Understanding and Living Our God’s Purpose for My Life
Isaiah 43:1-7
DATE: 9 Jan 2005 AM PLACE: BBC Ballincollig
I. Introduction ()
A. The Challenge in 2005: to really BE Christian. It means to be Christ-like – in other words, live like Jesus lived and would live if He were you
B. If we want to be “Christian”, there are twelve areas we are going to have to have LIFE transfusions in – complete replacements for our old habits and ways of living with the life of Christ - How HE lived, thought, reacted
C. Those twelve areas are BEYOND a person’s salvation
1. In Our Purpose – our aim, objective, goal, target, end, calling
2. In Being Spirit Filled – not just dabbling in spiritual things
3. In Prayer – constantly dependant upon the all-sufficient God
4. In Soul-Winning – a natural, active part of Christ’s daily life
5. In Attitude – Jesus always had the BEST attitude, even when dealing with the Pharisees and problems
6. In Relationships – He had right interactions with people
7. In Labour – Jesus was hard working – zealous of good
8. In Serving – Jesus always did things for others – a way of life – the way of the CHRISTIAN life
9. In Consistency– Jesus was unmoveable, steadfast in life
10. In Courage – Jesus had a Confidence that we all could use a good dose of
11. In Success and Victory – Jesus won every battle He faced and demonstrated each time how to win each of our battles!
12. In Suffering – Jesus did not only have great days, but faced hardship and heart-break. It is imperative that we learn how to struggle and especially suffer like Christ did
D. Our studies this month surround the goal of living a life of Purpose
1. Discovering that purpose
2. Understanding that purpose
3. Living out that purpose day by day, and especially moment by moment
4. Fully accomplishing that purpose
5. Remember, that as we study the life of Christ as He lived here on this planet for 33 years, we are studying the way He lived so that WE too can live (1Pet 2:21) and so that we can transfer His way of living into our life
6. This leads us to the truth that Christ came to give us back the ability to fulfil our purpose
7. As I said last week, too many people want to repent and get saved from a devil’s eternal hell, but don’t want their lives to be ANY different than they already are – that is not acceptable!
8. To be a Christian means to be like Jesus Christ – in all things
E. What is “Purpose?”
1. Reason for existence: the reason for which something exists or for which it has been made.
2. Purpose always has its end in view
F. Examples/Illustration of purpose
1. Anything made/created without purpose is worthless
a. I say, “Behold my invention!”
b. You say, “What do you call it?”
c. I respond, “I call it a super-duper whiz-bang widgetting thingamabobber!”
d. You say, “Wow! What does it do?”
e. I say, “Nothing. I just made it. I didn’t make it to do anything! I guess you can just call it ART”
f. Hah hah hah! But that is all too true!
2. Normally, we think very narrowly about our purpose
a. To get through school this year, … or WEEK
b. To work enough to pay off enough bills so that I can save enough to retire early enough to enjoy a little of life before I die
c. To find a mate
d. Etc.
e. But none of those things are the purpose for which we were made
G. So, what is our purpose? (Isa 43:7) – to glorify God
1. To bring interest and attention to Him
2. To honour Him
3. To bring Him pleasure
4. To make Him the most important thing in the universe
5. What an AWESOME purpose
H. Let’s go back through the first 6 verses of Isaiah 43 and see it develop
II. Message
A. Belonging to God (43:1) My Purpose is discovered FIRST in a relationship with God
1. A Person Comes to Belong to God, only by Redemption
a. Before a person gets converted/born again, there is absolutely NO way for them to glorify God, AT ALL (Rom 3:23)
b. Fallen man is depraved (ruined) in every part of his nature and being, and it is not within his power to undo his depravity, to save himself or rescue himself. A person's only hope lies outside of himself, in God’s worth and power. Human nature is absolutely dead in trespasses and sins (Eph 2:1).
1) Just as water cannot flow uphill, neither can the natural man act contrary to his corrupt nature. All humans are destitute of the principles and powers of true spiritual life.
2) They are spiritually dead as a condemned criminal is said to be a dead man. Thus the Lord Christ Jesus declared we are ruined from the inside out (Mk 7:18-23)
c. Salvation from our sin does not arise from within ourselves at all "for by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast."(Eph 2:8,9) Until you realize your personal condition of being spiritually dead before the All Holy God, you will never properly appreciate God's gift of grace.
d. That’s what redemption is – paying the price to correct a debt – pay-off a debt – in our case, a very large SIN debt!
e. Without a relationship with God, a person has no purpose
1) That’s why Jesus said, ye must be born again
2) Not only that you won’t see heaven
3) But you also will never know what it even means to live
2. Secondly, By God’s Choice
a. Notice that in view of all of our condition, God still chose to intervene and REDEEM us through the death of His Son on the cross in my place
b. It is not our choice to be saved, but our choice to LET God save us, which was HIS choice long before we ever knew Him!
3. Don’t you see in all this how important we are to God – even though we are sinners separated from God?
4. Thank God He didn’t abandon us back at the Garden!
5. Evidently, God still has a purpose for us – but we have to belong to Him once again!
B. The Protection of God (43:2) My Purpose is discovered mainly in the rough times of life – not in the good times
1. The Problems of Life
a. Waters – as something big and unknown
b. Rivers – in motion, and unpredictable – can rapidly rise
c. Fire - destructive
1) It is one thing to be swept away by a powerful force
2) It is still another thing to helplessly face fire
d. That’s life man – big, unknown, unpredictable and destructive
e. And yet God is intent of getting you through every disaster
f. Again, because he has a greater purpose for you than just what you are experiencing right now
2. The Presence of God
a. God continues to reassure the believer that He will be with us
b. Psalm 23 is the most favourite Psalm of all time probably because of the one phrase “yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for THOU ART WITH ME…”
3. The Power of God
a. Not to keep you FROM your problems
b. But to always get you through them (1Cor 10:13)
c. Did you notice that God COULD keep us from any trouble, but instead gets us through them all (Jn 16:33)
4. Evidently God is trying to protect the object of His design – AMEN! And I wouldn’t know that unless I was able to see and experience it for myself
C. The Character of God (43:3-4) My Purpose is found in the Person of God
1. He is Lord – the One in Charge – Jehovah the designer of my life
2. He is God – THE ONE and only God (43:10) – just make sure that he is YOUR God – personal, intimate, real, living relationship with Him
3. He is Saviour – by-the-way, the ONLY Saviour (43:11)
a. Not just the Creator of Genesis 1:1
b. But our precious Saviour from sin and hell – AMEN! What other meaning is there of Saviour?!
c. And remember, if He is not allowed to be your Saviour, He will be your Judge
4. But best of all, He is in Love – this is the kind of God we are following
a. God created all of mankind for His own purpose
b. He created all of this universe to help man fulfil that purpose
c. He did it ALL out of love for us
d. What an awesome reason to make something
D. The Track Record of God (43:5-6) My Purpose is proven by the reputation of God in the past
1. God needed to prove he could be trusted, and that he is not distant
2. So he points to His constant work with the nation of Israel
3. Even now, he is gathering His people, the Jews back to their land in Palestine
4. Why? Because of a promise He made a long time ago to Abraham
5. That was over 4,000 years ago!
6. God’s efforts are throughout history towards some super big goal – what is it again?
E. The Goal God Has (43:7) - All for His Glory (1 Cor 10:31; Matt 5:16). We are back at where we started
1. Everything we do should bring glory/honour/praise to God Almighty
2. Everything we think should bring glory/honour/praise to God Almighty
3. Everything we are should bring glory/honour/praise to God Almighty
4. Is that not the case with the life of Christ (Mt 15:31; Jn 8:50; 17:4)?
5. So should it be true in our lives
a. From the moment we wake up
b. In the words that we say
c. In the desires that we have
d. In the goals that we set
e. With the people we “hang out with”
f. In the way we handle pressures and problems
6. You and I must get into the habit of asking, “Am I glorifying my Lord in what I am doing, or in what I am wanting or in what I am saying?”
7. To glorify God is to:
a. Praise Him with my lips
b. Preach His word instead of the popular opinions of the day
c. Pray about everything and lean on His strength and His direction and His wisdom
d. Constantly purge from my life anything that affects my ability to do any of the above
III. Conclusion/Application
A. We have seen God’s goal – to bring Him all the glory - we must make it OUR goal
B. It all begins with our relationship with Jesus Christ. There is NO life outside of Jesus Christ (John 14:7; 10:10). Sorry: not my opinion – just God’s word!
After that, it is in keeping my life focused on accomplishing THAT single goal in everything I do – doing everything in light of THAT target, that desire
Craig Ledbetter, Ireland
www.biblebc.com
MSN Messenger: craigled@hotmail.com
AOL Instant Messenger: IrishPreacherKJV
Skype: godsman1611