The Eternal Purpose of God
Memory Verse
'"nd this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life,
and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life;”
(1 John 5:11-12)
Hopefully today’s teaching will clear up long standing perceptions that are still believed and taught so often in Churches around the world. It is regarding the call of God and the common belief that Father calls certain people to do certain things called ‘ministry,’ unwittingly conveying that the majority of believers are not called to the ministry.
This concept and teaching is entirely out of alignment with New Testament theology, which reveals that every believer has the call of God upon their lives, from the moment they are born again and we are all called to be His witnesses.
Romans 8:28-30
“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.”
Here we see clearly Father has a purpose. Father is eternal, therefore His purpose is also eternal.We see here His eternal purpose is for all who are called to be conformed to the likeness and image of His Son Jesus Christ, the Word of God. Therefore His
eternal purpose in you is to conform and realign your life so that it is in alignment with the life of God as revealed in and through Jesus.
Understand this today, Father God desires with all His heart to bring you to the place of such intimacy with Him, that you can know with all your heart that He is for you and working in your life, to bring you to the place to receive the truth that He will do in and through you, exactly what He did in and through Jesus.
Our salvation is the work of God, therefore this work of being conformed to the likeness and image of Jesus’ life and lifestyle, must also be the work only He can perform. It is not done by self-effort.
This verse states ‘to those who love Christ.’ Do you love Him? Do not all believers love Him? Therefore this call is for all believers.
Romans 1:7
“To all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints:”
1 Corinthians 1:2
“To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord,...”
1 Corinthians 1:24
“but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.”
The call of God is not just for the Jews, but for Gentiles also. The name ‘Gentiles’ refers to everyone who is not a Jew. It is not confined to natural race. It does not say anything about this ‘call’ being limited to the time of Paul’s ministry. It is an open call to all who respond to it.
Paul’s letters are sent to the whole Church in a region and addresses all the believers as ‘saints.’ Saints are not special religious people who have been designated as ‘saints’ by a religious institution, but the name given to every believer. You are no longer a sinner but a saint.
The word ‘saints’ is the Greek word ‘hagios,’ meaning ‘sacred, morally blameless, most holy.’ It is the same word used regarding the essence of God, who is holy.
1 Peter 1:15
“but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.”
Galatians 1:6
“I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ,”
How can Father ask us to be holy if it impossible for us to be holy?How can He ask us to be holy in the Earth if holiness is only seen in Heaven?
He can only ask us to be holy as He is holy, if He has already provided the way for us to be holy.
What Are We Called To?
Ephesians 1:4-6
“just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory
of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.”
Ephesians 4:1-6
“I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with long-suffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.”
2 Timothy 1:9
“who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose”
2 Thessalonians 2:13
“because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth, to which He called you by our gospel,”
Here we see that we have received an eternal calling because it was decided before the foundations of the worlds. It was the calling to salvation through Christ.
The calling also included the purpose of that calling. It is to be sanctified, which means ‘made holy.’It is essential that we grasp what Father has called us to, from the very beginning of our relationship with Him. It is not just that we receive salvation and go to Heaven. It is so much greater than this. His desire was for everyone who came to Him to be like Him in holiness. He could offer us no greater gift or pleasure than to be holy as He is holy.
The Evidence of Holiness
The Father is holy. The Son is holy. The Spirit of God is called the ‘Holy Spirit’ to show that He also is holy.Heaven is holy. The book of Revelation reveals the essence of all worship around the eternal throne of God is regarding His holiness:
Revelation 4:8
“The four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes around and within. And they do not rest day or night, saying: “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come!”
The word ‘holy’ means the ‘complete absence of sin and blameless beyond reproach.’ It is the very nature of God that sets Him apart from everything and everyone else. This is who you have become in Christ.
There is no sin in the Father, Son, Holy Spirit, the New Jerusalem, nor Heaven. This is the eternal state of God and Heaven. Therefore, He must provide, by grace, the ability for all believers everywhere, to be conformed to His holiness. He cannot ask us to be holy, as He is holy, unless it is possible and that He has provided a way to be so.
Being holy in an unholy world is being a witness.
Isaiah 14:12“How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!
When Lucifer, an arch-angel was found to have sin within him, Father instantly cast him out of Heaven and also a third of the angels who agreed with Lucifer we’re cast
out with him. The Father is holy, therefore everything in Heaven must be holy.
Every believer is given the holy nature of God in their spirit, the moment they are born again. But we are also called to demonstrate that divine holiness in our lifestyle and ministry.
Lucifer was cast out of Heaven because Father is holy and Lucifer was unholy. If this is what Father did and does, then this is also our ministry here on Earth.
Holiness drives out unholiness.
Father cast out Lucifer from Heaven.
Lucifer is the one who caused Adam
and Eve to sin and it plunged all of
mankind into sin and unholiness.
The fruits and evidences of sin are guilt, condemnation, fear, hatred, murder, sickness, disease, poverty and
lack and every other evil thing.
Through the preaching of the Gospel of Jesus, we are called to teach that the Father has paid the debt of all sin for all people and that all a person must do is ask Him to forgive them their sin as they accept Jesus as their Lord and Saviour and they will be reconciled to
Him.
Sin is unholy. Therefore God must cast
out a persons sin before He can dwell
within them.
Guilt, condemnation, fear, hatred,
sickness, disease and poverty are all the consequences of sin. Therefore Father will cast them out as He comes to dwell in a believers life.
The New Testament (New Covenant) reveals He has done exactly this in the heart/spirit of every believer. In John 1:29 it states “The next day John saw Jesus coming towards him, and said, ‘Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.’”
Jesus didn’t just pay for your sin, or cover it over until you get to Heaven. He took it away, meaning you no longer have it. He replaced your sinful nature with His holy and righteous nature.
Our ministry therefore is to teach what He has already done for every believer and continue the work of Jesus casting out every demon and liberating everyone from every sickness and poverty and unholy thing.
We are called to forgive sin, cast out demons, heal the sick, set people free from guilt and fear by teaching them about this eternal life of God that dwells within them.
1 John 5:20
“And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.”
Eternal life is not just referring to it having no beginning and no end, but also the type and quality of the life of God. The life of God the Father, Son and Spirit has always been Holy. Mankind was disconnected from it through sin, when Adam sinned. But God’s holiness was imputed into our spirit the moment we truly accepted Jesus as our Lord and Saviour. It does not begin when we go to Heaven. It is the life every believer is to live in the here and now, revealing to all that His holy life dwells in us and ministers through us, making us His witnesses. This is His calling on all believers.
If holiness means the absence of all evidence or scars of sin, then we must also see the Fathers desire and will is that our
life is delivered from all sickness, disease, guilt, condemnation or fear, because we have become holy and God Most Holy dwells in us, that our lives bear witness of His holy presence in us.
Conclusion
In today’s memory verse it declares that we will be Fathers witnesses. The word witness carries the meaning of ‘bearing evidence, giving testimony.’ Father has given every believer His kind of life. His desire and will is that our life on Earth bears witness, gives evidence, that He is alive in you and His life will do through you the very same things it did when He ministered on Earth through the life of Jesus.
He is the actual witness and will give evidence to all that He dwells in you, as you begin to do what He called you to do and tell others about His great love, forgiveness and willingness to heal, deliver and set people’s lives free from all the effects and scars of sin.
Memory Verse“
And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life,
and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life;”
(1 John 5:11-12)
Comments