Knowing God's Will for our Life: Part 2 - Our Plan



In the first installment of this series, we looked at the question, "What is God's will for my life?" and the statement, "I'm just trying to seek God's will." These questions are not unimportant, but I suggested that perhaps we give them more gravity than is merited. The purpose of your life is an important thing to understand, but I do not believe it was ever meant to be some overly complicated, or mystic, pseudo-spiritual exercise by which we discovery the specific details and events along the way.

As a quick review, the Purpose of our life is simply to KNOW Jesus, to REPRESENT Jesus, and to GLORIFY Jesus. Honestly…it really is that simple. This purpose supersedes any other aspect of our life, and even when events dramatically change the course and details of our lives, our core Purpose remains the same. To dive into that concept further, please read "3 Essentials to Knowing your Purpose (Part 1 of 3)".

THE PLAN FOR YOUR LIFE


Now that we have come to understand the simple, but foundational Purpose of our life in Christ, we can turn our attention to understanding the Plan. And here again…we may be tempted to think, "OK, good! THIS is what I really need to know: where am I supposed to go to college? In what am I supposed to major? What job do I want to have for the rest of my life? Where am I going to live? Am I called to Missions? Who am I supposed to marry?"

If those were the questions that came to mind, you may find yourself a little frustrated with this article, but nevertheless…we will get to those questions. Meanwhile, hang with me. Understanding the Plan for our lives is as simple as understanding our overall Purpose, because, in its most fundamental state, the Purpose and Plan for the life of each professing Believer and Follower of Jesus Christ is the same. Yes…the same. You may not believe it, but I truly believe, as I have come to understand, that the Plan for our life in Christ can be summed up in these four Pillars: Our Salvation, Our Sanctification, Sharing the Gospel, and Making Disciples.

OUR SALVATION


“This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” ‭‭1 Timothy‬ ‭2:3-4‬







If the overall Purpose of our life is to Know, Represent, and Glorify Jesus Christ, then the first Pillar of the Plan for our lives must be Salvation. We must come to a saving Faith in Jesus Christ as we come to understand our own sin, and how far we have fallen away from God, while also seeing that God made provision for us in the person of Jesus Christ to reconcile us back to Himself. Through our reading, or hearing the Word of God preached, God draws us to Himself, and when we surrender to Him, we are saved from our sins, and saved into the Family of God's Kingdom: coheirs with Jesus Christ, children of God, and indwelled by the Holy Spirit of God.

This may seem elementary, and it is, but sadly, we have a culture of Christianity today that sees many people who wake up everyday trying to change their outward behavior to look, act, and talk like a Christian "should", attend all of the right services, meetings, small groups, and so on, but have never come to KNOW Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord. We see the outward behaviors, the right jargon, and the regular attendance…and we assume they are saved. But in time…the fruit will begin to turn, as the real root in their heart is displayed. When Christ and His Gospel is not the foundation of our lives, it will soon become clearly obvious in our priorities, how we see the world around us, and how they interact with and treat others.

OUR SANCTIFICATION

“For this is the will of God, your sanctification…” ‭‭1 Thessalonians‬ ‭4:3‬

"And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect." Romans 12:2

Our Salvation is the beginning, but by no means the end. To be Saved in Christ is an event: to be Sanctified is a process. To grow in our knowledge of God through consistent study of His Word, to deepen in our trust of His leading and guiding in the day to day, to learn to lean more completely on His Spirit and His Wisdom rather than our own, and to be molded and shaped to look more like and think more like Christ Himself…this is the process of Sanctification. We will never complete it, but we ought to always be moving forward. This is absolutely God's plan for your life: to be more like Christ.

SHARE THE GOSPEL




“praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.” ‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭6:18-20‬

"Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven." Matthew 5:16

In Jesus' parable of the Lamp and the Bushel, He illustrates a point that is obvious in the story, but one that tends to get missed in our daily lives: Light is meant to shine in the darkness. For those of us who Know Jesus, are saved by Grace through Faith in Him, and are seeking to Grow in our likeness to Him…the only way that we can Represent Him is to let the Light of His love shine in us and through us. This can be clearly seen in our actions, words, and attitudes, but also is meant to be verbally shared, discussed, talked about, and even defended when necessary.

Think of a friend of yours who is an avid sports fan, or another friend who has a specific hobby that they are REALLY into. How easily can they talk about their team? How readily do they know specific stats, players by name, team history, rankings, etc.? How eagerly does your hobby-horse friend want to share with you about his latest adventure, project, or newly acquired skill or accomplished goal? Sometimes it's hard to get them to break away from talking about it, let alone thinking about it. It seems to permeate their thoughts, spills out of their mouth like the air they breath, and anyone within ear shot is affected by it. Now…consider Jesus. If our eternity depends on our relationship with Him, would it not make sense that we prioritize that relationship to such a degree that we cannot help but talk about Him, His Word, His promises, what He is doing in our lives, and how amazing He is!? (That was a rhetorical question, btw.)

MAKE DISCIPLES


“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭28:19‬






First, know Jesus and be Saved. Next, Grow in that knowledge of Him and Represent Him by Sharing Him. And finally, Glorify God by living life along side those who are new to trusting in Him, and encourage them in their pursuit of a deeper relationship while also equipping them to do the same in turn with others. Multiple yourself within the Family of God. Jesus needs more Followers of Christ who move beyond Belief to Obedience. One of the saddest quotes I have ever read was one by Fredrick Nietzsche where he said, "I might believe in their Redeemer if His followers looked more redeemed." This is all too often true of the Body of Believers. We tend to look more like the world and less like Christ. We become more fascinated with this world and its pursuits of wealth, fame, and gratification. If we are to Glorify God in our lives, we must become less (like the world), and He must become more (of what we seek to be like each day).

So…what are you thinking? Does the Plan for your life seem too simple? If so, really think about how good God is to keep it that simple for us. God is a God of order, and not chaos, and, knowing that His ways are too lofty for us to fathom, He simplified it for us. If we embodied the Purpose and Plan for our lives as God has outlined for us in His Word - KNOW Jesus and be SAVED, to be SANCTIFIED by His Word and to REPRESENT Him every day in all we do and say, and to GLORIFY Him by living and SHARING THE GOSPEL while being and MAKING DISCIPLES - all of the other details fall neatly in line behind those most important priorities.

And yet…God still has a Word or two to share with us about the details as well. In the next installment, we will look at "How do I know what to do now?" and how to approach questions about specific decisions as you move forward with God in your life.

May you be richly blessed in Jesus Christ
Amen

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