Dear Friend,
God’s Great Calling on His Children
Sometimes, I just wish God would hand out a detailed list of instructions for my life. I wish I could open the Bible and have it describe my exact situation, and tell me exactly what I should do to obey Him in every situation that I may face. I like to think that I would find it easy to obey God, if He would just explain what my purpose and calling is in life. Instead, I find there is so much mystery in my walk with God. What I mean is that the particular calling that God has for my life isn’t revealed in Scripture. Determining God’s call on your life is important, but you need to understand this subject through the lens of the Bible.
The Bible describes two different dimensions of God’s calling on people. The first is the General Calling that God gives to each person. God calls all of mankind to repent and believe in Jesus Christ. (Acts 2:38-39; 26:19-23) Though all are called to repent and believe, we know that many will reject that call. Every born-again Christian must obey the Great Commission found in Matthew 28:18-20. They preach the gospel with their lives and with their tongues, calling all of mankind to repent and believe. God’s will is that every one of His sons and daughters would spread the good news of Jesus Christ.Alot more could be said about God’s general calling, but I want to focus in this sermon on the particular calling God places on your life.
The secular World at large has so many ways to define your calling. The one consistent factor about the World’s concept of calling is that your calling is found within yourself. The World believes that if you look inside yourself, you will find your calling. Contrary to what the World says, I believe that the Word of God is the only authority that Christians should follow. I believe that Scripture is completely sufficient to answer the question “What is my particular calling?” I believe that any other methods used to answer this question are unhelpful and confusing. God created mankind in His image. This means that He has the authority and right to define what our purpose is. In His great love and kindness, He inspired the authors of Scripture to answer this important question.
The Bible boldly declares that there is something radically different about mankind and the rest of God’s creation. People are created in the Image of God. That means that they reflect unique aspects of God that the rest of creation doesn’t. Just as a mirror reflects what stands before it, so mankind reflects God in unique ways.
Before the Fall ofAdam and Eve, God’s design was that mankind would steward and rule over His creation. It pleased God that mankind would work the earth, bringing forth all it’s bounty for His glory.After the Fall, sin entered the heart of mankind. The command to subdue and rule became an oppressive authority grab. Instead of reflecting God in His good creation, mankind looked for every opportunity to overthrow God and rule themselves. God had uniquely equipped humanity to have dominion over the earth, but sin brought death into the equation. What’s most important for our purposes is to see and understand that it is God who gives mankind his purpose and calling. We are created for a particular calling, and that calling comes from outside of our own wants and desires for our lives.
God calls us to work the earth, to take care of it for our good and His glory. Sin has shifted our hearts away from serving God and toward serving ourselves. Paul says this in 2 Corinthians 5:9-10, “So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.” 2 Corinthians 5:9-10
Genesis 1:26-28 says, Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.And God blessed them.And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” Genesis 1:26-28 ESV
The Bible boldly declares that there is something radically different about mankind and the rest of God’s creation. People are created in the Image of God. That means that they reflect unique aspects of God that the rest of creation doesn’t. Just as a mirror reflects what stands before it, so mankind reflects God in unique ways.
Before the Fall ofAdam and Eve, God’s design was that mankind would steward and rule over His creation. It pleased God that mankind would work the earth, bringing forth all it’s bounty for His glory.After the Fall, sin entered the heart of mankind. The command to subdue and rule became an oppressive authority grab. Instead of reflecting God in His good creation, mankind looked for every opportunity to overthrow God and rule themselves. God had uniquely equipped humanity to have dominion over the earth, but sin brought death into the equation. What’s most important for our purposes is to see and understand that it is God who gives mankind his purpose and calling. We are created for a particular calling, and that calling comes from outside of our own wants and desires for our lives.
God calls us to work the earth, to take care of it for our good and His glory. Sin has shifted our hearts away from serving God and toward serving ourselves. Paul says this in 2 Corinthians 5:9-10, “So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.” 2 Corinthians 5:9-10
The previous verses give greater clarity about what Paul means when he talks about being at home or away. The true home for every Christian is heaven. Paul’s point is that whether we are serving God here on earth, or we are at home with Him in heaven, our calling remains the same. We were made to please God, and we will give an account to God for everything we say or do in the body. God’s calling is that we would use the gifts and skills that God gives us to please Him.
In the United States we live with an incredible amount of prosperity, security, and access to pleasure. The Lord has richly blessed this nation, which founded its constitution and laws off of God’s Word. Prosperity, security and pleasure are great gifts from God, that we should regularly give Him thanks for. However, all the problems we see and recognize in our great country today flow from having the wrong ambitions. We make it our ambition to pursue God’s blessings rather than God Himself. Prosperity, security, and pleasure are not bad, but these good blessings become bad rulers when we live for them rather than for God. Living this way truly does not please God, and Paul warns us sharply that we will have to give an account for our mixed-up ambitions.
God’s design for His children is that they would strive to please Jesus in every single area of their lives. The Holy Spirit, the Bible, and the Church are tools that God uses to reshape the way Christians think, speak, and act. God’s call to each Christian is that they would use the tools He provides to build His Kingdom on earth.
Imagine a master architect who designs a magnificent building a cathedral, full of intricate details, strong foundations, and a purpose that will outlast many generations. He writes down every detail of the plan in a blueprint every beam, every window, every stone is carefully placed using all his decades of experience. Now imagine a new builder, with hardly any experience, standing at the construction site. He’s holding the blueprint in his hands, but instead of following it, he says, “I’ll just go with what feels right. Who needs these blueprints anyway? I’ll follow my gut. I think the tower would look better on the other side. Maybe we don’t need that foundation it takes too long.” What happens to that building? It collapses, or worse, it becomes something it was never intended to be. Brothers and sisters, that’s what it looks like when we try to discern our calling apart from God’s Word. God is the Master Architect of our lives. In His incredible wisdom and love, He’s given us the blueprint in Scripture. He’s given us the tools in the Spirit and the Church.And He’s given us a purpose: to glorify Him and build His kingdom. When we ignore His plan and look only inward, we end up building lives that may look impressive, but collapse under pressure. But when we trust the blueprint when we read it, believe it, and build according to it we become living testimonies to the wisdom and glory of our great God.
One of the ways this biblical principle plays out is in our relationships. How are we to respond to imperfect and sinful authority? How are we to treat people with different convictions, beliefs, and experiences? Peter says this in 1 Peter 2:13-17, “ 13 Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, 14 or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. 15 For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. 16 Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. 17 Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor. 1 Peter 2:13-17 Christians are called by God to do good to all people. Even if our president isn’t making rules or laws that we agree with, even if our boss mistreats us, or we feel abused, God calls us to do good.
No one knows what the future may hold for the United States. What is clear is that the polarization of our politics reflects the divisions in our own homes and communities. There is so much hate, fear, and apathy that plagues the minds and hearts ofAmerican citizens.As true Christians seek to obey God in this chaotic and violent climate, the real possibility for serious persecution continues. Peter is writing to churches that know from experience the persecutions that come from unbelievers. He encourages the faithful Christians to continue to do good, even when it hurts, because this is God’s will for His children. By doing good, faithful Christians shine as bright lights in a chaotic world.
God equips His children with all that they need to glorify Him. When we consider how to live our lives in ways that please God, the Bible is the only authoritative and sufficient source we can turn to. Paul encourages Timothy with this glorious truth in 2 Timothy 3:16-17. “16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 The source of Scripture is the divine breath of God. The same God who created all the universe as we know it by speaking it into existence, also carried the original authors of the Bible to write down exactly what they did. The Bible is beneficial for directing our lives. To know God’s Will and to please Him is to submit our thoughts, actions, and words to the revealed will of God in Scripture.
So many people are confused about this point. Many don’t truly believe that the Bible is sufficient to shape or form our lives.And yet, the Bible is what will make a man or woman complete and equipped for every good work. If we really believed that we could find answers to the problems that we face in life in Scripture, we would read the Bible far more than we do.As it is, the biblical illiteracy in the United States is incredible. Many pastors are failing to equip their congregations to read the Bible well. Instead, the pulpit is used to “tickle the ears” of the masses, out of fear of losing their support. God’s calling on the lives of His children flows from practical obedience to His Word.
All the teaching, all the reproof, all the correction, and all the training needed to live a life that pleases Jesus Christ flows from the Bible. When we approach Scripture as the living, breathing Word of God, He uses it to change us in Christlikeness. We live according to God’s call by growing in our knowledge of Jesus Christ and growing in our obedience to Him. Peter says this in 2 Peter 1:2-4, “2 May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. 3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, 4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.” 2 Peter 1:2-4
Peter roots our grace and peace in the knowledge of God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. We come to know God most clearly in His Word. It is by God’s divine power that He has revealed so much about Himself to us in Scripture. In the Bible we find all that we need for life and godliness, and we don’t need anything else. God calls us to live holy and upright lives in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation. We escape the corruption in the world by combating sinful desires with God’s glorious promises found in Scripture. These verses set our eyes on the glory and excellence of God, and His unique calling and equipping to cause us to thrive in a sin filled, and corrupt world.
I want to leave you with some clear application to the question, “what is my calling?” We have looked at some critical texts that begin to point you in the right direction. God’s specific calling on your life is known by experience and hard work. God’s sovereign and good will for all of His children is lived out, more than it is known beforehand. To know what God calls you to do in your life, you must know God’s character revealed in His Word. He has left you with 3 incredible resources to discern His specific calling in your life. First, He has given you the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God dwells within every believer, and He is the great Counselor. He will lead you in God’s calling. Second, our Lord has given you His Word. The Bible is sufficient to discern God’s unique calling in your life. Third, God has placed you in His Church. The community of believers can help you discover the gifts God has given you, and help you use those gifts to build His kingdom on earth. I hope this sermon has helped you think through this important topic.
Yours in Christ,
ChrisA. Rice