The Purpose driven Life
vume
How the Four Purposes of Man
Are Restored in Us by Rick Joyner
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
December 8, 2003
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
Last week we began our study of the four basic purposes for which God
created man. They are:
1) to have fellowship with Him,
2) to cultivate the garden,
3) to be fruitful and multiply, and
4) to rule over the earth and all that is in it.
We also addressed how a main purpose of the church and church life, is to
help restore these purposes in the lives of believers. Worship helps us keep
the fires burning for restoring our ultimate purpose-knowing the Lord and
having fellowship with Him. The ministries and gifts given to the church are
for helping to restore the other purposes.
Every Christian has been given a ministry, a purpose to fulfill in the
church. This is stated quite succinctly in Ephesians 4:11-16:
And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists,
and some as pastors and teachers,
for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up
of the
body of Christ;
until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the
Son of God,
to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness
of Christ.
As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves
and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by
craftiness
in deceitful scheming;
but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him
who is
the head, even Christ,
from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint
supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes
the
growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.
So we all have a part to play in the ministry and purpose of the church.
Until the church is restored to its original purpose, the restoration of its
members to their purpose will be crippled at best. Presently, in general,
the church is far from being the dynamic, powerful force for reconciliation
and restoration that it is called to be. However, many present and future
leaders of the church have caught a vision of what it is supposed to be, and
momentum is picking up for the church to be restored to its purpose.
When the church has been restored to its original purpose, we will see
individual believers restored to their own individual purposes in the Lord.
Then we will all be the powerful forces for reconciliation and restoration
that we are called to be.
We must also understand that most will actually find the place where they
function in ministry is the place of their occupation, not just in the
meetings of the church. When this happens, both our place in the body of
Christ and our career can become far more fruitful and fulfilling than
otherwise possible.
If we have our priorities in the right order, we will not think of ourselves
as a engineer, lawyer, or a doctor first, but we will think of ourselves in
relation to our ministry first, and our occupation is a place that we walk
in our ministry. In this way our office, business, or even our sport, can
become our garden that we are to cultivate, and bear fruit in.
If we are not pursuing our spiritual ministry and purpose above any earthy
position or profession, then we are serving the world first, and not the
Lord. This is the first step to apostasy. As we are told in Matthew 6:33,
"But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will
be added to you." If we pursue anything before the kingdom, we will be at
the very least distracted from our ultimate purpose. We must always, in
everything, keep our kingdom purpose first.
Many will then be called to pursue other skills or professions as a part of
their kingdom purpose, but these must always be kept as a means to a greater
purpose. If our life is not founded upon our kingdom purpose first, then we
will never know true fulfillment, peace, or satisfaction in this life.
Bearing Fruit
Because we were created to be fruitful and multiply, productivity is
essential in our life if we are ever to be fulfilled. The only way we can
truly bear fruit is to be joined to the Lord. This again brings us back to
our primary purpose-knowing the Lord and having fellowship with Him. If we
are drawing close to the Lord we will bear fruit.
The Lord said in John 12:32, "And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will
draw all men to Myself." There is nothing more compelling or attractive in
the universe than the Son of God. Accordingly, there is nothing more
attractive than the person who is truly getting closer to Him, and becoming
like Him. When we have been restored in our relationship to Him, and are
abiding in Him, there will be an attraction in us that enables us to lead
others to the redemption, reconciliation, and restoration of their purpose.
It is in this way at the end, that the nations are going to come to the
light of the church.
Being productive is very fulfilling, but there is nothing like the
productivity of bearing fruit in the Spirit. Nothing can compare to the
fulfillment of seeing someone else restored in their relationship to God,
and then going on to bear fruit for Him themselves. Far more fulfilling than
making a profit for our corporation would be to see the people in it
changing and being restored. Building a company or an institution, can never
be as fulfilling as building people into the temple of the Lord to which
they are called to be, and seeing Him pleased with the work.
The Lord does not want this fruit wasted, but rather counted as precious.
Just as the Lord walked with Adam in the garden, the main place where we
will have fellowship with the Lord is in the place that He has given us to
cultivate and bear fruit.
Our Personal Domain
As stated, each one of us will be given our own garden to cultivate, and it
is also the spiritual domain that we are called to bear fruit in, and rule
over. After our calling to first love God and be established in our
relationship to Him, knowing our garden is the next most important matter in
our life.
How do we know our garden, our spiritual domain that we have been given to
cultivate? This can basically be answered by asking another simple question:
Where are you now? Just as the Lord placed Adam in the Garden He had given
him to cultivate, He has likewise placed us in our garden.
Wherever you are right now is the garden that you have been given to
cultivate, bear fruit in, and rule over. The family you are in, the job you
are in, the neighborhood you are in, even the prison you are in if that be
the case, are the gardens that you have been called to cultivate for the
purpose of restoring them to the kingdom of God.
A major point that we have been discussing is we must understand that only a
small percentage of the ministries of the church are given for functioning
within church meetings. Let's face it-if all of the people in the church are
equipped in their ministry and gifts, there are not enough meetings and time
for them to function within what is presently considered "church."
The problem is that we tend to still have a distorted view of what "church"
is. Church is not just the meetings. And the meetings are not "church in
session" as some have supposed. Church is in session 24 hours a day, 7 days
a week. We should be able to prophesy, or function in any of the gifts and
ministries of the Spirit, just as easily Monday morning as Sunday morning.
To do this, most of us will have to take the religious trappings and
restraints off of these gifts and ministries. We don't have to say "thus
saith the Lord" to prophesy. Some of the Lord Jesus' most powerful and
effective prophecies were given in what appeared to be just conversation.
The anointed Word of God will accomplish what it is supposed to when it is
shared, and does not need the bombast that a lot of us think it does to be
"the Word of the Lord."
Likewise, some of the greatest, most anointed, teachings may come out at the
lunch table at work. Some of the most gifted pastors will never stand in a
pulpit, but they will shepherd their fellow employees, their neighbors,
little league team, Lion's Club, bridge club, country club, army unit,
prison unit, ship at sea...wherever God has placed us.
Multiplying the Fruit
Those who are faithful on one level will be given more ground to cultivate.
Those who are faithful in shepherding their office or warehouse may then be
given a position of spiritual authority to shepherd a city, and then even a
nation. These are valid ministries of the church that are not necessarily to
the church, which the church must learn to recognize and support.
It is important to understand the "garden" that the Lord has given us to
cultivate, but we must also understand that the Lord promotes the faithful,
not just those who "have a vision." Visions are necessary, but having a
vision is the easy part. Who has the faith, patience, focus, and discipline
to see the vision become a reality is the issue. Whether we are recognized
by the church or not, we must discern the garden(s) that the Lord has given
us to cultivate, and be faithful in it. We need to watch over the kind of
seed that is planted in our garden. We need to keep it weeded, watered,
protecting it from the birds of the air, etc.
HeLovesYou
Son of God, to a mature man, to the >measure of the stature which belongs to
the fullness
>of Christ.
I love this Scripture. It speaks of a journey into fullness/maturity. It
also speaks of unity. Hallelujah! Father, mature us/mold us into
Christ-likeness. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.
"vume" <joh...@netins.net> wrote in message
news:br4677$tr6$1...@news.netins.net...
Christine
I don't know why this is
But God keeps putting me in gardens that do not have Christians in
them....
and i don't know what is up with that, really it JUST happens,
Honest!
and secretly it makes me feel good when someone who was totally
antithetical to the message of Christ, really can't find words to
reasonably argue against it...
meh.....
and I can't say I always agree with Christians, honeslty!
But I definitely see the Holy Spirit move in them...
and me through them....
so what I am saying I guess is that I feel like I am only doing God's
work among unbelievers....and that feeds me...
big
and God Himself makes me do that....
I don't know what gift that is for sure, sometimes it makes me feel
awfully lonely really....
but I need to get refueled , this is sure a good place for that. yeah
it is.
Well,
Yours in Christ
Christine
be blessed everyone, you have blessed me so
HeLovesYou
say Lord, Lord, will enter in. He will say depart from me I never knew you.
I have found that it is not the atheist who is the most difficult to deal
with, really, because as the love of Christ dwells in us, it becomes our
desire to minister to the lost; but the most heart wrenching for me are
those who profess to know Christ (and maybe do but for a period He is not
LORD), and in reality appear to be like the pharisees/Sadducees Jesus called
hypocrites in the Bible. This is one area the LORD has opened my eyes to.
We need to continue in prayer for this...I would certainly call on those who
frequent here for prayer to lift this up. Also, to ask God for His wisdom
and discernment as we deal with others.
As always, I love your posts, sister Christine! So glad you are here.
sister Faye
"Christine" <Chri...@savedbyChrist.com> wrote in message
news:ddfdtvc4sd4ank8jb...@4ax.com...
> On Tue, 9 Dec 2003 03:56:05 -0600, "vume" <joh...@netins.net> wrote:
>
> >
> >
> >How the Four Purposes of Man
> >Are Restored in Us by Rick Joyner
> >
>
>---------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
> >----
> >
> > December 8, 2003
> >
>
>---------------------------------------------------------------------------
-