Download A Purpose - Great Bible Truths

THE
PURPOSE
OF MY
PURPOSE
A study on man’s desire to
know why he was born
Some review from
the past lessons
Desiring purpose for one’s life is
foundational to the human condition…
Whether we blindly evolved or were created
by the personal God of the Bible, one thing
is true. The human condition has a
fanatical longing to fulfill a purpose. That
is, to make one’s life count for something
bigger than themselves and the grave. A
sense occurs deep within our psyche that
we were placed here to fulfill some purpose
and we are restless until we find it.
In fact, if God did truly create us
for a purpose…
Much of one’s confusion, lack of joy,
frustration, depression and general
unhappiness centers around not living out
this purpose
Does this not apply to both the nonbeliever
who has never found his purpose and the
Christian who has found it but is not living it
out?
Part III – What some people
have suggested as life’s purpose
Hand Analysis
Step 1
You will choose between attending an in-person
meeting to have your hands printed or to receive a
hand printing kit by mail. Imprinting your palm
lines with ink is similar to taking one's
fingerprints. The procedure is simple, painless and
only takes a few minutes. The ink washes off easily
with soap-and-water.
Step 2
Once your hand imprint is received and analyzed, you
will choose to either make an appointment for your
reading or receive a written report of the analysis.
Your analysis will include insights into your career,
love life, destiny and future that will help you
move in a more effortless direction towards the life
you are meant to live. For those who are more
visual or do not live in Tucson, AZ, I recommend
the written report. For locals or those who are
more comfortable with audio, I recommend the
reading in person as I include an audio CD of each
in-person reading, for you to take home and keep.
Step 3
After the analysis is complete, you will make a follow
up appointment with your hand analyst to discuss
any lingering questions you might
have. Additionally, you will receive a
complimentary copy of your hand analysis on an
audio CD so that you may listen to it at home, in
the car, or during your quiet times.
Do you wish you could uncover
your life's purpose?
Do you need help determining which
direction to go in life?
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.elysianexperience.com/palmprint.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.elysianexperience.com/3steps_hand_analysis.html&usg=__p55Rv88b1zGFpNz4KQLPbUlfpg=&h=480&w=333&sz=57&hl=en&start=249&tbnid=wCUR23nmSuPjM:&tbnh=129&tbnw=89&prev=/images%3Fq%3D%2522life%2Bpurpose%2522%26start%3D234%26as_st%3Dy%26ndsp%3D18%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN
In summary…
A Purpose:
It appears that all of the above
advice on life’s purpose
comes from a “somehow I
have landed on planet earth
with no idea of how I got here
so I better come up with
some purpose to get through
life’s journey” perspective.
An Ultimate Purpose:
Rather than a God perspective
where I believe that God has
created me for an ultimate
purpose which is not readily
apparent. I must begin a
journey to find why the
Creator put me here.
Part IV – Has God revealed to
man the purpose of life?
General Revelation
Special Revelation
THE PURPOSE
OF MY
PURPOSE
Part 3
A study on man’s desire to know
why he was born
Part V – What the Bible says
about the purpose of my life
God’s Three-Fold Purpose of our Lives
Let’s start the journey…
Question: Out of the 31,273 verses,
which is the best place and verse in
the Bible to answer this question?
A Pat answer: Paul’s Mars Hill speech
in Acts 17 and specifically verse 27
A. To seek, find, and know God
intimately
25b since He Himself gives to all
people life and breath and all
things;
26 and He made from one man
every nation of mankind to live on
all the face of the earth, having
determined their appointed times
and the boundaries of their
habitation,
27 that they would seek God, if
perhaps they might grope for Him
and find Him, though He is not far
from each one of us; Acts 17:25b-27
This is what we know about our
life purpose from Acts 17:25b-27…
The backdrop to your purpose:
 God gave you biological life
 God gave you breathe, that is all the necessities
to sustain your physical life
 God gave you all things, that is material
possessions, personal talents, parents, family,
I.Q., appearance, personality, etc.
 God determined the years of your life
 God determined where you would be born and
live
And then God partially
hid Himself so that
your life purpose
would be to seek, find,
and know Him.
2. What does it mean that God wants
us to seek and find Him?
To seek God means to
ask the Lord to reveal
Himself and to strive
to know Him and enter
into relationship with
Him. It requires
humility, a submissive
heart, willingness to
obey, repentance, and
receiving Jesus as Lord
and Savior.
a. How much energy is one to
extend in seeking God?
 Grope means to search blindly or with uncertainty
27 that they would seek God, if perhaps they might
grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far
from each one of us; Acts 17:27
 Our entire being is employed as we seek God
27
“The LORD will scatter you among the peoples, and you
will be left few in number among the nations where the
LORD drives you.
28 “There you will serve gods, the work of man’s hands,
wood and stone, which neither see nor hear nor eat nor
smell.
29 “But from there you will seek the LORD your God, and
you will find Him if you search for Him with all your heart
and all your soul. Deuteronomy 4:27-29
b. How does someone know that if
they seek God that they will find Him?
 Because God is close and wants to be found
27 that they would seek God, if perhaps they might
grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far
from each one of us; Acts 17:27
 Because God promises us that if we seek Him He will
let us find Him
9 “As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your
father, and serve Him with a whole heart and a willing
mind; for the LORD searches all hearts, and
understands every intent of the thoughts. If you seek
Him, He will let you find Him; but if you forsake Him,
He will reject you forever. I Chronicles 28:9
c. What if someone rejects God’s purpose
for their life and does not seek God?
 Then God will reject him
9
“As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your
father, and serve Him with a whole heart and a willing
mind; for the LORD searches all hearts, and understands
every intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will let
you find Him; but if you forsake Him, He will reject you
forever. I Chronicles 28:9
1
2
Now the Spirit of God came on Azariah the son of Oded,
and he went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Listen to
me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: the LORD is with you
when you are with Him. And if you seek Him, He will let
you find Him; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you.
II Chronicles 15-1-2
d. In Acts 17:27 Paul does not mention anything
about the redemptive plan of God. Did he mess
up?
No he did not, for in verses 30-31 Paul speaks of
repentance. No easy believism here.
30 “Therefore having overlooked the times of
ignorance, God is now declaring to men that
all people everywhere should repent,
31 because He has fixed a day in which He will
judge the world in righteousness through a
Man whom He has appointed, having
furnished proof to all men by raising Him
from the dead.” Acts 17:30-31
e. Once we find God, is that the end? Do we
ever need to seek Him again?
Answer: Yes
7
Then on that day David first assigned Asaph and his
relatives to give thanks to the LORD.
8 Oh give thanks to the LORD, call upon His name;
Make known His deeds among the peoples.
9 Sing to Him, sing praises to Him;
Speak of all His wonders.
10 Glory in His holy name;
Let the heart of those who seek the LORD be glad.
11 Seek the LORD and His strength;
Seek His face continually. I Chronicles 16:7-11
B. To grow into the image of Christ by
becoming more like the Savior every day
The gift of salvation
comes in three tenses:
1. You were saved
2. You are being saved
3. You will be saved
It is this second tense
that becomes your
second life purpose
1. You were created to grow
28 And we know that God
causes all things to work
together for good to those
who love God, to those who
are called according to His
purpose.
29 For those whom He
foreknew, He also
predestined to become
conformed to the image of
His Son, so that He would
be the firstborn among
many brethren;
Romans 8:28-29
Seven key words:
 Know
 Causes
 All
 Work
 Good
 Love
 Purpose
What is His purpose for you?
Answer: For the
believer to become
conformed to the
image of Christ
What does that mean?
It means to think the
way Jesus thinks, to
act the way Jesus
would act, to feel the
way Jesus would feel.
A. T. Robinson states…
Conformed to the image (συμμορφους της εἰκονος
[summorphous tēs eikonos]). Late adjective from συν
[sun] and μορφη [morphē] and so an inward and not
merely superficial conformity. Εἰκων [Eikōn] is used of
Christ as the very image of the Father (II Cor. 4:4; Col.
1:15). See Phil. 2:6f. for μορφη [morphē].
Here we have both μορφη [morphē] and εἰκων [eikōn]
to express the gradual change in us till we acquire
the likeness of Christ the Son of God so that we
ourselves shall ultimately have the family likeness
of sons of God. Glorious destiny.
Robertson, A. (1997). Word Pictures in the New Testament.
Vol.V c1932, Vol.VI
Other passages which teach this
same truth…
7
For God has not called us for the purpose of
impurity, but in sanctification. I Thessalonians 4:7
28 We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and
teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may
present every man complete in Christ. Colossians 1:28
13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of
the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to
the measure of the stature which belongs to the
fullness of Christ. Ephesians 4:13
24 and put on the new self, which in the likeness of
God has been created in righteousness and holiness
of the truth. Ephesians 4:24
2. How do Christians “grow” into
the image of Christ?
 Through growing in
the word
 Through pain and
difficulties of life
a. Growing in Bible knowledge
and wisdom
15 but speaking the truth in love,
we are to grow up in all aspects
into Him who is the head, even
Christ, Ephesians 4:15
2 like newborn babies, long for
the pure milk of the word, so that
by it you may grow in respect to
salvation, I Peter 2:2
18 but grow in the grace and
knowledge of our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory,
both now and to the day of
eternity. Amen. II Peter 3:18
Five ways that Bible truth and application
cause you to grow spiritually
1.
17
2.
The Bible is truth. It teaches the
believer what truth or reality is and
truth is power.
“Sanctify them in the truth; Your word
is truth. John 17:17
The Bible is a mirror. It shows the
Christian what is wrong in his or her
life.
23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word
and not a doer, he is like a man who
looks at his natural face in a mirror; for
once he has looked at himself and gone
away, he has immediately forgotten what
kind of person he was. James 1:23-24
3.
The Bible is a scalpel. It opens our
hearts before God Who performs open
heart surgery.
12 God means what he says. What he says
goes. His powerful Word is sharp as a
surgeon’s scalpel, cutting through
everything, whether doubt or defense,
laying us open to listen and obey.
Nothing and no one is impervious to
God’s Word. We can’t get away from it—
no matter what. Hebrews 4:12 (The
Message)
4.
7
The Bible is a weapon. It is our defense
as we engage daily in spiritual warfare.
in the word of truth, in the power of God;
by the weapons of righteousness for the
right hand and the left, II Corinthians
6:7
5.
The Bible is a roadmap. It teaches
the believer how to navigate life.
16 All Scripture is inspired by God
and profitable for teaching, for
reproof, for correction, for training
in righteousness;
17 so that the man of God may be
adequate, equipped for every good
work. II Timothy 3:16-17




It teaches showing what is real and
accurate
It reproofs by showing us when we
are on the wrong road
It corrects by showing us how to
get on the right road
It trains us as we use God’s
roadmap to Christian living
b. Growing in trials
and tribulations
2 Consider it all joy, my
brethren, when you encounter
various trials,
3 knowing that the testing of
your faith produces endurance.
4 And let endurance have its
perfect result, so that you may be
perfect and complete, lacking in
nothing. James 1:2-4
Question: Why is “consider it all joy”
more of a wishful Hallmark card
expression rather than something that
most Christians actually pull off?
Answer: Because most Christians do not
prize spiritual growth as their life
purpose and they do not realize that
the only way to get there is through
pain, difficulties, and problems.