(Show video—Life is Temporary)
I would imagine that it would be safe to say that a majority of us who are present today desire a life that is fulfilling, meaningful, joy filled, and purposeful - a life worth living.
Now, I guess there may be a few of you who take exception to that - you prefer a life that is empty and meaningless - devoid of hope and joy. If that is true of you, you have permission to fall asleep. What we have to consider from Scripture today will be of no interest to you.
But if you are like the majority of us, if you want to be fulfilled in the life you have to live, then listen up! In these verses, Paul tells us what ingredients make life worth living.
Ingredient # 1 - A personal faith in the Son of God - vs. 8-9
If I am going to live life to the fullest, if I am going to get the most out of life, then I need to “plug in” to the source of all life—I need a right relationship with God Almighty. But how does one establish a relationship with God?
A. Salvation is not by works.
Why? Because sin prevents us from ever being good enough for God.
“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” - Romans 3:23 (NIV)
Imagine that an airplane flies over the South Atlantic and crashes a thousand miles from any coast. In the plane there are three individuals: an Olympic swimmer, an average swimmer and someone who cannot swim at all. The Olympic star calls out, “Follow me - I’ll get you out of this!” and takes off heading for the tip of South America a thousand miles away. The other two jump in after him. In about thirty seconds, the non-swimmer goes down to Davy Jones’ Locker. It takes about thirty minutes for the average swimmer to be deep-sixed. But the champion swimmer churns away for twenty-five hours, covering an impressive fifty miles.
Terrific! Only 475 more hours to go! He’ll be there in nineteen days if he doesn’t slow down. The truth is, our paddling will never do, no matter how “good” we are. The distanced is too far, and we are too flawed. The Bible says, “not by works,” and that is the truth.
B. Salvation is by grace through faith.
Grace is god’s part. You see, God has taken the steps to “meet us
halfway” by taking human form in order to pay the price for our sin, thereby making it possible for us to have a right relationship with Him and live lives that are fulfilling and meaningful.
“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, (why?) so that you through his poverty might become rich.” - 2 Corinthians 8:9 (NIV)
“For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, (why?) so that we could be made right with God through Christ.” - 2 Corinthians 5:21 (NIV)
GRACE is God’s riches At Christ’s Expense
This abundance is available to all, but it must be claimed. How? By faith.
FAITH is Forsaking All I Trust Him
Faith is not mere intellectual affirmation of truth about Christ. Faith is not belief alone.
“You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror.” - James 2:19 (NLT)
Saving, life transforming, faith is a personal commitment to Christ: it is belief plus trust.
I can believe a chair will hold my weight if I sit in it. But it is only as I personally trust in the chair by sitting in that I benefit from its strength. Likewise, I can believe in God, I can believe in Christ, but it is only as I personally trust in Him that I will benefit from His saving power.
God has made it clear that is one is to have a right relationship with Him, it will only be through a personal trust, commitment, faith, in his Son, Jesus Christ.
“He who believes in Him [who clings to, trusts in, relies on Him] is not judged [he who trusts in Him never comes up for judgment; for him there is no rejection, no condemnation--he incurs no damnation]; but he who does not believe (cleave to, rely on, trust in Him) is judged already [he has already been convicted and has already received his sentence] (Why?) because he has not believed in and trusted in the name of the only begotten Son of God. [He is condemned for refusing to let his trust rest in Christ’s name.]” - John 3:18 (Amplified)
“Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” - Acts 4:12 (NIV)
The #1 ingredient that makes life worth living is a personal faith in the Son of God.
2. Ingredient #2 - A priority commitment to the will of God - v. 10
Since God is the author of life, it makes sense that if I am going to live life to the fullest, I should seek to live it as He has planned. Living according to the will of God is a key ingredient to a life worth living.
A 36 year old unmarried woman came to her pastor with a very stressful dilemma. She explained, “Pastor, to put it simply, I want to be married. I’m approaching 40 and I think it’s time. The understanding pastor tried to exercise wisdom in consoling the anxious single. He reminded her that God had a perfect plan for her life and she could not improve on the will of God. She responded to his discourse on God’s plan by saying, “Pastor, I’m not trying to improve on it, I just want to get in on it!”
God’s will doesn’t need any improvements, it simply needs our ‘getting in on it.’
How do we “get in” on the will of God for us, and thus guarantee that our’s is a life worth living?
A. See God’s purpose for you - “For we are God’s workmanship”
The Greek word used here is “poiema,” from which we get our English word, “Poem.” The idea here is that we are God’s masterpiece. In fact, that is the word used in the New Living Translation: “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” - Ephesians 2:10 (NLT)
That is God’s purpose for each of us - to shape us into a creative work of art - to conform us to the likeness of His dear Son.
“For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son.” - Romans 8:29 (NIV)
Michelangelo was once asked what he was doing as he chipped away at a
shapeless rock. He replied, “I’m liberating an angel from this stone.” That’s what God is doing with us. We are in the hands of the great Maker, the ultimate sculptor who created the universe out of nothing, and he has never yet thrown away a rock on which he has begun a masterwork.
Secondly, if you want to get in on God’s will for me, you need to . . .
B. Submit to God’s program for you - “created in Christ Jesus to do good works”
God’s desire is for others to be drawn to Him as a result of the good works done in His name by His children.
“Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” - Matthew 5:16 (NIV)
But if you and I are going to be used of God to draw others to Him, we must submit to His program for our lives. Knowing that God calls me to a life of good works, I must seek to live in such a way as to be useable to God. You see, it is not always the most talented that God uses in His work, it is the ones who are most willing.
As we think about being useable to God, we could describe usability in terms of a mathematical formula:
Ability + Teach ability + Availability = Usability
Let’s think together about the elements that make us useable to God.
1) Ability -
God has recreated each of His children with gifts which, when used in conjunction with One’s talents, skills, and interests, can be used in ministry to bless others, glorify God and make our lives fulfilling.
God wants you to discover fulfillment in life through using your gifts, talents, skills, and interests in ministry to others. That’s God’s program for us, and some of us need to “get with the program.”
“I remind you to fan into flames the spiritual gift God gave you . . .” - 2 Timothy 1:6 (NLT)
2) Teach-ability - To help me learn how to live a life of God honoring good works, God has provided me with . . .
A) The example of the Savior - “God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. Then Jesus went around doing good . . .” - Acts 10:38 (NLT)
B) The exhortation of the Scripture - “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” - 2 Timothy 3:16-17 (NIV)
C) The encouragement of the Saints - “Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.” - Hebrews 10:24-25 (NLT)
Our spiritual maturity will be revealed more through our walk than through our talk. Rick Warren has said that one of the evidences of spiritual maturity is when you go from wearing a bib to wearing an apron.
“If you are wise and understand God’s ways, prove it by living an honorable life, doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom.” - James 3:13 (NLT)
3) Availability - “(Christ) gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.” - Titus 2:14 (NKJV)
A New York City businessman moved to the country and bought a piece of land. He went to the local feed and livestock store and talked to the proprietor about how he was going to take up chicken farming. He then asked to buy 100 chicks. "That’s a lot of chicks," commented the proprietor. "I mean business," the man replied. A week later the new farmer was back again. "I need another 100 chicks," he said. "Boy, you are serious about this chicken farming," the man told him. "Yeah," the man replied. "If I can iron out a few problems." "Problems?" asked the proprietor. "Yeah," replied the man, "I think I planted that last batch too close together." We cannot grow by burying ourselves and expecting sprouts.
God’s purpose for us is that we grow in Christ-likeness. As we submit to God’s program for our Christ-like development, we will be made useable to Him. Which leads us to the third thing that we need to do to get in on God’s will for us. You must . . .
C. Surrender to God’s plan for you - “which God prepared in advance for us to do”
God has a plan in mind for you! As you submit to His program for developing Christ-likeness, not only will His purpose for you be fulfilled - you will become more like Jesus - but his plan for you on earth will also be accomplished. God has ministry in mind for each of us to do.
To know God’s will is life’s greatest treasure; and to do God’s will is life’s greatest pleasure.
On September 17, 1991, a telecommunications failure shut down the three major airports in the New York City. AT&T was responsible for the mishap but the real story is in how it happened. The call switching center which was responsible for the failure is usually monitored by certain trained technicians. When the warning lights started flashing on that fateful Tuesday, those technicians were in class learning how to read warning lights so such a problem wouldn’t happen.
Too many of God’s people are educated way beyond the level of their obedience.
We need to daily commit ourselves to doing what we can with what God has given us to honor Him.
“If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” - Luke 9:23 (NIV)
Once, during a time in my life when I was wondering if my life was really counting for Christ, I was meditating on Mark 14:1-11, which tells about Jesus being anointed at Bethany. In verse 8, I read what Jesus said about the woman who anointed Him, as He defended her against the criticism of the disciples, who said she had been wasteful. Jesus said of her, “she did what she could.” Why did Jesus say that? Because she used what she had (the jar of perfume) in the opportunity given her (Jesus was in the home) to honor God.
The Lord showed me through this story that I can be assured that I am doing what I can with my life if I am using what I have (gifts, talents, things I have learned) in the opportunities given me (chances to serve others where I live and work) to honor God.
Conclusion: A very successful CEO had the unique opportunity of going to his wife’s hometown and meeting her high school boyfriend. The CEO couldn’t wait to see what kind of guy his wife dated in school. As it turns out, her old flame ended up becoming the manager of the general store. After they met, the CEO could hardly wait to get back in the car and hear his wife’s reaction. “Well, what did you think?” he asked. She said, “Nothing much.” After a long silence he just couldn’t contain himself any longer. “Honey, aren’t you glad you’re married to the CEO of a successful company instead of a guy who manages the general store?” She responded as only a wife can, “Let’s get one thing straight. If I’d married Billy Bob, he’d be the CEO of a successful company and you would be the manager of a general store.”
That’s the difference a relationship with another human being can make; but a relationship with God makes an eternal difference. How do you need to relate to Him?
Do you have a personal faith in the Son of God? If so . . .
Do you have a priority commitment to the will of God?
These two ingredients are what make life worth living!
