Descending into Our Purpose!

John 3:30, “He must become greater; I must become less.”

Luke 14:33, “In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.”

“A life of worship to God is about daily sacrificing your interests in all other things and making him your focused adoration. He wants you to love him first and foremost and let nothing come in the way of solely pleasing him.” – Josh McDowell.

This past Friday we talked about descending into prominence, that is giving up everything for the sake of Christ. Not in the sense of selling all possessions and giving it all away, but in the sense of giving everything we are and have to Christ for His use. If that means then giving it all away then fine, but overall we are to recognize all our gifts, spiritually, physically and materially, are from Him and to be used for the sake of His kingdom.

Philippians 2:5-8 says, “Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross!” What does this look like in our lives?

Though we cannot duplicate the perfect ministry of Christ, we can reflect the attitudes and motives Jesus did. First, we can be a servant to those around us. If God, Himself, can serve by coming and dying on a cross for us then there is absolutely no reason we cannot serve others. Jesus served when in fact they should have been serving Him. As any great leader, He led by example. Jesus demonstrated what it means to serve our brothers and sisters. How are you doing in this area? Are you serving sacrificially, or just when it is convenient? Do you serve those who will benefit you, or do you just serve, not worrying about if anyone notices or says anything?

This also leads into the next area of how we should be descending into Christ likeness. We should be portraying a humble attitude. Christ relinquished everything for us when He became a man and entered our physical world. He had to start using doors and riding mules, eating and sleeping, and listening to His parents. He gave up worship for cursing and being spit upon. Our omniscient, eternal, all powerful Jesus yielded to the binding restrictions of the human flesh. Talk about the ultimate in becoming humble. What have you given up that you deserve for the sake of the kingdom? How does your personality line up with Christ? Do you consider all this world has to offer rubbish as Paul did, or do you love the recognition and the accolades from others?

Jesus was also obedient to the Father, to the point of death. Not only death, but the most heinous death imaginable during Jesus’ time, crucifixion. Jesus came to do one thing: to do what God the Father commanded, nothing more and nothing less. He did this completely and without sin. Jesus demands the same from us. The verse from Luke above gives evidence of this. Jesus demands we give up everything for Him. He does not suggest it. Are we obedient to this? Or do we hang onto a couple of small areas because they are just too fun, or we want to make sure we have a safety net? How obedient are you? Will God say to you, “well done good and faithful servant?” Or will He say, “not too bad, but could have been better?” Are there areas we need to give up to God and act in obedience?

The awesome thing is that if we follow the attitude and example of Christ we will experience joy. Joy, not from receiving a reward because of your action, but from having a deep relationship with Christ. He will fill you with His love and comfort more and more. It is a gift that will take you by surprise because of your pure and self-less service. Are you serving this way? Do you experience the joy of Christ? If not, why?

We all need to continue to reflect on how our attitude is lining up with Christ. This will ultimately lead to defining our purpose and who we are in Christ.

“If you are to be a Christ follower, you must demonstrate His characteristics, and not the worlds. ‘The appeal, however, was not only to a life of lowliness and hardship; it also contained the reminder that victory followed humiliation and that God’s glory will ultimately prevail.’” – Expository Bible Commentary.