Day 36 ~ The purpose driven life ~ Made for a Mission
Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to Live and breath Christ to all.
When I read this chapter Day 36 of “The Purpose Driven Life” from Rick Warren it reflects a pivotal central point of what our being Christian, Disciple, should be. If this is the only chapter that you truly read and study in this book you are at the core of what it is all about.
“The mission Jesus had while on earth is now our mission because we are the Body of Christ. What he did in his physical body we are to continue as his spiritual body, the church. What is that mission? Introducing people to God! The Bible says, “Christ changed us from enemies into his friends and gave us the task of making others his friends also.” {2 Corinthians 5:18 (TEV)} God wants to redeem human beings from Satan and reconcile them to himself so we can fulfil the five purposes he created us for: to love him, to be a part of his family, to become like him, to serve him, and to tell others about him. Once we are his, God uses us to reach others. He saves us and then sends us out. The Bible says, “We have been sent to speak for Christ.” {2 Corinthians 5:20 (NCV)} We are the messengers of God’s love and purposes to the world.” (PDL – Rick ©)
Our joy at having found Christ should be so abundantly obvious in our lives that it shines and moves no matter where we are.The gift of Christ-likeness has to be lived out to the rest of the world. Display it to everybody around you and proclaim it with the certainty of Christ’s blessing and protection.
When Charles H Spurgeon reflects on Genesis 9-13 (full reference below) he writes “So, dear brethren, in like manner, let us bring forth fruit unto God, and bring it forth abundantly, for herein is our heavenly Father glorified, that we bear much fruit.”
The essence, quality and abundance of the fruit that we bear will be a reflection of our rootedness in Christ and our inner knowledge of Godliness.
Jesus said, “By their fruit you will recognize them. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, by their fruit you will recognize them.” Matthew 7:16–19 (BSB)
You can simply scroll the following verses about the bearing of fruit.
Matthew 12:33
John 15:5
Matthew 12:33–37
Matthew 7:16–20
Matthew 3:10
Genesis 1:29
Matthew 21:19
Matthew 7:17
Mark 4:3–9
Matthew 7:18–23
Luke 3:9
Galatians 5:22
1 Corinthians 12:3
Jeremiah 17:7–8
Matthew 7:19
John 15:4–5
The bearing fo fruit is a clear command from Christ. He elaborates on this quite extensively in his teachings. The passage that says it all to me is John 15:1-11. When Jesus taught this he included the whole of his Law;
“Jesus the True Vine
I am the true vine, and My Father is the keeper of the vineyard. He cuts off every branch in Me that bears no fruit, and every branch that does bear fruit, He prunes to make it even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in Me, and I will remain in you. Just as no branch can bear fruit by itself unless it remains in the vine, neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in Me.
I am the vine and you are the branches. The one who remains in Me, and I in him, will bear much fruit. For apart from Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in Me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers. Such branches are gathered up, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to My Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, proving yourselves to be My disciples.
No Greater Love
As the Father has loved Me, so have I loved you. Remain in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will remain in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and remain in His love. I have told you these things so that My joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.“ John 15:1-11 (BSB)
And in James 2:17-18 we read; “So too, faith by itself, if it is not complemented by action, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith and I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds.” (BSB)
First of all, I want to make it very clear that our works are not what saves us at the end of the day. Our saving grace is our faith in Christ, and it is by grace alone that we are saved and not by works (Romans 3:24) We do not deserve to be justified; in actual fact our works can never outweigh our sinful nature. You are justified by faith (Romans 5:1) faith is the human response to God’s grace. By faith we accept the free gift. Faith is that which appropriates what God has done for us. We are justified by his blood (Romans 5:9).
Jesus also made it abundantly clear that there is no saving grace except through Christ alone (John 14:6). There is no other way!
Are you bearing fruit? Paul Washer spends time explaining this in the video below.
But, how can you possibly argue that you have been saved but there is no recognition of Christ-likeness in you or your actions?
You do have a mission if you proclaim Christ and drink of his blood and eat of His body.
More Study material ; http://www.purposedriven.com/day36/
Reference;
Charles H Spurgeon – Bible commentary
Genesis 1: 9-13. “And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. And God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas. And God saw that it was good. And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself upon the earth: and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good. And the evening and the morning were the third day.” Having attended to the air, God further exercised his power by setting the earth in order. Observe the remarkable fact that, no sooner had God made the dry land appear, than it seemed as if he could not bear the sight of it in its nakedness. What a strange place this world must have looked, with its plains and hills and rooks and vales without one single blade of grass, or a tree, or a shrub; so at once, before that day was over, God threw the mantle of verdure over the earth, and clad its mountains and valleys with forests and plants and flowers, as if to show us that the fruitless is uncomely in God’s sight, that the man who bears no fruit unto God is unendurable to him. There would be no beauty whatever in a Christian without any good works, and with no graces. As soon as ever the earth appeared, then came the herb, and the tree, and the grass. So, dear brethren, in like manner, let us bring forth fruit unto God, and bring it forth abundantly, for herein is our heavenly Father glorified, that we bear much fruit. (Commentary On The Bible: Spurgeon’s Bible Commentaries)