1 Corinthians 2:When I first came to you, dear brothers and sisters, I didn’t use lofty words and impressive wisdom to tell you God’s secret plan. 2 For I decided that while I was with you I would forget everything except Jesus Christ, the one who was crucified. 3 I came to you in weakness—timid and trembling. 4 And my message and my preaching were very plain. Rather than using clever and persuasive speeches, I relied only on the power of the Holy Spirit. 5 I did this so you would trust not in human wisdom but in the power of God.
6 Yet when I am among mature believers, I do speak with words of wisdom, but not the kind of wisdom that belongs to this world or to the rulers of this world, who are soon forgotten. 7 No, the wisdom we speak of is the mystery of God—his plan that was previously hidden, even though he made it for our ultimate glory before the world began. 8 But the rulers of this world have not understood it; if they had, they would not have crucified our glorious Lord. 9 That is what the Scriptures mean when they say, No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.”
10 But it was to us that God revealed these things by his Spirit. For his Spirit searches out everything and shows us God’s deep secrets. 11 No one can know a person’s thoughts except that person’s own spirit, and no one can know God’s thoughts except God’s own Spirit. 12 And we have received God’s Spirit (not the world’s spirit), so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us.
13 When we tell you these things, we do not use words that come from human wisdom. Instead, we speak words given to us by the Spirit, using the Spirit’s words to explain spiritual truths. 14 But people who aren’t spiritual can’t receive these truths from God’s Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them and they can’t understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means. 15 Those who are spiritual can evaluate all things, but they themselves cannot be evaluated by others.
Charles Kingsley wrote We act as though comfort and luxury were the chief requirements of life, when all that we need to make us really happy is something to be enthusiastic about.
We are all looking for Purpose and we believe in that purpose we will find our identity. But, what if our purpose is found as a result of our identity? Let me esplain... From a human perspective our purpose is many times generated around position, popularity, prestige, politics, and many other words that start with a P. In reality we are at our best purpose or perfect purpose when we are in line with Christ and who He made us to be. John Wesley wrote I want the whole Christ for my Savior, the whole Bible for my book, the whole Church for my fellowship, and the whole world for my mission field. In other words, if our identity is in Christ alone and our purpose in life is aligned with His purpose for me, I have my perfect purpose!!
Since our purpose comes out of "who we are" in Christ, it would stand to reason that we need to find out "who we are" in Christ. In verse 2 of the above Scripture Paul brings to light his attitude about the importance of this relationship with Christ where He wrote 2 For I decided that while I was with you I would forget everything except Jesus Christ, the one who was crucified. You might say "forget everything else?" But, that is "who I am!" In the natural man that is true, but when the Holy Spirit comes in your life the natural man is put on the shelf and the Spirit man comes to life. So, now we have to look at things from a different perspective. A perspective where Christ is the center of my personal universe and I rotate around what He wants because He is my sun and holds everything about me together. Without Him I unravel in a horrible fashion and my decisions in life are below par at best. Look at the following story. One of golf's immortal moments came when a Scotchman demonstrated the new game to President Ulysses Grant. Carefully placing the ball on the tee, he took a mighty swing. The club hit the turf and scattered dirt all over the President's beard and surrounding vicinity, while the ball placidly waited on the tee. Again the Scotchman swung, and again he missed. Our President waited patiently through six tries and then quietly stated, "There seems to be a fair amount of exercise in the game, but I fail to see the purpose of the ball.
Our world feeds a load of nothing when it presents what it says as giving us purpose again and again, but this world keeps on missing the ball (per the above story). Which in turn causes us to ask "what is the purpose?" Christ on the other hand takes a yielded heart and gives our identity an overhaul and our whole life begins to change and thus changes our purpose to a Perfect Purpose for the believer. Not perfect because we are no perfect, but perfect because our purpose giver is the perfect on, Jesus Christ. Paul wrote it like this in Romans 12:2 2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. This perfect purpose comes from Jesus and it is pure in it's form and function and it is available to all who come seeking. Matthew 6:33 says 33 Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.
The difference maker is Jesus and those who don't know Him will not find that pure purpose that is available to all who are believers. Those non-believers cannot see it and they cannot understand believers who are following the purpose of Christ. Verse 14 of 1 Corinthians 2 says it this way. 14 But people who aren’t spiritual can’t receive these truths from God’s Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them and they can’t understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means.
So, be a seeker who is seeking God's purpose for your life and know that you will find it when you find your identity in Him and Him alone. What is our purpose? Look inward and Jesus will show you His perfect will for you.
The Pilgrimage continues.....
David Warren
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