All things were created by God and exists for the glory of God. 

I simply just want you to come to terms with reality. That all things belong to God. That they have been created by God and exist for the glory of God. And to fail to see the things of this world as a gift and pointer to the greatest gift God Himself would be a tragedy.

May we live in such a way that shows the world Christ is our treasure. May we celebrate the generosity of God in giving His Son.

So here’s the problem, that left to our own devices, left to our own natural state, we will find ourselves to be always self absorbed for our own glory and for the praise of man.  Let me say that again, that apart from Jesus Christ we will always be self absorbed for our own glory, for the praise of man.

And this is honestly one of the greatest obstacles that stand in our way that keep us from knowing Jesus and finding life in Him.

Often times we find ourselves living for other's thoughts, accolades and definitions of who we are. Thinking that it if enough people actually liked me and enough people actually approved of me then I might find what I’m actually looking for, what I’m searching for, that I’d truly find life, that I’d be living.

And John the gospel writer wrote this book so that we would no longer go on checking people’s approval ratings of us. That we would no longer go on living for ourselves. But that we would instead come to find life in someone greater than ourselves, namely Jesus Christ.

We see this in John chapter 20 verse 31,

but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

John knows that there is only life found in one name, in one person. And it’s not you or me and it's not what others think of you and me. It’s in the name of Jesus Christ, the Son of God and it is through believing on Him that we find life, eternal life, salvation.

And we must consider and encounter the glory of God all the time. And the good news is we don’t have to go far looking for it. It’s displayed all around us. Everything exists for the glory of God. Creation exists for the glory of God.

Psalm 19:1 says,

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.

And not only nature, but every person exists for the glory of God as well. The whole Bible is a story about God and His glory. I've said before that there's only one main character in this story. And it's Jesus. You might not find His name on every page of this book but make no mistake it is all about Him. Everything we read in this book points to Jesus.

This is not a self help book, this is not a road map on how to be a better person. This book is not about you, it is for you, but it's not about you. It's about Jesus.

When we gather here in this room as the church, we are gathering around the Word of God, the praise of God, the glory of God.

D.A. Carson said,

“The Christian's whole desire, at its best and highest, is that Jesus Christ be praised. It is always a wretched corruption of our goals when we want to win glory for ourselves instead of for him.”

And that why the vision of Athens church, aka our prayer is that God would awaken a people, a city and a world to His glory. We don't want to live for our glory, we don't want to live for the approval of man. We don’t exist to call attention to ourselves, but to God and his glory.

Input your text here! The text element is intended for longform copy that could potentially include multiple paragraphs.

Input your text here! The text element is intended for longform copy that could potentially include multiple paragraphs.

Input your text here! The text element is intended for longform copy that could potentially include multiple paragraphs.