“For David, after he had served God’s will and purpose and counsel in his own generation, fell asleep [in death] and was buried among his forefathers”
Acts 13:36 amp
One stoic fact of death is that it forces all of a man’s achievements:- his reason for living, how he lived, what he lived for, what impact he made & what legacy he leaves behind to be cruelly reduced to just one sentence engraved on a headstone:-
…….[John Smith 1970-2014, survived by wife, children & grandchildren]……
Many like Shakespeare have tried to tell a better story by leaving instructions for their epitaphs before they die, but how well does it tally with heavens record of their lifetime?
Perhaps the 3rd greatest testament of a man’s life i’ve ever read is that which was engraved on King David’s tombstone: –
“He served the purpose of God in & for his generation”….
as depicted in our title scripture Acts 13:38. This one sentence tells you everything that David was about. What he stood for, what he lived for, and what he devoted his lifetime working toward!
With all of this in mind you need to ask yourself this, what will be the testament of my life after I have departed? What will be my epitaph? What will heavens record of my lifetime be?
What Divine Purpose Actually Is….!
As long as we profess to be Christians, we can only treat the issue of purpose from 1 standpoint alone: God’s divine will. I.e. God’s perfect will (not his permissive will), concerning the course of our lives.
Every created thing derives its reason for existence from its creator. If we believe the bible which tells us in Gen 1:1 & Gen 1:26 that we have our origin in God and were created in his image, it follows that since we are his, his plan, his design and his will should be the central basis of our existence.
To know this, is to know truth, walking any other path outside this fundamental truth is to walk and live a life of self-deception!
So if I’m to ask you the question: What is your purpose? What are you living for? The only ‘truthful’ response will be one that corresponds with GOD’s blueprint for your life.
What Divine Purpose ISNT …..!
A) Divine purpose is NOT VAGUE!
When I’ve raised this question in meetings, 95% of the answers given are quite vague and general in nature. Most common ‘christianese’ answers are “to serve God” , “to worship God” “to do the will of God”…but in these answers you get to see that many of us are quite unclear as to what the specifics of our divine purpose are!
Yes these answers are not actually incorrect in a sense, yet they are merely surface level answers! Such answers fit into one dimension of christian purpose which is universal, but there is a further dimension to our specific purposes within God’s overall plan which are unique to each & every single individual.
I used to think of purpose in terms of “Primary” & “Secondary” purpose..but the Holy Spirit conveyed to me that such thinking gives the illusion that you could fulfill one & not the other. How? He put it like this “Think of it more in terms of ‘Specific’ & ‘Universal’ purpose. One cannot fulfill purpose if he/she isn’t ‘walking in’ or at the very least ‘consumed with’ fulfilling universal purpose. “To all whom are fulfilling universal purpose, i guide them into fulfillment of ‘Specific Purpose’…which excepting disobedience & motives, they will almost certain fulfill….
Jesus demonstrated his purpose with absolute specificity on several occasions in the bible:
In Hebrews 10:7 “Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it Is written of me, to do thy will, O God”
What Christ was saying here in essence is:– “I’ve come to do according to what is written in my file in heaven concerning my life”. What were some of the specifics of this file you may ask?
He proved it in Luke 4:16-20
16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to read.
17 And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written,
18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
19 To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.
20 And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him.
All Christians are all called – ‘to Be with Him’ & – ‘to Know him’ for this purpose also Christ died 4 us. It is a universal purpose to all of us in which all the aforementioned answers fit in. But the more we get to be with him, the more we get to see his burdensPhil 3:10, and share them. This then provides the next platform (the conviction)–‘to Go For Him’ and carry out those specific tasks (fore-ordained & circumstantial tasks) on his behalf.
Whilst these 3 stages are not mutually exclusive, let’s think of it more as a gradual ‘unveiling’. The more you get to ‘be with him’ – the more you ‘know him’ – the more light is shed on the tasks you are to carry out for him.
Without spending a certain amount of time ‘being with him’, your knowledge of him & his will for you will be limited. If you run the race of life as such, your impact will be as minimal as that of Ahimaaz who ran a purposeless race in 2 Samuel 18:19-33
Christians who spend little or no time diligently seeking his face through meditation, and personal study will NEVER get to that place of discovery.
Jesus spent the bulk of his youth ‘being with him’ & ‘knowing him’, before he went for him in the last 3 ½ years of ministry. David spent the bulk of his youth being with him in the wilderness, before he went for him! Moses tried to go for him before being with him & knowing him at first, but that ended in exile…
If you are yet to get a clearer idea of what the specifics of his purpose for your life is, or putting it another way – if you are yet to gain enlightenment about the volume of book that is written of you in heaven, then it points to the fact that you need to spend more time being with him & knowing him!
“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them”……..Ephesians 2:10
Every human being given life (Christian or otherwise) has a specific task to accomplish on earth, & all have a file in heaven. The great Cyrus King of Persia who commissioned the return to Jerusalem & the rebuilding of the temple in 444 BC (Ezra Chapter 1:1-6) was not a Jew. He was a heathen King. YET God had specifically spoken about him 150 years earlier in Isaiah 44:28, 45:1-13 and given us revelation of his file in heaven (the volume of the book written of him) as regards his divine purpose through the mouth of prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 45:1-7). I highlight 45:4-5 but please read it all.
45:4 “For the sake of my servant Jacob and Israel my chosen, I call you by
name, I name you. Though you do not know me”.
45:5 “….I equip you though you do not know me”
Brother! Sister! Time to lay down our personal ambitions and goals which are not divinely aligned. You have a file in heaven, of which some specific mandates & tasks are written therein concerning your lifetime. You have a duty to ascend to heaven’s filing room and access it. Any other worldly attainments on earth outside of these specific things will not pass the test of fire at the end of the age1 Cor 3:13
Carefully meditate and on what the bible says in the book of Ephesians 5:15-17 as touching this matter of specificity of purpose and the Lord will begin to take you on a course of revelation relating your purpose.
Ephesians 5:15-17…amp
15 Look carefully then how you walk! Live purposefully and worthily and accurately, not as the unwise and witless, but as wise (sensible, intelligent people),
16 Making the very most of the time [buying up each opportunity], because the days are evil.
17 Therefore do not be vague and thoughtless and foolish, but understanding and firmly grasping what the will of the Lord is.
The Revealed Word 