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UNDERSTANDING GOD’S PURPOSE (LENT DAY 19)

SCRIPTURE READINGS

EXODUS 20:1-17
1 CORINTHIANS 1:18-25
JOHN 2:13-22

The theme for our meditation is “Understanding God’s purpose”. In Genesis 1:26-27, “…God said Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over creeping things that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” God’s purpose was to create human being in His own image and likeness, to make them stewards over creation and to live an eternal and prosperous life. This purpose was truncated through Adam and Eve’s disobedience in the Garden of Eden. Since then, God has been in the business of restoring his relationship with human beings. That is why we have covenants such as the Noahic covenant, Abrahamic covenant and Mosaic covenant. God ultimately restored this relationship and reconciled us to Himself through the new and ultimate covenant made through Jesus Christ his only begotten son. Our reflection on the theme shall be examined in light of the following three main points:

1. To understand God’s purpose of salvation and become a beneficiary, you must repent; and through faith, accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour.
2. To maintain God’s purpose of salvation in our lives, God must reign supreme in our lives and we must love Him all the days of our lives.
3. When we truly understand God’s purpose for our lives we are moved to serve God with passion and to have His will done in our lives.

Firstly, in the Second Scripture reading, 1 Corinthians 1:18-25, Paul seized the opportunity to enlighten both the Gentiles and Jews about the importance of Christ in understanding God’s purpose for humanity. For the Greeks, a thing does not make sense if it cannot be rationalised and subjected to philosophical enquiry or explanation. In other words, Jesus’s death on the cross to save sinners does not make sense to them. On the other hand, the Jews want signs of fulfilment of prophecies. The Jews initially were expecting a Warrior King who would come to liberate them from their political enemies, the Roman Empire. For the Jews, how can a king who claims He can save them, could not even save himself from being arrested and crucified. This kind of salvation does not make sense. Paul teaches them that God’s purpose of salvation through Jesus Christ cannot be attained through the wisdom or philosophies of the Greeks nor can be attained through the signs of political liberation that the Jews anticipated. Paul teaches us that human wisdom cannot comprehend God’s purpose of salvation. “For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are beings saved, it is the power of God. For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart” (1 Corinthian 1:18-19)

Again Paul tells us, “For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek Wisdom, but we preach Christ Crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than man” (1 Corinthian 1:22-25). God’s purpose of salvation through Christ cannot be understood and received through wisdom acquired through philosophy neither can it be understood and received through expectations of some heroic mystical sign, it can only be understood and received through critical self-examination, repentance and accepting Jesus Christ as our Lord and saviour. We have people perishing because they are busy subjecting God’s love to philosophical debate, scientific explanations and mystical signs. Meanwhile, they have refused to subject their conscience and lifestyle to the Word of God and to reflect on their sinful nature and God’s offer of mercy, repentance, regeneration and salvation. 1 John 2:17 assures us that “The world is passing away, and also its lusts, but the one who does the will of God lives forever” Again Matthew 24:35 reminds us that “Heaven and earth will pass away but My Words will not pass away.” Beloved in the Lord, human wisdom and philosophies shall pass, signs and wonders shall pass but the will and purpose of God lives forever.

Secondly, having understood and received God’s purpose of salvation we must always place God first in our lives. That is why part of the first Scripture reading, Exodus 20:1-7, reminds the Israelites of how God saved them in the past and in our lives as Christians, how God saved us from Sin and condemnation for which we must love and serve Him with all our heart, mind, soul and might. Nothing should replace God in our lives because of what He has done and continues to do for us. We must honour Him all the days of our lives. In our time and age, we may not see most Christians worshipping idols but the kind of activities we engage in and the things we spend time doing can be synonymous with idol worship. Regardless of God’s purpose for our lives we still give excuses upon excuse when we are being given the opportunity to serve the Lord. We give excuses for our work hence we avoid church attendance during midweek services and other church programmes. Some of us, worship our Televisions and give so much attention to telenovelas and entertainment programmes to the extent that it affects our worship lives. For others, their phones and social media have become their gods. Even in the chapel, they are on social media watching things which are so unrelated to the purpose for which they have come to church. Similarly, others are addicted to pornography, drugs, bribery and acts which totally take away their sense of God and worship. For some Christians, football, sports betting and the lottery represent the idols they worship. If we truly understand and have received God’s purpose of salvation for us then we must place God over and above all human interests and let nothing separate us from our love and service to God

Thirdly, if we truly understand God’s purpose for our lives, we will not be idle but filled with passion and zeal to serve God and to always do His will. This is what we see displayed by Jesus in His earthly ministry. The third Scripture reading, John 2:13-22 captures one of these episodes, we see Jesus passionately and zealously ensuring dignity and sanctity at the place of worship. The place of worship became a hub of corruption and extortion. During the Passover festival, Jews and proselytes travel home to worship in Jerusalem. It was burdensome to carry animals throughout the journey so many people preferred to buy them at the temple for the said purpose. Some with foreign currencies have to change money into the local currency to purchase animals for sacrifices. The sellers of these animals and money changers took undue advantage of these foreigners and made exorbitant profits from their trade right in the temple or the house of God. Jesus having observed this corrupt practice drove them out of the temple to restore sanctity to the house of God.

Our experience today is not too remote from what transpired in the temple at Jerusalem among the traders and money changers. Corruption has rather increased in our time and the sad aspect is that some Christians are active players in the game of corruption. Jesus understood God’s purpose for His life therefore He was zealous in ensuring that God’s will was done everywhere He went including the House of God. Do you truly understand God’s purpose for your life? How has that rekindled or ignited your passion and zeal to fight against corruption and evil practices in our society? Are you the type of Christian who only comes to church on Sundays but from Monday to Saturday anything goes? Your life can never remain the same once you have become a born-again Christian and you truly understand God’s purpose for your life! We must stand out and be different because God’s purpose for our lives has been fulfilled through our Lord Jesus Christ.

In summary, to understand and receive God’s purpose of salvation, you must repent and accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour. To maintain God’s purpose of salvation in your life, you must place God first in your life; love and honour Him till your last breath. In other words, nothing should separate your love and worship of God. After receiving God’s purpose of salvation, you must serve God with passion and zeal. You must become indignant and intolerant of corruption and all manner of evils in our society. May the Holy Spirit strengthen us to remain faithful to God even as His will and purpose remain fulfilled in our lives. Amen.