WHAT ON EARTH AM I HERE FOR?
• I have provided you with an outline of my message in your bulletin so you can follow along.
• Welcome to 40 Days of Purpose. We’re ready to start on this journey we’ve been planning now for a looooong time.
• Today we’re going to look at life’s three greatest questions:
The question of existence – why am I alive?
The question of significance – does my life matter? and
The question of intention – what is my purpose?
1. The “Question of Existence: Why am I alive?”
• Now that is not exactly a new question. It has probably been asked since people have been around.
• The prophet Jeremiah asked it in Jeremiah 20:18, it says this “Why was I born? Was it only to have trouble and sorrow, to end my life in disgrace?”
• I imagine there have been times in your life when you felt that way, too. Especially when things were not going well and heartache and sorrow and tragedies have crossed your path. Not too many seem to ask or struggle with that question when all in the garden is rosy.
Dr. Hugh Moorhead, the Chairman at the Department of Philosophy at the Northeastern University, - wrote to 250 well-known philosophers, scientists, writers and intellectuals of the world and asked them, “What is the purpose of Life.” And then he published all of their responses in a book – most responses were quite discouraging and depressing.
Some of these people offered their best guesses.
Some admitted they made up a purpose in life.
Some admitted they didn’t have any idea as to what the purpose of life was and if Dr. Moorhead knew, would be please let them know.
Carl Jung, the famous psychiatrist said, “I don’t know the meaning, the purpose of life, but it looks as if something were meant by it.”
Isaac Asimov (1920-1992), Russian-born American Jewish author and biochemist, who in his lifetime wrote over 500 books that enlightened, entertained, and spanned the realm of human knowledge, wrote about the meaning of life, “As far as I can see, there is no purpose.”
Joseph Taylor, the 1993 Nobel Prize winner in Physics, wrote a book titled, “I Have No Answers To The Meaning of Life And I No Longer Want to Search For Any.”
• Those are all tragic statements - because the life without purpose isn’t a life worth living. It is no coincidence that the suicide rate in our society has gone up. It’s now the No. 2 killer of teenage students.
• You see, if you take God out of the equation, you don’t really have very many alternatives.
You can try the Mystical approach – it says “look within and find your purpose within.” You know if that really worked, all of us would know our purpose.
Oprah Winfrey had a show a while back on the topic of discovering your purpose on life, but none of her guests even came close to providing an answer to the question. At the end of the show she just said “And remember, you’ve got to figure it out by yourself.” Well duh! That’s a fat lot of help.
Or you might try the Philosophical approach
The Survivalist says, “The purpose of life is just to stay alive.” In other words, live as long as you can.
The Naturalist says, “The purpose of life is just to perpetuate itself.” In other words, you’re just here for biological reasons.
Rap music artist, Ice T, wrote, “The only reason we’re here is to reproduce. Just chill out and reproduce. Keep the species alive.” Doesn’t that just motivate you to want to jump out of bed in the morning? It may motivate you to jump into bed, I don’t know.
The Hedonist writes, “The purpose of life is pleasure –if it feels good, do it - have fun, party-hardy.”
The Materialist says, “Life is all about the acquisition of things.” Bumper sticker: “He who dies with the most toys wins”. Your life is measured by the things you own. The problem with that is that he who dies with the most toys, still dies. And so, these are not really satisfying answers.
Or you can try the Self-Help approach.
Go into any Barnes & Noble bookstore or online to Amazon.com and you’ll find hundreds of books, that talk about discovering your life purpose. They all are basically saying the same thing; “You’ve got to invent your purpose.” You’ve got to create your own purpose in life. And they all give the same basic approach – discover your dreams, go after your goals, have some ambitions, dream big dreams, aim high, believe you can achieve, have faith, figure out what you’re good at, never give up, involve other people.
Now those are all good advice and they will, if you do those things, make you a success in life.
But being a success and knowing your purpose in life are not the same thing. You can be a raving success in life and still never know, “What on earth am I here for?” What did God put me on this earth for?
You see, the purpose of your life is far greater than your own personal fulfillment. It’s far greater than your own happiness. Even your own peace of mind.
You were made by God and you were made for God and you were put here for His purposes. And until you understand that, life isn’t going to make sense.
• Okay, so why does God want us here? Why are we alive? Why are we on this planet? Is there a reason?
• Well, the Bible says this in Proverbs 16.4, “The Lord has made everything for His own purpose.” It’s for His purpose.
• Now God has never made anything without a purpose. Every rock, plant, animal has a purpose and if you’re alive, you have a purpose.
• If you want to know if God still has a purpose for your life, do a quick check of your heart. Put your hand over your heart or check your wrist for a pulse. Do you feel a beat? Good, then God still has a purpose for you here on earth.
• The truth is God has five purposes for your life. In the next 40 days we’re going to look in detail at those five purposes. The five reasons God put you on planet earth.
• Today, though, I just want us to see God’s motive.
• Look at this next verse, Ephesians 1:4, read it with me…”Long before He laid down the earth’s foundation, He had us in His mind and settled on us as the focus of His love to be made whole and holy by His love.” Note that phrase “the focus of His love”.
• Even if you don’t get anything else as we start this 40 days, I want you to understand this, God says He made you, to love you.
• You might want to write that down. You were created to be loved by God. God is love and God wanted to create something to love and so He created you.
• He didn’t need you. God wasn’t lonely. But He wanted you and made you in order to love you. And before we can talk about anything else, you have to understand this is what on earth you’re here for – to be loved by God.
2. The “Question of Significance: Does my life matter?”
• Isaiah asked this question in Isaiah 49:4a. He said, “My work all seems so useless. I’ve spent my strength for nothing and for no purpose at all.”
• You were made for meaning, and if you don’t have a meaning and purpose in your life and you don’t know why God put you on this planet, then life doesn’t make sense.
During World War II, there were prisoners in a Nazi concentration camp in Hungary, that were processing human sewage in a factory.
The allies came along, bombed that factory and blew it apart. So the prisoners had nothing to do.
The Nazi soldiers had the prisoners take all the rubble of that factory and move it to another field. The next day, they had them take that same rubble and move it back in reverse. The next day, they had to take that stuff and move it back and day after day they had no meaning, no purpose. It was just work doing the same thing over and over with no meaning and no purpose.
Then something strange began to happen. The prisoners began to go crazy. They began to lose their will to live because there was no meaning, no purpose in their work. They were just moving bricks back and forth, back and forth.
Many of them began to throw themselves in front of the guards trying to get shot. In essence, trying to commit suicide. Because you and I were made for meaning.
• If you want to know how much you matter to God, look at the next couple of Scripture verses, there on your outline. God says, “I am your Creator. You were in My care, even before you were born.” (Isaiah 44:2) You were not an accident. You were not an afterthought. God was dreaming about you and longing for you even before you came to be.
• The next verse says, ”You, God, scheduled each day of my life before I began to breathe. Every day was recorded in your book.” That’s how much you matter to God. He paid so much attention to your life that every detail was recorded in His book, before you even took your first breath.
• He sees everything in your life, the good, the bad and everything in-between. You do matter to Him.
• Look at the next verse, “His plans endure (what?) forever; His purposes last (what?) eternally.”
• Now listen, the purposes we’re going to talk about in the next 40 days are not just for the rest of your life on earth, they’re for the rest of your life for all eternity.
• Because God’s purposes are eternal. When we talk about the five things God put you on earth for, He just wants you to practice here, what you’re going to do forever and ever in eternity.
• This is just the warm-up act, this is the kindergarten, the preschool, this is where you and I do the dress rehearsal. God says, “I have plans and purposes for your life, but they don’t end at death.” Because when you die, your heart is going to stop and that will be the end of this body, but that’s not the end of you. You’re far more than a body of flesh and bones. You were made for eternity.
• The Bible says this, Psalm 33:11 says, “His purposes last eternally”. You and I were made to last forever.
• One of the biggest ways you can waste your life is thinking all there is, is here and now. Listen, you’re going to spend far more time on the other side of death, than you ever do on this side.
• On this side, you may get to live 60,70,80 or 90 years or so. But that’s just a drop in the bucket compared to eternity. The time you spend on earth really isn’t that very long.
• This life is preparation for eternity and in the next 40 days we’re going to talk about how we prepare for eternity. This is the key to the meaning of life.
• Realizing that life is preparation for eternity, the Bible says this. Notice 2 Corinthians 5:1, “When this tent we live in – our body here on earth – is torn down, God will have a house in Heaven for us to live in. A home He himself has made, which will last forever.”
• You matter so much to God that He wants to keep you with Him for the rest of eternity. That sure gives meaning to my existence.
• Look at this verse, “Leave your impoverished confusion and live and walk up the street to a life with meaning.” (Proverbs 9:6)
So the question of existence – why am I alive? God answers it by saying, “I made you to love you, that’s why you’re alive.” In the question of Significance – does my life matter? God says, you bet it does! You matter so much that my plan is to have you live with me for eternity.
3. The “Question of Intention: What is my purpose?” What on earth am I here for?
• And that’s what we’re going to spend 40 days looking at.
• In Psalm 89:47 David asked God the question, “Why did you create us? For nothing?
• Probably the greatest, atheist philosopher of the last century, Bertrand Russell (1872–1970), said, “Unless you assume the existence of God, the question of life’s meaning and purpose is irrelevant.”
• You see, if there is no God, if you’re just a freak chance of nature, then you’re nothing more than complex pond scum – then guess what? – your life doesn’t matter. If somebody wants to take it, they could. Because there’s no real reason, meaning or purpose.
• But there is a God. And God made you for a reason, and He made you for a purpose. The only way you’re going to know your purpose is by first looking to Him.
Does anyone know what these items are for? [Hold up different objects] – do you know what these tools are? Here’s the first one. I’ll hold this one up. Anybody knows what this one here is? The purpose of this tool?
if you don’t know something’s purpose, it is likely to be abused or misused.
You want to know why there are so many abused people today? Abusing themselves and abusing others? Because we don’t know our purpose.
1. When you don’t know the purpose of something, it is likely to be misused, or abused. That’s the first point.
2. And the second point is: the only way you’re going to know what some things are is either a) you talk to the creator, or the inventor of it, or b) you read the owner’s manual.
The only way you’re going to ever know your purpose in life – is not by listening to the philosophers, because even the best ones are just guessing. It’s not by looking within, because you’re not going to find it there. It’s not looking within self-help books, because they’re just saying create a purpose. You’ve got to talk to the Creator and look in the owner’s manual. It’s the only way you will ever know your purpose in life.
• Genesis 1:1, the first verse in the Bible…”In beginning, God (not in the beginning, you) created.” If those words hadn’t been there, we wouldn’t be discussing the meaning of life. We wouldn’t be discussing your purpose in life. It all starts with God, it continues with God, it ends with God. “In the beginning, God created.”
• The Bible says this, look in your outline, Proverbs 9:10 – read it with me. “Knowing God results in every other kind of understanding.” You want to understand the meaning of life; you want to understand your purpose of life? Write this down. You find your purpose by getting to know God. It all starts with God.
• Look at this next verse, Colossians 1:16, “For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible…everything got started in Him and finds its purpose in Him.” Look at the next verse, “It is in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for…part of the overall purpose He (that’s God) is working out in everything and everyone.”
• If you want to know your purpose in life, start getting to know God. The more you get to know God, the more you’re going to understand the ways and the wisdom of God and the more you’re going to understand the meaning and purpose of life. And the more you’re going to understand everything else because the Bible says, knowing God results in every other kind of understanding.
• You’re not going to learn it on some talk show. You’re not going to learn it in some séance. You’re not going to learn it reading tea leaves. You’re not going to learn it going to a seminar. The only way you’re going to learn the meaning of life and your purpose in life is to get to know God. It all starts with God, because it’s all about God. “In the beginning, God.” It’s all about God.
• Now, this may take a while because understanding God’s purposes for your life does take time. It’s not just give it to me quick, and it’s over. That’s why we’re going to take 40 days to look at God’s purposes for you.
• You may be asking, why 40 Days? Well, the Bible is very clear that God considers 40 days to be a spiritually significant time period. In fact, in the Bible, any time God wanted to prepare people for His purposes, He took 40 days. For instance:
• Noah’s life was transformed by 40 days of rain
• Moses’ life was transformed by 40 days on Mount Sinai
• The Israelite spies were transformed by 40 days in the Promise Land
• David was transformed by Goliath’s 40-day challenge
• The city of Nineveh was transformed in 40 days
• Jesus was empowered for ministry by spending 40 days in the desert
• and the disciples were transformed by 40 days with Jesus after the resurrection.
The next 40 days are going to transform your life. I’m absolutely confident of that. I want you to look at the other insert in your bulletin. Notice, follow along with me.
Believing that God created me for His purposes and that the best use of my life is to fulfill those purposes, I commit the next 40 days to better understanding of God’s five purposes for me.
• I will participate in a 40 days of Purpose small group. If you haven’t yet joined one of the midweek home groups or the Sunday School class, there is still time to do so.
• I will read each day’s chapter from the Purpose Driven Life book. If you don’t yet have a book – we have some extra. I want to suggest that you schedule a daily appointment to sit down and read it. Either in the morning, at lunch or before you go to bed. I don’t care when you do it. Schedule it and do it every day for the next 40 days. It will take you about 15 minutes a day. I would also suggest that you get a partner that you can call on the phone and discuss what you’ve read. Don’t go through this journey alone. Get yourself a spiritual partner.
• I will do my best to hear all 7 messages in this series, The Purpose Driven Life. What I’m going to be saying on Sundays will set up what you’re going to be studying during the week following. So what we’re talking about today, you’re going to be studying in a little bit more detail this week. Those in the Sunday School class will discuss the topic in the hour before the service.
Now, if you added up what time it would take you to do all those things – I took the time to add it all up and I was real generous. It would still be less than 48 hours total. So here’s my question – is the rest of your life and is all of the rest of your eternity worth 48 hours of your time? I would think so. I want to ask you to sign this and take it home, and put it up on your refrigerator to remind you. Some of us have the dumbest stuff on our refrigerators, so here’s a chance to put something significant up there.
I realize that all of us here today are at different stages in our spiritual journey. That doesn’t matter. We’re all going to go through this journey together, no matter what stage you are in.
Regardless of where you are in your spiritual journey, look at this last verse. “It makes no difference who you are or where you’re from – if you want God and are ready to do as He says, the door is open.” (Acts 10:35)
George Herbert the 16th C. religious poet once said, “It’s never too late to be who you might have been.” It’s not too late.
Let’s bow our heads – You know God had a purpose in bringing you here today. He wants you to know Him and He wants you to know His purposes for you. So talk to Him. You don’t have to use any fancy words. If you don’t know what to say, just follow me in this prayer…just go “Me too, God”.
“Dear God, I realize that if it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t be alive. But because you made me, you must have a purpose for me. I admit that I focused on my plans for my life, not yours. But I want to know your purposes for me, so I commit the next 40 days of my life to learning about it. Thank you that you made me so you could love me. Thank you that you cared for me even when I didn’t know you. Thank you that I was made to last forever. I want a life filled with meaning. I want to start by getting to know you better. So as best as I understand, I ask you, Jesus Christ, to come into my life and help me to understand your purposes for me. I want to take the first step today. In your name I pray, Amen.”
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