MELVIN M. NEWLAND, MINISTER
RIDGE CHAPEL, KANSAS, OK
(REVISED: 2019)
(Powerpoints used with this message are available free. Just email me at mnewland@sstelco.com and request #292.)
WHY AM I HERE? GOD’S PURPOSE FOR OUR LIFE
TEXT: Ecclesiastes 1:1 14; Ephesians 1:4-5,10; 2 Corinthians 5:19
ILL. I had a tremendous respect & admiration for Pres. Ronald Reagan & the inspirational leadership he provided to our nation & the Western world in a time of Cold War conflict.
But the reason I mention him this morning is because I want us to consider something he said, & which is engraved upon his tomb:
He said, “I know in my heart that man is good. That what is right will eventually triumph. And there’s purpose & worth to each & every life.”
Have you ever asked yourself, "Why did God permit me to wake up this morning? Why is my heart still beating? Why am I here? What is the purpose of my continued existence?"
PROP. If you haven't asked that, you need to, because there is a reason, a purpose why God has permitted you & me to be here.
I believe it is important for us to know the answer to that question because if we don't, there can be all kinds of negative results. And in the O.T. book of Ecclesi-astes, King Solomon talks about negative results that arise when we don’t know or ignore God’s purpose for our life.
Now King Solomon, if anyone, should have known the answer. I mean, Solo¬mon had it all. He had wealth more than he could ever spend. He had posses¬sions more than he could ever enjoy. He had wives more than he could ever please.
He even had wisdom far greater than anyone else in his day. He had it all. Yet for a while, at least, he didn't have a real grasp on God’s purpose for his life.
I. LIFE WITHOUT A PURPOSE
A. Look with me at the 1st chapter of Ecclesiastes, & let's consider some of the negative results that come from not knowing God’s purpose for your life.
1. First of all, when you don't know God’s purpose, then life will seem empty. In vs. 2 Solomon writes, “Meaningless! Meaningless!... Utter¬ly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.”
Have you ever felt that way? Without realizing God’s purpose, life doesn't make much sense at all!
2. Secondly, when you don't know God’s purpose, then life can be an endless cycle of futility. In vs's 4, 5, & 6 Solomon says such things as, "Generations come and generations go... The sun rises & the sun sets, and hurries back to where it rises," & "The wind blows to the south and turns to the north; round and round it goes..."
So life becomes like a merry go round going round & round, yet never getting anywhere. And Solomon gives this result in vs. 8, "All things are wearisome, more than one can say." In other words, "It's wearing me out."
3. Thirdly, when you don't know God’s purpose in your life, you'll never be really satisfied. Notice the last part of vs. 8, "The eye never has enough of seeing, nor the ear its fill of hearing."
We always want more. We have gone from 10" black & white picture tubes to giant screens, & hi fidelity, stereo phonic, surround sound. But we're still not content.
Put a 250 channel remote control in our hands & we're still restless because the things of life don't really satisfy unless we realize what God is doing in our life.
4. Fourthly, when you don't know God’s purpose, life itself will seem insignificant. Listen to vs. 11, "There is no remembrance of men of old, and even those who are yet to come will not be remembered by those who follow."
ILL. Tony Campolo wrote, "If you ever start to feel proud, just remember that soon after your body has been lowered into the grave, your family & friends will be eating potato salad & telling jokes, & you'll be history."
Wow, that's depressing, & I don't like to talk about depress¬ing things. Yet, we've only begun to scratch the surface of the lives that Solomon describes as “empty, meaningless, futile, insignificant, & out of control.”
II. HOW TO DISCOVER GOD'S PURPOSE
A. Now if your life is anything like that, I want you to be assured that God has a purpose for your life & for mine.
Listen to this passage in God’s Word, "Long before He laid down earth's foundation, He had us in mind. He had settled on us as the focus of His love to be made whole & holy by His love. Long, long ago He decided to adopt us into His family through Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 1:4 5 Msg)
This verse tells us that long before He created the heav¬ens & earth, God had mankind in mind.
God created us with the idea of focusing His love on us - that we would be His family, adopted sons & daughters through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
And it says that God took great pleasure in planning all of this. Can’t you just see the sparkle in God’s eyes as He makes His plans for that day when we will be with Him for all eternity?
2. The Bible also says, "And this was His purpose, that when the time is ripe He will gather us all together from wherever we are in heaven or on earth to be with Him in Christ, forever." (Ephesians 1:10 LB)
Did you hear that? If we are a part of His family, we're going to be with God forever. When the time is ripe, when the time of waiting is over, God will gather us together. Whether we are in heaven or on earth, He is going to take us to be with Him, forever.
APPL. So now at last I'm ready to summarize God’s purpose that we talked about at the beginning of this sermon. "God’s purpose for our lives is to pre¬pare us for eternal life with Him."
This life is pre school. This life is dress rehears¬al. This life is a time to get ready because we're going to live a lot longer on the other side of death than we're going to live on this side.
We may live 70, 80, or even more than 90 years here. But that is just a tiny speck on the yardstick of life, because we're going to live forever with God. So the reason we're alive, the reason God has left us here is to get us ready for eternity. That's the reason for our existence.
III. WHAT GOD WANTS US TO DO
And there are 4 things that God wants us to do with the years that we have while we're here. Let me put it this way, "There are 4 things God wants me to do with my life."
A. The first one is this. God wants me to get to know Him. Now that makes sense. If I'm a part of His family, & He is my heavenly Father, He would like me to know Him better.
Now, how do you get to know someone? Well, you spend time with them, talk with them, & listen to them. That’s what we must do with God, too.
The Bible also teaches that I can come to know God by coming to know Jesus. Jesus Himself said, "Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father." (John 14:9) In following Jesus I'm following God.
B. The 2nd thing that God wants me to do is to become like Christ.
If I'm a member of His family, & if God is my Father, then I ought to take on family characteristics. Just as my children have some of my traits because we're family, I should exhibit some of the traits of Jesus because we're family, too.
So God is busy trying to form His character in our lives, to make us like Jesus. That has always been a part of His goal.
Now that makes Romans 8:28 very special. It says, “We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.”
It’s a familiar verse. But I want you to hear it & the verse after it in the way “The Message” paraphrases it because vs. 29 explains vs. 28. The Message says, “That’s why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is working into something good.” Why is everything working together for good in my life?
Here’s why. “God knew what He was doing from the very beginning. He decided from the outset to shape the lives of those who love Him along the same lines as the life of His Son.”
Why do all these things happen to us in life – some good, some bad? Why? Because God is trying to develop Christ-like character in our lives.
C. The 3rd thing God wants me to do while I am here upon this earth is to learn to care about others.
The most Christ like picture, the best model of being Christ like you will find in Scripture is of Jesus wrapping the towel around His waist & washing the feet of the Apostles. And God tells us, "I want you to be like Him."
ILL. Do you remember? Princess Diana of England lived in palaces & rode in luxury automobiles. She ate the finest food. She wore designer clothes. She had expensive jewelry. She was famous & young & beautiful.
On the other hand, Mother Teresa was old & bent. Living in the slums of Calcutta, India, she spent her time working among the diseased & dying people who crowded into her makeshift wards every day.
In the intervening years we have learned a lot about their personal lives. Which one of these two do you suppose was the happiest?
Now I believe that's the secret of contentment in life. When, as part of God’s family, we give ourselves away we find out what life is really all about.
D. Finally, there is one more thing that I believe God wants me to do & that is to share what I have learned about God’s purpose. Why does God keep me around? Because God’s plan is for those who have discovered the purpose to share it.
The Bible says, "God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ…And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation." (2 Corinthians 5:19)
So once I realize God’s grand purpose for working in my life is to prepare me for eternal life with Him, then with all my heart I want to know Him better, becoming more & more like Jesus, seeking to live a life that reflects His love for all.
INVITATION: A poem that I really appreciate says it this way:
An old man, traveling a lone highway,
Came at the evening cold & gray
To a chasm deep & wide.
The old man crossed in the twilight dim,
For the sullen stream held no fears for him,
But he turned when he reached the other side,
And began building a bridge to span the tide.
"Old man," cried a fellow pilgrim near,
"You're wasting your strength with building here;
Your journey will end with the close of day,
And you never again will pass this way.
You have crossed the chasm deep & wide.
Why build you a bridge at eventide?"
And the builder raised his old gray head:
"Good friend, on the path I have come," he said,
"There follows after me today
A youth whose feet will pass this way.
This stream, which has been as nothing to me,
To that young boy a pitfall may be;
He, too, must cross in the twilight dim
Good friend, I am building this bridge for him." (W.A. Dromgoole)
