Begin in the Right Place
Purpose Driven Series #1
Cornwall/Montreal
August 2, 2003
Beginnings are important and have a great bearing on where we end up in particular endeavours. If someone wants to end up with a Ph.D., but doesn’t have a high school education, that becomes more difficult- not impossible- just more difficult. In many puzzles, especially those matchstick puzzles, where you’re supposed to move only a certain number to change a figure, where you begin is important. On the way back to Montreal bringing in the mission team group for Rwanda, the girls in my van were asking riddles. "There’s a dead man lying in the desert, and the only thing near him is a rock, but he had no contact with that rock; how did he die?" Where you start determines the end you come to in trying to figure that one out.
Currently, our Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms has been much in the news because of the court rulings on two subjects- decriminalization of use of marijuana and the subject of gay marriage and the need to change the definition of marriage to accommodate a group that claims discrimination. Amazingly, the charter begins with these words: Whereas Canada is founded upon principles that recognize the supremacy of God and the rule of law. In Canada, we begin with certain enshrined rights, and they include
Freedom of expression
Freedom of conscience and religion
Freedom to gather in peaceful groups
The right to live free from discrimination
The right to receive services from the Government of Canada in English or French
The right to vote and run for office
The right to live and work anywhere in Canada
According to one source I found, the Charter reflects the pride of Canadians in the multicultural fabric of our society. It protects the rights of women, Aboriginal people and minority language groups.
Somehow from this beginning, we have come to where we are right now in Canada.
Advertising begins with people, of course, and much of it is dedicated to persuading people that they CAN have whatever they want to have. Such ideas as, ‘you owe it to yourself’, and ‘you can have’, appeal to individuals and a certain inherent selfishness.
Where we begin determines where we end up.
As people search for the meaning to their lives, again, their starting point makes a big difference to where they end up. Normally, people begin with themselves and ask a lot of self-centred questions about goals, ambitions, dreams, and the future, but this focus never can get them to where they want to go, in understanding the purpose for their life. Books and books have been written to try to plumb the depths of the answer about the purpose of life, but the fact that new books still are being written indicates that the answer has not been discovered. Much as a vacuum cleaner cannot understand its purpose but has to look to its creator to understand, so do we need to look beyond ourselves to understand our purpose in living.
Actually, way back in Eden, our first parents made a fundamental choice in this regard. They accepted a choice, that God hadn’t given to them, and they had an opportunity to choose either revelation from God or self-focus and selfishness and learning that way. Actually, the options are revelation or speculation.
So, people often are looking from their own perspectives, only. But what if they change their position? Often, in life, if we simply change our position or place in a room or in an argument, we see things quite differently. Some of you need to change where you sit in church- you’d see things differently, amazingly- I know, I’ve done this over the years. What happens if people change their position and choose to sit where Jesus is sitting?
Eph. 2.4-7- if we sit where Jesus sits rather than where people sit, our viewpoint changes radically! And when we look at the question of our purpose, we see things quite differently. This is an important perspective for us, who are Christian, of course, We have to begin in the right place.
The Bible tells us about God’s role in our process of self-discovery.
Col. 1.16- everything begins in Jesus and finds its purpose there.
Job 12.10- God directs lives of all- our lives are in his hand. You cannot arrive at your life’s purpose by starting with a focus on yourself. You must begin with God, your Creator. You exist only because God wills that you exist. You were made by God and for God, and until you understand that, life will never make sense. It is only in God that we discover our origin, our identity, our meaning, our purpose, our significance, and our destiny. Every other path leads to a dead end.
Ro. 8.6- focus on God and that leads you to be open and free, but focusing on yourself leads to a dead end- how far can you really go inside yourself? Frankly, too many Christians focus too strongly on themselves, rather than on God, from whom ultimate purpose comes. Many Christians try to ‘use’ God for their own advancement; they go to God for their blessing in particular ways and, thus, we have the health and wealth gospel preached too widely- it’s a heresy to be rejected! You were made for God, not God made for you, and life is about letting God use you for His purposes, not your using him for your own purpose. Your life is not all about you, after all.
Now, there is no question that people can accomplish very much, without understanding the over-riding purposes that God has in minds for their lives. Many godless people do a lot in this world, and a lot that can be termed ‘good’. But what if we are able to discover what God intends? What difference can that make? Lots of people set very lofty goals and achieve them- goals for education, for family, for doing good deeds and establishing centers for really helping people. Some establish international organizations to help people medically and with health and nutrition. All this is fine, but if it’s not what God’s purpose is for someone, then it’s not fine enough, is it? Each person needs to understand what God had in mind when He formed them. What you need to understand and know is what God had in mind when he formed you, as He did. Your focus needs to be toward God, not toward self, as you look for your purpose in life.
Matt. 16.25- tells us that self-sacrifice is the way to finding your true self. This has each of us putting ourselves under God and allowing his revelation to direct us.
1 Cor. 2.7- God has determined how to bring out the best in us- in each of us- in you and in me. God has five purposes for your life- purposes that are there for each of us, but will be finely tuned for each of us a little differently, too. We’ll be exploring these over the coming months so that we clearly understand what our lives are all about, really. God is both the starting point and the source of your life and mine and we sell ourselves very short if we do not begin with God.
Eph. 1.11 tells us 3 incredibly important truths in the matter of looking for our purpose, and that the looking has to begin with God.
1. You discover your identity and purpose through a relationship with Jesus.
2. God was thinking of you long before you ever thought about him. His purpose for your life predates your conception, even. He planned for you before you existed and without any input from you. You get to choose lots in your life, but you don’t get to choose your purpose- that comes from God. (This is not so hard to understand. Most of us who are parents thought about our children before they were conceived. We are limited, of course, and cannot know all the details ahead-of-time. However, God is able to think about someone in detail before that person is even conceived- and he did that in your life, and mine.)
3. Your life’s purpose fits into a much larger plan- a cosmic plan that God has undertaken. He has a big plan and each of us fits into that plan. His plan is one that spans all eternity, and that’s what we were made for. You were not made for time, but for eternity. So, again, starting with God has us starting with eternity, which is not where we’re taught, in school, to start, or where most people start in their quest to understand themselves. God will unfold your purpose in time, but remember that it began in eternity- you began in eternity and that’s where you’re headed. Your life has not only passing importance, then, but eternal importance, as God is at work in you right now.
Isa. 14.24- life is not meaningless but very purposeful, and to live with that purpose is to be able to live with hope. I think, too, that knowing we began in eternity gives our lives a sense of urgency because we know God is working out His purpose in our lives; it’s motivating, too, to get on with whatever God has in mind. Paul declared that Christ’s love motivated him forward- 2 Cor. 5.14. All of us want to have meaning in our lives; knowing where we began gives incredible meaning!
Where you and I begin in understanding our life’s purpose is vital. If you start with yourself, you’ll go not much of anywhere. But if you begin where you need to begin- with God, then you’ve got the right starting point.
Remember this: ‘it’s not about me’.
Col. 1.16b- ‘everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him.’
As you go through this next week, focus on God, not self, and allow everything around you to remind you that life is really about living for God, not yourself. Just see what difference that will make in your life in the next week.
Oh, the answer to the riddle? The dead man is Superman- he’s from the planet Krypton and the rock is kryptonite. If he’s anywhere near that, Superman dies. That’s how the man in the desert died.
