Rick Warren - Understanding God's Eternal Plan for the World and for Me
Now, to make it easier, this weekend I'm going to teach the first session of class 101 right now. So I want you to take out your message notes. Notice the title, Understanding God's Eternal Plan, Understanding God's Eternal Plan for the World and for Me. Now, I've now been serving Jesus in ministry full time for 53 years. And one of the big weaknesses that I've noticed among a typical Christian is that they don't understand the big picture. They don't know why God created the universe. They don't know why God has a purpose for history. They don't know why everything is happening. They don't know where it's all headed. And as a result, because they don't know the big picture, they don't know God's purpose for their own lives.
Look at the verse at the top of your outline, Ecclesiastes 3:11 says this. "God has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God's work from beginning to end". Now, I want you to notice that verse. Notice it says God has planted eternity in the human heart. What does that mean? It means that no matter where you are in the world, no matter what religion somebody has, human beings have a God given built in instinct to realize there's got to be more to life than just here and now. Eternity was put in our hearts. We got to think there's got to be more to this. There's got to be more to life after death.
Why does every religion believe there's life after death? Because God wired us that way. You were made for more than just the here and now. But as that verse says, you can't see the whole scope of God's plan without God's help. In fact, you're clueless. Most people are clueless as to why history is happening the way it is, why the universe was created, and what is the purpose of our lives. That's why we start every class 101 by looking at the big picture. And what I want us to do in this service today is answer two questions. First, what is God's eternal plan for the universe and history? In other words, why did God create everything? It's a pretty important question to ask. And second, I want us to see the answer to the question, what on earth am I here for? What's God's purpose for my life while I'm here on earth?
Now these are big themes and I could probably take six months just unpacking them from God's word, but I'm going to condense it all into a single message. And because we have so much to cover and because there's so many verses to look at, I'm not going to tell you a bunch of stories this weekend. I'm not going to give you a lot of illustrations. Instead, I'm going to give you a 50,000 foot bird's eye view of why God created the universe, what he's doing in history, and what he wants you to do during your 60, 80, or a hundred years here on this planet. First, let's look at the question. What is God's eternal plan? Why did he create the universe? Do you know why? Do you know why the whole universe exists? You're going to have to write fast, because I'm going to sum up God's whole plan in just eight statements, okay? So write them down. Here we go.
Number one, statement number one. Everything starts with God. Everything starts with God. Romans tells us this, chapter 11. "For everything comes from God alone. Everything lives by his power and everything is for his glory". You might circle those three everythings. It comes from God it's for his glory. It's by his power. Proverbs 16 verse four says this. "The Lord has made everything for his own purposes". Now, listen, you were made by God and you were made for God. By God and for God. And until you understand that, life's not going to make sense. Colossians 1:16 in the message, paraphrased, says this. "Everything, absolutely everything got started in him and finds its purpose in Him".
You're not going to find your purpose on TV. You're not going to find it in a comic book. You're not going to find it in a self-help book. If you find your purpose in your creator, if you want to know the purpose of your life, you have to begin with God. If I were to hold up an invention that you had never seen and I said, "What's its purpose"? you wouldn't know. The only way you would know the purpose of this machine you'd never seen is either A, read the owner's manual or B, talk to the inventor. And that's the only way you're ever going to know your purpose in life. Read the owner's manual. Talk to the inventor.
Number one, it all starts with God. Number two. God is love. God is love. The Bible doesn't say God has love. It says he is love. First John chapter four, seven and eight. "Dear friends. Let us love one another for love comes from God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love". Everything God does, he does out of love. God cannot act the opposite of his character. God cannot be unloving. It is impossible for God to be unloving because God is love. The only reason there's love in the universe is because the creator is a God of love.
Number three, God loved you before he made the universe. Did you know that? Did you know that even before God thought up the universe, he thought up you? In fact, the reason he created the universe is because he wanted you alive. Ephesians chapter one, verse four says this. "Long before he laid down the Earth's foundations," that's the universe, "He had us in mind". Whoa, did you know that? Long before he laid down the Earth's foundation, he had us, that's you, that's me, in mind. And he is settled on us as the focus of his love. Wow, God is love. And we are the focus of his love. The Bible says you were created to be loved by God. If you want to know why you're taking your next breath, if you want to know why you got up this morning, if you want to know why every moment of your life has existed, you were made to be loved by God. God made you to love you.
Now he didn't need you. He just wanted you. God. Wasn't lonely. God has always been in a love relationship with himself, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in the Trinity. But God wanted you alive. That shows your value. And unlike animals, the Bible says you were made in God's image. That's what makes you different from fish or gorillas or dogs or cats or anything else. You were made in God's image, which means you were given the capacity to feel God's love and to give God's love back and to love other people. The only reason you can love others, the only reason you can feel love by other is you're made in God's image.
It's the privilege of being a human. And the only reason as I said, there's any love in the universe is because our creator is a creator of love. That's why people get married. That's why there's family. That's why there's love. We were made in God's image. God is love James chapter one verse 18 says this. God decided to give us life through his word of truth so that we might be, circle this, the most important of all his creation. That's how much God loves you. It all starts with God and God is love, and you were made to be loved by God. Isaiah 44, verse two. "I'm your creator. You were in my care before you were born". Did you know that? That's how much God cares about you?
Number four, God wanted a family. God wanted a family that he could love forever. God is love. You have a bunch of love, but you don't have anything to bestow it on, doesn't do a whole lot of good. God says you were made and I was made and everything God created, he made to love it. God wanted a family that he could love forever. And this is why he created the universe. God created the universe just so we could create this galaxy just so we could create Planet Earth. Just so it was tilted at the right angles, the same life, one degree this way, we'd burn up on our access, one degree this way we'd freeze up.
God created the perfect environment to sustain human life, just so he could create the human race, just so he could create you, just so he could love you. Wow. Romans 8:29. "God has always known who his chosen ones would be. He decided to let them become like his son so that his son would be the first of many children". Circle that phrase, the first of many children. God wanted a family. It's why the universe exists. If God had not wanted a family to love, there would be no universe. And notice God wants us to be the first of many children. Circle many. God wants a big family. He wants a lot of people with him in heaven, forever and ever, and ever, an eternal family.
And here's the fifth truth. God's family is the church. That's what it's called on Earth. God's family is the church. First Timothy 3:15. "God's family is the church of the living God". You see, the church, listen, friends, is the reason everything else in the universe exists. Some people think the church is some peripheral thing. Well, it's not important. It's the whole reason the universe exists. If God hadn't wanted family, there'd be no universe. Jesus said, I will build my nation? No. I will build my business? No. I will build my franchise? No. I will build my religion? No. I will build my church. That's what he's been doing for thousands of years, building a family. That's the reason everything exists.
Ephesians 3:14 and 15. Look at this verse. "When I think of the wisdom and scope of God's plan, I fall on my knees and I pray to the father of the great family of God". There's the family of God. Some of them already in heaven and some of them here on earth. What is the church? Every believer who's put their trust in Christ. Those who are already gone on into heaven and those who are here on earth, that's the body of Christ. That's the family of God.
Number six. The church is the only thing in the universe it's going to last forever. Did you know that? Everything else is going to vanish? One day, it's going to burn up. It's going to vanish. The Bible says God one day is going to create a whole new Earth. The Bible says God's going to create new heavens. We don't know when Christ is coming back, but I'll tell you something. A thousand years from today, there won't be a Starbucks. There won't be a Walmart. There won't be a Microsoft or an Apple. There won't be a United States of America. Why? Because nothing manmade lasts forever. Where's the Hittite empire. Where's the Assyrian empire. Where's the Ugaritic empire? Where's the Sumerian empire? You haven't even heard of these. They were the big deal in their day.
Nothing lasts forever if it's manmade, but I'll tell you this, a thousand years from today, there won't be a United States of America, and things will all be different if Christ hadn't come back, but there'll still be a church. Why? Because it's the only thing that's going to last, God's family. If you are a betting person, let me give you a little tip. Bet on the church. It has outlasted every political system, every dictator, every critic, every army, every famine, every flood. It's the one thing that's going to last forever. God's family, the church. First John 2:17. "This world and everything in it is passing away. But those who do the will of God are going to live forever".
That's a promise. And how about this verse? First Peter chapter one, verse three. "In his boundless mercy, God has given us the privilege of being born again, so that we are now members of God's own family". Circle that. We are now members of God's own family. You know, there's only two ways to get into family, get adopted into it or get born into it. And those are the two metaphors that are used in the Bible for your conversion. Be born again or be adopted in the family of God. We are now members of God's own family. And now we live in the hope of eternal life because Christ rose again from the dead. Because Christ rose again from the dead. The only thing that's going to last is the church.
I know you've probably thought, "What's it going to be like in heaven? What's it going to be like in eternity"? Well, the fact is you can't understand how cool it's going to be because your brain and my brain aren't big enough to understand all the ways of God. There are dimensions that we don't even know. We live in three dimensions here, but me trying to understand heaven is like an ant trying to understand the internet, your brain isn't big enough. 1 Corinthians 2:9 says this, "No eye has ever seen and no ear has ever heard, and no mind has ever imagined the wonderful things that God has prepared for those who love him". That's his family. It all starts with God. God is love. God wanted a family to love. That family is going to last forever.
Number seven, Jesus died to make this plan possible. Without Christ's death on the cross, none of this would ever happen. 1 Thessalonians 5:10, Jesus died for us so that we can live together, that's family, with him. Where? In heaven in eternity. Here's another verse, Ephesians 1:11 and 12. It is in Christ that we find out who we are and what we're living for. Now, let me just stop there. Look at that verse. Everybody in the world today is messed up, trying to figure out who am I. Everybody's in an identity crisis. Gender crisis, racial, ethnic, background, political, everybody's in an identity crisis.
The Bible says this, "It is in Christ that we find out who we are and what we're living for". Part of the overall purpose he's working out in everything and everyone. And this is the plan, okay? We're talking about the big overall plan. Ephesians 1:10 says this, "This is the plan. At the right time, God will bring everything together under the authority of Christ. He who was humiliated on the cross will be given all glory at the right time". God will bring everything together under the authority of Christ, everything in heaven and on earth. At the right time, it's all going to come to conclusion and we go into eternity. You say, "When's going to be the right time"? Only God knows that. Only the Father knows.
Jesus even said, "I don't even know the date of my coming back". Only the Father knows. But we do know why Jesus has not come back yet. Did you know that? We don't know when it's going to happen, but we know why he hasn't come back. And that's the eighth point. Jesus is waiting to return for two reasons. Write these down. The reason Christ has not come back yet, two reasons. First, he wants more people in his family. So he is giving people time to accept him. He's giving people time. He's giving the church time to share the good news around the world, to finish the task, to take the great commandment and the great commission to every person, Jerusalem, Judea, Sumeria, in the other most parts of the world.
2 Peter 3:9 says this, "The Lord is not being slow about his promise to return. Instead he's being patient". He doesn't want anyone to be lost. That's why he hadn't come back yet. He's giving more people a chance. He doesn't want anyone to be lost. He wants all people to repent and turn to him. If you want Christ to come back sooner, it's real simple. Get out and tell more people the good news. The first reason Jesus has not come back yet, why this plan has not been culminated yet, is he wants more people at his family. And the second reason he hasn't come back yet is this. He wants us to practice five purposes.
Now, listen, I want you to listen very closely. This life is preparation for the next life. This life is preparation for the next life. You're going to spend far more time on the other side of death than you do on this side. On this side of death, you get 50, 60, 70, 80, at the most 100 years. That's not very much. On the other side of death, you've got trillions and trillions and trillions and trillions and trillions and trillions of years. That's eternity. And so he's saying this life is the get ready stage. It's the warmup act. It's the dress rehearsal. It's the first lap around the racetrack before the real race begins. It's the dress rehearsal before the real story begins in eternity.
Have you ever thought about this? Why didn't God just create us and take us instantly to heaven? Why does he put us here on this planet for 60, 80, 100 years? Why does God create us and then put us on a place where we've got tests and trials and temptations and troubles? Why didn't he just spare all that and just take it directly to heaven? Here's the answer. God wants us to learn some things first. And you can only learn them when you have the opportunity to be tested, to go through trials, to go through tribulations, temptations, difficulties, trials.
Now let me summarize what I've just said in these first eight statements. Number one, God has never created anything without a purpose. Every plant has a purpose. Every animal has a purpose, every rock has a purpose. And if you're breathing, God has a purpose for your life. As long as you're alive, there's a purpose for you here on Earth. Every human being has a purpose. And since you're alive, it means God has a purpose for you. Number two, you were made to last forever. It is no small thing to say God has long range plans for your life. He didn't make you for 60 years. He didn't make you for 80 or 100 years. He made you to last for eternity. One day, your heart's going to stop. That's going to be the end of your body on planet earth, but certainly not going to be the end of you.
You were made to last forever. Number three, you're going to spend more time on that side of death than you do on this side. And so number four, this life right now, what are we supposed to do with it? What on earth am I here for? This life is to prepare for eternity, for eternal life. This life is to prepare for eternal life. It's the warmup act. God wants you to practice on Earth what you're going to do forever in eternity. Now, that brings us to the second big question. First we said, "What's God's plan for history? What's God's plan for the universe"? Now we're asking, "What on earth am I here for? Why am I here"?
Now, you can speculate it. You can guess about it. You can make up reasons. But the truth is the only way you'll know is to go to God's word. And fortunately God tells us in his word, the Bible, that God has five purposes for your life on earth, five purposes while you're on this planet. And there are some things that God wants you to learn how to do. Now, listen, if you fail to learn how to do these five things, you've missed the whole purpose of your life on Earth. You weren't put here to be a self-centered clod to live for yourself, make a little bit of money, retire, and die. No, no, no, you were made for so much more than yourself. You were made for so much more than just you.
So I want us to spend the last part of this message looking quickly at God's five reasons for creating you, and his five reasons for putting you on earth and his purposes for your life. All right, let's look at these. Number one, the first reason God created you, the Bible tells us is this, write it down. God planned me for his pleasure. God planned me for his pleasure. You weren't made for your pleasure. You were made for God's pleasure. Made by God and for God, and until you understand that, life won't make sense. Revelation 4:11, "For you, God, created everything. And it is for your pleasure that they exist and were created". You were planned for God's pleasure. God takes pleasure in watching you be you. Psalm 149:4. The Lord takes pleasure in his people.
Now let me ask you. Those who are listening right now or watching on the internet, how many of you are parents? Can I see your hands? Raise your hand. How many of you are parents? Do you get pleasure in watching your kids? You say, "Some of the time. Some of the time they may be devils during the day, but at night when they're sleeping, man, they're angels". You know what? God gets pleasure in watching you be you, and you don't have to be doing spiritual stuff. Some people think God only smiles at them when they're praying, or ministering, or helping a little old lady across the street, or confessing, or forgiving, or reading their Bible, doing something spiritual or holy.
God takes pleasure in watching you be you. And when you be you, God looks down and says, "That's my girl. That's my boy". And if you're good at athletics, God says, "That's my boy". And if you're good at numbers or math, or if you're good at music, or if you're good at mechanical things, or whatever you're good at, organizing a closet, making a cake, whatever it is, God gets pleasure in watching you be you. Why? Because he loves you. You know, when my kids were little, I used to go in and sit by their bedside and just watch them sleep. And I got so much pleasure out of watching my kids sleep. I watched their little chest rise and lower, rise and lower, rise and lower. And I got so much pleasure just watching my kids breathe. Why? Because I am their father. And they were created out of my love for my wife and for our family. And they were created as objects to be loved.
Now, the first purpose of life is for you to learn to let God love you, and to learn to love him back because you were made for his pleasure. Matthew 22:37-38. One day, a guy walks down the street. He says to Jesus, "Lord, what's the greatest command"? And Jesus says, "I'll summarize the whole Bible in two sentences, all the law and all the prophets". Here's Cliff notes on the Bible. Here's the whole Bible summarized. Love God with all your heart and soul and mind and strength. Love God with all your heart and all your soul and with all your mind. And another time when he says that, he adds, "And with all your strength".
This is the first and greatest commandment. God wants you to know him, and God wants you to love him back. Now, your first purpose on earth, write this down, is to learn to know and love God. Learn to know and love God. If you don't learn to know and love God on this earth, you've missed the number one purpose of your life. Hosea 6:6, God says this, listen to the passion in this verse. God's talking. "I don't want your sacrifices. I want your love. I don't want your offerings. I want you to know me". If you're taking notes, in that Hosea 6:6 verse, circle the word love and know. The first purpose of your life is to love God and to know God.
The most important thing you can know in life is that God loves you. And the most important thing you can do in life is to love him back. And so every morning before you get out of bed, you ought to sit on the side of your bed or kneel at the side of your bed and say, "God, if I don't get anything else done today, I want to know you a little bit better, and I want to love you a little bit more". Because if you do those two things, and at the end of the day, you know God a little bit better and you love him a little bit more, your life has been a success. And if you don't, it doesn't matter how many things you marked off your to-do list. That day was a failure, a tragic failure.
Now the Bible has a word for this first purpose, loving God and being loved by God, enjoying God, enjoying a relationship with God. The Bible calls this worship. Write that down. Worship is letting God love you and expressing love back to God. A lot of people worship his music. That's one way to express love, but there's 1000 ways to express love. You can express God love in silence. You can express love to God in quietness, in a confession, in listening to God's word. Expressing love back to God is the first purpose of your life. 1 Timothy 6:21 says this, "Some people have missed the most important thing in life. They don't know God".
Well, no wonder. That's the most important thing in life. You were created by God, for God, and he made you to know him. He made you to love you, and he wants you to learn to love him back, and he's given you that capacity. That's called worship, when you love God and experience his love in your life. How do you know when you're not worshiping God? Real simple. You worry, you worry. Matthew 6:32 says this, "People who don't know God are always worrying". You see, worry is the opposite of worship. You're always either worshiping or worrying. When you're worrying, it's a warning light. I'm not worshiping. When you're worshiping, you can't worry because the Bible says God is love, and there's no fear in love. Perfect love casts out all fear. Worry is a warning light that you are disconnected from God.
The first reason God made you, you were planned for his pleasure, and he wants you to learn to love him back the way he loves you. The second reason God created you, write this down. God formed me for his family. God formed me for his family. Ephesians 1:5 says this, "God's unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into his own family". You want to know what God's plan for eternity's been? To create us and adopt us into his family. How? By bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ, and this gave him great pleasure. It brings God pleasure to save us. It brings God's pleasure to forgive us. It brings God's pleasure to not just create us, but to welcome us into his family. God wanted a family and you were created to be a part of it.
Now, listen. God never meant for you to go through life all alone. The very first thing God said, when he created man back in the Garden of Eden, he said, "It is not good for man to be alone". God hates loneliness. He hates loneliness. That's why he created a spiritual family called the church. Whether you ever get married or not, physical families fall apart. People grow up. They move away. They never see each other again, their separations, their divorce, their death. Physical families don't last. The family of God's going to last forever. And God hates loneliness, so he created a spiritual family that you would never be alone. Your spiritual family is going to outlast your physical family because it's for eternity. 1 Peter 1:3 says this, "God has given us the privilege of being born again".
So now we're members of God's own family. Okay? Now, let me make a distinction here. Everybody in the world is loved by God, but not everybody's a part of his family. You have to choose to be a part of God's family. The moment you're born, you automatically became a part of the human race. You didn't have any choice. You became a part of the human family, the moment you were born. But you don't become a part of a physical family until somebody took you home from the hospital. That was a choice. And you must choose to be in God's family. God loves everybody. God has a purpose for everybody. God wants everybody in his family, but not everybody says yes.
What is God's family? What is God's family? He wants us all in his family, but not everybody's in it. What is God's family? Well, we saw this verse earlier, 1 Timothy 3:15. That family is the church. That family is the church of the living... church, that family is the church of the living God. Jesus said, "I will build my church, and it is the support and foundation of the truth". Now, if you're taking notes, I want you to circle the word, support and foundation, in that verse. Now, notice the church is a family, not an institution. And notice it says it is the support and foundation. Here in California, with earthquakes, we understand the importance of a good support and foundation.
What happens when a building has no support and foundation? It collapses when the earthquakes come along. And your life is going to have many earthquakes in your lifetime, financial earthquakes, physical earthquakes, health earthquakes, moral earthquakes, emotional earthquakes, relational earthquakes. Your life will collapse if you don't have the support and foundation of the family of God. That's the church. It's why the second purpose of your life is not just to be a believer, but to be a belonger. You're a believer. Are you a belonger? 1 Peter 2:17 says this, "Love your spiritual family". That's command. Why? Because God's purpose for your life includes belonging, not just believing.
So, let's just review here first. In heaven, two of the things you're going to do are, you're going to love God. That's called worship. And you're going to love his family in heaven. That's called fellowship. Now here on Earth, what does God want you to do? He wants you to practice. He wants you to practice loving God, and he wants to practice loving his family. Now, write this down. The second purpose of your life on Earth is to learn to love God's family. First, to learn to love God and let him love you. Second, to learn to love God's family. If you don't learn this, you're going to be incredibly embarrassed in heaven. Now, here on earth, a church is a spiritual family. That's the lab for learning to really love. Nobody really teaches us how to love.
Now, I've heard people say, "Well, I don't really need the church. I can love God by myself in nature". Well, of course you can, but you can't learn to love other people by yourself. You can't learn to love God's family. And that's the second purpose of your life. He wants you to learn how to love your brothers and sisters in the family of God. God wants us to learn how to love real people, not ideal people. By the way, that's one of the reasons he puts people around who I call Heavenly Sandpaper. They just rub you the wrong way. There's certain people who, you know they're Christian, you know they're a believer, they're a brother or sister in Christ, but they irritate you. Don't look at them right now, but you know who they are. Heavenly sandpaper. It's to dwell above with those we love. That will be a glory. But to dwell below with those we know, that's another story.
Now, this is the second thing God wants you to learn. He doesn't want you to just learn to love him. He wants you to learn to love other Christians, other brothers and sisters in the body of Christ, in the family of God. The Bible calls us, write it down, fellowship. This is the second purpose. The first purpose of your life is worship. The second purpose of your life is fellowship, learning to love God's family. By the way, where do you learn to do that best. Real simple. In a small group. In a small group. Which is why we insist at Saddleback and our church family, everybody has to be in a small group. We have over 8,000, almost 9,000 small groups in Saddleback Church. And we keep starting them every month, every month. Why? Because that's where you learn the laboratory for love, learning to love other people.
You can't love a crowd of 50 people or a hundred people or a thousand people, but you can love 10. You can love six. That's why you need to be in a small group. Romans 12:5 says this, "We belong to each other". Circle that word, belong. We belong to each other. Now I'm not going to ask you to look around right now, but the people sitting next to you, guess what? You belong to them. And the people sitting next to you, they belong to you. We belong to each other. The Bible says we're in the family of God. We're in the body of Christ and each needs all the others. You need other believers in your life. If all you do is come to church and sit and soak and sour, and listen to a message, and hear good music, and never build any relationships, you've missed the second purpose of your life.
That's why Hebrews 10:25 says this, it's on your screen, "Let us not give up the habit of meeting together. Instead, let us encourage one another". That's called fellowship. Notice it's a habit. Don't give up the habit. You develop the habit of being in a small group. You develop the habit of being at worship with other believers. You develop the habit of fellowshipping with brothers and sisters in Christ. That's the first two purposes.
Now, here's the third reason that God created you. Here's the third reason God puts you on planet Earth. Number three, God created me to become like Christ. To become like Christ. I'm planned for his pleasure. I'm formed, to be a part of his family, and I am created to become like Christ. Now, once you understand this, life is going to make a whole lot more sense, that God doesn't want you to just be born again. That means you're a baby. He wants you to grow up. God wants you to grow up spiritually. In fact, he sent Jesus Christ to be the model of what a mature person looks like. He is our model.
Now, listen to me very closely. God is more interested in who you are than in what you do. We're always worried about, God, do you want me to take this job? Do you want me to take that job? You want me to marry this person, marry that? Go to this college? Go to that college? God is far more interested in what you are, your character than what you do, your career. Why? Because you're not taking your career into eternity, but you are taking your character. You're taking you.
Now, here's what the Bible says about you were created to become like Christ. Romans 8:29, from the very beginning, that means before eternity, that means before the universe, from the very beginning, God decided that those who came to him, that's us, and all along, he knew who would should, here's the goal, become like his son. God wants you to learn to think like Jesus, to talk like Jesus, act like Jesus, speak like Jesus, feel like Jesus, respond like Jesus, react like Jesus.
Colossians 1:15 says this, "We look at the sun and see God's original purpose in everything created". Friends, this is not Plan B. It's been God's purpose from the very beginning. When God created man and woman in the Garden of Eden, he says, "Let us make man in our image". Now, what does that mean? Not a God, but godly. You're never going to be a God. You're never going to be a mini God. He didn't say let us make gods. He said let us make people in our image. He wants you to be godly. He wants you to have the same character, the same love, the same holiness, the same patience, the same joy, the same gratefulness, all of the qualities that you find in Christ.
Now, listen, so many times the stuff happens to us in life, we always ask the question why. Why is this happening to me? Well, actually, you should be asking what. What do you want me to learn? But if you want to ask why, I'll give you the answer, why things happen to you. To make you like Christ. The Bible says that Christ learned obedience through suffering. How do you think you're going to learn obedience? The Bible says Christ was made perfect through suffering. How do you think you're going to learn be made perfect? Through suffering. If God allowed Christ to go through all kinds of problems, were there times when Christ was discouraged? Were there times when Christ was disappointed? Were there times when Christ was tempted to be lonely, to be frustrated, to be angry?
Of course. Well, if he didn't spare his own son from that, why do you think he would do that to you? Listen, if you're going to become like Christ, God is going to take you through everything Jesus went through. There were times Jesus was criticized. There were times Jesus was misunderstood. There were times when Jesus was hungry. There were times when Jesus was lonely. God will take you through the same things Christ went through because he wants you to become like his son, like father, like daughter, like father, like son.
Philippians 2:5, "In your lives, you must think and act like Christ Jesus". Now, if this is the third purpose of life, my first purpose, okay, is to know and love God. And my second purpose is to learn to love God's family. The third purpose is to become like Christ. What is Jesus like? Well, the best expression of Jesus is what's called the fruit of the spirit in Galatians 5:22 and 23, nine qualities. The fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, kindness, meekness, faithfulness, self-control. Nine qualities. Now, how does God make us like Jesus? How does he make us more loving? We just walk down the street one day and all of a sudden zap, all of a sudden I'm more loving. We just go to a conference, we take a pill, read a book, and all of a sudden, I'm more kind.
No. God doesn't change your character by zapping you. There's no instant maturity like instant coffee. He doesn't instantly zap you. Listen, the way God builds the qualities of Christ into your life is by putting you in the exact opposite situation. You learn patience when you're tempted to be impatient. You learn joy in the midst of grief. You learn love around unlovely people. It's easy to love people like you who are cool. Got to put you around some unloving people. How do you learn peace? In the middle of chaos. Becoming like Christ is a lifelong journey. We have an entire class on this, Class 201 that teaches you the habits that you're going to need the rest of your life. And once you've taken 101, take Class 201, and learn the habits for becoming like Christ. But it's not going to happen overnight. It will take the rest of your life.
As 2 Corinthians 3:18 says this, "As the spirit of the Lord works within us". Okay? It's God working in you. We become more and more like him. What does God use to make me more and more like his son? God uses truth, from the word of God, but God also uses trouble and trials and temptation and disappointment and difficulties in people. Every problem has a purpose if you're a child of God. Here's the point. You can grow from any situation in life if you'll just have the right attitude.
Now this is the third purpose of your life on Earth. Before God takes you to heaven, he wants you to do this, write it down. Third purpose of your life on Earth. Learn to grow up spiritually. That's what he wants you to do. That's why he didn't take you to heaven directly. He wants you on earth to learn, to grow up spiritually. God doesn't want you to stay a spiritual baby. Question. Is it possible to grow old without ever growing up? Yeah. Don't look at people, but you know who I'm talking about. Grow old, but not grow up. One of the fundamental problems of today's culture is shallow living because we are a nation of spiritual babies. You know what babies are? They're self-absorbed. Babies are impatient. Babies can only think short term. Babies are focused on feelings. Babies are unable to delay gratification. I want it now.
We are a spiritually immature culture. That's why we need more and more people to be men, Christlike, and women who are Christlike. The Bible calls this, write it down, discipleship. A disciple just means student. It just means learner. God wants you to grow up in discipleship. He wants you to develop spiritual depth. As the Bible says in Mark 4:17, and the message paraphrased, some people have such shallow soil of character that when emotions wear off and some difficulty arrives, there's nothing to show for it. So, what does God want us to do with this third purpose? Verse on the screen, Hebrew 6:1, "Let us go on and become mature in our understanding, as strong Christians ought to be".
Now, we come to the fourth reason that God puts you on this planet. The fourth reason, he didn't just take you to heaven instantly, that he created you and put you on this planet for a reason. The fourth reason is this. God created you for this reason. God shaped me to serve him. God shaped me to serve him. God puts you on this planet to make a contribution, not to just use up resources, not to just take up space, not to just use air, but to make the world a better place. God wants you to make a contribution while you're here on this planet. He wants you to make a difference, some kind of difference with your life.
Now, how do you know what God wants you to do? Look at what we call your shape. God has uniquely shaped you to make a contribution with your life. Psalm 139:13 says this, "You, Lord, you shaped me first inside then out, and you formed me in my mother's womb". Most of the things about your personality, your life, you had no control over. You didn't choose who your parents were. You didn't choose where you'd be born, when you were born. You didn't choose your sex. You didn't choose your race. You didn't choose your natural talents. All these things that shape you and make you you, they're part of God's shape for you. And God doesn't want you to be anybody else. God says you were shaped uniquely to serve God.
Years ago, I came up with an acrostic to help remember the five factors that shape your life, and to show you what you should be doing. If you want to know what you should be doing, look at your shape. And architecture form follows function, but in people, function follows form. Look at how God formed you. Look at how God shaped you and you'll know what you're supposed to do with your life. Now, in Class 301, we explain these five factors of what shape you in detail and help you do a self-profile of your own shape. If you haven't taken Class 301, go take it or go retake it. But shape, S-H-A-P-E stands for spiritual gifts, what am I gifted to do.
God gives everybody unique spiritual gifts and nobody gets all the gifts. That's why we need each other. H is your heart. What do I love to do? Some things turn you on. Some things bore you to tear. Some things turn your crank. Some things you couldn't care less about. Where do you think you got your passions? Where do you think you got your interest? Why are you interested in some things and bored with other things? God gave you your heart. He gave you spiritual gifts. He gave you heart and then he gave you abilities. Some people are good with mathematics and some people are not good with mathematics.
Some people are good with music and others couldn't carry a tune in a baggy. You're a prison singer, always buying a few bars and never have the right key. Some of you are organized. Some of you're disorganized. Some of you have the ability in art, in music, in painting. Some of you are good at closing deals. Some of you are good at building recipes. Some of you are good at craft and others of us are terrible at crafts. God made sure that nobody is good at everything. That way we need each other. Nobody gets all the spiritual gifts. Nobody has all the heart. Nobody has all the abilities. That's why we need each other. Abilities you get at birth. Spiritual gifts you get at your rebirth.
Now how about personality? Well, we're all different. God has never made two people the same. You know everybody has unique thumbprint. Everybody has a unique hand print. Everybody has a unique voice print. Everybody has a unique heartbeat. Nobody else's heart beats like yours does. Everybody else has a unique footprint. Even with twins, they are different in thousands of ways. Twins, they are different in thousands of ways and personality. Some people like routine. Some people like variety. Some people like to get up early in the morning and some people like to stay up late. I've noticed that early birds always marry night owls. God likes to put opposites together.
Before you're married, opposites attract, after you're married, opposites attack. And we actually learn through the opposites of the people around us. But we have different abilities and God wants you to know your abilities. And you know what? Your job will never be ultimately fulfilling to you because it will never use all of your abilities. Some of those abilities are meant to be used in your ministry. That means, your service to other people. Serving God by serving others. And then there's your personality and then there are your experiences. There are family experiences that you've had. There are educational experiences you've had. Vocational experiences, spiritual experiences, but the number one thing God uses in your life to shape you for your ministry, for your contribution in the world, painful experiences.
Your greatest ministry will often come out of your deepest pain. If you'll be honest to God, and you'll be honest with yourself, the very thing you dislike the most in your life history, the thing that you want to hide in the closet, the thing that was most painful for you, God will use it to help others. Who could better help an alcoholic than somebody who's been an alcoholic. And who could better help somebody with a divorce than somebody who's been through a divorce. And who could help somebody with a special needs child than someone with a special needs child. And who could better help someone who's been molested or raped than someone who was molested or raped. There's going to be bad and evil in the world, but God never wants you to waste a hurt and God will bring good out of bad if you'll let him. He loves to turn crucifixions in the resurrections.
Ephesians 2:10 says this, God made us what we are. That means he shaped us. And in Christ, Jesus, God made us to do good works. That's your ministry, which he planned in advance, circle that, planned in advance for us to live our lives doing. Did you know that before you were born, God planned in advance the contribution you would make with your life? Another name for those good works is the word ministry. Any time you use your talents to help other people that's called ministry. Jesus said, if you give a cup of cold water in my name, it counts. Another verse is 1 Peter 4:10. Look at this on the screen. God has given each of you some special abilities. Be sure to use them to make a lot of money. That's not what it says. God has given you some special abilities; be sure to use them to help each other, passing on to others God's many kinds of blessings.
Now here is the fourth purpose of your life on earth, it's another thing you need to learn. You need to learn to love and know God. You need to learn to love God's family. You need to learn to become like Christ. The fourth purpose of your life on earth is to learn to serve God by serving others. To learn to serve God by serving others. Why? Because you can't serve God who you can't see, how do you serve a God who's invisible? One day you'll see him face to face, you can serve him directly then, but today you serve God by serving others.
Now, there's a misunderstanding about heaven. A lot of people think in heaven we're just going to sit around, it's you in the fat and doing nothing and relaxing, and sleeping. No, no, you're not going to sit around doing nothing. No, that would be boring. That would be hell. You're going to serve God in eternity, but it's going to be stuff you do that you love to do, that you enjoy doing, that's fulfilling doing and there won't be any problems with it. So you're going to serve God in eternity, but it'll be fulfilling and wonderful, and enjoyable. What does God want you to do right now on earth? Practice. Well, how do you serve God on earth when you can't see him? You serve God by serving others.
Here on earth, serving God by serving others has a name, write this down, it's called ministry. And every believer needs a ministry. Different from your career. A ministry is something you just do out of the goodness of your heart. It's to use the talent, the shape, the spiritual gifts, the heart, ability, personality, experiences, that God gave you to help other people. And here at Saddleback Church, over 500 different ministries have been started by members who said, here's what I'm shaped to do. And we start a ministry because they're shaped to do it.
Now, let's review. I was planned for God's pleasure. And so he wants me to learn to love and know him back. I was formed for God's family. So he wants me to learn to love his family. I was created to become like Christ. So he wants me to grow in character and grow up spiritually and mature. I was shaped to serve God by serving others. That's called your ministry. The fifth reason God created you is this. God made me for a mission. Did you know that God has a life mission for you on planet earth and only you can fulfill your life mission? God puts you on earth to first know him, then to learn some things, then to become some things, and then to do some things. And the doing part is called your mission.
Let's wrap it up with these verses. John 17:18, Jesus said, in the same way that the Father gave me a mission in the world, I give them a mission in the world. You need a ministry in the church and a mission in the world. Memorize that statement. You need a ministry in the church and a mission in the world. You need a ministry to believers and you need a mission to non-believers. 2 Corinthians 5:18-20 says this, through Christ, God has made peace between us and himself, and he's given us the work of telling everyone about the peace we can have with him. So we've been sent to speak for Christ. That's part of your mission.
Paul talked about his life mission this way in Acts 20:24. The most important thing that I do is that I complete my mission, the most important thing is that I complete my mission, the work that the Lord Jesus gave me. And what's the work that the Lord has given you? To tell people the good news about God's grace. You're going to be in heaven because somebody told you. Have you told anybody? Is anybody going to be in heaven because of you? You see, this is a task, this is an assignment, this is a commission, this is your life mission that God has given to every person in God's family. It's not like, oh yeah, just pastors are in charges, nuns, brothers, sisters, priests, missionaries.
Somebody told you about Jesus. Who's going to be in heaven because of you? Who have you told? Jesus said this in Mark 16:15, go everywhere in the world and tell everyone the good news. I'm going to come back to that verse in a couple weeks. In the future, I want to talk to you about finishing the task. What I'm going to give the rest of my life to post Saddleback and I want to invite you to be a part of it and join me in the greatest movement in history.
Now, this fifth purpose of your life on earth is this, write this down, learn to bring others to Jesus. That's your fifth purpose on this planet, to learn to bring others to Jesus. If you never learn to bring anybody to Jesus, you've missed one fifth or 20% of the purposes of your life. Now the Bible calls this evangelism or witnessing. Evangelism is just a Greek word. Evangel means good news. Evangelism means spread the good news. That's all it means. Evangelism means spread the good news. It's not bad news, it's good news. Witnessing says, this is what happened to me. Somebody passed it on to you. Now it's your responsibility to pass it on. Proverbs 11:30 says this, God's people are like trees that bear life-giving fruit. They show their wisdom by saving souls. You want to be a wise woman?
Let me ask you this. Do you really want to be a wise woman? They show their wisdom by saving souls. You want to be a wise man? Not a fool, you want to be a wise man? You show your wisdom by saving souls. It says, by bearing fruit. What is the fruit of a Christian? Another Christian. Now, I don't have time to take you through Acts chapter two and show you that these five purposes have been the five purposes from the very start. Modeled in Acts chapter two, Jesus praised them in John 17, Paul explains them in Ephesians four, but they're summarized in the great commandment of the great commission. At Saddleback Church, our model for everything we do is the Bible and the first Christians and the first churches did these five purposes. And that's what we're doing. And it's all part of the big plan.
Now, let me close with this. God never intended for you to fulfill his five purposes for your life by yourself. That's why he created the church on earth. That's why he created a family. I will build my church. Belonging to a church family will help you fulfill all five purposes of your life. The purpose of the church is to help believers fulfill the five purposes of their lives. Let's just review. A church family will help me center my life around God. That's worship. First purpose. A church family will help me connect my life to his eternal family. That's fellowship. A church family will help me cultivate my life with spiritual growth. That's discipleship. A church family will help me contribute something back with my life. It gives you a place for ministry. And a church family will help me communicate my life message to the world. That's your mission.
Now what I just taught you is session one of Class 101 that 73,000 people have taken over the last 43 years. So I want you to turn to the person next to you right now and just say, smile at them and say congratulations, congratulations, congratulations, because you have now completed one fourth of Class 101. Now, if you haven't taken the rest of the class, I'll see you at 2:00 PM Sunday afternoon at the Lake Forest Campus or any of our other campuses, and Kay and I will be teaching you the rest of this life changing seminar course.
Friends, I don't want you to be embarrassed in heaven. When you get to heaven and Jesus says, I put Saddleback Church family in your area. Why did you not ever join my family? What were you thinking? I put them in your area. What were you thinking? So take out your connection card right now and write Class 101 on there and we'll see you at 2:00 PM at your campus as we do this conference or do the rest of Class 101 together. Let me pray for you.
Heavenly Father, thank you that you are a God of love that everything you do is out of love. Thank you that you thought of us before you thought of the universe. That you wanted us in your family, that you chose us long before we chose you. That you made the universe because you wanted a family to love for the rest of eternity. And Lord, as we understand your plan that you put us on this planet for five reasons, that you planned us for your pleasure. You love us and you want us to learn to love you back in worship, to know and love you. That you formed us for your family. You want us to learn to love our brothers and sisters in Christ. That you created us to become like Christ. That you shaped us to serve you. That you made us for a mission. May we be exactly what you want us to be. May we, when we get to heaven, we be more mature because we fulfilled the purposes that you made us for. And I pray as Saddleback moves into the future as a purpose driven church, we will help every individual fulfill God's purposes on God's planet with God's people. And I pray this in the name of the Father and the son and the holy spirit. Amen.