Our universal purposes is to partner with God to make the world better
Scripture:
Psalms 20:4
Proverbs 29:18
Genesis 1:24-25
Genesis 1:26-28
Isaiah 58:10
Isaiah 61:1-3
Revelation 14:13
Introduction
Psalms 20:4
May He grant you your heart’s desire And fulfill your whole plan!
What is the purpose of our salvation?
As Christians we can be confident of our eternal life in Heaven. But God didn't put us on earth just to choose where we spend eternity. We are here on earth to fulfill a purpose.
The goal of being put on earth is not:
Suffer
Get saved
Suffer some more (filled with the Holy Spirit)
Die
Go to heaven
Salvation is the beginning of the journey.
That’s the admission to the club.
But the club has a mission statement
Jesus didn’t die just so we can pray for forgiveness every night.
In our last two lessons, we talked about the fact that each Christians has
universal purposes
a specific purpose
Our universal purposes are the purposes that all Christians share.
Our specific purpose is the purpose God has uniquely designed you to accomplish during your time on earth.
Your goal should be to
Discover your purpose
Develop yourself for that purpose
Accomplish that purpose
God has placed you on the earth at this specific moment in time to partner with Him.
Today we will talk about the first of our universal purposes.
God designed everyone to be a co-laborer with him so that His purposes will be accomplished on the earth
Agenda:
Introduction
Review
God’s Original Purpose for Creating Humans
The Gospel of the Kingdom of God
The Hands of God
Collaborating With God
Our rewards in Heaven
Review
The Bible tells us that everything was created by God, the Designer, for a reason
Purpose is the "why”
It is the fundamental reason something exists
It's the destination or the end goal of your assignment on earth
A calling implies that there was a caller
Your calling is the purpose that God called you to
A calling is God‘s invitation for your participation and the reason for your creation
–Darius Daniels
Universal Callings
Christians are called to:
glorify God
Make disciples
Love others
We also have a specific calling
Your purpose is to use your unique gifts, talents, and abilities to serve others and glorify God
Happiness
Many people say that they want to be happy
Yet we make decisions that don’t lead to happiness
Watching a sad movie
Self-sabotage
Exercising
Sacrificing for our children or loved ones
Having a purpose
Gives you a meaningful goal
Gives you a sense of fulfilment
Makes suffering more bearable
Gives you clarity in priorities and decisions
Proverbs 29:18
Where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained, But happy is one who keeps the Law.
“He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how”
– Friedrich Nietzsche
God’s Original Purpose for Creating Humans
God’s original plan was to rule the earth through Adam.
Adam Was God's Image
Genesis 1:24-25
24Then God said, “Let the earth produce living creatures according to [ae]their kind: livestock and crawling things and animals of the earth according to [af]their kind”; and it was so. 25God made the animals of the earth according to [ag]their kind, and the livestock according to [ah]their kind, and everything that crawls on the ground according to its kind; and God saw that it was good.
God said let …
The earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seeds (v11)
The waters teem with swarms of living creatures (20)
The birds fly above the earth (v20)
The earth produce living creatures according to their kind (v24)
But the creation of “man” was unique…
Genesis 1:26-28
26Then God said, “[ai]Let Us make mankind in Our image, according to Our likeness; and [aj]let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the livestock and over all the earth, and over every crawling thing that crawls on the earth.” 27 God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
28 God blessed them; and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth."
This was special
Genesis 1:27 says: "God created man in His own image”
No other being was created in God's image except humans
Image of God
To be made an image of God means that we have certain faculties that are like those possessed by God
The theory of evolution says that humans are just Evolutionaries byproducts
because we were created in God's image, all human beings have:
Dignity
Worth
value
The creator of the universe deliberately chose to create you
He created you on purpose
you will only find your purpose in God
“you only find your rest in him“
– St. Augustine
We were not created equivalent to God
But there is something in us to communicate to the world what God is like
we have a unique capacity for worshiping and loving God
Mankind Was Made to Rule
Genesis 1:28 states: “subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth."
The image of God is not a description, but a status.
Adam was commanded to “subdue the earth”
Adam was supposed to reign on earth and serve as God’s representatives
He was to be God’s administrator ruling here on earth
Humans Are Unique
Humans have a unique calling and capacity to steward and oversee the world on God’s behalf.
Other animals migrate to places that support their way of life
We go somewhere and change the world to support us
We remake the world everywhere we go
We create cities
We create change in the world
We take the world in a direction that it wouldn’t go otherwise
God’s original intent was to reign on earth through the dominion of man
The Image of God
in the surrounding cultures the term “image of God“ usually referred to royalty
Kings in that time often claimed to be gods
They would erect statues of themselves in distant lands that they ruled so the people could worship their image
The statue represented their authority even though they weren’t present
Kingdom Means Reign
The “Kingdom of God” means the “reign of God”
The kingdom of God signifies God’s sovereign reign over the people
It does not signify
a geographic area
a period of time
“thy Kingdom come on earth“ is God’s will being carried out on earth
We were created to partner with God to realize His kingdom on the earth
Gospel of the Kingdom of God (God’s Presence)
God wanted to commune with man
Eden
Israel
Tabernacle
Temple
Jesus
Holy Spirit
Each of us
God’s purposes are to be fulfilled by “the church”
Including each of us
The Hands of God
Example: Hole in the Ozone
Remember in the late 80’s when we would hear about the hole in the ozone layer?
Why don’t we talk about it anymore?
We fixed the hole in the ozone layer
Montreal Protocol treaty (United Nations)
Countries around the world in 1987 agreed to save the ozone layer
Countries got together and agreed not to use certain harmful substances
Over 98% of ozone-depleting substances have been phased out globally
More than 135 billion tons of carbon dioxide-equivalent emissions were prevented from reaching the atmosphere between 1990 and 2010.
Without the treaty, the hole in the Antarctic ozone would have been 40% larger in 2013
It is estimated that up to 2 million cases of skin cancer worldwide may be prevented each year by 2030.
-- World Economic Forum
God created us to
Oversee
Stewart
Govern
the world
The Church
Isaiah 58:10
10 And if you offer yourself to the hungry And satisfy the need of the afflicted, Then your light will rise in darkness, And your gloom will become like midday.
Christians are supposed to help those who are suffering
Homeless
Needy
As Christians, we are supposed to be the hands and feet of Jesus
Health Care
The Catholic Church is the largest non-government provider of health care services in the world
18,000 clinics
16,000 homes for the elderly and those with special needs,
5,500 hospitals, with 65 % of them located in developing countries.[2]
the Church manages 26% of the world's health care facilities
Salvation Army
What has
Nvidia
Apple
Google
Elon Musk, Steve Jobs, Jeff Bezos
How many hospitals has Elom Musk built?
zero
Universities
Almost all of the original colleges and universities in America were started by Christian organizations.
Harvard
Yale
Princeton
Cambridge
Notre Dame
Georgetown
Boston College
Villanova
William and Mary
The university system was invented by the Catholic Church.
Collaborating With God
Will You say yes to God‘s purpose before you know what it is?
God specifically designed you for your unique purpose
The devil has tried all your life to pervert your unique gifts
Everything that is unique about you is part of your divine design
If you are impatient perhaps you were designed to take immediate action for God while others are deliberating
If you have anger issues perhaps you were designed to use righteous anger as motivation you to serve the kingdom
If you have a problem with lust perhaps you have the capacity for a level of intimacy with God that others can’t reach
Your unique design was intended to be used for God’s glory
The things you’ve been through in your life are training you to respond to the Holy Spirit to fulfil your purpose
God’s Presence
The disciples saw Jesus perform all types of miracles, yet the only thing they asked Him to teach them … was to pray.
Not how to…
multiply fish and bread
get money from a fish
Turn water to wine
they watched the result of him spending time with the father
Realized that was the source
As a result of Jesus’ death and resurrection
We have an ability to commune with the father that the Old Testament saints didn’t have
Spend time with God
The more time you spend with God, the more your dreams will align with God’s dreams
Prayer
Reading the Bible
Worship
He will give you the desires of your heart
Corporate worship shows us how to recognize the presence of God
Getting in God’s presence is how you identify your unique purpose
Not praying for
Your light bill
A better job
curing a sick mother
But praying to understand your role in changing history
“There is something about the yielded soul in prayer that delights the heart of God”
–Bill Johnson
Answered prayer is not the result of strength and determination
It is the result of surrender
Surrendering your will, goals and dreams to God
Colaboring with God is
Doing what God is doing
Saying what God is saying
Discovering God’s heart
Wouldn’t you like to be able to say...
Isaiah 61:1-3
1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, Because the LORD anointed me To bring good news to the humble; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, To proclaim release to captives And freedom to prisoners; 2 To proclaim the favorable year of the LORD And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn, 3 To grant those who mourn in Zion, Giving them a garland instead of ashes, The oil of gladness instead of mourning, The cloak of praise instead of a disheartened spirit. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.
Our rewards in Heaven
We get rewarded for our good works
Who thinks life would have been easier if you were born rich with powerful connections?
You trying to get a job…you’re golf buddies with the CEO
The economy is bad… your parents love you and they are billionaires
example: there was no housing market crash in Saratoga and Los Gatos
Generational wealth
New money got hit
Not old money
What if you got to choose how you started over in life?
You do
You get to choose what advantages you bring into eternity.
Revelation 14:13
And I heard a voice from heaven, saying, “Write: ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on!’” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “so that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow with them.”
your good works don’t get you into heaven, but your good works follow you in heaven.
Your birth family could give you advantages in this life
But your works could give you advantages in eternity
You can “store your treasures in Heaven”
Your works don’t get you into Heaven, but they do follow you into Heaven
You can set yourself up to have a better eternal life by doing good works now
If we live opening our minds and hearts to the influx of the divine power ‘that worketh in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure,’ then we may be humbly sure that these ‘works’ are eternal; and though they will never constitute the ground of our acceptance, they will never fail to secure ‘a great recompence of reward.’
– commentary on Revelation 14 by Alexander MacLaren
Make sure you fulfill your purpose in your life. – Paul Shepherd.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DFx_FLyt11t/?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==
This was his last message
References
Genesis: image bearers of God (genesis of 1:26–27 Kevin Hay
Shepard‘s house Arizona
what is your divine purpose – Bill Johnson
Bill Johnson teaching
Extra
Colossians 1:15-20
15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation: 16 for by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones, or dominions, or rulers, or authorities--all things have been created through Him and for Him. 17 He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. 18 He is also the head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. 19 For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, 20 and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross.
“ Human beings have been made like God, so that God can communicate himself to people. He gave people ears to show that he hears the plight of the afflicted and eyes to show that he sees The plight of the pitiful. “
Psalms 8:1-9
1 For the music director; on the Gittith. A Psalm of David. LORD, our Lord, How majestic is Your name in all the earth, You who have displayed Your splendor above the heavens! 2 From the mouths of infants and nursing babies You have established strength Because of Your enemies, To do away with the enemy and the revengeful. 3 When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have set in place; 4 What is man that You think of him, And a son of man that You are concerned about him? 5 Yet You have made him a little lower than God, And You crown him with glory and majesty! 6 You have him rule over the works of Your hands; You have put everything under his feet, 7 All sheep and oxen, And also the animals of the field, 8 The birds of the sky, and the fish of the sea, Whatever passes through the paths of the seas. 9 LORD, our Lord, How majestic is Your name in all the earth
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