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The Purpose Driven Life 3
Our First and Greatest
Purpose
By Pastor Samuel Chess
Introduction:
We are at the point now where we are
not only discussing what it means to have a purpose driven life where you
understand why you are here on this earth and what the purpose is for
which God created you, but we have actually begun defining what those
specific purposes are.
Jesus himself was
asked the question that we should all ask at this point in our lives...
Matthew 22: 35-38
Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law? Jesus replied,
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and
with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment!
I. Our First and
Greatest Purpose
A) Learning
to love God with your whole being is the first and primary purpose of your
life.
So many in this world
see God, if they believe in him at all, as some distant, uninterested,
mean, demanding, tyrant who doesn’t really treat them as well as they
deserve and really does a poor job of keeping violence and evil out of our
world...
That
picture is so opposite of the Biblical view of a God who loves us all with
such an intensity that he created us, just to lavish his love on us, and
when we rejected him, literally took our punishment on himself and paid
the ultimate price to bring us back into a loving relationship with us.
A person who goes
through life and doesn’t ever understand the love that their creator is
longing to pour into their life and never ever, ever comes to accept God’s
love and pour love back in his direction has literally missed their
primary reason for which they were put on this earth.
Rev. 4:11 You
created everything and it is for your pleasure that they exist and were
created. NLT
Eph. 1:5 Because
of His love God had already decided that through Jesus Christ he would
make us his children- that was his pleasure and purpose. TEV
It brings a parent
such pleasure when their child begins to respond to their love...
As a grand father
when my granddaughter was very young I would kiss her and she would stare
at me. I clearly remember the thrill of her cuddling her face against mine
in an act of affection... Or when I’m standing out front after church and
she sees me at a distance and stretches out her arms...
It gives me great
pleasure to have my granddaughter give my love back..
It gives God great
pleasure when you return his love..
B) Returning
Gods Love or bringing pleasure to God is called worship!
1)
Worship is the way I react when I realize how much God loves me.
2)
Worship is my response to God’s love.... worship is giving back
to God!
3)
Worship is my #1 purpose in life!
3)
Worship is not for your benefit... it is for God’s benefit.
1) Worship must be more than an
expression; it must be a lifestyle.
2)
Worship is not to be a part of your life... it is to
be your life.
C) A
Prescription for worship...
Romans 12:1-2
Therefore I urge you brothers in view of God’s mercy, to offer your
bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God- this is your
spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed
by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve
what God’s will is- His good, pleasing and perfect will.
NIV
Therefore I urge
you brothers- worship is voluntary
in view of God’s
mercy- I come not out of obligation but out of gratitude
to offer your
bodies- I’m willing to do with my life whatever God asks; offer;
submit..
as living
sacrifices- complete giving of ourselves, dead to ourselves; alive in
Christ
holy and pleasing
to God- focusing our affection back on God give him pleasure
this is your
spiritual worship- our first and most important priority in life
Do not be
conformed to this world- don’t let the world squeeze you into it’s mold
but be
transformed- don’t isolate from the world, don’t imitate, insulate
by the renewing of
your mind- garbage out; righteousness in
you will be able
to test and approve what God’s will is- understanding our purpose
His good, pleasing
and perfect will- living a high quality, harmonious, complete life
II. Worship is....
A) Worship is
focusing my attention on God
If you’ve studied
other religions you will know that a lot of them emphasize putting your
mind in neutral, losing your mind in the universe, or focusing one’s mind
inside of ones self. It’s no accident that other religions try to put our
attention anywhere except on our creator.
God wants
us to focus our mind on him... He doesn’t want our focus because he
needs our focus. He asks for our focus because that’s what we need to move
away from our self preoccupation, and our sinfulness.
Romans 8:7
Focusing on yourself is the opposite of focusing on God. Anyone completely
absorbed in self ignores God, and ends up thinking more about self than
God.
Do you remember when
you fell in love. How did you figure out that that one was really love,
unlike some of the previous ones?
Because
you couldn’t get your mind off of the one you love. Right? You
continually thought of that person. They filled your mind.
You were consumed with thoughts of how you could make they other ones life
better, more fulfilling.
We tend to associate that initial
fervor with infatuation, early love. Infatuation includes a lot of
meaningless shallow things but thins is not one of them. The preoccupation
with the one you love is one of the first real signs of true love.
Later on,
we remember that we are #1 on our own mind and our self
preoccupation starts to win our over our other preoccupation. That’s not
something to brag about, that a sign of our human shallowness. The
relationships and marriages that manage to keep the focus on the needs of
the other in first place are the very best love relationships this earth
has to offer.
Here’s a piece of
very important news....
That
kind of love preoccupation that constantly thinks of the loved one and
plans for their best interests is the way God thinks about you all of the
time!
He
can’t get you out of his mind; he thinks about you all of the time.
Ps. 139:1-3 You
have looked deep into my heart, Lord, and you know all about me. You know
when I am resting or when I am working.... You notice everything I do and
everywhere I go.
Some people read that
scripture and see it as a negative.. God is watching you, God is watching
you from a distance. Were not talking about Santa Claus here or Big
Brother. We’re talking about your infinite Creator who made you to love
you. He is watching you all the time as one who is madly in love with you.
He can’t get you out of his mind. He thinks about you constantly and is
always planning how he can bring blessings in to your life.
Here’s the thing. If
someone falls in love with another and is constantly heaping attention on
them and they’re loved back in return it is viewed as a sign of their
devotion.
If someone falls in
love with another and is constantly heaping attention on them and they’re
not loved back in return they are viewed as a pest or a stalker.
God’s
constant devotion to you is crying out for a response... And that response
is called worship. You can push him away or you can learn to love him
back.
II. Worship is
Expressing my Affection to God
A) Loving God
back takes effort
When you
love somebody in return is is not a duty, it is an awesome privilege. But
returning God’s love doesn’t just happen. You mind put your mind into it.
Love God with all your mind. You put you soul into it. You put your
heart into it. You put your body into it.
Romans 12:2a Don’t
become so well adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even
thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God.
Isa. 26:3 You will
keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, whose thoughts are fixed on
You. NLT
B) Loving
God back doesn’t always seem natural
I’m fully aware that asking a hard
nosed 250 lb. non crying American male to express love to God sounds
unnatural.
What I
want you to hear me say is this.... If you look at what the Bible says
about why you were even born onto this earth you can only draw the
conclusion that not learning to love God back is what is unnatural.
King David was probably one of the toughest men in Scripture; all
his life a conquering warrior but he was avid in expressing
his love to God.
We can
live this whole life and gain the reputation of really being good at
something. But if we never learn to be good at the primary reason for
which we were put on this earth we won’t have amounted to much. You must
give great attention to and learn weel in this life how to fulfill God’s
#1 purpose for your life.
You may be the king
or queen of the day-timer. You may be able, every day, to check 64 things
off your to-do list and you may achieve huge success in any given 24 hour
period;
but hear me clearly;
If at the end of the day you don’t know God a little bit better and you
don’t love him a little bit more, you, my friend, just wasted your day.
Your #1 purpose in life isn’t something you schedule into your life when
you get all the other important stuff done.
Commercial on TV
right now where the girl tells the guy that she loves him. The guy just
sits there mute.... Finally, broken hearted the girl gets up and leaves.
As she’s walking away the guy finally says... I love you too. The
caption: Timing is everything...
The idea that we
would spend this life loving ourselves, being completely self absorbed,
self focused and then at death we will enter heaven for an eternity of
loving and worshipping God is seriously bad timing.
Exodus 34:14b He
is a God who is passionate about his relationship with you.
NLT
And you know what’s
neat.... Do you remember the first time you told your spouse you loved
her. All nervous and.... If you were still in grade school you probably
sent someone with a little note. I love you do you love me, please check
the correct box. Telling someone you love them is so risky. What if they
don’t respond back. The neat thing about God is he’s taken away all the
risk.
He
made it very clear that he loved you first. He told you in words; he has
shown you by his actions, everyday of your life you are surrounded by the
love gifts he has poured out on you, his beloved.
Now Love Him back!!!!!!
Romans 6:13 Give
yourselves completely to god since you have been given new life.
NLT
C) Loving God
involves my whole life!
Col. 3:23
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as though you were
working for the Lord and not for people.
TEV
Romans 12:1a
Take everyday, ordinary life- your sleeping, eating, going to work, and
walking-around life- and place it before God as an offering.
Msg
It’s not really what you do that matters;
it’s who you do it for!!!
Our second
greatest purpose next to loving God is fellowship.
Matthew 22: 34-38
Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees the Pharisees got
together. One of them, an expert in the law tested him with this question.
Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law? Jesus replied, Love
the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and with all
your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment.
V: 39-40 And the
second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the law and the
Prophets hang on these two commandments.
The
second part of God’s great purpose for your life involves your
relationship with the rest of God’s human creation.
This command get much
more specific.
1) You’re supposed
to have a specific purpose in relation to those outside God’s family.
2) You’re supposed
to have a specific purpose in relation to those inside God’s family.
Heb 2:10a God is
the one who made all things, and all things are for his glory. He wanted
to have many children share his glory.
Eph. 1:5 His
unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into His own family by
bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ.
1 John 4:21 The
person who loves God must also love other believers.
GW
There are so many in
this world who are developing a relationship with God but seem to have
little or no connection to any of God’s children.
Our second greatest
purpose next to loving God is Fellowship.
NEXT
(Love your neighbor as yourself)
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