A. If there is one question that every person who has ever lived wrestles with is this: What is the purpose of life? What is my purpose for living?
1. One day a nursery school teacher was working with her students when a fire truck zoomed past.
2. Sitting in the front seat of the fire truck was a Dalmatian dog with his head out the window.
3. Recognizing a teaching opportunity, the teacher asked the students what they thought might be the purpose of the dog.
4. One child suggested that the purpose of the dog was to keep the crowds back.
5. Another said that he’s just there for good luck.
6. Then a third child brought the argument to a close saying, “The purpose of the dog was to find the fire hydrant.”
7. On the one hand, one would hope they had a purpose than greater that, but on the other hand, finding the fire hydrant is a critical step in putting out the fire.
B. One of the best selling books of all time is Dr. Viktor Frankl’s book titled Man’s Search for Meaning.
1. When Dr. Frankl died in 1997 at the ripe old age of 92, his book had sold over 10 million copies in 24 languages..
2. Amazingly, Viktor Frankl had survived the holocaust even through he was in 4 different Nazi death camps, including Auschwitz from 1942-1945.
3. Sadly, Frankl’s parents and the other members of his family died in the concentration camps.
4. Listen to Frankl’s own words as he describes why he wrote the book: "I had wanted simply to convey to the reader by way of concrete example that life holds a potential meaning under any conditions, even the most miserable ones. And I thought that if the point were demonstrated in a situation as extreme as that in a concentration camp, my book might gain a hearing. I therefore felt responsible for writing down what I had gone through, for I thought it might be helpful to people who are prone to despair."
5. Frankl’s book certainly struck a chord in mankind’s search for meaning.
C. In 2002, Rick Warren capitalized on our longing for purpose when he wrote The Purpose Driven Life: What On Earth Am I Here For?
1. On it’s 10th anniversary of release, Warren’s book had sold over 32 million copies in 50 languages.
2. The Purpose Driven life is the bestselling hardback book in history, and is the second most translated book in the world; second only to the Bible.
D. Most people really do struggle with the basic questions of life.
1. First there is the question of identity: “Who Am I?”
2. Second there is the question of importance: “Do I Matter?”
3. Third there is the question of impact: “What is my place in life?” “What is my purpose?”
4. I believe that the answer to all those questions is found in God our Creator and Loving Father.
E. Consider, for a moment, a hammer.
1. It's designed to hit nails. That's what it was created to do.
2. Now imagine that the hammer never gets used. It just sits in the toolbox.
a. It doesn’t care, because it’s not alive and doesn’t have feelings.
3. But now imagine that same hammer with a soul, a self-consciousness.
a. Days and days go by with him remaining in the toolbox.
b. He feels funny inside, but he's not sure exactly why.
c. Something is missing, but he doesn't know what it is.
4. Then one day someone pulls him out of the toolbox and uses him to break some branches for the fireplace.
a. The hammer is exhilarated. Being held, being wielded, hitting the branches -- the hammer loves it.
b. At the end of the day, though, he is still unfulfilled.
c. Hitting the branches was fun, but it wasn't enough. Something is still missing.
5. In the days that follow, he's used often.
a. He reshapes a hubcap, blasts through some sheet rock, knocks a table leg back into place. b. Still, he's left unfulfilled. So he longs for more action.
c. He wants to be used as much as possible to knock things around, to break things, to blast things, to dent things.
d. He figures that he just hasn't had enough of these events to satisfy him. More of the same, he believes, is the solution to his lack of fulfillment.
6. Then one day someone uses him on a nail. Suddenly, the light comes on in his hammer soul.
a. He now understands what he was truly designed for. He was meant to hit nails.
b. All the other things he hit pale in comparison. Now he knows what his hammer soul was searching for all along. (illustration taken from website: everystudent.com)
7. The hammer is you and me.
F. Brothers and sisters, we are created in God's image for relationship with Him.
1. Being in that relationship is the only thing that will ultimately satisfy our souls.
2. Until we come to know God, we've had many wonderful experiences, but we haven't hit a nail.
3. We've been used for some noble purposes, but not the one we were ultimately designed for, not the one through which we will find the most fulfillment.
4. Augustine summarized it this way: "You [God] have made us for yourself and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in Thee."
G. In Ecclesiastes 3:11, Solomon wrote, “He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.”
1. God has created us with a desire for a significant purpose.
2. In our hearts we have a desire for something that will last for eternity.
3. In the book of Ecclesiastes, Solomon describes his own life experience – he searched for meaning among the things we commonly try to find meaning in – pleasure, accomplishments, learning, power and riches.
4. In the end, Solomon found them all to be empty, worthless and dissatisfying.
H. What Solomon discovered is what most of us have also discovered and concluded.
1. Possessions are not worth living for, for they won’t last and don’t truly satisfy.
a. That nice new car quickly loses its luster, gets old and breaks down.
2. Prestige is not worth living for, for it doesn’t last, and doesn’t truly satisfy.
a. The Italians have a proverb that says, “Once the chess game is over, the king and pawn go back into the same box.”
b. When our game is over, we all end up in a similar box, right?
3. Pleasure is not worth living for, it doesn’t last and doesn’t truly satisfy.
a. How many people have tragically traded their lives and souls for a moment of pleasure?
4. Those of us who know God, have found real purpose and it has nothing to do with possessions, prestige or pleasure.
I. Look at how Paul describes our purpose in Ephesians 2:10, “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
1. Look at the incredible things we learn about our purpose from that short verse.
2. We learn what we are. We are God’s glorious creations, God’s magnificent masterpieces.
3. We learn why God created us. To do good works. To make a difference now and for eternity.
4. We learn when it was that God decided about us and our purpose. It was very early on – well in advance of us.
5. See, we are not a people created without planning and purpose.
6. We are not a mistake or a last minute, throw-something-together people.
7. God made us on purpose and with a purpose, and that is great news! Amen!
J. When we think about the fact that we have a purpose, we realize that God has given all of us a sense of general purpose, and a sense of specific purpose.
1. What I mean by that is, on the one hand, God has certain hopes or expectations for all of us in general, but then on the other hand, God also has crafted us as individuals and therefore has gifted us for some very specific purposes.
K. When we think about our shared general purposes, we think of things like the following:
1. First, we think about our general purpose of worshiping God with our hearts and our lives.
a. Jesus said in John 4:23-24 that God is seeking worshipers who worship in spirit and truth, for they “are the kind of worshipers the Fathers seeks.”
b. The Bible says in Romans 12:1, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship.”
c. That certainly is a high and wonderful calling.
d. God has created us so that we would seek Him, find Him, and then worship Him.
2. A second general purpose for us is to be the body of Christ.
a. 1 Cor. 12:27 says, Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.
b. When we become Christians, God adds us to the family of God, the body of Christ.
c. As the body of Christ, we must have a commitment to the well-being of the body.
d. All the parts are connected and should be concerned for each other.
e. No part is unimportant; every part is needed and should be valued.
3. A third general purpose for us is the development of Christ-like character.
a. God wants us to learn and grow.
b. Jesus perfectly reflected the character of His Father in heaven, and our purpose should be to reflect His character in our own lives.
c. As Peter wrote, we are to “make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (2 Peter 1:5-8)
d. Therefore, because God has purposed that we grow in Christ, we should be giving considerable effort to cooperate with the Holy Spirit, taking every advantage of growth opportunities and spiritual disciplines.
4. A final general purpose for us is the accomplishment of God’s mission.
a. Jesus left us these marching orders, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Mt. 28:19-20)
b. Although God’s overall mission of the salvation of souls is broad, there are many activities that encompass that mission.
b. Saving people’s souls surely includes teaching the gospel, but it also includes feeding the hungry, helping the sick and visiting the imprisoned.
c. And once souls are saved they must be ministered to, helping them grow and develop in Christ, so that they won’t fall away, and so they can be useful in accomplishing God’s mission.
L. So these are a few of the general purposes for which we have been created and called.
1. God expects all of us to embrace these purposes and spend our lives giving ourselves to them.
2. But in addition to these general purposes, God has also gifted and called us for specific purposes.
3. We, with God’s help, must discover our own individual, unique purpose that God has for us.
4. In what specific way, different from you, or anyone else, does God want to use me to accomplish His purposes? That is a question we should be asking.
5. What specific role does God need me to play in the fellowship of Christ’s people?
6. What special ministry can I offer?
7. Are there specific people to whom God wants me to personally minister?
8. Are there specific roles that you must play that no one else can play?
9. These are the specific purposes we must discover and then give ourselves to.
M. I really like the statement made about King David from the Old Testament in Acts 13.
1. The Bible says that “David served God’s purposes in his own generation.” (Acts. 13:36)
2. And take Esther, for example, God created Esther and put her in a specific place “for such a time as this.” (Esther 4:14)
3. I believe that God is still in the business of doing those kinds of things among us today.
4. He continues to give us both general purposes and specific purposes.
5. We can uniquely serve God’s purposes in our own generation, and for such a time as this.
6. Are we willing to be used by God in these ways? I hope so.
7. How wonderful to be filled with a sense of God’s purposes - to wake up every day wondering what kinds of special opportunities for service that God will bring our way today!
N. And so each of us are uniquely gifted and called to accomplish God’s mission.
1. My service is not going to end up looking exactly like your service.
2. I will play a different role than you serving within the body of Christ.
3. I will play a different role than you in serving the world of need and suffering.
4. I will play a different role than you in sharing the good news of salvation with the lost.
5. That’s the beauty and genius of God’s plans and purposes.
O. Therefore, in view of this, what should we be doing?
1. I point your attention to our Scripture reading for the day from 2 Timothy 2.
2. I chose these verses written by Paul to Timothy, because Paul was giving Timothy some excellent instructions about serving the Lord in a way that will lead to blessings and rewards.
3. In verse 15, Paul mentioned the need to correctly handle the Word of God, which is always important for us to be doing.
4. Then, in verses 22-24, Paul reminds Timothy of some things to avoid – evil desires, and foolish and stupid arguments.
5. Sandwiched in between these instructions is an interesting discussion about household articles.
6. The Bible says, “Now in a wealthy home there are not only gold and silver vessels, but also ones made of wood and of clay, and some are for honorable use, but others for ignoble use. So if someone cleanses himself of such behavior, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart, useful for the Master, prepared for every good work.” (NET, 2 Timothy 2:20-21)
7. I got to thinking of some of the items in a house that might be used for noble and ignoble purposes.
8. Here’s an example of two house hold items (show picture of a toilet and a tea cup. Both are white, and both are made of porcelain, but their purposes couldn’t be any more opposite on the noble and ignoble spectrum.
9. The promise and the challenge that we are given in the passage is that if we clean up our act and dedicate ourselves to the Lord, then we “will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.”
10. How does that sound to you? It sounds great to me.
11. And that’s the kind of purpose we can have in this world.
12. We can be set apart as an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful, and prepared to do any good work.
13. But before God can use us in that way, we have to do our part to cleanse ourselves, and to walk faithfully with our God.
P. How wonderful it is to be a child of God – a disciple of Jesus!
1. We indeed have a purpose that transcends earthly life - We have a heavenly calling and purpose.
2. How wonderful to know where we came from, who we are, why we are here, and even where we are going.
3. We have the privilege of knowing God and partnering with Him in His eternal purposes.
4. If that isn’t a reason to get up tomorrow and face the day, I don’t know what is.
Q. Now I realize that some of us here today are struggling or suffering.
1. We might be facing difficult circumstances in our families, with our health, or at work.
2. Maybe we really dislike our work or the environment at work.
3. Maybe we are living with great pain, physically or emotionally.
4. What I want to say to you, who are in those situations, is that knowing and having the purpose of God doesn’t take away the pain or the difficulties.
5. But knowing the purpose of God can give you the strength and vision to live with purpose in the midst of your difficult circumstances, and to allow God to glorify Himself through those circumstances.
6. While living in pain, God’s purpose gives us a focus and a mission outside of ourselves.
7. While living with frustration and disappointment, God’s purpose gives us a way to serve that brings us a benefit along with the benefit for those whom we are serving.
8. Can you see how that works? Can you see how having God’s purpose helps?
R. Praise God that we know that we are loved, and know we are forgiven by God, and that we are saved by grace.
1. Praise God that we have a purpose – the purpose of being in relationship with God and partnership with God..
2. We can become an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful, and prepared to do any good work.
3. So let’s renew our commitment to fulfilling God’s general purposes for us.
4. And let’s continue to seek God’s specific purposes and be faithful to accomplish them.
5. Then God will be able to say of us, like He did of King David and Esther…that we served God’s purposes in our own generation.
