Often in this blog and our training material, we mention God’s purpose. How are we to grasp this concept so that we better pursue the plan that God has outlined in His Word? Webster says that purpose is “something set up as an object or end to be attained with intention.”
As I thought about this definition, I searched for a concise example for this same idea in Scripture and came across a verse in Romans that comes after Paul has described in detail the gospel and why God sovereignly included the Gentile into His plan. In Romans 11:36, Paul declares, “For from Him (God) and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be glory forever. Amen.” Let me put this in my words to help understand this very important concept. “From Him” – God is the origin of all things that are for His glory. “Through Him” – God is the means by which all things in us and through us are accomplished for His glory. “To Him are all things” – the heart of purpose is that all of our lives are to be lived for God’s glory. We must begin with God as the source, and depend on Him to be sustained in this purpose. What is your purpose?
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“God isn’t interested in just giving Christians a mission experience. He is interested in Christians being on mission with Him.” This statement by Broadman & Holman Publishers in their forward to On Mission with God – Living God’s Purpose for His Glory, by Avery T. Willis, Jr. and Henry T. Blackaby caught my attention. I am afraid that many mission programs are built around a “mission experience” rather than determining whether our hearts are really “on mission with God”.
It is clear from ALL SCRIPTURE, and particularly the Book of Acts, that God wants our entire lives to be on board with His mission, not just a momentary experience. It began with Noah and Abraham. “Noah did all that the Lord had commanded him” (Genesis 7:5). “The Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you” (12:1). Notice that with both persons that God called to HIS MISSION, it required absolute obedience in every detail. The ark would not have been built to save Noah’s family and the promise to Abram would not have been realized if they had not obeyed. A mission experience is only temporary, while being on mission with God has results that begin in time and the results last for eternity. Which one are you on? Which one do you want to be on? Your answer has eternal implications! One of our main contacts in Ecuador taught the main concepts and tools of starting house churches to the pastors/leaders group he has been meeting with for almost two years. “One of the pastors, together with his elders, caught onto the principals taught in the Book of Acts and Paul’s letters through God’s Plan for His Church study (http://www.newfoundationsinternational.org/). They have already started six house churches!
Since then, the “snowball” effect is fast becoming an “avalanche” and it’s hard to know what to say without writing an epistle! Two house churches have been started in Quito and 3 more are about to start. On January 7, a visitor came to the Sunday services. While we had lunch together we shared God’s Story and she was born into God’s family! She is plugged into a house church and is growing and sharing with her family and friends. Yesterday, January 28, she brought a friend. Again, we went to lunch together after the morning services and he was also born into God’s family! The Ambato Church is growing spiritually and along with new believers and there is potential for another group there. On January 20 we had an all-day training seminar with 34 pastors/leaders from three cities. Everyone agreed; “This is what we need to do, and these tools are the perfect answer as to how to start!” We keep on being amazed at the “good works which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10). It all boils down to making disciples of those who are faithful and will make disciples to the generation that follow (Matthew 28:18-20; 2 Timothy 2:2). Thanks for prayers! This is probably the best teaching atmosphere I have ever experienced in India. The two brothers were in the teaching the whole time with both alternating the translation. We have about 150 in training and many are Tamil speakers. They translated a couple of chapters for them and want us to go ahead with the Tamil translation and ship as soon as possible. The printing done by Brother Philip looks exceptional.
In addition, look at what God is doing in India! Pastor Paul led a follow up meeting of Telugu pastors all on his own without any outside money! I am working with him to help many complete the manual while introducing it to new ones. The Telugu training is running without us being there or paying for it. These are amazing new developments in India! (Tim) This report reminds me of Luke’s comment regarding what was happening in the Early Church. “And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly” (Acts 6:7). We should recognize that this is the mark of any place where God is at work. “A spiritual conversion that is NOT also a conversion of life is no conversion at all, but a delusion!” (1). This statement should awaken careful thought in every believer. When Paul wrote to Corinth, this was the point he made as he listed all the sinful lifestyles they had been.
“Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” (1 Corinthians 6:9–11). Paul makes the same point to the Ephesians; “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins” (2:1). The challenge being in how we see ourselves “in Christ”. If we truly see that we are “crucified with Christ”, then our new life in Him cannot be the same as it was without Him. Roland Allen, Missionary Method – St. Paul’s or Ours? Eerdmans Publishing, 1962, page 72. Consider each of the following realities as they were worked out in the life of Peter.
1. God is always at work around you, whether or not you see Him. (John 1:35-42) 2. God pursues a continuing love relationship with Peter and you that is real and personal. (Luke 4:38-44) 3. God invites you to become involved with Him in His work. (Luke 5:1-11) 4. God speaks to you personally. (Luke 5:4) 5. God’s invitation to be on mission for Him will lead you to a crisis of belief that requires faith and action. (Luke 5:5) 6. You must make major adjustments in your life to join God in what He is doing. (Luke 5:11) 7. You experience God’s glory as you obey Him and He accomplishes His work through you. (Matthew 17:1-8) Henry T. Blackaby, On Mission with God, Broadman & Holman, 2002, pages 161-164. There is only one way that we are able to see and understand God’s righteousness. “For in it [the gospel] the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”” (Romans 1:17).
That little phrase, “from faith for faith,” might be a little confusing and hard to understand, but it simply means that “the righteousness of God” is shown to us as we begin with faith. The whole Christian walk is one of faith. Human reasoning will never gain spiritual understanding (See 1 Corinthians 1:14). But those who receive the things of God by faith and live by faith, they will have the continual unfolding of God’s truth to them by the holy Spirit. Later in Romans 3:21, Paul emphasizes that “the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law” or our trying to work in order to receive His righteousness. It is received “through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe” (3:22). The more we see the glory of God in the gospel, the more we will want to proclaim it to others so they may know and receive the righteousness that is by faith in Jesus Christ. |
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