in the Lord? Now, it's often not a matter of lacking the blessing of salvation. So you may not have this full joy, but you could still be saved. It's often, though, a matter of not seeking the joy that you have, because you're still hanging on to the world. You're still hanging on to your sin. But you see, the gospel, it shines a light that totally overshadows and blinds you from the idols, the things we love in the world, so that we might see the glory of God in the face of Christ and cling to him. And ironically, when we cling to Christ first as our first love, we're able to enjoy all those other things that tend to pull and tug at our hearts, but in a right way, in a right way. And so the light of God's gospel, it enables us to praise God because he's given Jesus Christ to us as Savior. It enables us to reflect his glorious image bearers as part of the work of the gospel is not only regenerating us, but sanctifying us and making us more like Christ. And the gospel enables us to enjoy the benefits of redemption, that we might find what is truly offered to us in God's covenant, and that is God himself. where he declares to us, I will be your God and you will be my people and I will dwell among you. And it's all in the gospel of Jesus Christ that this covenant is consummated and applied to us. And so if you're a believer in Jesus Christ, you need to believe that you've been recreated to be a saint through the light of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And now you have, you know, the answer to our question, what is our purpose in life? Why do I live? What is my chief end? You've been recreated to glorify God in worship and in all of your life, and you've been recreated so that you might enjoy the benefits of redemption. And so I just leave you with this question, how do you live up to your purpose in Christ? You find it a great delight to live for glorifying the Lord, to live for enjoying this reconciled relationship you have with God and Christ, does that overshadow the greatest pizza, the greatest ski run, the greatest movie, the greatest date? Whatever else you live and you have in life, does knowing God and Christ Jesus overshadow all of that and even make the dark and dingy days be filled with joy because while you were an enemy, God reconciled you to him through the blood of his son. Let us pray. Father, please work in each of our hearts as you've called us to faith in Christ. Give us that faith and then build that faith that as Paul prayed, we might know the length and width and height and depth of the love of Christ. the depth of your love, love that was so willing to pay the price required, the death of your only begotten son, so that you might make us your people. Father, put the gospel of Christ, put your grace in perspective to every other aspect of our lives so that we might love you with all of our heart and soul and mind and strength. and that we might truly enjoy being your covenant people, enjoy having you, having given your son to us as our redeemer and uniting us to him. And Lord, win us with your love and kindness to repentance that we might seek your glory in everything we do, in every thought and word and deed of our lives. in every relationship, in every activity, in our schedule and time. Lord, work in each of us that we might truly shine our light in the world because your Spirit's work in us, having shown the light of your glory in the gospel and in the face of Christ, our Savior and our Lord, who is risen and reigning and has been glorified at your right hand as our King and Savior. In his name we pray, amen.