WHAT’s YOUR PURPOSE?

GOD never does anything without a plan or purpose:

EPHESIANS 3:11-13
11 according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord, 12 in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in Him. 13 Therefore I ask that you do not lose heart at my tribulations for you, which is your glory.

Even before He said, “Let there be light”, He had a plan. We Christians know this plan revolves around the Person of Jesus Christ in accordance with the Holy Scriptures (PSALM 40:7). His plan includes His calling, His purpose for your life!

Jot these down to look up later: ROM 8:28; 9:11; EPH 1:11; 2 TIM 1:9

The LORD Jesus Christ understood that in just three of the thirty three years He lived on Earth, those final years, He would fulfill the Father’s Grand Purpose (JOHN 17:4).

It all built up to the moment when He was on that Cross (MATT 26:53-56; JOHN 3:14; 12:32), died for our sins, dealt the death blow to the kingdom of darkness (EPH 3:10; COL 2:15; 1 COR 15:25-27) when He rose from the dead (1 COR 15:4) and potentially altered the course of doomed humanity from certain, eternal damnation to the adoption by GOD as His children (EPH 1:5-7)!

As a result, He gave us the Great Commission where we invite rebellious citizens of hell to become righteous saints of heaven (MATT 28:19) as He ascended up to where He came from – seated at the right hand of the Father (ACTS 1:9; 2:33; HEB 1:3).

Just as certainly as He came, and left, He gave us the sure promise that He will one day return (MATT 24:42; JOHN 14:1-3; ACTS 1:11), establish His kingdom (DAN 2:44-45; MATT 6:10; 22:2-10; 26:63-64; ACTS 1:10), destroy the present government of evil (LUKE 19:27; 2 THESS 1:7-10; 2:8) then the fulness of the Father’s Grand Plan will reach a near-conclusion.

This old universe, will finally be folded up, tossed aside like a threadbare tablecloth (ISAIAH 51:6; 2 PET 3:5; REV 20:11) and an entirely new universe will unfold for us (REV 21:2; ISAIAH 66:22) to explore! We’ll be blessed and honored to participate in the eternal kingdom because we have obeyed the Gospel of the King of that kingdom (MATT 7:21; 16:19; 18:3).

GOD never does anything without a plan or purpose. Like creating you (JER 1:5; EZEK 18:4); He purposed in re-creating you (2 COR 5:17; TITUS 3:5) through the new birth (JOHN 3:3,5; 1 PET 1:23), setting you on the path of His eternal purposes.
Everything we need to fulfill GOD’s plan for our lives is given to us:

2 TIMOTHY 3:16
16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable [helpful, serviceable, advantageous] for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete [fresh, perfected], thoroughly equipped [thoroughly provided, furnished, accomplished] for every good work.

And those good works are pre-ordained of GOD:

EPHESIANS 2:10
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

Being led of the Spirit and the Scriptures for the purpose of diligently seek His will, we therefore may understand His leading.

As we examine Scripture, we witness the plans and purposes of GOD for others:

~ His plan for Noah was to build the ark and save the lives of those who heeded his warnings and repented.
~ GOD’s plan for Abraham was to establish the blood line for the Messiah and rest Abraham’s faith in His Word, that he would become the father of many nations, including the Christian nation (1 PET 2:9).
~ For Moses, it was to deliver Israel from Egypt, receive the Law and lead Israel to the Promised Land.
~ Joshua, to lead Israel into the Promised Land and conquer Canaan.
~ Elijah was called of GOD to lead Israel out of apostasy and to repentance, returning to the LORD GOD.
~ David was called of GOD to be the royal line of Judah and through the establishment of his throne, prepare the way for the coming Messiah Who would inherit that throne.
~ The apostles were to preach the Gospel, write the Holy Scriptures, establish churches, and declare the coming kingdom of the Messiah.

GOD determines our purpose (not we ourselves, sorry Rick Warren!) because we are citizens of heaven, children of GOD! Our GOD-given purpose is contrary to Satan’s objectives and so will likely earn us some persecution - so be it! We’ll be all the more blessed for it! To GOD be the glory and honor and power!

The saints mentioned above recognized those moments, obeyed GOD’s purpose, and were instrumental in a pivotal point in the lives of others; the very plan that the LORD intended.

~ There were many defining moments in the saints mentioned above, but in each of them, there was a ‘moment of truth’ for which their lives were made. What are some defining moments in your lives – where you’ve said, “This is why I’m here! This is GOD’s purpose for me!”?

What’s GOD’s plan and purpose for your life?

The world (this includes false teachers and churches) tells us our purpose is to feed the poor, or promote education and social justice, or to build ecumenical bridges to other religions to form global unity; to embrace the post-modern generation with a more 'today' message by dropping the true gospel of Jesus Christ, raising up a bloodless Cross and dismantle the fundamental interpretation of Scripture so as to not offend anyone – except GOD Who gave them to us!

This is why we cannot listen to the counsel of the wicked:

PSALM 1
 1 Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful; 2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night. 3 He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper. 4 The ungodly are not so but are like the chaff which the wind drives away. 5 Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. 6 For the LORD knows the way of the righteous, But the way of the ungodly shall perish.

~ What are some truths we can extract from this Psalm that points to our purpose in this life?

I’ve been praying about my ‘moment of truth’ regarding the purpose in my life, especially now that I’m almost 60 years old. There are definitely fewer years ahead than there are behind.
Pastor Sonny is into his forties – if he lives to be eighty, half of his life time is done and over. Time is the dragnet in the sea of life that’s resolutely drawing us towards the Judgment Seat of Christ – we need to redeem the time because the days are evil, make use of the time we have left for the purposes of GOD (ROM 13:11-14; EPH 5:16)

There are general all-purpose plans that the LORD has for all us saints:

~ To love and worship Him with the fullness of our hearts and minds (PSALM 29:2; NEH 1:5; PSALM 18:1; LUKE 10:27).
~ To die to self and allow Christ to reign in us and be glorified through our lives (COL 3:1-3; 2 COR 5:15; GAL 2:20; ROM 6:6-8).
~ To enjoy Him as our Beloved Creator and Redeemer (REV 4:11; 5:9).
~ To study and practice the Word of GOD (2 TIM 2:15; JAMES 1:22) by the power of Christ and the Holy Spirit (ROM 15:16; JOHN 14:16-17; 15:4-5).
~ To preach the Gospel and make disciples (MK 16:15; MT 28:19).
~ To warn the traveling souls that are passing through this world of Judgment Day (EZEK 3:17-19; ACTS 20:26-27).
~ To point to the prophetic Scriptures that foretell of that Day (JER 4:5-7; HEB 11:7; ACTS 17:30-31).
~ To be a faithful witness of the truth of GOD as granted to us by His inspired Word (JOHN 18:37; 2 TIM 3:16), This is our Father’s business and so it’s ours too.

And in addition to these, we ought to seek out His purpose(s) for our lives on an individual basis.
For myself, it’s to be an encourager, a teacher, sharing in pastoral care of GOD’s sheep, to write articles for truth and the glory of GOD.
It’s my personal suspicion that whatever reason the LORD brought us into this world, that as we fulfill His plan for our lives, that this will translate to our purpose(s) in the world to come, that is, His eternal kingdom. We shall see . . .

We see how things are growing ever darker in our nation. There will be those who will no doubt cave in to the world’s pressure to conform, something that Scripture strictly forbids us to do (ROM 12:1-2). Thus it’s vital for all of us to know of a certainty what our purpose is in this world and be faithful to that calling.

~ How can we determine what our purpose is?

~ Do you know what GOD’s purpose for your life is (or one of them)?

~ In what ways will our enemies try to prevent us from fulfilling our purpose in life?

~ How can we encourage and help others to find their purpose in life?

For those who feel that they have fallen behind and need to get 'up to speed' in the fundamentals of discipleship and hunger to find purpose as a child of GOD, may I recommend this TTUF BACK to BASICS series?