You may remember last week that we reflected again on the famous opening quote of Augustine’s timeless classic, Confessions. In Book I, chapter 1, paragraph 1 there is the following famous insight about human beings: “The thought of You (O God) stirs man so deeply that he cannot be content unless he praises you, because you made us for yourself, and our hearts find no peace until they rest in you” (Saint Augustine’s Confessions, translated by R.S. Pine-Coffin. 1961; 1983 reprint; New York, NY: Penguin Book Classics; page 21).
The phrase we want to focus on this week is: “because you made us for yourself.” In one short phrase Augustine has encapsulated rather succinctly the purpose for human beings. God made us for Himself. This implies at the following: covenant, calling, partakers of the divine nature, and love.
We are in covenant relationship with God through Christ. God made us for his own glory, and we participate in that glory when we surrender to Jesus Christ. This is why conversion is so powerful. It is relinquishing self to God.
We are called and chosen by God. This gives us our identity. God initiated this calling, and when we respond we are only returning to Him who made us.
We are partakers of the divine nature. Because God made us for himself, we are not surprised that New Testament writers remind us that we participate and partake of the divine nature. Our very soul yearns for the God who made us.
We are loved and beloved. The first reminds us that we are the object of God’s love, and the second reminds us that we stand every moment in the state of being beloved. That is who we are.
“Because you made us for yourself”---This has been the great failing of historic Christianity—religious movements and activities tend be self-centered and not God-centered. If we take Augustine’s statement seriously, then everything changes for the glory of God!
In Christian love, Curtis
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