Our Unique Purpose
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Introduction
In 2002, Dr. Rick Warren published a book that many of you may have read. It is called, The Purpose Driven Life: What On Earth Am I Here For? The book is written in a way that you spend 40 days to go through this spiritual journey. It utilizes the Biblical concept of the ways that God has used 40 days in the lives of His servants.
Noah’s life was transformed by 40 days of rain
Moses was transformed by 40 days on Mount Sinai
The spies were transformed by 40 days in the Promised Land
David was transformed by Goliath’s 40 day challenge
Elijah was transformed when God gave him 40 days of strength from one meal
The entire city of Nineveh was transformed when God gave them 40 days to change
Jesus was empowered by 40 days in the wilderness
The disciples were transformed by 40 days with Jesus after the resurrection
As you can see, The Purpose Driven Life is designed to spiritually transform one’s life in 40 days.
In the past 20 years, there have been several revisions of this book and it has sold over 50 million copies and has been translated into 136 languages. I would call that a success, wouldn’t you? It is one of the absolute best books ever written that can help you align with God’s Word to discover who you are and what your purpose should be.
Dr. Warren writes, “It’s not about you. The purpose of your life is far greater than your own personal fulfillment, your peace of mind, or even your happiness. It’s far greater than your family, your career, or even your wildest dreams and ambitions. If you want to know why you were placed on this planet, you must begin with God. You were born by His purpose and for His purpose.”
You and I have a unique purpose in life that is designed just for you. In fact, every breath we take is given to us to fulfill that unique purpose. To help us think about that a little bit more this morning, I want look at one verse as our main text and how that verse can help us understand our unique purpose.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
I want to show you a few words at a time from this verse four ways we can see our unique purpose. First, we see that the Psalmist is acknowledging God.
Acknowledging God
Acknowledging God
“I will praise You”
When we make such a statement, we are saying that God exists and He is worthy of our praise. There is great power in praise! The power of praise is that we are recognizing just how great God is!
The Power of Praise
The Power of Praise
Have you ever thought about the power of praise? Praise facilitates access to God. Psalm 100:4
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.
The Bible says that God is “enthroned on the praises of His people.”
3 Yet you are holy,
enthroned on the praises of Israel.
The power of praise leads to the persistence of praise.
The Persistence of Praise
The Persistence of Praise
Praise is commanded in the Bible.
6 Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord.
Did you know that when we persistently praise our God, our efforts in working the land will be blessed?
5 May the peoples praise you, O God;
may all the peoples praise you.
6 Then the land will yield its harvest,
and God, our God, will bless us.
Persistent praise will chase away the blues. There is no better way to chase away the blues than by praising God.
3 and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness
instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the Lord
for the display of his splendor.
The power of praise and the persistence of praise will transform us into be a person of praise.
The Person of Praise
The Person of Praise
When you and I acknowledge God and become the person of praise, we are recognizing He has made us for a purpose. Our text today doesn’t say, “I will let somebody else praise You.” It is clear that a person of praise makes the decision to do so and they accept the responsibility to clearly be that person of praise. It is deliberate! Psalm 145:21
21 My mouth will speak in praise of the Lord.
Let every creature praise his holy name
for ever and ever.
My unique purpose will acknowledge God through the power of praise, the persistence of praise, and as a person of praise.
Notice the next phrase: “Because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.”
Accepting God’s Design
Accepting God’s Design
When I look at this phrase, I immediately accept God’s design. Let’s look at this in a couple of ways.
Fearfully Made
Fearfully Made
I am fearfully made. In our language today, one might see that and think we are made scary. Now I may appear to be scary to some people, but that is not what is meant here. The word in Hebrew is yawray. It means to stand in awe or to have reverence. “Wait a minute,” you might say, “God made me in a way that He stands in awe of me or He has reverence for me?” The answer to that is yes! The Bible tells us that God made us in His image.
26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
27 So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.
No other creature is made in the image of God. Our unique purpose stems from the fact that we are fearfully made.
It also stems from the fact that we are wonderfully made.
Wonderfully Made
Wonderfully Made
The Hebrew word for wonderful is pawlaw. It means set apart or distinguished. God made you to be set apart. Turn your neighbor and tell them right now that you are distinguished! Sometimes we get mixed up. God made us distinguished but too often we feel extinguished! We often don’t feel wonderfully made, but remember, as being made in the image of God, we must be holy. That is the design of God!
26 You are to be holy to me because I, the Lord, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be my own.
We are wonderfully made so that we can be set apart as the people of God.
Fruitfully Made
Fruitfully Made
We don’t see in this verse, but God did not make any living organism to be unfruitful. We are to be fruitful especially when it comes to multiplying and sharing our faith with others. Our unique purpose is to lead others. We do this by sharing Christ and living fruitful lives for the glory of God!
Our unique purpose acknowledges God in our praise, accepts His design, and it allows us to admire God’s works.
Admiring God’s Works
Admiring God’s Works
“Your works are wonderful.”
The psalmist admires the works of God. This is a great model for us!
When we admire God’s works, we are in awe of His works.
Wonderful is His Creation
Wonderful is His Creation
Wonderful is His creation! Think about this with me during this time of spring! Dead things coming to life, the colors bursting into bloom, and the sweet sounds of birds chirping. The Psalmist declared His creation to be wonderful and His creation declares the wonder of all He is!
3 When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,
21 Praise the Lord, all his heavenly hosts,
you his servants who do his will.
22 Praise the Lord, all his works
everywhere in his dominion.
Praise the Lord, O my soul.
13 He waters the mountains from his upper chambers;
the earth is satisfied by the fruit of his work.
But oh wonderful is His salvation!
Wonderful is His Salvation
Wonderful is His Salvation
Part of God’s unique purpose in us was to give to us His glorious salvation!
10 Then the Lord said: “I am making a covenant with you. Before all your people I will do wonders never before done in any nation in all the world. The people you live among will see how awesome is the work that I, the Lord, will do for you.
24 “O Sovereign Lord, you have begun to show to your servant your greatness and your strong hand. For what god is there in heaven or on earth who can do the deeds and mighty works you do?
Indeed the works of God are worth to be admired. Wonderful is His creation and His salvation. Wonderful also is His aspiration.
Wonderful is His Aspiration
Wonderful is His Aspiration
God’s strongest desire and His most unique purpose for each of us is to be in fellowship with Him. 1 Corinthians 1:9
9 God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.
God’s aspiration for us is to be in fellowship with Him. We are able to be in fellowship with God through Jesus. Sometimes we fall short of understanding our unique purpose because we continue to walk in darkness.
6 If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth.
Listen, in order to understand God’s purpose for your life, you must understand that He loves you and has great plans for you!
11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
Therefore, we need to understand our unique purpose by acting on God’s precepts.
Acting on God’s Precepts
Acting on God’s Precepts
The psalmist wrote, “I know that full well.”
My Decision
My Decision
Again, it is our decision to believe and know that the things of God and His works are wonderful! You and I must make the decision and declare the truth by saying I know! Have you come to the place in your life and in your walk with God, that you trust His word completely? Psalm 119:104
104 I gain understanding from your precepts;
therefore I hate every wrong path.
When I decide the truth of God to be manifested in my life, I am making the best decision and positioning myself to find my unique purpose. My decision becomes my desire.
My Desire
My Desire
I want to serve God because He has made me fearfully and wonderfully. I desire to serve Him because His ways are best for me. Psalm 25:10
10 All the ways of the Lord are loving and faithful
for those who keep the demands of his covenant.
I find delight when I serve the Lord.
35 Direct me in the path of your commands,
for there I find delight.
My unique purpose and understanding that God designed me for His glory will lead me to my ultimate destination.
My Destination
My Destination
My destination is eternity with Jesus and God the Father. It is not from anything I have done or ever could do, but it is the plan of God that I spend eternity with Him.
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
God’s plan for you and I is eternal life. Until we get to heaven, we have a unique purpose in living for Him now. If you do not know what that unique purpose is, ask God to show you and reveal it to you. Acknowledge God. Accept His design. Admire His works. Act on His precepts. You are fearfully and wonderfully made. God loves you. He cares for you. His thoughts about you are great. In fact, later in in that great passage of Psalm 139, He says in verse 17-18:
17 How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
18 Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand.
When I awake,
I am still with you.
For God to love you enough to think about you in a way that would outnumber the grains of sand, you are unique and you have a unique purpose! Don’t miss it!