Your Purpose In Life

I want to talk to you today about your purpose in life.

Do you want to be all you can be in life?

Do you have a dream for your life?

Some of you today have your own personal goals or dreams that you want to achieve in life.

Others may have expectations that your parents have placed on you but are not your own.

However, many times, our goals, our dreams, or our parents expectations are just that.

They are ours… but they are not God’s.

How much thought have you given to you goals and dreams?

Have we taken your goals and your dreams before God?

Do you know that what you want for your life is what God wants for your life?

Or are you just seeking to please your own desires?

Today, I want to talk to you about life’s true purpose.

If you are searching for your purpose in life, pay attention.

I want you to understand that for a believer in Jesus Christ there is a singular purpose for which we are part of.

Matthew 28:18–20 “And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.””

This Scripture is known as the great commission given by Jesus to his church after his resurrection.

In this passage we are given the singular purpose upon which the church of Jesus Christ is to be focused.

It begins with Jesus saying “all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me”.

Before Jesus gives this Great Commission to the church he establishes his divine authority to command it.

Jesus was given all authority by God the Father.

In John 5:22 “For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son,”

After Jesus Christ rose from the dead he was given all authority over the created universe by the Father.

Jesus then tells us...

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations”

A pastor once asked me “What do you see as the first command in the great commission?”

I replied, “It was to make disciples”

He replied, NO! It is to Go!

The first command we must understand is that we have to Go! We have to stop laying on our beds or sitting on our chairs but we have to get up and Go!

The command to make disciples of all nations means to preach the gospel and bring people to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

It means the purpose of the church is to spread the gospel to every people group on the face of the planet.

Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your LORD and Savior?

Jesus is the promised Savior. He was prophesied from the very beginning of creation when our first father and mother, Adam and Eve fell into sin. Jesus Christ was Immanuel, He was God among us. God came to earth as a man and lived a sinless life but was put to death on a cross as a sinner for our sake. Three days later He rose from the dead because the grave could not keep our LORD in the ground. He now has gone to be at the right hand of Father God in heaven and is coming again to judge the living and the dead. To all who call on his name and believe in him as their LORD and Savior he offers the forgiveness of sins.

The next part of our Scripture passage reads… “baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”

The great commission of Jesus is very detailed in its ordered instructions.

After someone comes to a saving faith in Jesus Christ as their LORD and Savior the next step is to be baptized.

Baptism is an outward expression of an inward faith. It is our inward faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ that brings eternal life. That is why making disciples is the first step.

Being baptized by water the second step because it does not save you by itself, but it is part of working out your inward salvation.

The word for baptism means to be immersed in water.

When we go under the water in baptism we are proclaiming the death of Christ.

When we come out of the water we are proclaiming his resurrection.

This is an outward act of identifying ith Jesus Christ through faith. It is a visible public testimony that you belong to Him.

I commonly refer to the baptism of a believer in Jesus as “believers baptism”.

The third part of Jesus’ instructions to us in making disciples is “teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.”

Learning the principles and teachings of Jesus is a lifelong commitment.

2 Peter 3:18 “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.”

Romans 12:2 “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

Everyone who is a believer is called to become more and more like Jesus Christ walking in godliness.

However not everyone in the church has the same function.

Not everyone is a preacher. Not everyone is a teacher. Not everyone has the gift of helps. Not everyone has a gift of encouragement. Not everyone has the the gift of giving.

God has given different gifts in the body of Christ but they are all for one purpose.

All of the gifts of God in the church are for proclaiming the gospel message and making disciples of all nations.

Is God calling you to be a pastor?

Is God calling you to be a helper in the church?

Is God calling you to be a godly father that helps support the church with gifts of money?

What are your gifts?

What are your strengths?

Make sure you go before the LORD and seek his will for your life.

Focus on what God has gifted you to do. Let other people do the things they are strong in but stay focused on what you are strong in.

Be intentional about the people in your life, Be intentional about your friends.

Make sure the people close to you will support God’s purpose for your life and the gospel of Jesus.

Jesus’ final encouragement at the great commission is this... And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.””

When Jesus uses the words “And behold” he is telling us to pay attention, what he is about to say is of great importance.

Jesus tells us here that He Himself is with us. The Words here mean “I Myself am” telling us that his divine resurrected, living, eternal presence is with us right here and right now.

We can be assured that Jesus has not left his church alone. Jesus says he is with us to the end of the age which means he is with us until his second coming.

The fact that Jesus assures us of His divine presence when he gives the great commission is no coincidence.

Jesus wants us to know that when we are living out our lives according to His purpose, He is with us.

Jesus will never leave us for forsake us. Our God is the faithful God who never changes and never fails.

The question we need to ask ourselves is “Are we living according to his purpose in our lives?”

Remember if you have accepted Jesus as your Savior.

You are a child of God.

You are forgiven.

You are loved beyond anything you can imagine.

Now it is time to live like it.

Live like the child of God that you are and with the purpose you have been given.

God bless you.