I.        INTRODUCTION

A.      Let us begin by reading Psalm 33:6-22, which is a song of conviction and trust in God’s ways and power.

B.      God has made this world with a purpose for everything in it, and yet man is the only part of God’s creation that dares to defy Him.

                                                             1.      The wonderful workings of nature operate in harmony just as God ordained.  All things on the earth function together to provide an environment in which we can live.

                                                             2.      However, mankind is stubborn and defiant, bringing nothing but trouble upon ourselves and those around us, not realizing that our lives would be so much easier if we would simply serve the purposes that God intended for us.

                                                             3.      Every problem that we have results from someone defying the purposes of God.  Let us consider how we defy God’s purposes and the consequences that we suffer for it.

II.      HOW WE DEFY GOD’S PURPOSES

A.      God made man to be His image and glory (Gen. 1:26), but we choose to glorify ourselves.

                                                             1.      God made man in His likeness by making him a living spirit, giving him the ability to think and communicate, and giving him dominion over the earth.  These are attributes that none other in God’s creation has.

                                                             2.      These qualities were given to us so that we would be like God and bring glory to Him.  To fulfill this purpose of God, we must strive to be holy just as He is holy (1Pet. 1:14-15).  Men especially are designed to be “the image and glory of God” (1Cor. 11:7).

                                                             3.      Rather than glorifying God, men in general have rejected God’s ways and used their God-like attributes (reason, speech, dominion) to glorify themselves as they praised their own wisdom, strength, and power.

a.       Humanism is the belief that man is self-determining by his own intellect and ability.  This philosophy disregards God, and it is the prevailing creed of our society.

b.       As a result, men have become self-serving and indulgent.  As we attempt to guide our own footsteps, we falter and fail without the guidance of the omniscient God (Jer. 10:23).

B.      God made man to perform good works (Eph. 2:10), but we choose to indulge our own fleshly desires.

                                                             1.      The good works that we are to perform are commanded by God through His word.  These good works are spiritual in nature just as God is spiritual (Gal. 5:22-25), and they express the superiority of the spirit over the flesh.

                                                             2.      Yet we defy God’s intentions by performing works that are evil and fleshly (Gal. 5:19-21).

a.       Paul wrote of the conflict between the spirit and the flesh (Gal. 5:16-18).  By rejecting the spirit in favor of the flesh, we reject God, for He is spirit (John 4:24).

b.       The result is that we destroy ourselves by indulging ourselves.  Paul wrote, “If you bite and devour one another, take care lest you be consumed by one another” (Gal. 5:15).

C.      God made women to be helpers to men (Gen. 2:18-25; 1Cor. 11:9), but we have other purposes for women.

                                                             1.      When God made man, He said, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for Him” (Gen. 2:18).  This is the reason that God made the woman.

                                                             2.      In His creation of men and women, God made them different, and He set forth an order.

                                                             3.      However, we have decided that God’s purpose for women is degrading.  Therefore, we have determined to make our women more like men and our men more like women.

a.       Androgyny is the idea of having no distinctions between males and females.

b.       Rather than preparing our girls to grow up and become wives, mothers, and workers in the home as God intended (Tit. 2:3-5), we prepare them to do nearly everything else.

c.        The results are that we are breeding a society of men and women who do not know what they are supposed to do.  They are confused because we have defied God’s purposes for them.

D.      God made husbands to be the heads of their wives and wives to be subject to their husbands (Eph. 5:22-33), but we have determined that God’s arrangement is obsolete.

                                                             1.      In the beginning, God told the woman, “Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you” (Gen. 3:16).  This has always been God’s order for marriage.

                                                             2.      Paul wrote that husbands are to love and care for their wives in the same way that Christ loves and cares for the church.  Likewise, wives are to submit to their husbands in the same way that the church is to submit to Christ.

                                                             3.      However, we have redefined marriage as an unnecessary, temporary institution that has little value, no order, and no distinctions between husbands and wives.

a.       In our society, marriage is optional for men and women who want to live together or have children.  For the most part, marriage is considered to be an unnecessary inconvenience.

b.       We have allowed feminists to instill in us the idea that God’s purpose for marriage amounts to slavery and degradation for wives.

c.        The results of these things are that the divorce rate is at a ridiculous level, abortion is a common practice, and children born outside of marriage are becoming the norm rather than the exception.

E.       God made children to be a gift to parents (Ps. 127:3-5; Gen. 33:5), but we have determined that they are a wearisome burden.

                                                             1.      God said that He gave children as a reward to parents and that a man’s blessings are increased with more children.

                                                             2.      Yet we consider children to be inconvenient, expensive, and prohibitive to what we really want to do.

a.       Children are viewed as a burden that prevents us from advancing our careers, having more material possessions, or just having fun.

b.       The result is that children are neglected, untaught, and unloved.  They will grow up to be angry, confused, and lost because they were not valued as gifts from God.

F.       God made fathers to raise up children (Eph. 6:4), but we have chosen to make it the work of others.

                                                             1.      It was always God’s plan for fathers to be the primary figure in their children’s lives just as God the Father is the primary figure in the lives of His children.  Consider Hebrews 12:5-11.

                                                             2.      However, we have defied God’s intentions by determining that a father is unnecessary except to provide monetary support for his children.

a.       Fathers tend to abdicate their God-given responsibility to raise their children to the mothers.  In many cases, both fathers and mothers simply give their children to baby-sitters, day-care centers, schools, and churches to be raised (“It takes a village”).

b.       The result is that children grow up without the proper instructions and examples that they need to understand their purpose for God.  Their relationship with their heavenly Father is affected because they do not know their earthly fathers.

G.      God made children to honor their parents (Eph. 6:4), but we fail to teach them how to show honor.

                                                             1.      God’s plan for children is for them to given honor to their parents, which means respect and obedience in their childhood as well as support and care when their parents are old (Matt. 15:3-6; 1Tim. 5:8).

                                                             2.      However, we have determined that God’s plan is outdated and burdensome, so we teach our children disrespect and disregard for their parents.

a.       Today’s parents have low expectations for their children regarding respect and obedience.  Parents would rather be friends with their children than to be fathers and mothers.

b.       There is also no expectation for adults to take care of their parents when they have needs.  Instead, elderly parents are expected to have a huge retirement fund as well as an inheritance to leave for their children.

c.        If children do not learn respect for their own parent, then they are not likely to learn respect for anyone, including God.  Parents need to recognize that they are not just serving themselves by teaching their children to honor them, but they are also serving their children and God.

III.   CONCLUSION

A.      We could go on and on with even more examples, such as:

                                                             1.      God sanctified Christians to be His workers (2Tim. 2:21), but we often choose to sit idly and expect for Him to do all the work.

                                                             2.      God purified Christians to love one another (1Pet. 1:22), but we are often too busy defying His other purposes to give time to our brethren.

B.      However, these examples are sufficient to prove the point that when we defy God’s purposes, we not only sin against God, but we also sin against ourselves.  Therefore, let us make our lives easier by yielding to our all-knowing God and trusting that His purposes will bring the best for us.