I’ve been thinking about how the word ‘life’ can mean anything and everything depending on what your context is. Just to name a few, so I don’t sound too ambiguous- work ‘life’ , family ‘life’, personal ‘life’, love ‘life’ and so on. Similarly, we use it to describe various situations or people- lively, zest for life, life-like, etc… you get the picture. Basically, we have our vocabulary sprinkled with the word ‘life’ with almost no connection to where ‘life’ began and what it was purposed for.
In our church meetings we have been looking at what essentially sprung out of John 10:10 –I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. Once we redefine ‘life’ to be what Jesus talks about, we will find ourselves having to re-evaluate all those contexts we used to define ‘life’.
At some level, we all would love to be in charge of our lives and what happens with us. I hope you can see why it is so easy to say “life is what you make of it” or “life happens” with no consideration for the purpose of LIFE itself (myself included). Take a journey back to when God breathed his breath into a being he formed from dust; in that moment, some-thing He made became some-one with ‘eternity written on his heart’. The one who made and holds everything just caused dirt to be connected to the ‘life’ source of creation.
The Bible uses the word Zoë to describe the God kind of life. In most cases it is coupled with the word ‘eternal’ or ‘everlasting’, to give you a perspective of the vastness and origin of this ‘life’. This word has attached to it a sense of ‘quantity’ and ‘quality’. When we talk about life with God, we are talking about life that lasts forever (quantity) but also completely different from earthy life (quality). 2 Corinthians 5:16-17 says, “From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” Paraphrased in another way it’s saying “earth and it’s life have gone bye-bye, God’s Spirit has made you into a creation that’s not just immortal; but like Jesus, you are capable of seeing things done on earth as it is in heaven”.
I really hope you stuck with me through that explanation. God is calling people into a God given destiny that has little or nothing to do with our earthly vocations. My desire is that you are able to see that God wants us to take our jobs, families, relationships, hobbies, careers, children, etc… and not just seek blessing in them, but to use them as lightning rods which conduct a ‘let Your kingdom come, let Your will be done’ moment. All of a sudden, we have eternity crashing down on earth in power with a reality that is not of this place. Our lives seem so insignificant in the grander scheme of things, but when conducting the Kingdom of heaven, we are impacting heavenly places, not just earth. Ephesians 3:10 puts it like this… ” now through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places”. We are making an impact in eternity!! Right here, right now!
I’m reminded of a song I learned as a 8 year old called ‘I have a destiny’. It was a song that captured my heart as a little boy who was beginning to grapple with the fact that God wanted to use me to affect human history and eternity. The chorus went like this:
*I have a destiny I know I shall fulfill
I have a destiny in that city on a hill
I have a destiny and it’s not an empty wish
For I know I was born for such a time as this
Verse: Long before the ages You predestin’d me
To walk in all the works You have prepar’d for me
You’ve given me a part to play in history
To help prepare a bride for eternity
Check out the other verse if you get a chance to; alot of truth packed in there. I was so convinced that I was born for a time such as this, simply because God wanted things done through lil ol’ me. All these years later, I find myself ministering in a different part of the globe, carrying the same fire that God gave me as a little boy, only to discover the man who wrote the song, lives in my town!!! Mark Altrogge (the songwriter) is a another pastor of a church here in Indiana, who has served this community faithfully since before I was born . I just thought that was so cool! It’s amazing how God does stuff like that. What a joy! God used someone half a world a way to usher someone else into a passion for worshipping God and seeing His kingdom come. As a songwriter myself, I get excited to see the places where God inspired worshippers to come into a revelation of Himself and pen it down. So, tucked away in lil Indiana, I’m thrilled to see that God who gave this revelation over 25 years ago is still at work in our town and will continue to draw people into seeing their God given destiny. If we feel a bit dusty and rusty, it’s time to shake it off!! God is on the move; the cloud is moving Indiana! Let’s pack up our tents and move together into all God has for us!
Your life will not be the same! Your family will not be the same! Your church will not be the same! Your community will not be the same! Your state will not be the same! Your country will not be the same! Your world will not be the same!….simply because a lightning rod decided to have a ‘Let Your kingdom come, let Your will be done’ moment. May we have lots of such moments, so much so, life is redefined.
* Excerpt of Song written by Mark Altrogge© 1985 Sovereign Grace Praise (Admin. by Integritymusic.com)
practical church life 