Christ’s
Mission for Our Lives
Deuteronomy
5:1-20; Matthew 5:1-7:28; Romans
13:8-14
Jim Davis
Church’s
have become famous for handing
potentially new members a copy
of their mission statement.
We do it to tell the world our
purpose for existing. I wonder
how many are seeking to help
churches accomplish their
mission without ever realizing
God’s mission for their personal
life. Can I really accomplish
the mission of the church
without understanding God’s
mission for me personally?
God gave
Moses a mission statement when
he led the children of Israel
out of Egypt.
His mission statement was very
personal. It challenged the
personal life of every person
leaving Egypt with Moses. It was
called the Ten Commandments
(Deuteronomy 5:1-20). The
commandments were a code of
ethics that challenged their
personal lives.
When Jesus came on the scene
1500 years later he reminded the
children of Abraham the
importance of those
commandments.
Matthew 5:17-20
17 "Do not think
that I have come to abolish the
Law or the Prophets; I have not
come to abolish them but to
fulfill them. 18 I tell you the
truth, until heaven and earth
disappear, not the smallest
letter, not the least stroke of
a pen, will by any means
disappear from the Law until
everything is accomplished. 19
Anyone who breaks one of the
least of these commandments and
teaches others to do the same
will be called least in the
kingdom of heaven, but whoever
practices and teaches these
commands will be called great in
the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I
tell you that unless your
righteousness surpasses that of
the Pharisees and the teachers
of the law, you will certainly
not enter the kingdom of heaven.
NIV
Jesus
doesn’t stop with reiterating
one’s need to obey the
commandments.
Jesus reveals the spirit with
which the commandments must be
kept—we call Jesus teaching the
Sermon on the Mount (Matthew
5-7). Jesus attempted to take
the commandments from a list of
do’s and don’ts and plant them
squarely into the heart of those
who would choose to follow him.
He revealed the very spirit by
which the commandments must be
kept.
Jesus’
mission statement was very
personal as he summed up the
intent of the law of God.
“So in everything, do to others
what you would have them do to
you, for this sums up the Law
and the Prophets (Matthew 7:12
NIV).
Maybe it is
time for churches to embrace the
Ten Commandments and the Sermon
on the Mount as their mission
statement.
Maybe it is time we stop
assuming people already know the
Ten Commandments. For those who
think Paul abolished the law of
God in the book of Romans—maybe
they should read Paul’s teaching
on how to live a sacrificial
life for Christ.
Romans 12:1-2
12:1 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 act of
worship. 2 Do not conform any
longer to the pattern of 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
Paul
teaches the church in Rome how
to live a sacrificial life for
Christ as he reiterates their
need to respect the
commandments.
Romans 13:8-14
8 Let no debt
remain outstanding, except the
continuing debt to love one
another, for he who loves his
fellowman has fulfilled the law.
9 The commandments, "Do not
commit adultery," "Do not
murder," "Do not steal," "Do not
covet," and whatever other
commandment there may be, are
summed up in this one rule:
"Love your neighbor as
yourself." 10 Love does no harm
to its neighbor. Therefore love
is the fulfillment of the law.
11 And do this,
understanding the present time.
The hour has come for you to
wake up from your slumber,
because our salvation is nearer
now than when we first believed.
12 The night is nearly over; the
day is almost here. So let us
put aside the deeds of darkness
and put on the armor of light.
13 Let us behave decently, as in
the daytime, not in orgies and
drunkenness, not in sexual
immorality and debauchery, not
in dissension and jealousy. 14
Rather, clothe yourselves with
the Lord Jesus Christ, and do
not think about how to gratify
the desires of the sinful
nature. NIV
Some think
Paul explained away the law of
God in Romans.
However, if Paul did anything he
reiterated the laws intent. This
may be hard to swallow for those
who lack a real understanding of
the mission of the kingdom of
God. God’s personal mission for
our lives includes both the Ten
Commandments and Jesus’ teaching
on the mountainside. For those
who doubt this read the above
verses again noticing how Paul
ties precepts of both together
as he explains what it means to
live a sacrificial life for
Christ.
If our
understanding of God’s grace
somehow abolishes our need for
God’s law—then we have a much
distorted view of mercy, grace
and forgiveness.
It is clear that God’s law and
my need for forgiveness are
centered in my need to embrace
Jesus’ teaching on the
mountainside. Paul clearly
teaches that it is the law that
teaches us how to love our
neighbor as ourselves.
For those nail
biting Christians who think they
are going to be drug back into
religious legalism—RELAX. Jesus
took away the law’s power to
condemn. Jesus abolished the law
as a legal code for
justification—which it was
actually never meant to be. He
has taken upon himself the
condemnation to justify all
those who believe in him.
Jesus approach to
accomplishing his mission began
with the individual becoming the
embodiment of the law of God as
revealed in his Sermon on the
Mount. The law only becomes a
curse when we trust the law to
save us or trust in our ability
to keep it to save us. The law
cannot save us—Christ saves us
from the curse of the law.
However, it is clear that
Christ’s salvation does not
relieve us from our obligation
to embrace the law as a guide
for our lives.
The law
really does condemn a life of
sin.
The only way to escape the law’s
condemnation is through Christ.
Christ clearly teaches the law
must be respected in his
teaching. Not as a means of
justification—but as a means of
allowing his grace to be
revealed through us.
It was in Jesus’
sermon on the mountainside that
Jesus sought to write his laws
upon our hearts. Paul sees the
church in Corinth having God’s
law written upon their hearts.
2 Corinthians
3:3-6
3 You show that
you are a letter from Christ,
the result of our ministry,
written not with ink but with
the Spirit of the living God,
not on tablets of stone but on
tablets of human hearts.
4 Such confidence
as this is ours through Christ
before God. 5 Not that we are
competent in ourselves to claim
anything for ourselves, but our
competence comes from God. 6 He
has made us competent as
ministers of a new covenant- —
not of the letter but of the
Spirit; for the letter kills,
but the Spirit gives life. NIV
When we
allow the Spirit of God to write
God’s laws upon our hearts we
discover the life of God through
Christ.
When this
transformation takes place the
glory of the Lord is revealed
through his people.
2 Corinthians
3:18
18 And we, who
with unveiled faces all reflect
the Lord's glory, are being
transformed into his likeness
with ever-increasing glory,
which comes from the Lord, who
is the Spirit. NIV
Legalists
have given the law a bad rap.
They have used it to condemn and
justify. Christ seeks to write
God’s law upon our heart with
the help of the Spirit of God.
It is the only way to discover
the life God offers us through
Christ. It is the only way the
church can truly reflect the
glory of our Lord’s salvation to
a lost world.
May God help us
grasp the Spirit of his laws for
this is the mission of the
church to a lost world.
