Your Mission Should You
Choose To Accept It
Colossians1:15 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all
creation. 16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven
and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers 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 And
he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn
from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19
For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and
through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or
things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
21 Once you were
alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil
behavior. 22 But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical
body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free
from accusation— 23 if you continue in your faith,
established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel.
If we are
people who believe in the Bible, then it is from the Bible that we must find
our identity in this life.
If we are
people who believe in the Bible, then we must conclude from Colossians 1:16
that indeed “…all things have been created through him and for him” Him
being the Son of God, Jesus Christ.
If we are
people who believe in the Bible, and the Bible tells us that all things have
been created through God and for God, then we have to believe that every
single created thing on this earth has some sort of purpose for being created
and that purpose is ultimately for God.
And indeed the
Bible goes on to tell us:
Jeremiah 29:11 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
This scripture give
great encouragement. There’s a plan for me, and it’s a good plan because it’s
going to prosper me, it’s not going to harm me and it’s going to give me hope
and a future. That’s encouraging! I am specifically created with a purpose …and
so are you.
How many of us
would say we don’t want hope and a future? How many of us would say we don’t
want to prosper here on this earth? The word “prosper” does not mean just
money, although it could include money. God’s idea of prospering looks a little
different than what our good old USA idea is of what prosperity looks like. God
is far more interested in our character than our comfort. God wants to prosper
who we are as people of God. What matters
to God is who we are on the inside of us.
Jeremiah 31:31 "The days are coming," declares the LORD,
"when I will make a new covenant
with the house of Israel
and with the house of Judah.
32 It will not be
like the covenant
I made with their ancestors
when I took them by the hand
to lead them out of Egypt,
because they broke my covenant,
though I was a husband to them, "
declares the LORD.
33 "This is
the covenant I will make with the house of Israel
after that time," declares the LORD.
"I will put my law in their minds
and write it on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.
34 No longer will they teach their neighbors,
or say to one another, 'Know the LORD,'
because they will all know me,
from the least of them to the
greatest,"
declares the LORD.
The writer of
Hebrews follows up on this prophecy from Jeremiah:
Hebrews 8:10 This is
the covenant I will establish with the house of Israel
after that time, declares the Lord.
I will put my laws in their minds
and write them on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.
11 No longer will
they teach their neighbors,
or say to one another, 'Know the Lord,'
because they will all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest.
Christianity is
more than just dos and don’ts from a book. Christianity is a relationship with
the living God through Jesus Christ. The Old Testament had a bunch of laws and
rituals to follow, but it’s more than that now in the New Testament. Hebrews 8 goes on to tell us in verse 13- By
calling this covenant "new," he has made the first one obsolete, and
what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear.
God wants
something more from us than us trying to follow a bunch or rules and rituals. The rituals we do aren’t bad, it’s just
that God wants a relationship with us where our obedience to the rules and the
reasons we’re doing the rituals are out of love for Him. He wants this from
our heart. It was His plan to put that which is of Him, into our hearts and
minds to be part of our very being, so that we would desire Him.
Jeremiah and
Hebrews tell us “No longer will they teach their neighbors, or say to one
another, ‘Know the Lord,” because they will all know me, from the least of them
to the greatest.”
What does it mean that God’s people won’t need a
teacher to tell them “know the Lord’?
Does it mean that once we come to Christ and are God’s
people that we don’t need any teachers anymore? Looking further into the Word
we see that if that were true then Corinthians 12:28 wouldn’t make much sense
when we’re told:
1Co 12:28 And God has appointed in the church first
apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of
healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues.
So what does that
mean?
It
means that if you belong to Jesus Christ, you have the Holy Spirit in you and
if you have the Holy Spirit in you, then you can “know God”. You personally can
have a sense in your heart, and a knowledge in your mind, that God is with you.
Everyone,
no matter who you are or where you’ve been in this life, now has a chance to
have a relationship with the creator God because of the sacrifice of His son
Jesus Christ. God’s presence isn’t just in the pastor or the teacher or the
apostle or the administrator or the worship leader or the guy on TV preaching
to thousands. The presence of God is in the single mom trying to provide for
her children and raise them up to know their God, it’s in the excavation worker
who does his job with excellence and integrity as unto the Lord, it’s with the grocery
assistant or store manager as she executes her duties according to the
principles of the Bible, it’s with the school teacher and the nurse, it’s with poor family that always seems to
have room for one more, it’s with the rich person who pours out to help others.
The presence of God is with any of us who are willing to say “yes” to God.
Yes we all
still need apostles, prophets, teachers, helpers administrators etc. etc. But
there is a presence of God, and His Name is Holy Spirit, that witnesses
to us of truth and guides us through the every day activities of our lives. God
wants a relationship with each and every one of us. He created us for
relationship with Himself. Jesus agreed
to come to this earth and go through the agonizing death that He went through, in
order to purchase His creation back from His enemy Satan who held His creation
captive in sin.
Jesus came to
save us from the sin that holds us captive and causes us to miss the plan that
God has to prosper us and give us hope and a future. Jesus came to free us from
sin and death. In Jesus we not only have become free to live with Him in heaven
for eternity, we are becoming free
in this life right here, to live in the plan God created us for.
Hebrews 4:14 Therefore,
since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son
of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 15 For we do not
have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have
one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. 16
Let us then approach God's throne of grace with confidence, so that we
may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” …we need to go to the throne of God’s mercy
and grace, because we are desperately in need of that mercy and grace to live a
victorious life in the hope and future that God wants for us.
Confidence in
what? That God wants to have a relationship with us, that He loves us, and that
He wants to pour out His mercy and grace on us to help us overcome our
weaknesses and sins.
John 3:16 For God
so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in
him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send
his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
1 John 1:9 If we
confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and
cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Jesus Christ
did not go through all the pain and agony He went through just to zap us when
we don’t measure up. He went through all He went through to save us from
ourselves, from the sin nature that now resides in us as the offspring of Adam
and Eve.
God wants us to
come to Him. He begs us to come to Him.
Matthew 11:28 "Come
to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart,
and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my
burden is light."
John 6:35 Then
Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go
hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. 36 But as
I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. 37 All
whom the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will
never drive away. 38 For I have come down from heaven not to do my
will but to do the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will
of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but
raise them up at the last day. 40 For my Father's will is that
everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal
life, and I will raise them up at the last day."
John 7:37 On the last day of the feast, the great day,
Jesus stood up and cried out, "If anyone thirsts, let
him come to me and drink.
John 7:38 Whoever believes
in me, as the Scripture has said, 'Out of his heart will flow rivers of
living water.'"
So what is our mission,
should we chose to accept it? Our mission is to come to Jesus Christ and
believe as the Scripture has said.
If you’ve never accepted Jesus as the Savior of your life, you
need to come to Him, because that’s what these scriptures say.
If God is your eternal Savior,
have you placed him as Lord of your life, so that you are trying your best
to live day by day according to the principles of the Bible and be guided by
the Holy Spirit? If you haven’t, you need to come to Jesus Christ and surrender
you life according to Romans 12:1-2.
If you belong to the Lord and
you have any thing in your heart or mind that causes you stress and pain, you
need to come to Jesus Christ in obedience to Philippians 4:4-8.
If you have things in your
life that you need to be grateful and thankful for, you need to come to Jesus
Christ and give Him the praise and thanks He deserves according to Colossians
3:17.
Whatever the weaknesses,
sins, confusions, diseases, you fill in the blank….whatever it is, you need to
come to Jesus Christ and believe as the Scripture has said. You can find rest
and peace in Christ. When you feel like you’re drying up and dying, you can
find the living water that pours through you and refreshes you, in Jesus
Christ. When you feel like there is no strength left in you to go on, you can
find the bread that gives you life, in Jesus Christ the Lord of life. What are
you struggling with? What does scripture say about it?
Remember John 3:16-17
John 3:16 "For God so
loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should
not perish but have eternal life.
John 3:17 For God did not send
his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might
be saved through him.
Jesus didn’t come to condemn you, He came to save you!
Circumstances don’t always
change, but God writes His law of love and life on your heart and your mind and
YOU CHANGE.
Your mission should you
choose to accept it is to come to Jesus
and believe on Him as the scripture says.