For the Glory of God

I've often struggled with why we accept Jesus and follow what he teaches. I've most of the arguments; "Because His way is the best," "Because He restores us," "Because we don't want to go to hell." All of these are valid arguments and I believe they all carry some weight. The teaches of Christ do lead to a life of meaning and beauty. The Holy Spirit absolutely restores and makes new all things. Hell is a terrible place and none really want to go there. The problem is, all of these seemed to point towards the individual.

If you look at scripture, New Testament and Old, It seems that everything is done to bring glory back to God. He gives us full life in Christ so we can thank Him and praise Him. He repairs our lives so we can thank Him. He takes away addiction and pride so we can look more clearly on Him. He makes a way to final redemption through Christ so we can glorify Him.

N.T. Wright puts it far more eloquently,

"We should recall that the use of the word heaven to denote the ultimate goal of the redeemed, though of course hugely popularized by medieval and subsequent piety, is severely misleading and does not begin to do justice to the Christian hope. I am repeatedly frustrated by how hard it is to get this point through the thick wall of traditional thought and language that most Christians put up. The ultimate destination is not "going to heaven when you die" but being bodily raised into the transformed glorious likeness of Jesus Christ. (Though the point of all this is not, of course, merely our own happy future, important though that is, but the glory of God as we come full to reflect His image.)"

N. T. Wright -Surprised by Hope