Scripture as Generative and Formative Text
As I was preparing the message this week and listening for what the Lord wants to teach His church, I was asking: what do we need to be reminded of in this season? Where are we both as a church, as a collective body of people, and also as individuals as we continue our journeys? As seasons change and culture shifts, who is God calling us to be, and what is He calling us to do in this time? That’s what we’re exploring.
As I was preparing and hearing from the Lord, I felt Him remind me of something really important. This is a bit of a pre-point to the sermon, if that’s okay. It’s about Scripture itself—the Holy Bible—and how we read and approach it, because there are multiple ways we can do that.
I want to remind us that Scripture works best in our lives when we let it be a generative text, not just a permissive one. When we allow Scripture, by the Holy Spirit, to generate concepts, ideas, principles, and values in us—that’s when it really forms us. Not when we first and foremost go to the Bible simply to confirm what we already think, or to back up our preconceived ideas.
We want to allow Scripture to speak to us and to approach it as though we are a blank canvas, ready to be drawn on. Jeremiah 18:6 talks about the people of God being like clay in the hands of the potter. So the question is: are we approaching Scripture ready to be sculpted and molded, waiting for God to generate things within us?
I want to challenge you with that as we start this morning. We’re reading Scripture for formation, not just for information.
If you’d like the more technical language for what I’m talking about, this is really the difference between exegesis and eisegesis. Eisegesis is when we read into Scripture—using it to justify or formulate our own opinions. Exegesis is when we come as a blank canvas and say, “Lord, what do You have to teach me?”
That’s the posture I’m inviting us to take as we open the Word together.
The Question of Our Purpose
All right, now I've got a question for you: what is your point of view?
This question actually comes with a little bit of a story, and it’s not one of my proudest moments. In fact, it’s one of my least proud moments.
One time our internet connection went out. So I needed to try and fix the issue by contacting the broadband provider. I went on their website, tethering off my phone because we didn’t have any internet. I found the support page and there were two options. One was to fill out a form that asked for your name, email address, and the problem you were having. The other said, “Or you can call us.”
I thought, “I’ll call them, because that might get me a quicker response. It might even be quite nice to talk to somebody.” So I called the number, I was on hold for quite a while, and eventually I got to talk to somebody. I explained the challenge I was having, and then this guy said, “Okay, well, there’s nothing I can do to help, but what I can do is submit a support ticket for you, if I can just take your name, email address, and the problem that you’re having.”
I said, “Right, but isn’t that the form that’s on the website?”
He said, “Yeah, yeah, that’s what I’m going to do for you. I’ll fill out the form on the website.”
I said, “Well, I could do that myself though, couldn’t I?”
And he said, “Well, yes, sir, you can, but you’ve called me, so I can do it for you.”
I said, “Right, okay, so just so I’m clear: you can’t actually help with the problem?”
(This is the bit I’m not proud of.)
“You can’t actually help with the problem?”
“No, sir.”
“But you can fill out the same form that I have access to?”
“Yes, sir.”
I said, “Sorry, I don’t mean to be rude… what is your purpose?”
As I say, I’m just being honest. If you can’t be honest in church, where can you be honest? This is not a proud moment, but I asked this guy what his purpose was. I’m really hoping I didn’t trigger some kind of existential crisis for him. I’m not saying we should do that. But it does raise this question: what is our purpose?
Why are you here? What is the meaning of your life? Or to ask it another way, what is the meaning of life in general? Who’s ever found themselves asking that kind of question? What is your purpose? Why am I here? What am I to do with it all?
We can approach the Scriptures with this question, but we can approach them in two different ways. As I said earlier, we can go to Scripture saying, “Hey, this is what I’ve decided my purpose is—what do you think?” That’s when we come to the Bible with a predetermined idea.
Or we can go to Scripture as a blank slate, with no preconceived idea, and say, “You tell me. You tell me: what is my purpose? What is my purpose?”
And that’s how we’re going to do it this morning. So good.
Humanity Woven with God in Genesis
We’ve got three sections of Scripture that I want us to journey through this morning. These Scriptures come from vastly different time periods. They’re written by very different people, and they’re addressed to different audiences. But amazingly, they all tell the same story, which is awesome, isn’t it?
They tell the same story—and it’s your story, it’s my story. It’s the story of humanity and how humanity is woven together with God, all to answer this question: What is your purpose? What is your purpose?
The first Scripture is found in Genesis 1, verses 26 to 27, which is right at the start of the Bible. And I believe someone once sang a song about how that’s a very good place to start. Some of you are laughing politely—that’s from The Sound of Music.
Created in God’s Image and Purpose
Genesis 1:26–27 says this:
“Then God said, ‘Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.’ So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.”
We’re reading from the book of Genesis, which itself means “beginning.” The first three chapters of Genesis describe the formation of the world—how God brings things into being—and the beginning of humanity. Scripture reveals our formation in this moment.
Now, who wants to learn some cool words this morning? I love cool words. Genesis 1 actually speaks to our ontology. Someone say “ontology.” Ontology is about the nature of being—what it means to exist. Genesis describes the nature of our being; it describes our ontology.
In Genesis 1:26–27 we learn at least three things.
First, we learn that we are created. That’s foundational. We are not an accident or a by-product of some random cosmic event. We are intentionally created by God. Whether we like that or not doesn’t change the truth of it.
Second, we are created with a blueprint, a model we are based on: we are created in the image of God. That is deeply significant. It is equally important to note that we are not God, and we are not “gods” in that sense. But we are created in the image of God. Humanity has a carved-out place that sits above the rest of creation, above the animal kingdom. We are set apart as image-bearers of God.
Third, we learn that we are created with a purpose. We have a role. We have something to do while we are here on the earth—from the time we are born until the time we die. Genesis 1 begins to describe that purpose.
So Genesis speaks about how we are created. It speaks about our ontology—our nature of being—that we are created in the image of God. Therefore, we are created to reflect Him. We are created to attain, to grow, to be like Him.
We are not God, and we will never be God, and we are not trying to be God. But we are called to become like the example of Jesus. Paul writes that along our journey we are to go from “one degree of glory to the next.” In other words, we are on a journey that takes us further and further into the likeness of Jesus. That is the journey we’re on.
Sin, Holiness, and the Image of God
This is why sin is so harmful.
Sin is not just about rules and laws or things that God says, “Do this” and “Don’t do that” for the sake of it. When we do that which God hates, that is sin. That’s a rough, working definition: when we do what God hates, we sin.
And when we do that, we are actually preventing ourselves from bearing the image of God, because God is without sin. So when we sin, we are preventing ourselves from bearing His image, which is what we were created to do. That’s our purpose.
Sin doesn’t just harm us and the people around us—though it certainly does that. It actually pulls us away from our reason for being. It pulls us away from why we exist.
We weren’t created to live a lush life. Did you know that? We weren’t created just to drive a nice car, to do the stuff that makes us happy, to do what feels good. That’s not why we were created.
I was chatting to someone recently about the nature of life. It was a deep, long conversation, and all sorts of things were coming up. One of the themes that kept surfacing was this: he kept saying, “But surely God just wants us to be happy?” And I said, “Well, that’s not really what we read in Scripture.”
Can I be honest with you this morning? That isn’t what we see in the Bible. It doesn’t say that anywhere. We’re called to be holy, aren’t we? We’re called to be set apart. We’re not called to be happy.
Now, if we can be happy and holy at the same time, then happy days—we’re winning there. But if happiness prevents us from being holy, then we’ve got a choice to make, haven’t we? And for some, that choice is more difficult than for others, especially if you perceive that your happiness is tied to your identity. That’s a whole other sermon series in itself, so we’ll park that one, otherwise we’ll be here for the next two hours. Has anyone got dinner in the oven?
But if our being happy prevents us from being holy, then it is actually preventing us from bearing the image of God, which is what we were created to do. And so we have decisions to make—and that’s life. No one said it was fair.
So, ontology—the nature of being—described in Genesis 1: bearing the image of God, reflecting His glory, embodying the nature of God on earth. Everyone happy with that so far?
Human Nature and Purpose in Isaiah
All right, so we’re starting to answer this question about purpose: What is your purpose? Why are you here?
We’re going to move now into the book of Isaiah. The book of Isaiah is a book of prophecy. It speaks to all of human nature. It speaks about the past, it speaks about the present, and it speaks about the future of God and his people. It describes the interaction, the relationship, between God and his people. It’s a fantastic book. We quote it often.
We’re in chapter 43, verses 5 to 7, and it says this:
“The Lord says, do not be afraid, for I am with you.
I will bring your children from the east and gather you from the west.
I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’ and to the south, ‘Do not hold them back.’
Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth—
everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.”
This scripture is speaking about the gathering together—the bringing together—of the family of God. Again, this is prophetic writing, prophetic poetry that’s speaking to moments in Isaiah’s own timeline, but it’s also speaking into the future and describing the nature of God and his people.
The people are gathered together: the gathering of believers in the church today, but also the future gathering of believers, describing what heaven will look like when all people are brought together, when all the saints are present in the same place. It’s a very descriptive text about the nature of God and his people—this gathering together.
But it also reveals our teleology. It reveals our nature of purpose: why we are here.
Living to the Glory of God
Teleology describes our nature of purpose—why we are here. We are created in the image of God, as Genesis reveals. And Isaiah reveals that we are created for the glory of God. Our purpose is that we are created for His glory. This is the purpose of our lives at the most fundamental, foundational level. Not only to bear the image of God—that being our nature—but to actively bring glory to God—that being our purpose. And that is an exciting purpose.
When we ask, “What is the purpose of my life?” we might answer in several ways: to be kind to people, to be a good husband or father, wife or mother, son or daughter. We might think, “Perhaps that’s the purpose of my life.” I want to tell you this morning, church: no, not primarily. Primarily, the purpose of our lives is to glorify God. That is our primary purpose—the primary purpose of our lives. It is a foundation that informs everything else.
In a sense, it’s a “passive” objective as well. What I mean by that is this: our lives are made up of multiple facets, multiple areas—family, work, church, finances, and so on. We all have that, don’t we? So our question becomes: does every facet and area of my life bring glory to God? Does my family bring glory to God? Does my personal life bring glory to God? Do my finances bring glory to God? Do my conversations, my language, my communication, my attitude to people out on the street—do they bring glory to God?
It’s a challenge, isn’t it? This isn’t a tick-box exercise: “Yep, done that. Family brings glory to God. Happy days. Done.” This is an ongoing pursuit, and that’s what makes us so reliant on God Himself. Because this is ongoing, we keep asking: what does it mean for every facet, every area of our lives to bring glory to God? That in itself is a deep question.
This message today is a foundational one that supports the series we’re going into, which is all about bringing glory to God. It lays the foundation that acknowledges this is our very reason, our very purpose, our very identity and calling: to bring glory to God. And that truth could lead to many different series: How do we bring glory to God in every facet of our lives?
We go to Scripture. “Lord, what does it look like for me to bring glory to You in my marriage? What does it look like for me to bring glory to You as a father or as a mother? What does it look like for me to bring glory to You when I’m interacting with my boss who’s winding me up and maybe shouldn’t even be in the position he’s in?” We all have those thoughts. So how do we bring glory to God in those situations and circumstances? It’s a lifelong pursuit of consulting the Scriptures.
We also need to understand that bringing glory to God is far more than just singing songs of worship on a Sunday. Singing songs of worship on a Sunday is great. It’s awesome. But glorifying God is about living a biblical lifestyle that brings glory to Him in every area.
What’s the point of singing songs of glory and worship to God, then going home and not cherishing our wives? What’s the point of singing songs of worship on a Sunday morning, then on Sunday afternoon not obeying your parents, as Scripture calls us to? What’s the point of singing of God’s glory on a Sunday, then going home and falling into other sins—sexual impurity, inconsistencies, hypocrisy?
We ought not to sing one thing in the morning and then go and live something else in the afternoon. Our whole lives are meant to be worship, because Isaiah reminds us that we are formed, we are created, for the glory of the Lord.
Wholehearted Work Unto the Lord
All right, now we’ll move on to the final Scripture, which is found in Colossians 3:23. Colossians is a letter written by the apostle Paul to the church in Colossae. It’s a letter of instruction and encouragement to the church.
Paul writes many things in this letter, but in 3:23 we read: “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as if working for the Lord, not for human masters.”
Our Purpose in the Light of Christ
So, just to catch us up with where we are:
We’ve looked at Genesis, which reveals our ontology – the nature of our being. Isaiah reveals some of our teleology – our nature of purpose. And Colossians 3 reveals… you ready for another word? Colossians reveals some of our praxeology. Someone say “praxeology.” This is the nature of our action: what we are actually called to do, in terms of action, in terms of commission. This is the outward manifestation of who we are. This is what we do.
And you’ll notice that as we go through Scripture, these ideas layer up, don’t they? First, we are created to bear the image of God. We then internalize that in our hearts and our minds, and that becomes our purpose. We are called to that. Then we externalize it through what we do, and it becomes our action. All of this forms a picture that answers the question: What is your purpose? What is your purpose?
I love the fact that our purpose… and be honest, can you relate to this? I was thinking about how this can feel. We can hear, “Your purpose is to bring glory to God,” and something in us says, “Well, that doesn’t speak to me personally. It doesn’t use my particular skills. It doesn’t acknowledge my passions or my desires. It doesn’t distinguish me. It doesn’t give me a different purpose to someone else. Surely my purpose must be different. Surely it must acknowledge what I can do, the giftings and skills the Lord has given me. This sounds like a generic purpose, and therefore it feels lesser.”
Can I be honest? I have felt that. I’ve had that thought process. But that is actually the incredible thing about our purpose as it’s revealed in Scripture: it does not elevate us above God. It does not feed our pride; it confronts it. It pushes back against this idea of building an identity that says, “Well, actually, my purpose is to bring glory to God through this particular thing that I’m good at.”
Take Alex as an example. We could say, “Well, obviously, Alex’s purpose is to worship the Lord and bring glory to God through drumming, because that’s what he can do.” But can you see how that puts the emphasis on Alex – on what he can do and on his skill?
Whereas actually, Alex, your purpose is the same as my purpose. It is simply to bring glory to God. That’s the same purpose we all have. It’s an equalising purpose. It stands irrespective of our skills, our passions, our desires. It speaks to who we are: not “Alex is a drummer,” but “Alex is a child of God.”
And then it outworks in what we do in the day-to-day. It defines what we do, rather than us being defined by what we can do. Isn’t that amazing? It still speaks into our skills and our stuff, but it shifts the perspective. Instead of thinking, “This is something I do to earn money or to live,” we begin to think, “This is something I can do that I now use to bring glory to God.”
All the stuff that we have – every gift, every passion, every desire, everything that makes us who we are – can be used in multiple ways, can it not? We can use, for example, a gift of communication to communicate good things that glorify the Lord… or not. Everything we have can be used either to glorify God or not.
But it all starts with this foundational purpose, this foundational understanding of who we are, why we are created, what we are here for, what our purpose is.
Acknowledging Our Calling as God’s Image
I think we need to pray. We need to pray because, for some of us, there are areas and things we need to bring before God this morning: our purpose, our identity, our understanding of who we are. For some, there may be long‑held beliefs that our purpose is tied to a tangible skill, to something we can do, something we possess, rather than to who we are.
So why don’t we stand, if we’re able?
There are three things we need to do this morning. I’m excited about this. There are three things we need to do, and we’re going to pray for one another. Is that all right? This is the church of Jesus Christ, and we pray for one another. So we’re going to pray for one another.
The first thing we need to do is to accept, as children of God, as those created by Him, that very fact: we are made in the image of God. That is how we were created in the first place. It is our nature to be the image-bearers of God on earth.
As we prayed, and as Sally spoke about earlier, we live in a world that is such a broken place, such a fractured place—and it’s getting worse. It’s such a divided place. It’s a world that needs Jesus. It has always needed Jesus, but it feels even more now like it needs Jesus more than ever, doesn’t it?
What the world needs is for people who bear the image of God to walk around bringing that image, bringing the glory of God into every aspect, every situation, every circumstance. So the first thing we need to do this morning is to acknowledge our nature. To acknowledge our nature.
So we’re going to pray for one another. Wherever you find yourself across this room, why don’t you just turn to the person next to you, or behind you, and lay a hand on their shoulder? We’re going to pray that, as we go about our lives and as we walk out from this place, we would first and foremost know, understand, and acknowledge our nature.
Lord, I thank you. I thank you that for all people you have created—every single one—you have created them in your image, to bear your glory, to shine and reflect who you are. That is how we were created.
Thank you, Lord, for my brothers and sisters in this place. We speak your word, your word of truth, over them: that they are reminded, that we are all reminded, how we were created. We are not an accident. We didn’t come from a by‑product of a random cosmic event, but we were created with intention, to bear your image in our world.
So, Lord, would you help us to do that? Would you help us to be a people who stand boldly in the face of adversity and evil—those things that come against your throne, that come against your goodness, that come to bring chaos, that come to bring what you hate? Would you help us, Lord? Would you empower and embolden us by your Holy Spirit, so that as we leave this place we would go and walk with our heads held high—not because of anything we have, or anything that comes from us, but because we know we are made in your image.
Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord, for your ministry. Thank you that you give us purpose, that we do have a purpose, that we don’t have to search around looking for skills, abilities, or things we can do that might somehow help us define our own purpose. Instead, you have already given it to us by how you created us in the first place and by what you call us to: we are called to glorify you.
So, Lord, would you help us to make our lives—every part of our lives—about doing exactly that?
Thank you, Lord.
Amen. Amen.
