This is a call for every believer to discover the destiny for which they were created. This is a charge to find your purpose fulfilled by taking your rightful place in the completion of the Great Commission. This is an opportunity to discover that living out Jesus’ final mandate is the key to living your life with purpose and joy.
If you regard this as an overstatement, let me ask you some questions: Do you ever feel as if your life lacks purpose? Do you wonder if you were created to play a role in a plot more extensive than your individual story? Do you ever read the Bible and sense a nagging suspicion that you might be missing something? Do you see a discrepancy between your life and the faith and purpose of the early Christ-followers found in Scripture?
If you find yourself answering yes to any of the questions above, let me ask you one more. On a scale from one to ten, to what degree has the purpose of your life been linked to the fulfillment of the Great Commission? Jesus gave a final mandate to all who would call themselves Christ followers; to share his good news and make disciples, who then themselves make disciples, until all the peoples of earth have heard how to be reconciled to the Father. This is the most meaningful and fulfilling purpose with which any church or individual follower of Jesus could align. If you gave yourself a low score on the question above, I have some good news for you. You are about to experience a “purpose revival” that will dramatically impact your life!
We all long for that day when the Master says, “Well done, good and faithful servant!” (Matt. 25:21a) Those words are based on what we have done with what we have been given. In context, Jesus tells a story to make a very specific point. (The story is found in Matt. 25:14-46.) The master, representing God, gives each of his servants something to steward. A talent. An entrustment. The master departs but expects his servants to be faithful with what they’ve been given. When the master returns, those servants who were faithful with the entrusted gift were awarded with these words:
His master replied, “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!” (Matt. 25:21)
Jesus also had a stern rebuke for the one who was not a good steward.
So, the question is, have we been obedient and faithful with what Jesus has entrusted to us? We want to be certain of the answer to that question because Jesus’ reward at the end of our life is based on our faithfulness to his commands. I am not inferring works righteousness, but Jesus clearly promises heavenly rewards for those who obey. The Bible does not specify what those rewards will be, but knowing Jesus, they will be fantastic! Obedience to Jesus not only provides a future benefit, but the joy and fulfillment that we experience in this life is directly related to our faithful stewardship of what he has entrusted to us. In Jesus’ summation to this story he said:
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him…” (Matt. 25:31-32) Discovering that your faithfulness to his commands will have a direct connection to this ingathering of the nations is significant!
It may sound like an oversimplification, but we can summarize all of God’s commands in just two directives: The Great Commandment and the Great Commission.
When asked what the greatest commandment was, Jesus replied, “‘ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matt. 22:37-40)
The word that Jesus used for “love” in this passage is agapao, which means a commitment of devotion that is directed by the will. We get to choose to love God! It’s not a flighty falling in love, but a willful life-decision we make. Jesus is very clear about how we express our love to God. “If you love me, you will obey what I command.” (John 14:15)
Please understand that we are not talking about earning salvation through obedience. Salvation comes only as a gift from the Father through the sacrifice of his Son. We are talking rather about our response to that love, that grace, causing us to live our lives in devotion to him. The root of our problem, leading to purposeless lives, is that we have made faith all about the end goal of future salvation when the Father desires a vibrant daily relationship with his sons and daughters.
Our narrow focus on how we can get into heaven has kept us from seeing that getting saved is just the beginning of the journey—the Father has so much more in store for us. Salvation is the starting place, and it’s high time we discover our purpose! Eternal life starts now and is filled with purpose and adventure as we walk in obedience to his commands.
So what are those commands? According to Jesus, the summation of all the law and the prophets is to love God and to love others. Jesus refers to a scripture that would have been very familiar to his listeners:
Love GOD, your God, with your whole heart: love him with all that’s in you, love him with all you’ve got!
Write these commandments that I’ve given you today on your hearts. Get them inside of you and then get them inside your children. Talk about them wherever you are, sitting at home or walking in the street; talk about them from the time you get up in the morning to when you fall into bed at night. Tie them on your hands and foreheads as a reminder; inscribe them on the doorposts of your homes and on your city gates. (Deut. 6:5-9 MSG)
I want you to see that Jesus advocates a radical love relationship with God; one so vital that you cannot stop thinking or talking about him. He should occupy our hearts and every waking hour of our days. You can’t get enough of God and your purpose is fueled by your radical love for Him! I’m here to tell you that this is the only kind of Christianity that makes any sense at all. Many try to practice a lukewarm Christianity in which they have just enough of God for a ticket to heaven, and then wonder why their lives lack vibrancy. When you follow Jesus wholeheartedly, it leads to a radical love relationship with the Father. Hold on, because he will stretch you to the max and you will be the better for it.
Jesus continues his summation in declaring that it is not enough to love God, we also must love others. The apostle John echoes this truth:
…I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the beginning. I ask that we love one another. And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love. (2 John 1:5b-6)
As faithful stewards of the Father’s trust, we want to be obedient not only to the Great Commandment but also to his Great Commission. Jesus gave one final mandate right before he ascended to heaven. This final command (commission) brings the two mandates together into a beautiful harmony.
Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matt. 28:18-20 NIV)
We demonstrate our love for God by obedience to his command to share his love to the whole world. We love others by inviting them into a love relationship with the Father.
This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person’s failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him. (John 3:16-18 MSG)
In the Great Commission, God calls us to “go and tell.” He gives us the opportunity to demonstrate our love for him through our obedience to share the good news and make disciples. That includes every person in the whole world.
So, one may ask, in the light of the Great Commandment and the Great Commission, what have I done with what I have been given? Have I been a faithful steward of all the Father has entrusted to me?
When we engage in practicing the greatest commandment of all, and likewise the greatest commission, our lives are infused with destiny beyond our imagination. You are about to embark on an adventure that will drastically change your life.
Begin by asking some important “what if” questions:
· What if the Great Commission is the most important mandate because Father knows better than anyone that His commission is integrally tied to my destiny?
· What if it’s not about God trying to get me to do something that I really don’t want to do, but rather that he is opening a door to my most fulfilling life?
· What if my life can have purpose?
· What if I can impact another human being and see that person’s life changed for eternity?
· What if I was created for something much bigger than myself?
Dr. Marty Meyer’s new book, Mission Accomplished will lead you on a journey of discovering the destiny for which you were created. We are going to explore the meaning of the Great Commission and how it is accomplished. Remember, your purpose is connected to its fulfillment. We will seek ways to engage Christ’s call in meaningful ways and discover an incredible power with which we can tap into when we are living presently and purposefully with Jesus. Our God-empowered purpose leads to maximum impact, making our actions count both for the moment and for eternity.
I challenge you to read Mission Accomplished with an open heart and allow a flame begin to flicker within you. It is his desire that your heart come alive and your days be filled with meaning and purpose. I pray that your heart will burn with a passion for the name of Jesus to be known and worshiped among every people and language until you hear the words of the Master saying, “Well done, good and faithful servant. Mission accomplished!”
Order your copy of Mission Accomplished here: https://epicfaith.net/product/mission-accomplished-pre-order/