Called to be A Spiritual Hero
We are standing at the beginning of a new year with lots of challenges in front of us. I believe the biggest challenge is to find your calling and to live out that calling.
Romans 8:28 – 30
Romans 8:28
ALT: But we know that to the ones loving God all things work together for good, to the ones being called according to [His] purpose.
BBE: And we are conscious that all things are working together for good to those who have love for God, and have been marked out by his purpose.
GW: We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God-those whom he has called according to his plan.
WNT: Now we know that for those who love God all things are working together for good--for those, I mean, whom with deliberate purpose He has called.
Words that stand out in this vers are purpose, plan, and deliberate purpose. It is then very clear that God has a purpose with each one of us. There is a reason why we are now at this moment and time here.
Romans 8:29
KJ: "For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren."
BBE: Because those of whom he had knowledge before they came into existence, were marked out by him to be made like his Son, so that he might be the first among a band of brothers:
GW: This is true because he already knew his people and had already appointed them to have the same form as the image of his Son. Therefore, his Son is the firstborn among many children.
MSG: God knew what he was doing from the very beginning. He decided from the outset to shape the lives of those who love him along the same lines as the life of his Son. The Son stands first in the line of humanity he restored. We see the original and intended shape of our lives there in him.
Ephesians 1:3-5
MSG: How blessed is God! And what a blessing he is! He’s the Father of our Master, Jesus Christ, and takes us to the high places of blessing in him. Long before he laid down earth’s foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love. Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure he took in planning this!)
Long before we were even born God already decided what our destiny, our calling will be, namely to be conformed to the image of His Son.
Romans 8:30
KJ: "Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified."
GNB: And so those whom God set apart, he called; and those he called, he put right with himself, and he shared his glory with them.
MSG: After God made that decision of what his children should be like, he followed it up by calling people by name. After he called them by name, he set them on a solid basis with himself. And then, after getting them established, he stayed with them to the end, gloriously completing what he had begun.
God has called us to be in His glory. Most people see calling = performance. Calling is not something that I must do; it is somewhere I must be. We are not called to do but to be.
1 Thessalonica 2:12
GNB: We encouraged you, we comforted you, and we kept urging you to live the kind of life that pleases God, who calls you to share in his own Kingdom and glory.
YLT: for your walking worthily of God, who is calling you to His own reign and glory.
1 Peter 2:9
ASV: But ye are an elect race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that ye may show forth the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:
1 Peter 5:10
EMTV: But may the God of all grace, the One having called you into His eternal glory in Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a little while, may He Himself make you complete--He will establish, strengthen, and firmly ground you.
GNB: But after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who calls you to share his eternal glory in union with Christ, will himself perfect you and give you firmness, strength, and a sure foundation.
GW: God, who shows you his kindness and who has called you through Christ Jesus to his eternal glory, will restore you, strengthen you, make you strong, and support you as you suffer for a little while.
YLT: And the God of all grace, who did call you to His age-during glory in Christ Jesus, having suffered a little, Himself make you perfect, establish, strengthen, settle you ;
We are called to be in His glory.
2 Peter 1:3
GNB: God’s divine power has given us everything we need to live a truly religious life through our knowledge of the one who called us to share in his own glory and goodness.
KJVA: According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:
RSV: His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence,
My calling is to be in His glory and my ministry is to live out His glory.
2 Thessalonica 2:13 – 14
GNB: God called you to this through the Good News we preached to you; he called you to possess your share of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
GW: With this in mind he called you by the Good News which we told you so that you would obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
“The obtaining of the glory’ is without the article in Greek. With the article it would refer to the fact of obtaining the glory; without it, it is the character of the calling. ’to obtaining glory.’
We are called to be in His glory, but we are also called within a specific generation.
Malachi 2:15
ASV: And did he not make one, although he had the residue of the Spirit? And wherefore one? He sought a godly seed. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth.
GW: Didn’t God make you one? Your flesh and spirit belong to him. And what does the same God look for but godly descendants? So be careful not to be unfaithful to the wife of your youth.
RSV: Has not the one God made and sustained for us the spirit of life? And what does he desire? Godly offspring. So take heed to yourselves, and let none be faithless to the wife of his youth.
In 2004 God is looking for men and women who will be prepared to become spiritual hero’s for Him; people who understand their calling and lives out their calling. A godly seed; a generation for God.
A spiritual hero is someone who is living totally in the right stream. There are 4 streams: (1) the stream of this world; (2) the stream of culture and tradition; (3) the stream of religion; and (4) the stream of living waters.
The stream of culture and tradition and the stream of religion is the 2 streams that effectively keeps us away from our real calling for it teaches us that calling is to do something and not te be someone.
Our biggest problem = wants to be in stream of living waters but we keep certain aspects of our lives in the other streams. We want to be in stream of living waters but we still want to go and drink with the boys. We want to be in both streams. To really become what God has called us to be, we must understand that we can only be in stream of living waters.
Revelation 22:1
BBE: And I saw a river of water of life, clear as glass, coming out of the high seat of God and of the Lamb,
GNB: The angel also showed me the river of the water of life, sparkling like crystal, and coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb
There is a stream flowing from God and from the Lamb, a double stream that God wants us to be in.
God is looking for a godly seed, a seed that will not play in the other streams but will be in the stream of living waters.
Noag – Genesis 6:9
ASV: These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, and perfect in his generations: Noah walked with God.
GW: This is the account of Noah and his descendants. Noah had God’s approval and was a man of integrity among the people of his time. He walked with God.
MSG: This is the story of Noah: Noah was a good man, a man of integrity in his community. Noah walked with God.
Noah refused to give in to the other streams – he walked with God in his generation.
David – Acts 13:36
ISV: For David, after he had served God’s purpose in his own generation, died and was laid to rest with his ancestors, and so he experienced decay.
WNT: For David, after having been useful to his own generation in accordance with God’s purpose, did fall asleep, was gathered to his forefathers, and did undergo decay.
Common: For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep, and was laid with his fathers and saw decay;
Jesus.
Psalm 24:3 – 6
