Does God Have a Purpose for Your Life?

Religion

This sermon is from THE LIFE OF CHRIST series theme THAT WE MAY KNOW HIM and was preached at Cornerstone Baptist Church in Cherry Log, Georgia on October 19, 2014 by Pastor Paul Mims. You can hear this sermon at www.csbccl.org
Luke 1: 57-80Most everything in life has a cheaper version. In the grocery store you can buy cheaper food. In the clothing store you can buy cheaper clothes. From the realtor you can buy a cheaper house. From the church you can get a cheaper view of God.

If you buy in to the view that “I am God’s little pet and His purpose for my life is to make me happy,” then you are probably sitting in the congregation of one of the positive thinking churches that views God as your personal servant. This is a cheap version of Christianity that says that God is supposed to do what I want.

But if things are not going the way I want it is easy to fall into the trap of believing that God has saved me for the purpose of making things go the way that I envision my life to be. But if this is not happening it means that God is punishing me or He is not who I thought He is. And I end up not knowing my life purpose and confused about God.

But if I believe that God has a mission of purpose for my life, my dominant thoughts are for that purpose and not about my own selfish view of what I think God should do for me. It is true that He wants us to be happy and fulfilled, but that cannot be the focus for that is of ourselves. God’s purpose of will for us is greater than we are and it transcends the circumstances and trials of the moment.

We see these truths in the lives of Zacharias and Elizabeth as they become the parents of John the Baptist.

I. SUPERNATURAL CONCEPTION (vv.57-58).
“Now the time had come for Elizabeth to give birth, and she gave birth to a son. Her neighbors and her relatives heard that the Lord had displayed His great mercy toward her, and they were rejoicing with her.”

You remember from the sermon last Sunday that Zacharias, a country priest, was serving at the hour of prayer offering the prayer incense in the Holy Place in the Temple in Jerusalem. When he was there alone the angel, Gabriel, appeared to him and said that he brought a message directly from God. The message was that he and his wife, Elizabeth, would have a child in their old age and that this child would be the one who would introduce the long awaited Messiah to Israel. They were probably both in their eighties and far past the child bearing years. They had long felt that God was displeased with them for some reason and that they were in His disfavor because He had not blessed them with a child. This was considered a disgrace in those days. Their neighbors, looking at them, probably thought there was some secret sin in their lives. Because Zacharias did not believe what Gabriel said, he was inflicted with muteness until the child was born. That is where our story begins today.

Just like Abraham and Sarah who were about 100 and 90 respectively, who had been given a child through a supernatural conception, Zacharias and Elizabeth had conceived and given birth to a son according to the promise of the angel Gabriel in their old age. Elizabeth said, “This is the way the Lord has dealt with me in the days when He looked with favor upon me to take away my disgrace among men.” (Luke 1:25)

There is a sense in which every conception is supernatural when the husband and wife submit their wills regarding their offspring to God. Do you believe that God determined that you would be conceived by your parents? Do you believe that your children were conceived by the providence of God?

After graduating from college in Tennessee, Janice and I went to Fort Worth, Texas so I could attend Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. She taught school for three years and put me through Seminary getting her PHT degree – Putting Hubby Through. That was 1958-1961. I graduated from Seminary in July of 1961 and we were ready to begin our family. We made it a matter of prayer and immediately we were expectant parents. We asked God to give us a Son and said that we would give him back to God for whatever purpose God had for him. When Joe was born in February of 1962, Janice held him in her arms and God spoke to her and said, “This child will save many lives.” Then, we asked God for a daughter and in February of 1964, Jenny was born. We dedicated her to God’s purpose for her life and were thrilled as His plan unfolded for her.

As both Janice and I were conceived with alcoholic fathers and grew up from age three without their presence, we have no doubt that our births were in the providence of God.

In one of his books, James Emery White tells of the Russian-American comic, Yakov Smirnoff’s, initial response to the incredible variety of instant products available in American grocery stores. He said, “On my first shopping trip, I saw powdered milk–you just add water, and you get milk. Then I saw powdered orange juice–you just add water, and you get orange juice. And then I saw baby powder, and I thought to my self, what a country!”

II. COVENANT CELEBRATION (vv.59-65)
“And it happened that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child, and they were going to call him Zacharias, after his father.” (v.59)
That verse speaks volumes of meaning and historical practice.

The “eighth day” was decreed by God in the Old Testament and nobody knew why until modern science told us that a child’s blood usually does not have the coagulant properties until the eighth day of life. This was a safeguard for children until modern processes were developed that could prevent excessive bleeding.

The “circumcision” dates back to Genesis 17:9-12; “God said further to Abraham, ‘Now as for you, you shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout your generations. This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: every male among you shall be circumcised. And you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin and it shall be the sign of the covenant between Me and you. And every male among you who is eight days old shall be circumcised throughout your generations…’”
Circumcision was the rite that made the child a recipient of the covenant promise that God made with Abraham. The child was then eligible for the covenant blessings of being a descendant of Abraham and was included as a citizen of the Nation of Israel, God’ chosen people. The promise was that God would send Messiah to redeem Israel and forgive the people of their sin. How extra-ordinary holy this was for Zacharias and Elizabeth for their son was to be the spokesman for the long awaited Messiah.

This event was also for the dedication and naming of the child. All of the main characters in this redemptive plan of God had names of great significance. Zacharias means “God remembers His covenant.” Elizabeth means “God is the absolutely faithful One.” John means “God is gracious.” Jesus means “The Divine Savior.”

At the ceremony in the synagogue, Zacharias was still mute. The priest performing the dedication asked, “What is to be the name of the child?” Friends and family gathered there said immediately, “His name will be Zacharias.” Elizabeth spoke up and said, “No, his name will be John.” It was customary to name the child after his father. So they asked him what his name should be and he asked for something to write on and he wrote, “His name is John.”

What does your name mean? Paul means “small.” The Apostle Paul was thought to have a height of less than five feet. I’ve beat him by several inches. Names have an important psychological effect on a person. My name has made me look up to people.

III. CALLING VISUALIZED (vv.66-80)
“At once his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he began to speak in praise of God. Fear came on all those living around them; and all these matters were being talked about in all the hill country of Judea. All who heard them kept them in mind, saying ‘What then will this child turn out to be?’ For ‘the hand of the Lord was certainly with him.’” (vv.64-66)

Zacharias had been unable to speak for almost a year and now at the dedication of his promised son he started speaking and praising God for the gracious answer to their prayers across the years.

He was filled with the Holy Spirit and his first words were, “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel.” He recognized that this was the beginning of God’s redemption that had been hoped for since Abraham. He said that God had remembered His promise and that the Deliverer would come to rescue them. Then Zacharias visualized the future that was John’s Divine calling:

AND YOU, CHILD, WILL BE CALLED THE PROPHET OF THE MOST HIGH. There had been no prophet in Israel for 400 years. The prophet was a messenger sent from God to give a specific message to the people. John would give that message to his generation.

FOR YOU WILL GO ON BEFORE THE LORD TO PREPARE HIS WAYS. The other prophets simply told that Messiah would come. John would introduce Him personally to the nation.

TO GIVE HIS PEOPLE THE KNOWLEDGE OF SALVATION BY THE FORGIVENESS OF THEIR SINS BECAUSE OF THE TENDER MERCY OF OUR GOD. The greatest thing you can do for another person is to give them the knowledge of the way of salvation.

WITH WHICH THE SUNRISE FROM ON HIGH WILL VISIT US TO SHINE UPON THOSE WHO SIT IN DARKNESS AND THE SHADOW OF DEATH…
There are those all around us who sit in the darkness of the shadow of death. Has the purpose of your life ever been to bring this light into someone’s darkness?

TO GUIDE OUR FEET INTO THE WAY OF PEACE. John went before Christ to tell that He is come to save and to say that in Him there is personal peace. It is the purpose and responsibility of every Christian to be a spokesperson for Christ. Are you mute like Zacharias was and never say a word of witness to a lost person? We’ve got churches full of mutes. My hope is that this study of the Life of Christ will cause us to know Him so well that we will become evangels for Him.

That was John’s life purpose. What about yours? Do you feel that you have found it?

You can be sure that God has a purpose for your life. The thing that makes life enjoyable – is knowing what it is and doing it.
A life purpose is not found by finally getting satisfied with a job or a circumstance. It is found in the heart submitted to Christ. Once that is done in reality, everything else takes shape.

In every area of life – even if you are in the perfect will of God – there will be struggles, dis-satisfactions, conflicts, criticisms, weariness, burn-out, and the continual war with Satan. I read occasionally the poem written by Annie Johnson Flint called “What God Has Promised.”

“God hath not promised skies always blue,
Flower strewn pathways all our lives through;
God hath not promised sun without rain,
Joy without sorrow, peace without pain.

God hath not promised we shall not know
Toil and temptation, trouble and woe;
He hath not told us we shall not bear
Many a burden, many a care.

God hath not promised smooth roads and wide,
Swift, easy travel, needing no guide;
Never a mountain rocky and steep,
Never a river turbid and deep.

But God hath promised strength for the day,
Rest for the labor, light for the way,
Grace for the trials, help from above,
Unfailing sympathy, undying love.”

PRAISE BE TO HIS NAME!

Back to Top