Jesus Understood Purpose

 Jesus Was Conscious Of Purpose

John 4:34

"Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work."

Being conscious of the bigger picture in life helps a man to stay on track while handling daily affairs. Every day's choices, places to go, people to meet, likes and dislikes must all be guided by the bigger picture to be truly happy and contribute meaningfully to the whole world to the glory of God. The bigger picture is all about purpose and it has eternity in view. Purpose is to say, 'Why are you here?'. 'What are you meant to contribute on Earth among men to bring them closer to God and make life more meaningful?' 

Purpose is the reason or intention behind an action, goal, or existence. It is often associated with having a clear and meaningful reason for doing something, and it can provide direction and motivation in one's life. Any man can have a purpose for life, professional purpose, social or community purpose.

Purpose can provide direction, motivation, and a sense of well-being. It can also help a person to connect with others and make a positive impact on the world.

Note that any man's purpose may evolve over time as he grows and get more exposure. It is just like building a house, you start with the foundation to the roof and then the finishing. The important thing is to be led by God through the power of the Holy Spirit every step of the way. 

If a man must make a meaningful contribution to life and be truly happy, the man must discover his purpose. This can be the purpose for his personal existence, professional purpose and community purpose. Most of all, God's will and purpose for living. This can be the reason some people succeed or fail in leadership. Without the discovery of purpose, a leader will take undue advantage of people and abuse previledges. Jesus is one example of a leader who understood purpose. He understood it quite early. At an early age, on a yearly prayer visit to the temple, the family went for prayer and due to the crowd and the overwhelming condition of the journey, his parents did not notice that he was not with them which forced them to return back to the temple and they discovered him with others in the temple. When asked why he did not followed them back, his response showed that he knew about his purpose of existence quite early.

St. Luke 2:49-50 "And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business?

And they understood not the saying which he spake unto them."

God's business was his business. He was doing God's business. In fact, any business that God has given you must be taken cared of with seriousness because when it is done well, every other thing will have a good platform to stand. Jesus built on this understanding and he succeeded. The issue with a situation like this is that when you are doing the will of God, many will not understand why you chose that path. That was the case for Jesus at the age of twelve.

"...And they understood not the saying which he spake unto them."

Jesus increasingly grew in the grace of God. It did not stop at childhood. He was conscious of the purpose of God for his existence. Now, it is wise for us to look at the life of Jesus and see whether he fulfilled purpose or not. So he can we his purpose? Where do we go to and a reliable information about his purpose?

Matthew 1:21 "She will bear a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus [the Greek form of the Hebrew Joshua, which means Savior], for He will save His people from their sins [that is, prevent them from failing and missing the true end and scope of life, which is God]." Amplified version.

 This was the angel's message from God about Jesus before his birth. What can we deduce about his purpose from this? He was a saviour i.e someone who saves from someone or something unpleasant. He was meant to deliver, protect, heal and make whole. Who were the people to benefit from this?

"...His people..."

Who were his people? He was a Jew. So does this apply to the Jews only? 

St. John 3:16 "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

Here we see God loving the whole and He did that by see His only begots son (Jesus) as a token of His love. Taking this, we see Jesus as having a purpose from God to the whole world. So it was not for the Jews only, it was all for the whole world.

"...whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

Though his purpose was for the salvation of the whole world but it must be appropriated by faith.

"...whosoever believeth in him ..."

The WHOSOEVER here mentioned includes you and me if only we believe (have faith) in him. He came to save us from our sin and break us free from the clutches of satan and sin and setting us free from the consequences of the same. Isaiah spoke of his coming.

Isaiah 9:6 "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace."

He shall be a determining factor for our peace and relationship with God. So here we see Jesus coming to serve a great purpose for mankind. The formula God used to bring Christ Jesus on the stage was to demonstrate His love and make life easier by smoothing the gap between God and man and keeping satan at bay so man can access grace and enjoy God's blessing in Christ Jesus. We can go on and on to talk about Christ purpose from the perspective of what was said by many but is that sufficient for us to make certain major conclusions? What did Christ Jesus do about it? Was conscious about it while he was with his disciples? Did he achieve the same purpose? Was he a success at it?

Hebrews 12:2 'Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God."

Jesus knew his purpose and kept to it till the end of His time here on Earth among men. He endured it, he went through it even in situations where he had an alternative route to escape from pain, he stood his ground. It paid off.

"...who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross"

He saw his purpose ahead and as a result, he endured the cross. It was purpose that kept him from waivering, it was love for God. If you will learn from Jesus, you will discover true happiness and success. He was mindful of purpose. A leader will understand success and happiness if he will discover his purpose and keep to it.

1 John 3:8

"He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil."

Jesus had a purpose, he was on an assignment to incapacitate the devil. This is the reason why in Christ, the power of sin is dealt with by way of the cross. Many leaders have discovered happiness and success by discovering purpose. Will you be one of them?

Pray;

My Lord and my God, I take the hand of Jesus as he leads me on the journey to discovering purpose so that I will a success in life. You will take from discovery to success. This I pray in Jesus name. Amen!