Fulfilling the Purpose of God

“For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep and was laid with his fathers and saw corruption…”—Acts 13:36

There has been a great deal of conversation in the last decade about fulfilling one’s purpose, and perhaps the best example is Rick Warren’s “The Purpose Driven Life.” Warren is the pastor of Saddleback Church, an evangelical mega-church in Lake Forest, California.  His book is a best-seller, with tens of millions of copies sold worldwide.  The book’s forty chapters are broken down into six sections entitled: What on Earth Am I Here For?, Purpose #1: You were Planned for God’s Pleasure (Worship), Purpose #2: You Were Formed for God’s Family (Fellowship), Purpose #3: You Were Created to Become Like Christ (Discipleship), Purpose #4: You Were Shaped for Serving God (Ministry), and Purpose #5: You Were Made for a Mission (Mission).

In our postmodern society, where meaning is severed from so much of life, men and women desperately want to understand their purpose—which is why Warren’s book has been so successful.  He has struck a nerve by calling attention to the purpose for which God has created us—which can be summed up as glorifying God.  As Isaiah the prophet wrote, “everyone who is called by My name, whom I created for My glory, whom I formed and made"—Isaiah 43:7.

In the book of Acts, during Paul’s first missionary journey in Antioch of Pisidia, Paul was reviewing the history of Israel and contrasting the death of David with the death and resurrection of Christ.  He said, “For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep and was laid with his fathers and saw corruption…” What we wish to look at today is the portion of the Scripture where we learn that David had “served the purpose of God in his own generation.” This begs the question: how can we serve the purpose of God in our generation?  In other words, how can we glorify God today?

There are several ways in which we can glorify God today—and many of them are mentioned in Warren’s book: glorifying God in our worship, fellowship, discipleship, ministry, and mission.  We must ask ourselves the question: Are we worshipers? Do we seek opportunities to worship God?  It is in our worship that God communicates Himself to us, and by worshiping Him we are not only encountering Christ, but hopefully becoming like Him.  Are we seeking to fellowship with other believers?  To encourage one another along in our walk with Christ as long as it is called today (Hebrews 10:24-25)?  What about our discipleship?  Are we becoming like Christ in every aspect of our lives by adhering to His Word and forsaking sin?  Do we have a ministry?  Are we actively serving God?  And last, but not least, are we participating in God’s mission by reaching the world for His name (cf. Matthew 28:19-20, Acts 1:8)?

The purposes of God for us are clear within His Word, but it is up to us to pursue them in the here and now.  God has made us for a purpose—to know and glorify Him.  It is by glorifying Him that we are able to find our satisfaction in Him and, as John Piper has stated, it is by our being satisfied in Him that God is most glorified in us.  How about you?  Are you finding your satisfaction in Christ?  Or are you looking to the things of this world?  Is your joy in Christ, or in something else?

Don’t spend your time trying to find satisfaction in the things of this world, but seek after Him who created us for Himself, so that we might experience the joy of knowing and being known by Him.  He is our highest joy, our soul’s satisfaction, and the purpose for which we have been made.  May each of us learn the joy of following Him because “God is most glorified in us, when we are most satisfied in Him”—John Piper.  May we, too, like David, fulfill the purpose for which we have been made, for it is to our joy to do so.  Amen.