God’s Purpose For Our Life
11/11/07 PM
Reading: Luke 4:16-21
Introduction
How would you describe your life if you were to use just one word? Frantic? Fatigued? Frustrating? Maybe some of us would say Fun? Fulfilling? I wonder if any of us might use the word "Focused?" Focused is a word we can apply to the life of Jesus. [reading]
Jesus knew what His purpose in life was even from a young age (Luke 2:49). If you study His life closely, you will discover that His entire life was pointed toward the fulfillment of what God put Him on earth to do. Can we say that about our lives?
Many here are old enough to remember the Ed Sullivan Show; for those of you who do not, the Ed Sullivan Show was a variety show which was on every Sunday night at 8 P.M. for years. One of the acts I remember was a kind of juggling act. There was a man who balanced dinner plates on some long flimsy poles by spinning them one by one. With frantic music playing, his goal was to get as many plates spinning at one time as possible without allowing a single plate falling. After many attempts and by constantly moving from plate to plate, the performer would finally get all of the plates spinning at one time.
Can you relate to the picture of that performer? He and a lot of us here have some things in common. A lot of us find ourselves trying to keep a lot of things spinning at one time: job, family, marriage, social life, church, school, extra-curricular activities, sports; the list can go on and on. It is very difficult to keep all of those plates spinning at one time. We can become so involved in the different activities of our lives that we lose the focus of what our purpose in life really is.
You can have good values, know that you have been gifted and still miss out on God’s intended purpose for your life if you do not keep your focus on that purpose. Many of us go through life without that focus. We are easily sidetracked and find ourselves spinning plate after plate, trying to keep them all spinning. How do we get our life focused? How do you get it on track and keep it there? You begin by understanding our life purpose.
I.What Is A Life Purpose?
Before we can examine our life purpose, we must understand exactly what we mean by this.
If I were to ask you what your purpose in life is, some of you would answer: "To retire." Others might say, "To make a lot of money," while still others might say, "To get married and have a lot of children." All of those things are good, but they do not represent our life purpose. They are goals you have. So often we confuse our goals with our purpose. It is very important that we understand that our goals are not the same as our purpose in life. The purpose of our life may and should help shape our goals.
Our purpose will also clarify our roles in life. We all wear many hats as we journey through life. Each season of our life calls upon us to take on a new role. We are children, partners, parents and grandparents. We go from one stage to another, each time redefining our roles as we go. These roles are part of our purpose.
We also will find that our career roles are a part of God’s purpose for us. Often, we think that our life’s purpose is our career but that is not the case. Ideally, our life’s purpose includes our careers, but we must realize that our purpose in life is much greater than our careers. We can lose our job and still have a purpose for our living. One word of caution, we can sometimes get so caught up in our careers that we lose focus on what our purpose is.
You and I share the same purpose in life but this purpose will be uniquely fulfilled by you. Your fulfillment of this purpose will involve your spiritual gifts, your heart, your abilities, your personality and your experiences.
Your fulfillment of this purpose will allow you to touch people who no one else can touch. God has placed all of us on this earth for this purpose. When we come to the end of our days here on earth, hopefully we will have achieved His purpose for our lives and we will hear those precious words: “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
II.How Do I Know My Purpose In Life?
You may be thinking, "Obviously understanding one’s life purpose is important, but how can I know my life’s purpose?" I am glad you asked that.
Unfortunately, the most popular method for discovering God’s will is speculation. In other words, it’s a guess. A person may enroll in Psychology 101 or Philosophy 203 and hope the professor lectures on "Who am I? Why am I here? Where did I come from? Where am I going?"
Discovering God’s purpose for your life will not be found sitting in a classroom. Fortunately, there is a better source for your answer. It is called the Bible. It is the owner’s manual for our lives. Instead of speculation or depending on someone who knows less than you do, you can receive it direct from God.
The Bible can answer those questions about who you are and why you are here.
Ephesians 5:17 says, Don’t act foolishly, but understand what the Lord’s will is.
This evening we will examine some questions to ask as we seek to know God’s purpose for our lives.
A.Who will be at the center of my life?
1.This is vital. Regardless of how much you understand about God’s purpose for you, something will be at the center of your life. Everything else will be organized around this. Let me ask you, "What is at the center of your life?"
2.In other words, what is the primary interest of your life? I am sure some of you would answer your family. Others might answer money, pleasure, power or popularity. I hope you realize that none of these will last. Every one of these could come to an end at any time. If you place any of these at the center of your life, you could find yourself empty at a time when you need to be full.
3.We have been created to have God at the center of our lives. In fact, God tells us that He made us to know and to love Him, and to be an object of His love. Think about that. God has made us to love Him.
a.Proverbs 9:10 “Knowing God results in every other kind of understanding.”
God has assured us that in knowing who He is, we can understand who we are.
b.Matthew 6:33a “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness…”
c.Matthew 22:37-38 “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment.”
d.Colossians 3:2 “Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.”
e.Paul expressed it this way in Philippians 3:10, “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection”
B.What will be the character of my life?
1.When we read the Bible, we soon discover that God is far more interested in knowing who we are than in what we do.
a.Romans 8:29 tells us He has predestined us to be conformed to the likeness of His Son.”
b.Philippians 2:5 “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,”
c.Galatians 5:22-23 tells us The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.”
2.His desire is that you would grow and develop the character of Christ. God has made us to be like His Son.
3.The result of God in our lives should produce these characteristics. We seem to forget that our lives on this earth are in preparation for eternity. As God helps us to build the character and the attitude of Christ, we may encounter some of the same problems He experienced. All of this is our preparation for an eternity spent with God.
C.What will be the contribution of my life?
1.Again, let us look at how the Bible answers this question:
a.1 Peter 4:10 it says, Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others.
b.Ephesians 2:10 we find, For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which Christ prepared in advance for us to do.
2.There are two kinds of people in the world, those who take and those who give. You can live selfishly or selflessly.
a.Philippians 2:5-7 “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.
D.What will I communicate about my life?
1.What is the message of your life? God wants to speak to the world through you. What are you telling the world about your relationship with God?
2.There are people in this world who only you can reach. Are you trying to reach them for God’s kingdom?
a.2 Corinthians 5:20 it says, We are therefore Christ’s Ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us.
3.We are to tell the world what God has done for us. Our life’s communication of God’s message will be unique.
a.For one thing, we all have different gifts. If your gift is evangelism, then your message will be communicated differently from those whose gift is mercy.
b.In addition, each of our hearts is different. Some of you have a heart for a particular issue like abortion. Others of us may have a heart for the environment. Still others may have a heart for impoverished children. Who do you think gave you your passion? God did. He put it in your heart to become a part of your life’s message.
c.Our communication will be unique also because our experiences have been different. Our delivery is different but the message is needed. There is someone who needs to hear what God has done in our life.
Conclusion:
In closing let me say that there are many people and books who would like to tell you how to discover God’s purpose for your life. One such person is Stephen Covey in his book titled, Principle-Centered Leadership. He suggests that you can determine your purpose in life by beginning at the end of your life. Imagine yourself at your own funeral with four people familiar with your life. At your funeral service there is someone from your family, your church, your job and a friend who had the responsibility to say something about you. What would you want them to say? Mr. Covey says you can determine your purpose by wanting to achieve during your lifetime what you would want them to say about you at your funeral.
We have seen this evening there is more to it than that. What matters most in life is not what other people say about you. What truly matters is what God will say about you. This should be the determining factor for the purpose of your life.
With God center in our lives, seeking to conform ourselves to the image of His Son, seeking to serve His will as Christ’s Ambassadors we will fulfill His purpose for our lives.
Invitation
