In the first two installments of this series, we studied a number of important concepts that will help us in the third part, when we discuss the specific mission God has built us for. The New Man- Built for God In this first part, we first studied God’s character and discovery that He is Merciful, He is Love and also a fair judge. The fair judge part is important because if God is not fair and impartial in His dealings with us, then can He really administer mercy properly? Through His fairness, then He can offer grace and mercy built on the idea that our choice, either for or against Him, will be judged fairly. Second, we learned that God has built us for communion with Him. In this part of our design, God has also placed boundaries for us to understand His love. We struggle agains these boundaries our entire life. Why? Because we view the boundaries as detriments to our freedom rather than road signs of warning. Third, we learned that this struggle is natural. We counter against God’s love and boundaries with selfishness. We struggle against past and current issues. It is the struggle of the creation vs. the creator. The New Man- Built for Others In the second part of the study, we began to learn about how we are built for others. To understand this, we first must understand the relationship. This relationship is a gift from God. We didn’t choose God, but He chose us for relationship. We are redeemed through this relationship and accountable for the choices we make within or without the relationship. If we are truly in relationship, then the relationship changes us. This is the concept of rebirth, or becoming the New Creation. If we become a New Creation, then we have a new set of motivations, priorities and goals that are all rooted in the relationship. This should show us measurable change in our life that others are able to see. This is evidence of the spirit working inside us. Then why is it that we fight against the relationship? Because our life, up to the point of rebirth, is one that was marked in rebellion to God. In this part of our life we built up strongholds against accountability to God. Those strongholds are hard to break down over time. It’s the reason we still sin. It’s the reason we have a hard time reconciling a new life with the shame of the old one. It takes a lifetime to fight. The law (complying with the boundaries) cannot save us. Our relationship with Christ does. And that is the difference between adhering to the law (following rules) and following Christ (relationship). Following rules can change our actions, but it most likely doesn’t change the heart. A relationship with Christ gets at the fundamental life change we as Christians needs to move into the life that God has desired us to be in. The New Man -Built for Mission How has God built us? He built us in thee general ways: He built us for fellowship with God: A key component in our design is to understand that God built to desire relationship with Him. (Genesis 3:8) He built us as a social creature: We are meant to be in the world with others. It is why relationships with other people is crucial to our development (Genesis 2:18-25) He built us to work: Human beings have a desire to forge forward and work at tasks and goals that are beneficial to us (Genesis 2:15) From the beginning of time, God desired to have communion with us (relationship with God), to have social interactions (relationships with others), and to work at something important (purpose). This design is not a mistake and they all must work together, as a machine does, in order for the body and spirit to work properly. In essence, this is the owner’s manual for our human design. If you remove anything from the equation, the person tends to break down in some regard. If you have fellowship with God and social components in your life but no work, you tend not to do so well. What if you have fellowship with God and a purpose but no social interactivity? Again, the machine breaks down. Or perhaps, what if you are a social creature with lots of work to do but no fellowship with God? Well, as many of us have found over time, we fall into emptiness. Something is missing. Psalm 139:13-15 says this: For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. For you created my inmost being: God created the real person that exists in us. That means that a person, who yearns for God, is in us as the real person, the one built for fellowship you knit me together in my mother’s womb: God created us, with purpose, as a unique person. Sometimes we yearn to be like everyone else for a variety of reasons, but that denies the unique nature God built us for. Everything we have in our life has been given to us in order to point back to Him, to glorify Him in a unique way. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made: God created us with both strengths and weaknesses. It is important to note that God has not built us with flaws, but weaknesses that work for our benefit if we are to look at them differently. your works are wonderful, I know that full well: God created us with an understanding of who He is. Everyone, whether they acknowledge it or not, has this built into their makeup. It is our moral barometer. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. God created us with an intentional hand. He created us with purpose for purpose. So who is the real person inside us? Is it our spirit nature, our sin nature, or both? Let’s find some answers in the Book of Romans: Romans 7:21-23 21 So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; 23 but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. So as we’ve already learned, God built us intentionally, uniquely, and for purpose. But as Paul looks at the legacy of sin in his and our life, he finds that sin, although intwined in our life, is also a separate force that tries to dismantle our relationship with God. It is an outside force that impacts us and tries to get us off course. If we are sharks swimming through the ocean, then sin is like the remora fish, hanging onto us, sucking at our skin, a separate entity that clings to us. Paul addresses it as laws at work inside him: one that wants to follow God’s laws and delights in them, and the other seeking to make him a prisoner. Romans 7:24-25 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? 25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin. There is only one way to be rescued from this rebellion: it is through Christ. Christ alone gives us the strength to overcome the sin that effects us. We do not have the power to defeat sin on our own. Faith in Christ is how we become a Child of God. Romans 8:9-17 9 You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. What is a child of God? It may be something we struggle with occasionally. Perhaps we struggle with the concept of being saved. How do we really know we are saved? We know our salvation standing by our repentance, desire and motive to serve God. Repentance isn’t only saying we’re sorry, but moving on in our life to make substantial changes. It is a change of mind that results in a change of actions. Our desire for relationship is perhaps the deepest indicator of our salvation. Do we desire God? Do we desire to know Him? If the desire isn’t there, then do we really want the life-saving relationship He offers? Our motivation, or the reason we do things, is also an extremely important indicator. If we have been reborn, then our motives aren’t self-serving, but about serving others. If we look at these three items and where we stand on them, they are good barometers of whether we want to be in relationship, if we have returned to God in humility and the reasons we do things are based from the relationship. 10 But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. 11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you. An important part of understanding God’s mercy is to understand that we are covered in righteousness, even though we sin. This doesn’t mean we should sin, it’s okay to sin or our sin doesn’t matter. Sin is an extremely important element in our life to both address and repel. But the righteousness that covers us is because we have accepted Christ and the relationship is a solid foundation in our life. 12 Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. 13 For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live. Another good indicator of our salvation is to understand where our desires are. Are they for God or the world? If we live for sin (or the world), then the spirit does not live in us. Does this mean that when we occasional slip up or desire something in the world we are not saved. No, it doesn’t mean that. If our life is built around the pursuits of the world (money, power, fame, etc.), or around a sinful lifestyle, then that is evidence that the spirit of God does not dwell in us. 14 For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. 15 The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” Our purpose is to be led by the spirit. If we are led by the spirit, this indicates that we have the spirit in us. We are covered by the righteousness of God. This verifies our adoption into the family of God, as a child of God. 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. Our relationship verifies that we are a child of God. If we do not have the relationship, then we don’t have the spirit. If we don’t deepen the relationship, we will never understand our purpose God created us as a unique person. Each of us are built with talents Each of us are built with passions Talents and passions often result in goals These goals often take us to secular ambitions God built us with a unique set of talents and passions, but what happens in many livesis that we use these talents and passions to build a life without God. Did we consult God at all when we were building our life? Did we use our talents to build our life selfishly? These are good questions to ponder, because our ambitions often work against the purpose God has for us. If we reconnect with the spirit, then we may find this is the case. We have used our talents and passions selfishly. God created us with purpose for His purpose. If we are a Child of God, then finding the purpose God built us for is important. God equipped us with a toolbox God gives each one of us a toolbox to work with in this life. In this toolbox we have a special set of tools to use in a unique way The elements of the toolbox are: Talents: These are temporal items you excel at. These are special things you were born with that, with practice, you can become better at. It could be singing, woodworking, public speaking. These can be trans ferred into a career or hobby. Passions: These could be an extension of hobbies or something completely different. A passion is something that stirs the depth of your soul. It is something unique to your design. It could be a deep desire to help the environment, human rights, or developing people in a certain way. Ambition: God designed you with a torqued up ambitious nature, a midlevel one or a low ambition. This can be your energy level, but also is the driving force you have in making your goals come to life. Gifts: Spiritual gifts come to you after you have accepted Christ and are an authentic follower. These are spiritual items given to you to be used for the common good. They are also evidences of the spirit working in you. They are to be used for God’s work. Weaknesses: God has also given you a set of weaknesses to deal with in your life. Can weaknesses, though become strengths? We’ll investigate that in a moment. 1 Corinthians 12:1-11 1Now about the gifts of the Spirit, brothers and sisters, I do not want you to be uninformed. 2 You know that when you were pagans, somehow or other you were influenced and led astray to mute idols. 3 Therefore I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit. Christians must be led by the spirit. If we are to determine the spiritual gifts we have upon acceptance into God’s family, then we first must be established if our life is about following God’s lead through the relationship. If we aren’t there, then we do not have the spirit working in us. 4 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. 5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6 There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work.7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. Different gifts and different service all come from the same source. This is important to understand, because sometimes within the church body there is a temptation to compare, contrast or wonder why certain people have certain gifts and others do not. God distributes the gifts. They are all distributed for the edification of the church. 8 To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10 to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. Gifts are different for each person. This again plays into the uniqueness of each one of us. We all have a part to play for God’s purpose. We may lament that we don’t have miraculous powers or prophecy. That’s okay. God built you in a special way, like a finely-tuned sports car. That’s a certain type of gas, oil and care that goes into each car to make it run at maximum efficiency and power. In our life, we’ve all been looking for that ideal life of peace and purpose. Might I suggest that if we finally begin to look at the owner’s manual (how you were uniquely built), start addressing this uniqueness as a strength rather than a weakness, that you may just find the peace and purpose you’ve been chasing after? 11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines. God distributes the gifts as He desires, for his purpose, for us to connect to, accept and implement. This is how we find purpose in our life: to hear God, to follow, and to be led by Him into a new life. Weakness 2 Corinthians 12:6-10 gives us some important information as to why weakness is part of our toolbox: 6 Even if I should choose to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain, so no one will think more of me than is warranted by what I do or say, 7 or because of these surpassingly great revelations. First, humility is important to God. Pride is always the foundation of sin, and humility is the exact opposite of pride. Paul puts it int the context of boasting. He won’t boast because that’s a form of pride. But what does this have to do with weakness? Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Weakness keeps us from pride. Weakness helps us to connect with God. We generally don’t connect to God with our strength, because usually when we are in our strength, we can fall into the pitfall of pride. When we understand we are weak, we need to find something to depend on. Since God build us for fellowship (dependence), then we can see our weakness as a strength, because it gets us closer to God. Weakness helps us to understand where true power comes from. Centering ourselves as weak helps to connect us to God and others. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. Weakness can actually be a strength if we are willing to accept ourself as weak.If we acknowledge our need for dependency, it helps us to find and connect to God firmer. Colossians 1:16 16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. We were created for Him Genesis 1:27 27 So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. We were created in His likeness John 15:14-15 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. We were created for fellowship with Him We have been fighting a war with God since the beginning. But God has been faithful and wants us back in relationship with Him. He’s asking us to put away the distractions and follow so we are led by His spirit. He’s also asking us to step into the life He has been waiting for us to live. So what are we supposed to do? Isaiah 41:10 So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Look at how God has taken care of you Ephesians 2:10 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. 2. Take stock in how God has groomed you for something more 1 Peter 4:10-11 10 Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. 11 If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen. 3. Look at your talents and gifts James 1:5 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you 4. Pray for wisdom Proverbs 3:5-6 5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. 5. When God leads, follow How has God specifically gifted you? Below are the spiritual gifts noted in scripture to help you to zero in on how you are uniquely built. Romans 12 exhortation (Encouragement) giving leadership mercy prophecy service teaching 1 Corinthians 12 administration apostle discernment faith healing helps (support to ministry) knowledge miracles prophecy teaching tongues tongues interpretation wisdom Ephesians 4 apostle evangelism pastor prophecy teaching Misc. Passages celibacy hospitality martyrdom missionary voluntary poverty Copyright 2024 , P. Nerat, All Rights reserved