Living On Purpose (part 2) - 15:12-19
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Introduction
Introduction
Everyone intuitively understands that purpose is necessary.
The problem is that we look to the wrong source for purpose.
Here’s what I mean.
Many sources state that the way to find purpose is to look within.
Think about what you want, what makes you happy; that is your purpose.
The problem with this approach is that a personal purpose is limited in its impact and expression.
Those who are living out a personal purpose can become disillusioned when things don’t go as expected.
Other sources state that purpose must be found in a larger context.
Find something you are passionate about, join or start a group that wants to make progress in your passion, and work with them.
This maximizes impact, and gives community.
The problem here is that history demonstrates how quickly groups and organizations lose or corrupt their focus and mission resulting in disaster.
What we need is a both/and approach.
We need personal purpose within the context of group purpose.
That is what we have in Christianity.
We have a purpose that has been given to us by God.
We have a task that the Church as a whole is to accomplish.
To achieve the goal and accomplish the task, God has given to each of us gifts, talents, and abilities.
The Big C church accomplishes its mission as the local churches accomplish theirs in their context.
For a local church to do what God has called them to do, each person in that church must use their gifts, talents, and abilities as God has equipped them.
Let me give you some visualization of this.
Here we have the church - all believers.
What is the task of the church? To glorify God.
That task, that mission, is carried out through the local churches. How?
The local church equips the saints for ministry, gives them a place to serve, teaches how and provides opportunity to proclaim the gospel, and is a source of encouragement for believers.
How do these things happen? How do we equip, serve, proclaim, and encourage?
Every single believer uses their gifts, talents, and abilities as directed by the Holy Spirit through the Word of God.
This is how Scripture indicates we accomplish our mission!
Our mission is not only to reach the lost.
Our mission is not only to equip the saints.
Our mission is to glorify God as we reach the lost and equip the saints!
That is our purpose.
So.
What does our passage on the resurrection of Christ have to do with our purpose?
Everything!
As we noted last time, the resurrection gives us purpose.
For the believer, purpose is not about finding happiness.
Purpose is about submitting ourselves to Christ and embracing the joy He offers.
Apart from the resurrection of Christ, we have no purpose.
Our purpose is not discovered or found.
Our purpose is given to us.
Principle:
The resurrection of Jesus Christ gives us purpose.
Guidance:
To live a life of purpose three needs must be met.
Outcome:
When we live with purpose we draw people to Jesus.
To live a life of purpose three needs must be met.
We saw the first two last time, let’s be reminded of them really quickly.
Need #1…
1. You Need A Transformation vv. 1-7
1. You Need A Transformation vv. 1-7
Salvation is what we need! We need to be transformed by the gospel of Jesus Christ and faith in Him.
Two lessons about transformation.
Lesson #1…
a. Transformation is conditional vv. 1-4
a. Transformation is conditional vv. 1-4
We cannot be transformed until we place our faith in Jesus Christ!
The only source of transformation that exists is faith in Jesus Christ.
Two lessons about transformation.
Lesson #1: Transformation is conditional.
Lesson #2…
b. Transformation is unlimited vv. 5-7
b. Transformation is unlimited vv. 5-7
No one is excluded.
Not a denier like Peter
Not fearful forsakers like the apostles
Not the fickle crowd of 500
Not faithless family members like James
Not fair-weather followers like the apostles
Not even a persecutor like Paul
The only person who cannot be transformed is the person who dies in unbelief.
To live a life of purpose three needs must be met.
#1: You need a transformation.
#2…
2. You Need To Grow vv. 8-11
2. You Need To Grow vv. 8-11
The process of sanctification took Paul from the least to someone who labored abundantly.
Two realities about growth.
Reality #1…
a. Growth has a beginning vv. 8-9
a. Growth has a beginning vv. 8-9
The only thing hindering our growth is our own lack of submission to Christ.
Two realities about growth.
Reality #1: Growth has a beginning.
Reality #2…
b. Growth has a benefactor vv. 10-11
b. Growth has a benefactor vv. 10-11
We grow and mature only as we accept and stand in the grace of God.
We wrapped up last time by noting that
Transformation and growth bring with them the ability to live with purpose.
Today we get into the third need.
To live a life of purpose three needs must be met.
#1: You need a transformation.
#2: You need to grow.
#3…
3. You Need Direction vv. 12-19
3. You Need Direction vv. 12-19
Having a purpose is all well and good, but we need to know where to go with it.
As we have been going through things in our house, I ran across a turn by turn list of directions that I used when I first headed to Frontier School of the Bible.
Back then, that was how us poor people did it.
We didn’t have a GPS, we didn’t have a smart phone, we had printed sheets of paper that listed your next turn, how many miles and/or minutes it was to there, and what exit it was.
As my Dad and I drove the 1,169 miles from Burney, CA, to Lagrange, WY, we needed help to make the roughly 23 turns and exits.
Without direction we cannot achieve our purpose.
Here in 1 Corinthians 15, Paul reveals to us two attitudes that direction demands of us.
If we are going to accomplish our purpose, there are two attitudes demanded of us.
Attitude #1…
a. Direction demands faith vv. 12-15
a. Direction demands faith vv. 12-15
Our purpose is to glorify God through seeing people saved, discipled, and sent out to reach others.
We proclaim Christ, crucified, risen, and coming again.
That is the gospel, that is what saves us and puts us on this whole journey.
Faith in the death, burial and resurrection of Christ is what salvation is all about.
Here’s the problem.
There is no substance to our faith if Christ is not risen!
Listed here in this passage are some things we take on faith and evidence.
Look with me first at verse 12.
12 Now if Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?
Though Paul has listed for us the eye-witnesses of the resurrection, I was not there, nor have I met any of them.
After reading the evidence presented in Scripture I still must make the choice to believe.
I must exercise faith to believe in the resurrection of the dead.
I am then called to preach or proclaim the risen Christ.
To proclaim a resurrected Christ, I must believe that resurrection is possible!
We cannot have one without the other!
Some in Paul’s day were saying that there wouldn’t be a future resurrection while simultaneously preaching a resurrected Christ.
You can’t do that!
They rise or fall together.
That is Paul’s point in v. 13.
13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen.
He can’t really put it any more bluntly.
To proclaim Jesus as the Messiah and Savior, we must believe that He is alive, that He rose from the dead.
This requires us to believe, to have faith, that resurrection is possible.
This goes back to what we believe about God.
Can God do whatever He wants?
Yes! He is Omnipotent, He is all powerful!
He can raise the dead.
He has raised the dead.
He will raise the dead.
If we do not believe in a future resurrection, we cannot believe in a past one.
Either Christ rose and those who have died in Christ will rise too, or no one has, nor ever will, rise.
If no one has ever risen, we do not have a gospel message.
Look at v. 14
14 And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty.
Empty – κενός (kenos) vain; empty; empty-handed. vain adjs. — vacuous and devoid of any advantage or benefit. Predicate adjective, nominative, singular, neuter.
Empty – κενός (kenos)
If Jesus didn’t rise from the dead, we have no message to preach.
Worse than that.
The preaching we do and the faith we cling to are empty!
They are devoid of benefit!
Why? Because…
A dead Savior is no savior at all.
Let me put this into a simple picture.
You are on a ship. It crashes and is sinking.
A Coast Guard cutter comes up and is rescuing people.
A man comes to the edge of the boat, and offers to throw you a life preserver.
Do you take him up on it, or do you ask the dead body floating next to you for help?
If our faith rests in a dead Savior, our faith is empty, vain, devoid of benefit.
Our faith in Jesus Christ rests on the foundation of His resurrection.
We believe in Jesus because He is alive!
He rose from the dead, ascended to heaven, and will return.
All of this is true because the resurrection is a reality.
There is substance to our faith because Christ is alive.
The resurrection IS a reality.
If it isn’t, we are guilty of lying about God Himself.
Look at v. 15.
15 Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up—if in fact the dead do not rise.
Here’s the argument.
People are saying that there will be no future resurrection.
If that is true, then there cannot be a past resurrection.
If there was no past resurrection, Jesus didn’t rise from the dead.
If Jesus didn’t rise we have nothing to proclaim and nothing to believe in.
Paul now puts the finishing touch on his argument.
We are false witnesses of God if Jesus didn’t rise.
To us, this might not be a big deal.
Paul is saying that if there is no resurrection we are guilty of misrepresenting the character of God.
Lying about God is blasphemy.
In the ancient world blasphemy was punishable by death.
Paul wants them to understand the seriousness of what they are saying!
To deny the reality of the resurrection is to blaspheme God!
We cannot say that God raised up Christ if the dead don’t rise.
Now.
We have to flip this around.
If we believe in the resurrection, we must proclaim Him.
Because Jesus is alive and we believe in His resurrection, we must speak!
This is how we live with purpose.
This is direction, this is our faith.
If we want to live with purpose then we need direction, but direction demands faith.
We must believe in what Scripture reveals.
We must believe in our resurrected Lord!
It is not enough to believe bits and pieces of the gospel, we must embrace it all.
When we have faith, it gives us direction and direction enables us to live with purpose.
Here’s what makes all of this practical.
We all need purpose, and we need direction to achieve that purpose.
But before direction comes faith.
Do we believe what God has revealed?
Do we really believe it?
What we believe changes how we behave.
Do we believe what God says about gossip?
How does that belief change how we talk?
Do we believe what God says about human sexuality both inside and outside of marriage?
How does that change our actions?
Do we believe what God says about caring for one another?
How does that change our interactions?
Our faith, what we believe, changes everything.
We build our direction, our purpose, around what Scripture says and that changes how we view ourselves, it changes our friendships, it changes our marriages, our parenting, our lives.
However, none of that changes if we do not believe what God has revealed in His Word.
That lies at the heart of what Paul is saying here.
Do we believe?
Or is everything empty, and pointless?
Direction for our lives comes only from God and His Word.
Don’t look anywhere else for it.
Believe what God has revealed and adjust your life accordingly.
If we are going to accomplish our purpose, there are two attitudes demanded of us.
Attitude #1: Direction demands faith.
Attitude #2…
b. Direction demands hope vv. 16-19
b. Direction demands hope vv. 16-19
The loss of hope can lead to a loss of the will and desire to live.
Hope keeps us going when life is difficult.
Hope puts one foot in front of the other when we are tired of walking!
Hope is what gives us motivation, endurance, and strength.
As followers of Jesus Christ, we have a never-ending source of hope.
However.
We have no hope in this life, or in the life to come, apart from the resurrection of Christ.
Look with me at verses 16-17.
16 For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen.
17 And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins!
The first hope we encounter here is the hope of forgiven sin.
For sin to be forgiven there must be a forgiver and we find Him in v. 16.
If the dead don’t rise, then Christ is not risen.
If the dead don’t rise, we have no one to forgive our sin!
That’s what verse 17 declares.
If Christ didn’t rise, our faith is pointless and we are still in our sin.
Futile – μάταιος (mataios) useless; empty; fruitless. empty (vacuous) adjs. — devoid of significance, point, or benefit. Predicate adjective, nominative, singular, feminine.
Futile – μάταιος (mataios)
There is no benefit to our faith if Jesus did not rise!
In fact, the end of the verse tells us that we are worse off than before!
That’s what “still” means.
We are deeper into our sin than ever!
Why? Because we’ve been lying about what God has done!
If Christ is not risen He cannot forgive and cannot be the Savior
If the sacrifice of Christ was not accepted, we are still in our sin.
We are more separated from God than ever!
1 Peter 3:18 helps us to understand the problem.
1 Peter 3:18
18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit,
Christ suffered for us.
He, the just, suffered for us, the unjust, so that we could come to God.
The proof of this is that he was put to death, but made alive again.
Do you see the problem?
If He didn’t die and wasn’t made alive again, our sin is not forgiven!
He cannot bring us to God if He is dead!
This is where our hope lies!
Our hope rests in the reality that we have been forgiven.
That forgiveness rests in the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
We have nothing to believe in and no forgiveness if there is no resurrection!
We have no purpose, no direction, because we are still lost!
We need direction.
Our direction rests in the hope of forgiven sin.
Forgiven sin is the message we proclaim.
With forgiven sin comes the hope of eternal life.
Look with me at verses 18-19.
18 Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.
19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.
Here it is, clearly stated.
If Christ didn’t rise, then resurrection is impossible.
If resurrection is impossible, believers who have died are gone forever.
When a believing loved one dies, our comfort comes from the resurrection.
If there is no resurrection, there is no comfort!
This is what 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 is all about, the comfort that the resurrection brings.
Go there with me.
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
13 But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope.
14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.
15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep.
16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.
17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.
18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.
We sorrow at the death of loved ones, but not like those who have no hope.
What is our hope?
The return of a resurrected Christ!
If Christ didn’t rise, He cannot return.
That’s what v. 14 says. We believe that Jesus died and rose again.
One day Christ is going to return for us and He will bring with Him all the saints that have gone before!
We will meet the Lord and all the saints in the air!
This is our comfort!
This is our hope!
Let’s talk about this word “hope”.
Hope – ἐλπίζω (elpizō) hope; put one's hope. to hope (in someone) v. — to have trust or confidence in someone; especially as regards the future. Verb, perfect, active, substantival participle, plural, nominative, masculine.
Hope – ἐλπίζω (elpizō)
We don’t have a fingers crossed maybe so maybe no hope.
We have a settled confidence that what God has promised He will do!
We have hope in this life and in the life to come!
In this life we have the confidence that our God is with us and that He is working all things together for His glory and our good.
In the life to come we have the confidence that we will live eternally in the presence of our Savior!
If these things were not true, we would be pitiable.
We would be miserable wretches.
So why aren’t we?
Because Christ is risen from the dead!
The hope of the resurrection, the hope of eternal life, these give us direction.
They give us direction because we are confident in our God.
We move forward, we press on because of who our God is.
Christ has risen, our sins are forgiven, our loved ones are in heaven, and our God will never leave us, and He will never forsake us.
We have direction because we are confident in who God is and what He has promised.
That is what hope is all about.
It is about confidence in our God.
Be confident.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Our purpose is to glorify God.
We accomplish that purpose as we live in obedience to the Holy Spirit and use our gifts, talents, and abilities to benefit the body of Christ and draw people to Him.
Doing that requires that we first be transformed.
We need to come to Jesus ourselves before we can lead others to Him.
Then we need to grow.
We grow through the Word of God, prayer, and the fellowship of the saints.
Most of all we grow because of the limitless grace of God.
Finally, we need direction.
If we are going to glorify God and reach people with the gospel, we must have faith in all that God has revealed, and a settled confidence that God will keep His promises.
This is how we live with purpose.
We have a direction.
That direction has been determined by God and we walk it by faith and in hope.
Our faith has substance because of the resurrection.
We have hope because Jesus is alive.
What does this mean for us today?
Personal: Because Christ rose from the dead we are forgiven and we have a message to proclaim. We have hope in this life and in the life to come. We have a purpose. We have direction. God has gifted and placed each of us with precision and care so that we can serve Him. All that remains is for us to serve. So.
1 - Never be hopeless because you have purpose from the creator.
2 - Trust in the Lord, tell others about Him, and do not doubt His love and care.
Relationships: We have the opportunity to build relationships with other people. Some of those will be redemptive relationships through which we strive to point people to Jesus for salvation. Other relationships will be discipleship focused where we will strive to impart truth God has taught us to a younger believer. Still other relationships will be ones that grow and encourage us in our faith. So.
1 - Seek these various kinds of relationships.
2 - Be intentional about investing in others and finding those who will invest in you.
Parenting: God did not make you a parent by accident. He gave you the children you have on purpose. Why? Because you are the best parent for your child. Period. Our task as parents is to constantly point our children to Jesus. We do this for their salvation and their growth. How do we point them to Jesus? We bring them to church, we talk to them about Jesus, we say when we are wrong, more than anything else, we love them unconditionally just as we are loved by God. So.
1 - You are not failing as a parent because the creator of the universe called you and made you the parent of your children. Just trust Him and move forward.
2 - When you fail, and you will, admit it and move on. Do this regardless of the age of your children.
Marriage: We serve a living Savior. He rescued us from the power of sin and death. No matter what you are facing in your marriage, don’t give up. There is always hope. Christ is our hope. We trust His promises and He has never broken one. Marriage is hard. That is true. But marriage is worth the work. So.
1 - Lean into the Lord first. He will work in the life of your spouse far better than you can.
2 - Don’t let go of hope. Trust that the God who formed the world with a word and holds it together by his power is holding you.
COMMITMENT:
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To live with purpose, we need direction.
Direction begins with faith.
Trust that God is good and that He is at work in your life.
Direction is maintained through hope.
Be confident that God will keep His promises no matter what.
As we trust and hope we keep our eyes on Jesus.
Use your gifts, share the gospel, encourage others, and serve Jesus.