Have You Found Your Purpose

 

What is the meaning of Life? Why do we exist?  Is it just to procreate so another generation can carry on a meaningless existence? What is your purpose in life?

 

God never created anything without a purpose. Every plant and ever creature on earth has a purpose. God has a purpose for every person that has been born. If your heart is beating, God has a purpose for you. Knowing why you exist and what your purpose in life is important to know.

 

If you want to know your purpose, you have to start with God because you did not create yourself nor determine the reason for your existence. Society tells us to look within ourselves for our purpose, but we or any man has the answers to the deep issues of life. The god of this world is a poor counselor AND HE WISHES YOU NO GOOD. Physiatrists’ couches are full of people who seek the meaning of life. Jails are full of people who are confused about their purpose in life. Divorce courts are booked up with those who claim they need space so they can find themselves.

 

Since we did not create ourselves, we cannot determine the true purpose of our lives or what we are supposed to do without the help of God, because only He can tell us why He made us.

 

In this lesson, I hope to challenge you to ask yourself, “Have I consulted the owners

manual to learn my purpose?”

 

Ephesians 1:11 In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will,  12 that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory.

 

Colossians 1:16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.

 

These verses teach us that God has created everything. He has a purpose for us all. God has predestined us to be saved through His Son. However, we must choose whether we will embrace salvation or not. We must choose whether we will fulfill our purpose in life because God has given a free will.

 

One thing we must never forget is that without God, we would not exist.

 

Revelation 4:11 "You are worthy, O Lord, To receive glory and honor and power; For You created all things, And by Your will they exist and were created."

 

We should also know that God loves His creation even though we disappoint Him at times. All parents can understand this. We love our children no matter what they do. When they break something precious or even if they turn out to be a wicked murderous person, we will still love them. We will be very disappointed with them when they do the wrong thing. and we may serve them up heaping of tough love, but we will not stop loving them.

 

God is the same way. He loves every person. I am even bold enough to say that God loves horrible men like Hitler and Sodom Husain. Men like these chose their path, and turned their back on God. Though their actions have caused them to not make it to heaven, God still loves their soul.

 

All of us are special in the sight of God because He chose to create us in His image.

 

Ephesians 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,  4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love,  5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,  6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He has made us accepted in the Beloved.

 

Think about it. Before God laid the foundations of the earth, He had you in mind. What a comforting thought. He had a plan for you and me before He created the world. It is difficult for us to understand this, but God knows all about us. He knew us before we were even born and what we could potential do if we chose the right path. For example, notice what God tells Jeremiah:

 

Jeremiah 1:5 "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations." 

 

Knowing that God loves us and is our Creator brings us to our first purpose in life, which is to establish an eternal relationship with God. God created man to be His companions. We have been given an eternal soul, but our physical body only lasts a few short years. During those few short years, we make decisions that determine our eternal destiny. So, life on earth is our testing ground for eternity.

 

Life on earth is very brief in comparison to eternity. It is our one opportunity to prepare for eternity, and it begins with us wanting to know our Creator and to love Him because He first loved us. God wants us to be part of His family, but we must choose to do so. God has made it possible for us to be reconciled to Him through His Son Jesus.

 

2 Corinthians 5:18 Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation,  19 that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.  20 Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God.  21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. 

 

Even though God knew that we were sinful, He allowed His Son to die on the cross for us. I wish more people would really let that thought sink in of what God did for us when we did not deserve it. I personally believe that if more people believed and understood what God did for us that there would be many more Christians in the world right now.

 

What a blessing it is to be allowed to be part of the family of God. His family is a spiritual family that will last for eternity where we will get to live with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

 

In order for us to begin fulfilling our purpose of knowing God and loving Him, we must allow ourselves to become part of His spiritual family. The way we do this is by obeying the gospel and being born again. Peter says:

 

1 Peter 1:22 Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart,  23 having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever,

 

God wants us to read and study His Word to learn about Him and His plan for us. When we go to God’s Word and obey it, we see that it will cause us to be born again as a child of God. Jesus explained it this way to Nicodemus:

 

John 3:3 Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."  4 Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?"  5 Jesus answered, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.  6 "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.  7 "Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.'

 

In order to become a part of the family of God, we must choose to believe that Jesus is the Son of God, repent, confess Jesus as our Lord, and be baptized in water. Paul tells us that baptism is our death, and when we are brought back up out of the water, we become children of God. We put away our old self because we have been born again. Notice a few Scriptures that show this in reference to our baptism:

 

Romans 6:3 Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?  4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.  5 ¶ For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection,  6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.  7 For he who has died has been freed from sin.  8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him,

 

When we choose to be baptized in the name of Jesus with our faith in the working of God, our old self dies in the watery grave, and we are born again. We become a new creature in Christ and are clothed with the righteousness of Christ. God no longer sees our past sins because they have been washed away. Obeying the gospel is the beginning point for us in fulfilling the purpose of our life.

 

Our second purpose in life as a Christian is to grow in the grace and the knowledge of our lord so that we can become more like our Savior. Jesus said:

 

John 13:15 "For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you.  16 "Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him.

 

There is no greater honor in this life than to be like Him who saved us. The only way you and I can achieve this is by studying God’s Word and living by it. No one can become like Christ overnight, which is why we should understand the importance of growing each and every day to become more like Him.

 

Jesus tells us:

 

Matthew 5:14 "You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.  15 "Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.  16 "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. 

 

One of our purposes in life is to be a shining light for Christ. Our attitudes and our actions can make the difference in what kind of light we are to the world. There are many areas that we must grow and allow our light to shine brighter than it has before. While there are too many areas to name in one sermon, one of my favorite chapters that sums up what we are to do once we become Christians is found in Colossians 3. There are a lot of details in the short chapter, but all I want to do is read this chapter to you, and I want you pay close attention to what it says we are to do as Christians because this little chapter tells us a lot about our purpose in life as we strive to be like Christ and to live by the Word of God.

 

Colossians 3:1 If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God.  2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.  3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.  4 When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.  5 ¶ Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.  6 Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience,  7 in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them.  8 But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth.  9 Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds,  10 and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him,  11 where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all.  12 ¶ Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering;  13 bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.  14 But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection.  15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.  16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.  17 And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.  18 ¶ Wives, submit to your own husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.  19 Husbands, love your wives and do not be bitter toward them.  20 Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is well pleasing to the Lord.  21 Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged.  22 Bondservants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing God.  23 And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men,  24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ.  25 But he who does wrong will be repaid for what he has done, and there is no partiality.

 

I hope you will take a look at this chapter and break it down on your own so you can see all the different areas we need to grow in as Christians. I could easily preach 10 sermons or more from this one chapter because it contains so many great qualities we are to make part of our lives. It covers everything in general from what we are to strive for in our personal lives, how we treat others, and how we are to be in our marriages. There is so much for us do and learn from our master teacher, God almighty. Our lives can be filled with purpose and meaning if we simply open our eyes to what He teaches us about ourselves and about living life.

 

Another great purpose in the life of a Christian is found in:

 

Ephesians 2:10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. 

 

One of the works that we are to walk in is serving others. Jesus set the example:

 

Matthew 20:27 "And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave --  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."

 

Since we are not above our master, we must see that we should also serve others as well. While this can include many things, I want to mention one specific way in which we can serve all of mankind. We can to teach them about Christ and the importance of following after Him. As Jesus said:

 

Matthew 28:19 "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,  20 "teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen. 

 

Those of us who have chosen to embrace our purpose in life by living for God have been blessed beyond what we deserve. We have been given something that we should not want to hide or keep for ourselves. Even though we know that Jesus said there will only be a few that accept the wonderful news of the gospel, we must do our part in giving those in the world the opportunity to hear what we have already accepted and made part of our lives.

 

We know that God loves the world and wants everyone to repent and turn to Him.

 

1 Timothy 2:3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior,  4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 

 

2 Peter 3:9  The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

 

Since we know that this is God’s desire, it should be our desire and our purpose in life. If we had the knowledge to cure all cancer, we would not remain quite about it because we know that many hardship and untimely deaths could be prevented. Something like that would be great, but eventually, cancer or not, we are all going to die and there is nothing we can do about that, but our eternal fate is our own hands. It is simply a matter of making the choice of embracing the purpose that God has made for you. Doing so will enrich your life and make it to where you can affect others and help guide them to the truth about their purpose in life and why they exist.

 

We have looked into the owner’s manual, and I hope you have discovered a clearer picture of why God created you. The question becomes:  Are you fulfilling your purpose in life? Are you doing what God created you to do or are you just enjoying the life He gave you? Are you living a life of service or just believing doctrine and attending services?

 

Your life and mine will only have meaning and fulfillment when we are doing what

God created us to do. So, I hope all of us will always embrace our purpose in life that God has spelled out clearly for us in His Word. :