His Glory Reproduced in You – What’s My Purpose
His Glory Reproduced in You
Together Church | Pastor Brandon Werner
January 18, 2026 | Series: What’s My Purpose
INTRODUCTION
We’re back for the second part of this series What’s My Purpose.
We heard it last week…
When God made mankind, He created us with ONE PURPOSE.
God did not make every person with their own unique purpose. Certainly, God gives every person special assignments (we saw that last week). But those assignments are not our purpose! Those assignments SERVE God’s purpose for our lives.
And when ANYTHING takes the place of God’s purpose for our lives, it leaves us frustrated, depressed, disappointed, and dissatisfied.
The satisfaction we all crave can only be found in understanding and embracing God’s purpose for our lives.
And what is that purpose? We saw it last week…
God’s purpose for your life is to reproduce His glory through you so the whole earth is full of His glory!
That’s WHAT your purpose is.
This morning, we move to the HOW.
HOW does GOD bring this purpose about in our lives?
Stop right there.
Notice I didn’t say how WE accomplish the purpose. Yes, we have a part to play! But here’s the truth… if God doesn’t bring His purpose to fulfillment in our lives, it won’t happen.
Consider what Jesus said to His apostles…
John 15:4-5
4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
For God’s purpose to be fulfilled in your life, God must bring it about. Apart from Him we can do nothing.
BODY
So, HOW does God do it? To fulfill His purpose in us…
God doesn’t just give us His purpose –
He gives us what we need to fulfill it.
To accomplish His purpose of reproducing His glory through us,
- God gives us His Spirit.
This was the primary thrust of last week’s message.
We unpacked it last week, but let’s sum it up a different way…
In Adam, our spiritual DNA is not good.
You know what DNA is, right? It’s the biological code that informs our unique physical identity. Our physical DNA comes from our biological parents and defines us as an individual.
In a similar way, we all have spiritual DNA.
When we are born, our spiritual DNA is not good. From the seed of Adam, we inherited a fallen, sinful spiritual condition. And by our own election, we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
That’s our spiritual condition from birth. And that’s not glorious.
What we all need for God’s glory to be reproduced in us is a new spiritual birth; we need to be born again of the Spirit of God.
Through faith in Jesus, God has made a way for the spiritual DNA we received from Adam to be replaced with spiritual DNA from the Holy Spirit. The old us dies. We are crucified with Christ. Our former, lost and sinful spiritual identity is no more.
And, by the power of the Holy Spirit, we are spiritually reborn as new creations in Christ. Born of His seed. Partakers of His divine nature. Reborn as legitimate children of God.
This is called regeneration; it is what happens when God gives us new life through His Spirit. As Paul said in…
1 Corinthians 15:45
Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam [Jesus] became a life-giving spirit.
To fulfill His purpose in us, God gives us His Spirit so that His life is living and abiding in us. The life of Jesus reproduced in you! Now that’s glorious. And through the work of Jesus Christ and faith in Him, God gives us His Spirit so that His purpose can be fulfilled in us.
Not only does God give us His Spirit, but…
- God gives us His commandments through His Word.
The Spirit gives me power to live differently. The Word tells me what ‘differently’ actually is.
I am so thankful for the Word of God. Through what God reveals in His Word, God has made it possible for me to know what it looks like when His glory is reproduced in my life.
I’m telling you…
Without God’s Word, there are so many situations I face that I’d have NO IDEA what it would look like to for His glory to be reproduced in me.
But because I have His Spirit, and because He has revealed His commandments to me through His Word, my mind can be renewed so that I know how to walk in a way that pleases God.
Where would I be without the Word of God?
Actually, it isn’t hard to know… just look at the world!
The world rejects the Word of God. Because they reject God’s Word, they are constantly wandering around in spiritual darkness; filled with insane contradictions and godless conclusions.
I mean, come on… we are seeing it in our nation’s highest court!
This week, during arguments at the Supreme Court, a justice pressed an attorney on something that is obvious: What does ‘sex’ mean? What does it even mean to say ‘male’ and ‘female’? And the attorney’s response was essentially, ‘Don’t define it.’ One justice pushed back and said, ‘It’s a statutory term—it must mean something.’ And that’s the world we’re living in: a world so disconnected from God’s truth that people can’t even define the most basic realities anymore.
What happened in SCOTUS this week is only a reflection of the large populations of people in the West who have denied the truth and seared their consciences so severely that they can no longer give basic, simple, obvious, truthful answers! That’s spiritual darkness.
The reality of the spiritual blindness of this world fills our newsfeeds constantly. Many in our society…
- Can’t tell you what constitutes a man and woman anymore.
- Can’t tell you what a marriage is (love is love).
- See children in the womb as optional and burdens to discard.
- Can’t explain what a parent is (mother and father are optional, social titles).
- Consider truth relative (your truth and my truth).
- Can’t tell you what freedom is (because freedom now means doing whatever you feel or want instead of the liberty to do what is right).
- Can’t tell you what love is (because it has been shifted primarily to something you feel instead of something that comes from God and is a choice you make).
The delusions go on and on.
It’s all spiritual blindness…
and that’s exactly where I’d be apart from Christ!
Paul said it this way in…
2 Corinthians 4:1-4
1 Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. 2 But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God’s Word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. 3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
How is God’s glory reproduced in us?
Through the gift of His commandments through His Word!
Psalm 119:105
Your Word is a lamp to my feet
and a light to my path.
Through God’s Word, and especially through the example of Jesus, the teachings of Jesus, and the teachings of His apostles, God helps us recognize what it looks like when His glory is reproduced in our lives.
God accomplishes His purpose by giving His Word to us, but also by putting the right relationships around us; to accomplish His purpose…
- God gives us His church to disciple us.
God’s glory is reproduced in us every time we become more like Jesus. Why is that? It’s simple: Jesus is the greatest revelation of God’s glory the world has ever known.
Hebrews 1:3a
He [Jesus] is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.
What a statement! Jesus is the “radiance of the glory of God” and “the exact imprint of His nature”. Jesus is the glory of God revealed to us.
That makes the formula very simple…
For God’s glory to be reproduced in your life, you need to become more and more like Jesus.
- His character, your character
- His life, your life
- His mission, your mission
- His fruit, your fruit
How is God going to bring that about?
What has God done to help you grow in spiritual maturity so that you can be conformed into the image of His Son?
To accomplish His purpose in you, God has given you His Church to disciple you and help you become more like Jesus.
That’s what discipleship is! It’s the process of God’s people working together to help each other become like Jesus and to help others become like Him.
This plan is very effective.
Through discipleship in the church, we find…
- A place to practice growing in love
- The right examples for us to follow
- Leaders to equip us for the work of ministry
- Gifts and contributions that edify and build us up together
- Encouragement as we work in unity to fulfill our purpose
- Help as we navigate seasons of difficulty and trouble
By design, it is impossible for God’s purpose to be fulfilled in us in isolation. God has given us His Church to disciple us to spiritual maturity so that the glory of God is reproduced in our lives.
Once we have His Spirit, His Word, and His Church to shape us into the image of Jesus, it changes our approach and perspective when hardships come our way.
To accomplish His purpose in us so that we reproduce His glory…
- God gives us opportunities to bear His fruit through suffering.
God’s glory is reproduced in us when we are conformed into the image of Jesus and His life – His fruit – is reproduced in us.
And God uses the challenges, obstacles, pain, and suffering in our lives to develop our character and conform us into the image of Christ.
You already understand this reality and how it works…
ILLUSTRATIONS:
- Military – officers use difficult assignments to develop the character of those under their command to prepare them for their purpose.
- Instructors – the best teachers elevate the learning of their students by stretching and challenging them in their development.
- Coaches – know how to test their players, challenge them, and put them in situations that help prepare them for success in competition.
- Parents – the best parents are not just reactionary when it comes to helping their children navigate hardships. Great parents create safe and structured challenges and help their children grow and develop their character through those struggles.
When parents remove every obstacle from their child’s life and give them anything we want, we often refer to it as being “too soft” or “spoiling” their children.
We instinctively understand that good character is developed as we navigate hardships in life.
That’s exactly what Paul tells us in…
Romans 5:3-5
3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
And James says it this way…
James 1:2-4
2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
This is how God operates. God uses the trials and difficulties of our lives to help His purpose be fulfilled in us.
As we face difficulties and challenges of various kinds, each one presents unique opportunities for His glory to be reproduced in us.
STORY OF THE ACCIDENT
ILLUSTRATION:
If you want a tree to grow strong in Oklahoma, don’t grow it in a greenhouse.
When a tree is nurtured in a perfect environment, it does not develop what it needs to withstand the hostile plains of Oklahoma.
If you replant that greenhouse tree in an open field – when the winds come, the rain falls, and the elements encounter that tree – it will die.
If you want a tree to grow and produce fruit in the plains of Oklahoma, grow that tree from a seed in that hostile field. As that tree develops and encounters the brutality of Oklahoma weather, it will develop so that it can withstand those trials, survive, and bear fruit.
Some of you are in the wind right now. It’s not proof that God has abandoned you; it’s proof that He is using you and growing you!
Is it possible that you’ve been looking at the difficulties of your life totally wrong?
Could it be that the things you consider to be the greatest obstacles in your life are actually the greatest opportunities for God’s purpose to be fulfilled in you as you glorify God through suffering?
The difficulties in our life are like the sandpaper God uses to smooth out our character and refine us into the image of Christ.
Sandpaper is rough! But sandpaper produces beauty.
I know you have sandpaper in your life. Your sandpaper might be…
- A difficult boss you’re working for
- Struggles and disappointments in your marriage
- The daily grind of raising young children
- A brutal schedule between work and school
- Troubles with your finances or health
- An estranged relationship
- Someone is slandering you and defaming you to others
- Enduring significant loss and severe grief
- Being a caregiver and it’s hard
- Readjusting to a new season of life
What is it for you?
We say this all the time: you’re either in the fire, coming out of the fire, or going back in the fire. What is the trial God has allowed in your life to give you the opportunity for the character of Christ to be reproduced in you so that His purpose is accomplished in your life?
I’m calling it sandpaper.
God calls it fire that refines, or pruning that produces more fruit.
I’ve never asked someone about their spiritual growth and they responded by telling me about a time that was easy in their life.
For God’s purpose to be accomplished in the life of Jesus, He was obedient in suffering for the glory of God. And in our lives, for God’s purpose to be accomplished in us, we must see suffering as an opportunity for God’s glory to be reproduced in us.
What is God using to make you more like Jesus so His glory can be reproduced through you today?
It isn’t just the occasion big things, either!
His glory is reproduced in you through daily decisions to rule over your flesh and walk in the Spirit. It happens every time you chose to love God and love others rather than loving yourself.
- It’s waking up early to pick up someone from the airport.
- It’s taking a meal to bless someone in need.
- It’s giving up your time to visit someone who is sick.
- It’s carving out nights of your week to make disciples with your small group and love the people in that group.
- It’s sacrificial giving to meet a need or advance the Kingdom.
- It’s overcoming the lazy and harmful compulsions of the flesh and taking care of your body through diet and exercise so you will be in a better condition to love and serve others.
- It’s volunteering to serve and allowing God to develop your character and use you to minister to others in the body of Christ.
- It’s managing your finances and budgeting so you can be less restrained and practice greater generosity.
- It’s giving up time on a weekend to serve someone else.
The first fruit of the Spirit is LOVE.
You know, there have been so many times that an opportunity presented itself and I had a decision to make: would I make the sacrifice and let the love of Jesus shine through me, or would I listen to my flesh and do what it wanted?
So far, I’ve never regretted choosing to glorify God through love. Oh, my flesh has resisted it so many times! But I’ve never regretted obedience to the promptings of the Holy Spirit as He leads me to reproduce God’s glory by walking in love.
The trials in life are not obstacles keeping us from reproducing the glory of God… they are among the greatest means by which His glory is revealed through us! God uses suffering to conform us into the image of Christ and to reproduce His glory in our lives.
CONCLUSION
There’s the four.
Now we know WHAT God’s purpose is and HOW God works to fulfill His purpose in us.
To fulfill His purpose in us, God gives us His Spirit, His Word, His church, and suffering — to reproduce His glory in us until the whole earth is full of His glory.
So fulfilling our purpose isn’t something we do in our own strength… it is the power of God at work in us.
And here’s the truth…
God WILL bring this about. He will reproduce His glory in His people so that the earth is full of His glory. At the consummation of all things, when Jesus Christ returns, God will make a new heaven and earth where we will dwell with Him. For all eternity, we will inhabit the earth as image bearers who have been fully redeemed through Christ so that the whole earth is full of His glory.
The resistance and failures of people cannot thwart the plans of God.
That day is coming soon. Sooner than it feels.
But, right now, we have a unique opportunity for the glory of God to be reproduced through us. Do not be deceived… what we do in this life matters! When we align with God’s purpose, God uses us to reproduce the life of Jesus in others so that more and more people are drawn to Christ.
This is your purpose! God’s glory being reproduced in you… and then through you… until the whole earth is full of His glory.
INVITATION: LOST
Let me ask you: is God’s purpose being fulfilled in you today?
God’s purpose cannot be fulfilled in you if you do not know Jesus as your Lord and Savior.
Before His glory can be reproduced in you, you need to be born again with new spiritual DNA. If God’s glory is going to be reproduced through you, His glory must first be born in you through faith in Jesus.
SHARE THE GOSPEL
INVITATION: SAVED
If you have been born again of God’s Spirit, let me ask you again…
Is God’s purpose being fulfilled in you today?
Examine your life…
- Have you made something other than God’s purpose the center of your life?
- Are you growing in your knowledge of God’s Word so that you can learn to reproduce His glory as you walk in His ways?
- Are you actively engaged in discipleship with your church – by both being discipled by someone and through discipling others so that the life of Christ is reproduced in us?
And, perhaps most importantly for many of you today, are you viewing the hardships and difficulties of your life as opportunities for the glory of God to shine through you brightly?
If you were honest, what needs to change in you right now for you to better align yourself with God’s purpose so His glory can be reproduced through you?
PRAY