Why in heaven’s name are we on earth?

In Acts 13, we read about the first missionary journey by Paul & Barnabas. They were sharing the good news, and in the middle of a sermon, Paul says this:

“For David…served the purpose of God in his own generation” (Acts 13:36)

Now, I want to be successful.  Actually, more than that, I want everyone to know that I am successful.  And hopefully they’ll see it before I die?   But what is really the definition of success. Could it be that Success is in the fulfilling of the complete purpose for which God made you?

I read somewhere that the word used in the Bible for sin originates in the sport of archery – it is the word used to say that you have missed your mark; or missed the target.  I am here on earth to fulfill a purpose, and sin is when I do not reach that purpose.

But what IS my purpose?  What in heaven’s name am I doing on earth? Why am I here?
Maybe a study of the life of one of the faith giants in the Bible could point us in some direction; the life of Paul or David.  Or Jesus.

Jesus himself had a mission. He spend 3 years on His ministry & then prayed this prayer to the Father: “I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do.” (Joh 17:4).  He finished his work, and that was before the cross.
In the life of Jesus, I see the following themes visible in all His actions and his teachings:
– He helped people to know God and to worship Him alone
– He taught them to love each other
– His whole life showed them how he expected them to live  & sent them out to teach it others

– He served His followers, taught them how to Serve God & sent then out to serve others
– He gave them a mission to bring the Good News: You can fulfill your purpose
So, maybe my purpose is to Worship God, Love His People, Follow His example, Serve Him and Spread the Good News.  What is YOUR purpose?

About jacovr

1 Peter 3:15 But in your hearts set Christ apart as holy and acknowledge Him as Lord. Always be ready to give a logical defense to anyone who asks you to account for the hope that is in you, but do it courteously and respectfully.
This entry was posted in Christianity. Bookmark the permalink.

Leave a Reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. Log Out /  Change )

Connecting to %s