What rule hath God given to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy Him?

This is the second question of The Shorter Catechism. The answer to this question is:

The Word of God, which is contained in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, is the only rule to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy Him.

The Scriptures are the sole authority when it comes to knowing how to glorify and enjoy God. While, this is seemingly obvious, interpreting the Scriptures rightly is by no means a foregone conclusion, especially in our post-modern world along with its (and various other) destructive hermenuetic. I don't say that to mean that the Bible can only be understood by the scholarly elite, for the overall message of the Bible can be determined and understood by all. But for those who seek to plumb the depth and enter the storehouses of treasure, right interpretation becomes something essential.

I do find it curious that although the Bible is explicitly stated in this second question, it is implicit in the first question. How else would we know what "the chief end of man" is without the Bible? The Bible as the "only rule" is presupposed before it is proposed. That would lead to an interesting discussion: how can something that is presupposed actually show up later as a proposition? Doesn't it cease to be presupposed? Maybe not, since the questions in the catechism unfold along a linear progression--one question leading to the next. Maybe it's simply self-revealing. You could go on forever if everything needed to be qualified, which leads to the very serious consideration of why did the writers of the catechism start with man's teleological end as revealed in Scripture, as opposed to starting with Scripture itself? Oh well, I digress.

Furthermore, the Scriptures were given to us by God, breathed by Him through the hand of men. We must come to the text as the text and let it speak for itself. We must come humbly and with faith, and we mustn't set ourselves over the text, but under, and let God's Holy Spirit show us the treasures that lie therein.

Lastly, the Scriptures are the Old and New Testaments, as if these are two separate and 'testaments.' They are indeed one, or maybe more accurately, the one was transformed into the other in a far more glorious manifestation. Whereas the one could only be articulated using shadow and dim reflection, the other provided the substance, namely Christ himself, who is the fulfillment of the Old Testament.

What is the chief end of man?

This is the first question of The Shorter Catechism. The answer to this question is of course:

Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him for ever.

It's fascinating that the Catechism starts by first looking at our end, our teleological end that is. But that only makes sense. Any true beginning must be viewed through the lense of its ultimate aim, it's ultimate consummation. Our end is used to bring all other things into focus, and to give light to our eyes. If I don't know what purpose I was created, then I will do anything and everything to find a purpose, and ultimately fail apart from God and Christ.

It says "to glorify God, and enjoy Him for ever" to the exclusion of many others: to have a ministry, to save souls, to obey, etc., etc. And certainly all of these are included, but why start here? Why does glorifying God come before enjoying Him? It would seem that glorifying Him would have to come before enjoying Him. How else could I enjoy Him, if I do not bring Him glory? It's exactly through glorifying God that I can enjoy Him because He is enjoying me. Now, I must say that all my attempts to glorify God will be feeble at best, but God nonetheless will turn my feeble efforts into a part of His marvelous tapestry, as long as my efforts aren't "my" efforts for Him.

Truly there is no greater or loftier purpose than bringing glory to our King, for we are told that no matter what we do, we are to do it all to the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31). There is nothing greater that man can do. The only alternatives would be to either bring glory to one's self, which would soon result in one's humiliation, or to bring glory to another man, which would be idolatry. So, God is the necessary object of all glory!

And to "enjoy Him?" It would seem that enjoying Him would naturally follow from glorifying Him. We walk with Him "in the cool of the day." And what sweet enjoyment it is when my soul thirsts no longer and is refreshed by living water, and I partake of the bread from heaven. Such fare is too wonderful for me, and to great for me to ever have imagined!

I have almost completed Mounce's Basics of Biblical Greee! It has been a long road, but one that I've thoroughly enjoyed. I'll be completely finished by the end of the week. All that I have left are some more vocabulary words to memorize, and finish with all the athematic conjugations. I plan on continuing with the vocab memorization, as well as creating a fairly aggresive review program of vocab and grammar.

Next, I plan on studying Wallace's Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics, while simultaneously studying Homeric Greek:A Book for Beginners by Clyde Pharr. I'm hoping to actually have both completely studied by the summer. I'm hoping that since I've learned the hard part, that the next step will go a little faster, but if not, that's fine. I am, also, planning on going through Mounce's A Graded Reader of Biblical Greek concurrently with Wallace, to get into the translation/exegesis groove.

After Greek, I'm still debating on whether to learn Latin or Hebrew. I'm leaning toward Latin, simply because, I think I can have it hammered out in a year, and then spend however much time it takes to learn Hebrew well, which I'm thinking will probably take close to two years. But that's more the long term plan.

Learning these old langauges is great!