Fulfilling God’s Purpose
The Problems of Fulfilling God’s Purpose with Man’s Plan
We try to do it on Man’s Schedule
We try to do it in Man’s Strength (Galatians 4:23)
The Consequences of Fulfilling God’s Purpose with Man’s Plan
It results in Separation (Galatians 4:29-30)
It results in Slavery (Galatians 4:25)
In the Freedom of Grace, God’s Purpose is Fulfilled with God’s Plan
(Galatians 4:31)
Slide 1
Each of us would like to know what God’s purpose for our lives is, wouldn’t we.
In fact, we would like to see it all mapped out for our approval.
This is somewhat of our human nature.
Slide 1
We want to know things.
We want to be in control of things.
Or at least for it to seem like we are in control.
We do not like to have to trust others with our lives.
But that is exactly what God wants us to do.
He wants us to trust Him, not only for our salvation, but for our daily living.
You would think that it would be harder to trust Him with our eternal lives than with our physical lives, but that really doesn’t seem to be the case.
Why is that?
Because trusting Him with our eternal lives we do once and we have it.
Trusting Him with our physical lives is something that needs to happen every day, moment by moment.
We trust Him and then we don’t.
But trusting Him and receiving His grace for living each day is the key to seeing God’s purpose fulfilled in our lives.
We are continuing on in Galatians today. We will be reading from Galatians 4:21-31 (p. 825).
Paul is still talking about grace and law. In this allegory,
Sarah equals the New Covenant of Grace and
Hagar equals the Old Covenant of Law.
Paul uses this story to show us how we often go about fulfilling God’s purpose for our life and the way we should go about it
Slide 2
Galatians 4:21-31
21 Tell me, you who want to be under the law, are you not aware of what the law says? 22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman. 23 His son by the slave woman was born in the ordinary way; but his son by the free woman was born as the result of a promise.
Slide 2 24 These things may be taken figuratively, for the women represent two covenants. One covenant is from Mount Sinai and bears children who are to be slaves: This is Hagar. 25 Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present city of Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children. 26 But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother. 27 For it is written:
"Be glad, O barren woman,
who bears no children;
break forth and cry aloud,
you who have no labor pains;
because more are the children of the desolate woman
than of her who has a husband."
28 Now you, brothers, like Isaac, are children of promise. 29 At that time the son born in the ordinary way persecuted the son born by the power of the Spirit. It is the same now. 30 But what does the Scripture say? "Get rid of the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman’s son." 31 Therefore, brothers, we are not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman.
Now in this allegory, He wants us to see that it is by grace and not by law that we will be able to fulfill God’s purposes for our lives.
Now there are certain things we know about God’s purpose in our lives.
We are to bring glory and honor to Him.
We see this in the first 3 commandments. (no other god’s before Him, no idols, don’t misuse His name)
We bring glory and honor to God by following His ways and doing what He wants us to do.
Now the question becomes, how do we go about doing this?
Because so often it seems that when WE seek to do the things that fulfill His purpose or will, it leads to problems in our life?
Paul uses the story of Sarah and Hagar and the birth of their sons and I want to go back to the original telling of that in Genesis first to help us see
The Problems of Fulfilling God’s Purpose with Man’s Plan
Slide 3
Genesis 16:1-4 (p. 10)
Slide 3 1 Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian maidservant named Hagar; 2 so she said to Abram, "The LORD has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my maidservant; perhaps I can build a family through her."
Abram agreed to what Sarai said. 3 So after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years, Sarai his wife took her Egyptian maidservant Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife. 4 He slept with Hagar, and she conceived.
Before we go on from here, I want us to see that Abraham knew what God’s will was for him. Back in Genesis 12 God made an unconditional covenant with Abraham
Genesis 12:1-4
1 The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you.
2 "I will make you into a great nation
and I will bless you;
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you."
4 So Abram left, as the LORD had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Haran.
Abraham had understood that God’s Purpose was to bless the World through him
Abraham thought this was a good plan
He wanted to have a family
He wanted to leave a legacy
He wanted to be a blessing
The only problem, in Abraham’s eyes at least, was that God was moving too slow.
And this shows one of the problems when we expect God’s purposes to be filled with Man’s plans.
Slide 4
We Try to do it on Man’s Schedule
God made this promise to him when Abraham was 75 years old.
It had been 10 years since God made the promise to Abraham and when Sarah approached him with the idea of having a child through Hagar.
Slide 4 (Abraham was 86 when Ishmael was born – Genesis 16:16)
That is a long time. Too long for Abraham.
There are many times that we think we know exactly what God wants for us, but it is not happening fast enough.
Illustration – Call into Ministry
I know for myself, when I felt God’s call into ministry 5 years ago, I was getting impatient after about a year or so when He wasn’t seeming to do much.
It is funny, I look back now and think how fast God moved to bring me to this point, but at the time things were not going so fast, or so it seemed.
Applying it Personally
Maybe in your life, there are things going on that seem to be taking God much too long to take care of.
Maybe you
are in a marriage situation that you know is not glorifying God but He doesn’t seem to be changing it or answering your prayers about it.
have been trying to have a child and nothing is happening.
Financial difficulties that don’t seem to be going away even though you have been praying about it.
Basically we are saying, God you are taking too long dealing with these issues.
Marriages are supposed to bring joy into our lives. If it is not, we think that maybe we should go find a relationship that we think will bring joy into our lives. Maybe that is what God wants me to do.
That is what happens when we put our timetable on God’s purposes. There are going to be times when things are difficult.
That is why we need to be going to God each day so that our relationship with Him will be strong and we will be able to receive His grace and strength to live right.
It is often in the hard times that God encourages us to stay close to Him and receive His grace.
Paul writes in
2 Corinthians 12:9
9 But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.
In those times of difficulty, God is not moving too slowly,
He is perfecting His power in us.
But when we seek a shortcut, we disconnect the power. That is what Abraham did.
He sought a shortcut. He used His own Schedule.
God said that I would have a kid. It hasn’t happened in 10 years. Maybe this is the way.
Proverbs 14:12
12 There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.
Whatever the situation in your life that seems to be taking God too long to resolve, recognize that He is perfecting His power in you.
Rejoice in that fact.
Whether it be marital issues, job related issues, financial issues, stress issues, school issues, whatever it is that God doesn’t seem to be taking care of,
Don’t short circuit the Power Source by using your own schedule, because that will only lead to the second problem.
We Try to do it in Man’s Strength
Slide 5
Galatians 4:23
Slide 5 23 His son by the slave woman was born in the ordinary way; but his son by the free woman was born as the result of a promise.
Abraham wanted things sped up so he used his power to have a child in the ordinary way.
When we want things done faster, we have no other choice to do it in our strength because God is still waiting for the right time.
So Abraham saw a faster route and used his own strength and power to accomplish it.
And at least from the outside, it looked like he accomplished it. He became a father. But it certainly did not have the results that were intended.
It did not bring satisfaction to Abraham. In fact it brought hardship.
And this is the point that Paul has been trying to make to the Galatians.
Slide 6
Doing things on our own Schedule and in our own Strength really doesn’t satisfy.
This is the weakness of the law. We do it in our own strength but it is not the same as Christ being formed in you through the work of the Holy Spirit.
Slide 6
Slavery to law is us looking at what God wants for our life and us trying to make our life look like that externally by following a set of rules.
Freedom in Christ is allowing God to transform us internally by His grace and giving us desire to glorify His name in the things we do.
Now those in slavery may look spiritual.
They may attend church faithfully
They may give a tithe
They may volunteer in helping
Your life may look great on the outside, but on the inside it is nothing but death. This is what Jesus was talking about to the Pharisees.
Matthew 23:27-28
27 "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean. 28 In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.
Don’t be that person.
Trust in the One who desires to pour out His Grace in your life so you will be
Free to Want God’s Will in God’s Way.
Freedom is not being set free FROM God’s plan.
It is being set free FOR God’s plan
You are given the desire to glorify and please Him because of your close relationship with Him and your understanding that it will also please you.
So working on a Man’s Schedule in Man’s strength are the problems we face in Seeing God’s Purpose accomplished when we use Man’s Plan.
What are
The Consequences of Trying to Fulfill God’s Purpose with Man’s Plan
Slide 7
Slide 7 One thing we see is that
It Results in Separation
Slide 8
Galatians 4:29-30
29 At that time the son born in the ordinary way persecuted the son born by the power of the Spirit. It is the same now. 30 But what does the Scripture say? "Get rid of the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman’s son."
Slide 8
Relationships are broken
Hagar despises Sarah afterward
Sarah and Abraham are fighting
Ishmael mocks Isaac
The way Abraham tried to bring about God’s plan failed miserably. Nobody is happy with the outcome.
The same is true for us.
Whether we choose
Slavery to sin or
Slavery to the Law
They both lead to being unsatisfied and separated.
When we choose the path of sin
We experience guilt and when we feel guilt we often don’t want to be around anyone.
We are separated from God because of our sin
We are separated from our brothers and sisters in the faith because we may have sinned against them or we feel ashamed and don’t want to be around them.
When we choose the path of legalism
We are disappointed because we aren’t experiencing the full life we expected.
So obedience becomes a chore because we think this is what God is requiring of us and we get upset with God
And we become separated from brothers and sisters in Christ because we either start comparing what we are doing with what they are doing or we separate because they aren’t doing what we are doing.
Paul quotes Sarah who says get rid of the slave woman and her son because the slave woman’s son will never share in the inheritance.
There could not be a sharing between the child of the promise and the child of slavery
A mix of grace and of law will not work out.
We need to get rid of the legalistic tendencies in our life and rely fully on the grace of God to live this life everyday.
Another Consequence of Trying to Fulfill God’s purposes with Man’s plans is that
It Results in Slavery
Slide 9
Galatians 4:25
25 Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present city of Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children.
Slide 9 Paul is saying that those who are trying to earn anything from as a result of their effort are in slavery.
Now the 2 extremes appear to lead in different directions.
One is following the Law
The other is following sin.
While they appear to lead in different directions they both lead to slavery.
Slavery to sin is driven by desires. A desire to experience life to the full, but we seek to do it in the way we think will bring joy.
Sex outside of marriage
Drugs
Drinking
Following after money.
Slavery to law is often driven by pride. Pride in the fact that we deserve the blessings God will give us if we are obedient enough.
I give a tithe
I serve
I don’t do bad
We try to do what we think God wants us to, but we do it in our strength and our power and we do it out of obligation, not out of freedom to fulfill God’s best for us.
Thankfully, we do not have to be slaves to either sin or the Law.
Why not? Because of the Grace of Jesus Christ.
Paul writes in Romans about the struggles we have in these mortal bodies with sin when we try to do things in our strength and our power.
And He says
Rom 7:24-25
24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God-through Jesus Christ our Lord!
Jesus Christ can rescue us from the body of death.
He rescues us by giving us grace so that we can experience freedom.
It is in the Freedom of Grace, God’s purpose is fulfilled with God’s Plan.
Slide 10
As we continue to grow in God’s Grace each day,
Slide 10 we desire to glorify Him,
we desire to do the things he wants,
not out of obligation,
not out of seeking some reward or
of earning something,
but out of love.
A love that grows as our relationship with Him grows and as He continues to pour out grace into our lives.
That is how we are going to be able to follow God’s plan.
By allowing his grace to be filling us each day.
And as that happens, that is how His purposes in our life will be fulfilled and how He will be glorified.
I want to leave you with several verses of scripture to encourage you to go to God every day and to grow in His grace so that you will glorify Him and truly experience the abundant life.
The author of Hebrews writes
Heb 4:15-16
5 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are-yet was without sin. 16 Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
When we do that then we can experience what Paul writes in
2 Corinthians 9:8
And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.
And so finally, as Peter writes in
2 Peter 3:18
…grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Go to God and ask for His grace so that you can abound in every good work and experience the full life and see God’s purposes fulfilled in your life.
Let’s pray.
