2006-02-26 The Chief End of Man - to Glorify God and enjoy Him For Ever

John Piper?s life mission statement and the foundation of his book is that
?God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him?. It is a serious book about being happy in God, ?happiness? because that is what our Creator commands; ?Delight yourself in the Lord? - Psalm 37 v 4. It is serious because, as Jeremy Taylor said, ?God threatens terrible things if we will not be happy!?

The overriding concern of this book is that in all of life, God be glorified the way He appointed. The book aims to persuade its readers that; ?The chief end of man is to glorify God by enjoying Him forever?.

Here are two snippets: ?I found that the goodness of God, the very foundation of worship, is not a thing you pay your respects to out of some kind of disinterested reverence. No, it is something to be enjoyed ?0 taste and see that the Lord is good? Psalm 34 v 8? ?The pleasure Christian Hedonism seeks is the pleasure which is in God himself. He is the end of our search, not the means to some further end. Our exceeding joy is he, the Lord, not the streets of gold, or the reunion with relatives or any blessing of heaven?.

If, like me, you enjoy the style and content of John Piper?s books, you may well find that you cannot wait for his next book to appear. His emphasis throughout is a good one, namely, that the chief end of man is to glorify God by enjoying Him forever and shows how this is worked out in the areas of conversion, worship, love, scripture, prayer, money, marriage and missions.

I heartily recommend this book which is both provocative and challenging.

David Stephen