Discovering a Meaningful Life in Christ
Hebrews 10:23-25; Acts 2:41-47
Jim Davis
A preacher was in the supermarket one day. And a lady came down the aisle whom he could barely see over the top of her groceries. He got somewhat frightened because she seemed to be heading straight for him. She screeched to a halt within a few feet of him, peered over her load, wagged her finger, and said, “I left your church. I left your church.”
He informed her that if it was his church, it was a wise decision to leave. He informed her that if it was his church he was going to leave too.
She said, “Don’t you want to know why I left?”
He said, that he didn’t particularly want to know why she left, but he had a feeling he was going to find out. And he was right.
She said, “You weren’t meeting my needs.”
He answered, “I don’t ever recollect seeing you before, let alone talking to you, let alone knowing your needs. Did you ever tell anyone specifically what your needs were?”
She couldn’t recall that she had, so he raised another question. “Can you tell me, if everyone in the church had your attitude, how would anyone’s needs be met? If you reserve the right to have that attitude, then you must give everybody the freedom to have that attitude. And if everybody has that attitude, who on earth is going to all the need-meeting?
Standing her ground, she demanded, “Then you tell me who will.”
The preacher was relieved, and he said, “I thought you would never ask. This is what will work: when people sitting in the pew stop saying, ‘They’re not meeting my needs’ and start saying, ‘Whose needs can I meet?’ Then needs will be met. When the servant spirit flourishes in a congregation, then they minister to each other as unto the Lord.” (Judah Thomas, It's not about the Hand, via Sermoncentral.com.)
Meeting peoples needs was a part of the first century Christians’ lives.
Acts 2:41-47
41 Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.
42 They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43 Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. 44 All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45 Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. NIV
If the gospel is to be taken to the lost, it will be the “ordinary” Christians who will do it.
Sin focuses life on self; it makes us self-conscious. Sin focuses our lives on our self-importance. God seeks to focus your life on his purpose through the body of Christ. When we seek to meet the needs of others, we will discover God’s purpose for our lives.
We tend to lose sight of our calling in the fellowship of believers. We start asking, “What difference can I make?” We are looking for others who are smarter or stronger to do the work. God only uses ordinary people to do the extraordinary. God desires to use you to meet the needs of the fellowship.
General Eisenhower once rebuked one of his Generals for referring to a soldier as “just a Private.” He reminded him that the Army could function better without Generals than it could without its foot soldiers. “If this war is won,” he said, “it will be won by Privates.” In the same way, the common, ordinary, one-talent Christians are the very backbone of the church.
We have a deep need to love, be loved and feel self-worth. All of these needs are filled in the body of Christ as we allow Christ to rule in our hearts. Most are expecting the world to fill the needs that only the church can fill. Many Christians have lost sight of the purpose of Christian fellowship—it is to meet the needs of others.
Sadly, we are looking for others to give us a reason to love them. But we are expecting others to love us just the way we are. We are expecting others to fill our need to feel self-worth, but we don’t see our calling to fill the needs of others.
Ninety percent of the new members will stay in their congregations if:
They can articulate their faith.
They belong to subgroups (home Bible study, or Sunday school class).
They have four to eight close friendships in their congregations. (Judah Thomas, It's not about the Hand, via Sermoncentral.com.)
World Hungry for the Gospel
The world for the most part has come to the conclusion that life is meaningless. Bertrand Russell, an atheist, came to the conclusion, “Unless you assume a God, the question of life’s purpose is meaningless.” Many of those chosen by God reached the same conclusion as they struggled to find a sense of purpose and failed.
Solomon pursued many avenues in life. Yet, he cried out as he reached the end of each of his labors, “Everything is meaningless.” All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return. Who knows if the spirit of man rises upward and if the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth?" (Ecclesiastes 3:18-21).
Yet, Solomon knew God had planned his birth before creation.
Proverbs 8:22-26
22 "The LORD brought me forth as the first of his works,
before his deeds of old;
23 I was appointed from eternity,
from the beginning, before the world began.
24 When there were no oceans, I was given birth,
when there were no springs abounding with water;
25 before the mountains were settled in place,
before the hills, I was given birth,
26 before he made the earth or its fields
or any of the dust of the world. NIV
You can rest assured that if God purposed your birth, he had a purpose for you. Solomon proclaims that he was given birth before there were oceans, springs and before the mountains was settled in place. He was given birth by the determined will of God. Eventually he summed up his purpose for living exclaiming, “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole [duty] of man” (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 NIV). For certain our purpose is discovered in duty.
The Old Testament writers had a sense that God had a sovereign purpose he was working out through his creation.
Isaiah 46:9-11
9 Remember the former things, those of long ago;
I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is none like me.
10 I make known the end from the beginning,
from ancient times, what is still to come.
I say: My purpose will stand,
and I will do all that I please.
11 From the east I summon a bird of prey;
from a far-off land, a man to fulfill my purpose.
What I have said, that will I bring about;
what I have planned, that will I do. NIV
The world needs a sense of purpose—a sense of meaningfulness. God directs the bird of prey, and a man from a far-off land to fulfill his purpose. It is God’s direction that gives us a meaningful life.
Today we realize the purpose the prophets only sensed. It is realized in Christ. The kingdom of Christ is a place in the very heart of God which allows us to rediscover the works God planned each of us to do in advance of creation.
God planned the work of the church in advance of creation; his eternal plan for the church was to regain what was lost in Eden. The church not only provides a safe haven in a sinful world through the blood of Christ, but it is also a place where God’s sovereign will is ultimately realized. When we put on Christ in baptism God clothes us with the righteousness of Christ. To clothe us in righteousness is to clothe us to do right, therein is our purpose.
Ephesians 2:7-10
8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God- 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. NIV
A meaningful life begins by allowing God to work out his purpose in your personal life. This is the message of salvation. We are definitely not saved by our works, but we are saved to do good works, herein is our purpose.
God’s Eternal Purpose through Christ
Paul speaks of a God, “. . . who has saved us and called us to a holy life-not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace” (2 Timothy 1:9). The purpose of God’s call is holiness—this simply means he wants to clean-up our world. The clean-up begins with each of us. Paul proclaims those in Christ are “. . . predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will . . .” (Ephesians 1:11). God has planned for you to be a part of his purpose for creation.
Being predestined according to God’s plan is not some theological riddle—it means that God has a plan for Christians and non-Christians alike, and he wishes to work it out in our lives through the body of Christ—the church. His plan is to transform our lives through the purpose of his will.
The church was designed to be God’s new creation in Christ. God’s eternal purpose for his creation will be accomplished through the church of our Lord—that is through his rule in our lives.
Colossians 1:15-20
15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by 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. NIV
Christ is the firstborn over all creation and he has been given power over God’s entire creation (Matthew 28:16-20). God desires to recreate the world through Jesus Christ. God’s purpose for you is for you to be reborn into the image of his Son. God seeks to recreate the world through Christ.
The world needs a rebirth--think about these things if you don’t think the world needs to be recreated:
Our children are being consumed by the scourge of drugs
Our families are being destroyed by the devastation of divorce
Our city is being attacked by the monster of moral decay
Our schools are being victimized by the venom of violence (Raymond Dix Jr, We Still Need the Church, via Sermoncentral.com.)
God Reveals His Purpose
God can’t reveal himself or his purpose to you without giving you principles to live by. The program of the church is designed to help you focus your life on God’s principles. There is nowhere else for you to discover God’s principles for living.
Matt 28:19-20
19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." NIV
The right kind of Bible study where students are searching the Scriptures for the purpose of doing God’s will allows us to come away from Bible study with a much deeper understanding than we would by studying alone. It is in the give and take of Bible discussions that our knowledge increases. I learn more in discussions than I ever do alone. I may use books, CDs or tapes to get a deeper perspective for teaching. You have church Bible studies. Keep in mind that profitable Bible studies are only realized by those seeking to do God’s will. The Bereans were more noble, because they had a noble purpose for studying the Scriptures—to discover God’s purpose in Christ. (Acts 17:10-12).
When you discover God’s principles to live by, you will discover your profession in life—your purpose. The principles of God’s word are designed to help you discover your talents—abilities to be used in service as you seek to meet the needs of the body.
God desires to recreate this world one life at a time—Esther, and Daniel are marvelous examples of how God works in our personal lives. Esther saved the Jews from annihilation. Daniel learned how to live as a prisoner in Babylon. He was cast in to the Lion’s den when he was in his sixties. He served God’s purpose as he witnessed God’s presence among the heathen.
When you sincerely seek to live out God’s principles, you will discover the power of God to face and overcome the problems. If you want to discover meaning in your life come into Christ so that you can begin to reign with Christ as you live by his principles.
When you begin to reign with Christ you will discover God’s power to accomplish his purpose in your life (Revelation 1:4-8)
The power to fulfill God’s purpose for your life must come from God. When Zerubbabel sought to rebuild the temple of God during the Babylonian Captivity of the Jews, his task looked hopeless. Israel’s enemies were seeking to hinder the Jews return. However, God wanted Zerubbabel to know his task would be accomplished through the power of God’s Spirit.
Zech 4:6-7
6 So he said to me, "This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: 'Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says the LORD Almighty.
7 "What are you, O mighty mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become level ground. Then he will bring out the capstone to shouts of 'God bless it! God bless it!'" NIV
Isn’t this God’s message for us today? It is not through the might or power of human strength that we will succeed. It is through the work of God’s Spirit that God’s purpose will be sustained in our lives.
Conclusion:
For God to work out his purpose in your life you must understand that God is the one through whom we live. Paul writes, “. . . there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things come and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things come and through whom we live” (1 Corinthians 8:5, 6).
All we need to do is surrender to God’s purpose for our lives.
The purpose for which God created you can only be fully realized in Christ.
We must be in Christ body to discover the power of God to salvage our lives.
To come to Christ you must die to this world. You can choose to do this through the watery grave of baptism (Acts 2:37-38; Romans 6:1-6). Then you can arise from that grave by the power of God’s Spirit to allow God to fulfill his purpose in your life.