The Mission Of Christ Series

Jesus suffered immensely on the cross. All that He suffered was for a world that was lost. He gave His life so the world could be saved. Never once did He lose focus of His mission. Whatever was done to Jesus to torture him/make Him suffer, never made Him forget what He was doing. He was arrested, falsely accused, beaten, ridiculed, humiliated, and hung on a cross as law breaker. While Christ was on the cross, the crowd continued to ridicule Him. They libeled His mission. They made fun of who Christ said He was and what He was going to do.

Read Mark 15: 29-30

The crowd did not understand the mission of Christ. They were so consumed with themselves, that they missed the salvation that was at hand. Jesus spoke several times about His mission. His work was consistent with His mission. In fact, there was never a moment that went by that Jesus was not focused on carrying out His mission. Our mission should be the same as the Savior’s. What was the mission of Christ?

I. To Serve- Matt. 20:28

“just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

This was part of Christ’s response to James & John when they asked to be seated at the right and left of Jesus in heaven. They were seeking greatness. Greatness by God’s standards is far different from that of man’s standards. God measures greatness by ones willingness to humble himself rather than exalt himself. Greatness is measured by what one is willing to do for others rather than by what one can get from others. Jesus’ life revolved around others. He served people where ever He went. He put the needs of people before the needs of Himself. Christ was a servant.

In Mat. 14 John the Baptist was beheaded. John was Jesus’ cousin and friend. Jesus left to get away by Himself after the death of John. He needed time to grieve and deal with the loss of John. V. 13 tells us that when the crowd heard about it, they followed Him. Instead of running off or turning the crowd away Jesus was moved w/ compassion for the people. He healed their sick and then He fed the multitude of over five thousand w/ 2 fish and 5 loaves of bread (v. 13-21). Jesus had a need, but he put the crowd before Himself to meet their need.

In John 13:1-16 Jesus washes the feet of His disciples. He then tells them that they should do the same for one another. One should be willing to place another before self.

Jesus was always more concerned about the needs of others than His own needs. Are we? Part of the mission of the Christian is service. We should be willing to serve those in the world in need. We should do what we can to meet their physical need. While we are meeting the physical need we should also be trying to meet the spiritual need.

We have a me focus in churches today. What is in it for me? What will I get out of it? The question is what are you willing to do for someone else? How have you been serving your brothers/sisters in Christ? How have you been serving the lost world.

Christ’s focus was on others and not self. Where is ours? What can we do to serve the lost world? What can we do to serve one another?

II. To Seek- Luke 19:10

“For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which is lost.”

Jesus says he came to seek that which was lost. Jesus came to call the sinner home. He came to seek out those in need and desires for them to come to Him. The Lord is constantly seeking those who desire a relationship w/ Him.

Jesus, in Mt. 18:12-17, tells about the shepherd who has 100 sheep and one is lost. He will leave the 99 and go and look for the one to bring home. This illustrates how Christ feels when His children stray. The Lord seeks them out to bring them home. His desire is to have all of His children with them. Jesus seeks you out. He wants you to come home. He doesn’t sit and wait for you to return, but seeks you out, and then carries you home. Christian, Jesus has not given up on you or forgotten you. Jesus seeks the Christian who has wandered off the path that he was on.

How should this affect our mission as Christians? We should be seeking the lost. What are we doing to reach the lost world? Jesus was on the go and constantly seeking those who were lost. When found, He spent time with them and sought to minister to them. Do we do the same?