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    The Purpose of Man: Designed to Worship
    The Purpose of Man: Designed to Worship
    The Purpose of Man: Designed to Worship
    Ebook180 pages3 hours

    The Purpose of Man: Designed to Worship

    By A. W. Tozer

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    "Worship is man's full reason for existence. Worship is why we are born and why we are born again."--A.W. Tozer

    A.W. Tozer earned a legendary reputation as a prophetic voice, and he continues to be a bestselling author half a century after his death. A preacher at heart, he found his greatest joy in practicing the presence of God. Worship was his focus and his passion. His sermons were such a strong declaration of what he discovered during private prayer and worship of the triune God that he had both the ability and the Spirit's anointing to move his listeners to wrestle with what God was saying to the Church. His writings carry the same message to a new generation of worshipers.

    The Purpose of Man is the perfect introduction to Tozer. Drawn from messages he called his best teaching, this book will also delight those already familiar with, moved by, and changed by his other classics. What Tozer offers on the subject of worship here in The Purpose of Man will challenge you to reconsider your life's priorities while at the same time hold out a cup of Living Water for your soul.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBaker Publishing Group
    Release dateFeb 16, 2009
    ISBN9781441267481
    Author

    A. W. Tozer

    The late Dr. A. W. Tozer was well known in evangelical circles both for his long and fruitful editorship of the Alliance Witness as well as his pastorate of one of the largest Alliance churches in the Chicago area. He came to be known as the Prophet of Today because of his penetrating books on the deeper spiritual life.

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      Book preview

      The Purpose of Man - A. W. Tozer

      WORSHIP

      THE TRAGEDY OF

      HUMAN DEPRAVITY

      My heart is inditing a good matter: I speak of the things which I

      have made touching the king: my tongue is the pen of a ready writer.

      Thou art fairer than the children of men: grace is poured into thy lips:

      therefore God hath blessed thee for ever. Gird thy sword upon thy thigh,

      O most mighty, with thy glory and thy majesty. And in thy majesty ride

      prosperously because of truth and meekness and righteousness; and thy

      right hand shall teach thee terrible things. Thine arrows are sharp in the

      heart of the king’s enemies; whereby the people fall under thee.

      PSALM 45:1-5

      In the beginning, God created Adam and Eve, placing them in the beautiful garden east of Eden. We have only a little glimpse into the beauty of that mysterious and wondrous world. All we know is that God created it and afterwards said, It is good, meaning that all creation was in absolute harmony with God and fulfilling its ordained purpose.

      Perhaps it would be correct to suggest that many people in their frantic pursuit of life have forgotten the purpose of their creation, from God’s point of view. Keep in mind that whatever God created, He created for His purpose and pleasure (see Rev. 4:11). To entertain the idea that God would do anything capriciously or without purpose is to misunderstand completely the nature of God.

      After God had created everything else, He said with a smile on His face, I’ll make me a man. Stooping down, He took up the clay from the bed of the river, shaped it and worked on it like a nanny bending over her baby. He shaped and formed man and blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul. God stood man upon his feet and said, Look around, this is all yours; and look at Me, I am yours; and I’ll look at you and I’ll see in your face the reflection of My own glory. That is your end, that is why you were created, that you might worship Me and enjoy Me and glorify Me and have Me as yours forever.

      God then put Adam into a deep sleep, and out of his ribs formed woman, whom Adam called Eve. Together they were created with one purpose.

      God’s purpose in creating Adam and Eve is summed up in what they could do for God that nothing else in the whole creation could do. They had an exclusive on God shared by no other of God’s creation. Unlike everything else in this mystic and marvelous world of God’s creation, Adam and Eve could worship God, and God anticipated that worship. In the cool of the day, God came down and walked with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden where they joyously offered their reverence and adoration. Nowhere do we read that God came down and hugged a tree or walked with any animal or plant He created, nor did He talk to any of the animals. Only Adam and Eve were able to provide the fellowship God desired. It was their unique purpose shared by nothing else in all of God’s creation.

      Thinking of those occasions of God walking with them in the cool of the day in the garden, I wonder what they talked about. The weather was ideal; Adam and Eve enjoyed perfect health; and sports had not been invented. Obviously, it was a fellowship based upon compatibility between both parties. Something in man responded to the presence of God like nothing else in all God’s creation. God created man in His own image, and out of that flowed the marvelous dynamic of worship. Adam and Eve’s unique purpose in the garden was to bring pleasure, joy and fellowship to God, which is the foundation of all genuine worship.

      Everything in the garden was in perfect harmony and symmetry. Then God withdrew for a moment and, while gone, that old, evil one, the dragon who is called Satan, came and sowed poisonous seed in the mind of Adam and Eve. Consequently, they rebelled against God and His purpose for them. When Adam and Eve crossed the line, immediately God knew the fellowship was broken, for God knows all things.

      Fig-Leaf Religion

      Also, for Adam and Eve, there was a terrific sense of disorientation resulting in spiritual amnesia. They looked at themselves for the first time and saw themselves in a different light. They saw their nakedness and, in a state of spiritual disorientation, gathered fig leaves to hide their nakedness. Thus was born religion: Fig-Leaf Religion. Religion always focuses on the externals, and Adam and Eve were consumed with their outward condition. They had lost the focus of their inward beauty and purpose, and no longer satisfied the criteria of fellowship with their Creator.

      When God came as usual for His fellowship, Adam and Eve were nowhere to be found; and God sought them among the trees in the garden, and called out to Adam, Where art thou?

      God called out to the man who had fled from Him and hid out among the trees of the garden. Adam heard the voice of the Lord in the cool of the day as before, but Adam was confused. Why was God coming to Eden eastward? What was He doing there? He was coming for His customary time with Adam when Adam should worship, admire and adore the God who made him.

      Adam, shamefaced, came crawling out from behind some tree.

      God asked, What did you do?

      Adam regretfully replied, We ate of the forbidden fruit. Then to justify his actions, he said, But it was the woman you gave me.

      God turned to the woman. What did you do? Immediately she put the blame on the serpent.

      Already they had learned to blame somebody else for the condition of their soul. This blaming someone else for all our iniquities is one of the great evidences of sin and is the forerunner of religion.

      Something happened, changing the whole scenario, hijacking and barring humanity from the knowledge of God. Adam and Eve, in that perfect environment and with their one supreme purpose of worshiping God, rebelled against their purpose, resulting in what theologians call the Fall of man, or Depravity.

      Our world is full of tragedy because of this great, overwhelming cosmic tragedy back in the Garden. Repercussions still vibrate in contemporary society.

      The burning question needing an answer is what was the tragic consequence of this Fall? Why does this matter for us today, and why should we inquire into it?

      Some say the Fall is the source of all the problems plaguing humanity down through the years. Some point to the proliferation of disease as a direct outcome. Others point to all of the hatred infecting humanity throughout the centuries: nation rising against nation, kingdom against kingdom and holocausts that have happened periodically throughout history. No generation has escaped such hatred and anger. However, these are short-term effects and simply a consequence not representing the real tragedy of the Fall.

      Purpose Lost

      What was the real tragedy of that dreadful cosmic rupture forever affecting mankind? The real tragedy in the Garden of Eden was that Adam and Eve lost their purpose. They forgot who they were. They did not know where they were; they did not understand where they came from or what they were here for. They forgot the purpose of their existence. Trying their best to shake off this moral fog, they could not; for no matter what they did, it would not shake. Therefore, hand in hand, they made their way out into the world, not knowing where they were going. Humanity still wanders in this moral and spiritual

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