In this fast-changing world, people find it difficult to understand the very purpose of their birth on earth. But has God sent anyone on this earth at a whim, with no purpose or destiny and to live for a set number of years and then die to go to some unknown destination? When everything seems cloudy and unclear, the questions about the real reason of one’s birth, in a particular family and place, start dominating the thoughts. All that God created has a purpose and we all fit into His overall plan.
Has the control of everything shifted to the devil now? God created man and gave him a choice to do his own will but with that also provided the result of not following His Divine will, death and separation from God. Let us imagine that Adam and Eve had followed the right path of obedience to God, what would be theirs’ and their descendants’ lives? This will be the life of a believer in heaven after leaving the earth from his present state. Before creating man or beast of the field, God created all that would be required for their comfortable living. It was all freely given and controlled as per a set pattern of rules of nature. It was all optimised to produce the best outcome and man was created to exercise control over everything.
After their sin of unbelief and disobedience, God neither abandoned them, nor came to pronounce punishment. In His love, God still declared the future redemption through the ‘Seed of the woman’. The statement of Eve at the birth of Cain, ‘I have acquired a man from the LORD’ is an expression of the expectation of fulfilment of that promised birth of the Saviour (Genesis 4:1). After that every man or woman is born as a representative of God but the task then and now is slightly different. The loving God desires that mankind must work with each other to repair the inner damage caused by sin. The first ten generations from Adam to Noah carried on in the ways of Cain, fighting and killing each other in envy and were destroyed by the flood.
Nimrod was the first person who established a kingdom in Babel or Babylon and other places (Genesis 10:9-10). Since this was the rule of evil, God commanded Abraham to move from this area to the land of Canaan. The promise to him was of being blessed with a great and famous name and being a blessing (Genesis 12:1-3). In him ‘all the families of the earth shall be blessed’. Our future is not exactly pre-decided but our choice leads us on the way we would follow. The option of following the right or the wrong way, decides our journey but God never abandons us to our own choices. He keeps channelling our way on a particular path to fulfil His mission in our lives. A prophet warns us and if his prophecy comes true it has failed. He tells us to turn right to escape the consequences and if we do not, his purpose of the warning has failed.
I was presented the Holy Bible by a Pastor in a remote district of Nagaland in June 1979. But I continued to follow my own evil ways and suffered, till finally the light dawned on me to turn to God and His ways. The devil and forces of evil work hard to lead the maximum number away from and be in rebellion to God. God led the Israelites into freedom and the Promised Land but they started following the practices of those who were punished and moved out earlier by God. It reached such a state that ‘in those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes’ (Judges 21:25). God provided them with the best of everything, just like Adam and Eve, but they used their free-will to do what they considered right.
When we fall down because of our sinful desires, we tend to blame God for letting us get into that situation (James 1:13-14). But ‘each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed’. Can God be blamed for abandoning us when He, in His absolute holiness, still seeks sinners like us to be a part of His family? God is still in control but His help starts when we submit to His authority and thus be led out of darkness. Satan has no authority over us except that what is given by God or by us. Like Adam and Eve when we fall to the temptation of being made great, we hand over the control of our lives to him. Satan showed our Lord ‘the kingdoms of the world and their glory’ (Matthew 4:8-9). The promise of giving ‘all these things’ was linked to ‘fall down and worship me’. The Creator of everything and the great King of all kings and the LORD of all lords was offered what was in any case His. Satan promised to Eve also was ‘you will be like God, knowing good and evil’ (Genesis 3:5).
Whether we bow down to the devil or to God and fulfil our destiny depends on us. For our own faults we cannot blame the Creator for making us defective. Lord Jesus has restored all our authority and we may not use that out of ignorance or fear. We must stand strong in the Lord and live as a winner!
Learning and following the right way for life – To be a doctor, an engineer or any other professional is to meet our earthly needs and responsibilities. Everyone has a divine task and an earthly task and once the two are in support of each other, life is easy and fulfilling. Being made in God’s image, the aim of life is to reflect His nature through our lives, then He as Creator is glorified. The ultimate aim is to know, love, serve in a close relationship with Him and thus glorify Him and whatever profession we have, also needs to be aligned with this purpose. Then our holy and righteous living, not conforming to the worldly ways, becomes our testimony before our coworkers.
God declares, ‘Everyone who is called by My name, whom I have created for My glory’ and this is the heavenly purpose (Isaiah 43:7). Apostle Paul further clarifies that every act of daily life eating or drinking ‘or whatever you do, do all in the glory of God’ (1 Corinthians 10:31). God revealed His name to Moses, from the Burning Bush, as ‘I AM WHO I AM’, a God who is and not will be or was (Exodus 3:14). He is perfect and does not change or evolve into someone better. Knowing and growing in closeness to Him and in that, revealing Him to others through our works of love, is not easy but definitely possible.
The great Apostle Paul has introduced himself, ‘Paul, a bondservant of Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God’ (Romans 1:1). He claims to be a bonded servant, who has no rights and is totally committed to serve his Master. In that state the task assigned to him by the Master is to be an Apostle. The Greek word ‘apostolos’ means ‘messenger, the one sent, apostle’. In this task, he was separated from others to the ‘gospel of God’, to teach and preach the message of salvation in Lord Jesus. To perform this task and not be dependent on others for his living expenses, he worked as a ‘tent-maker’. We have his status, separation, task and the means of supporting himself before us as an example to follow.
Everyone is given certain inherent qualities by God to support himself and those dependent on him. These qualities are not limited to only one certain way but a few other professions also. The need for the parents is to identify these God-given qualities of their children and help them make the right choice.
King David could claim guidance, protection and right provision from God as his Shepherd (Psalm 23:4). But then he could perceive this help in all circumstances, even through difficult situations. He could declare, ‘Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me, Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me’. The comfort of God’s presence is definitely real but how can the same be from His rod and staff, the instruments of punishments? The staff and rod are of wood and the Shepherd uses it for the wild animals to save His sheep. That rod was once part of a tree, bearing fruit. To stop the jealous complaints of the people, Moses was commanded by God to ask for the staff of the leaders of all tribes. Aaron’s rod was also taken and every one’s name was written on the rod and these were left in the Tabernacle overnight. Next day, ‘the rod of Aaron, of the house of Levi, had sprouted and put forth buds, had produced blossoms and yielded ripe almonds’.
A child, like the rod of the shepherd, once separated from its root and purpose becomes useless. The duty and important quality of a ‘Kohen Gadol, a High Priest, just like a parent is, in his ability to transform dry sticks into living orchards. He must see the possibility of growth and life, while others see death and stagnation. Lord Jesus revealed Himself as the True Vine, while terming the believers as branches (John 15:5). We need to abide in Him and He in us to bear ‘much fruit, for without Me you can do nothing’. The High Priest in Old Testament times was the link between man and God. Now The Saviour Lord has not only made us a part of His family but as our High Priest in heaven is our link to God the Father. Being thus connected to Him, we also have the indwelling Holy Spirit to empower and lead us on the right paths.
Knowledge and wisdom to live and follow the right paths are gifts of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:8). But the wisdom that leads to ‘self-seeking in your hearts’ is not ‘from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic’ (James 3:14-17). We must seek the heavenly wisdom ‘that is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy’. This heavenly wisdom helps us understand our purpose of life and enables us to use our God-given talents in the right manner, to fulfil that purpose despite opposition of the demonic forces.
Coinciding the heavenly purpose of life with the earthly – The purpose of life of Lord Jesus was twofold, first, to impart knowledge of God the Father through His life and works. Second, to free humanity from slavery to sin and the devil through His sacrifice. He was to do this in a manner that would bring glory to God, the Father, in everything. At twelve years of age, He went with His father and mother to Jerusalem for the Passover Festival (Luke 2:41-52). At the time of going back to Nazareth, He stayed back without His parents’ knowledge. Once they realised His absence after travelling for a day, they returned but could not find Him for three days. Finally, they found Him in the Temple, sitting ‘in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions’. The teachers would include great scholars like Gamaliel, ‘and all who heard Him were astonished at His understanding and answers’. On being asked by His parents, He replied, ‘Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?’ He was aware of His spiritual task but also His earthly responsibilities and He returned with them ‘and was subject to them’ as an obedient child. With this He ‘increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and men’.
Apostle Paul recognised ‘the will of God’ at work in his life and ministry for God has a plan and a purpose for each of His children (Ephesians 1:1). All those who follow His plan are saints in His kingdom here on earth and not some greatness in heaven. But a Christian or anyone else without Christ is aints or nothing. In heaven before my birth, God voted for my salvation and to be a part of His people. But Satan voted for my damnation as his servant and I followed his ways, but eventually I chose to vote with God and got the majority of two against one, for my salvation.
We must fully grasp that ‘we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them’ (Ephesians 2:10). To do the decreed works, we must first ‘stand with Christ’, as His chosen ones. The command is ‘Therefore, be imitators of God as dear children’ and in this we ‘stand for Christ’ as His representatives (Ephesians 5:1). My daughters’ life reflects my life as a father and as a follower of God and some may accept me because of them or reject me. If we stand for the Lord, we reflect His truth, His love, grace, mercy, justice. Third, we must reveal before others, what He intends us to reflect.
Lord Jesus prayed to the Father in heaven, ‘I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me’ (John 17:6). In Him and through Him mankind gets to know God and live in His light. In this role the first part is the command ‘Be holy, for I am holy’ (1 Peter 1:16) and this we do in moral purity. Second, we must ‘be diligent to be found by him in peace, without spot and blameless’ (2 Peter 3:14). The lamb or the other animals offered to God as a sacrifice had to be without blemish and spot. How can God accept the beauty of His children being marred by evil and dark spots of sin?
We have been blessed that God ‘has reconciled (us) in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy and blameless, and above reproach in His sight’ (Colossians 1:22). The indwelling Holy Spirit leads us towards this by teaching us all things and regular reminding us and helping us live as per Lord Jesus’ teachings (John 14:26). ‘The Good Shepherd’ became ‘the Lamb of God’ to free His sheep from the clutches of the devil and sin. In Him God reached down to the earth to be one with His creation and then build a close relationship with them.
We are blessed with God’s grace, the undeserved favour of forgiveness of sins and salvation (Ephesians 1:2-3). With that we are also filled with peace. God our Father has ‘blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ’. All that we need to live and fulfil the purpose of our lives has already been provided in heaven in Lord Jesus. When we submit and connect with Him, the blessings start arriving as required.
God has sent each and everyone on the earth with a definite plan and purpose and it gets revealed to us in different ways. To fulfil the decreed purpose, all that is needed is also earmarked in the heavenly places beforehand. As we continue to move forward in pursuance of the task, it all starts being made available automatically. But most people get involved in worldly affairs, giving them preference over all else, and continue on a different journey. Our turning to God in answer to the call, becomes a blessing and we start on the right path of our destiny!
