Isaiah had an encounter with God. He felt certain that he was not the man for the job, “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips,and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.”Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for” (Isaiah 6:5-6).[1]
The Lord reminded him that he was now a guiltless man and his sin was atoned. We have the very same promise from God the Father and Jesus Christ our Lord, “He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:2).
“God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished” (Romans 3:25). “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins (1 John 4:10 NIV).
God was not finished with him. He wanted to see if he got it” so to speak. He asked him the final question, “Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”And I said, “Here am I.Send me!” (Isaiah 6:8). He did get it. God provides each of us with what it takes to carry out The Great Commission. What did he provide? He provided his Holy Spirit. His word directs our path.
The Shammah
He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? (a)To act justly, (b)and to love mercy(c) and to walk humbly with your God. Then the Lord Jesus left us directives in the New Testament as to the purpose of a Christian’s life. ” He answered, (A) “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and (B) with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” (Luke 10:27 NIV).
A New Commandment
However he extended that second statement with this one. ““A new command(A) I give you: Love one another.(B) As I have loved you, so you must love one another.(C) By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:34-35). Then he completed our purpose by giving us this commandment,
The Great Commission
Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go.(A) When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.(B) Therefore go and make disciples of all nations,(C) baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,(D) and teaching(E) them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you (F) always, to the very end of the age. (Matthew 28:16-20 NIV).
The three statements above define our purpose in the Lord. We have no other purpose. We may want fame and notoriety doing this that or the other thing, but that is not what God has called us to.
The story below is a powerful one. As you read it think about the numerous opportunities that God has opened up to you in person or online to share “your story” with someone else but you have chosen not to do so.
One Sunday at my church, the Bible passage we were teaching addressed the privilege and responsibility of evangelism. A Christian lady came up to me and said, “Would you pray that God would send some Christians to work in my office and witness to my coworkers? I am the only Christian who works there; the rest of the people are lost.” “I certainly will not,” I smiled and said. She looked at me as if I were and absolute nut. “But I just heard you say that God loves the lost people.”
Her mouth dropped open. She gulped and blinked a few times. Then she stammered. “I thought you would be happy to pray that God would send a Christian to witness to the people in my office.” “I definitely will not pray that God will send a Christian to witness to the people of your office,” I repeated.
“But why not?” she gasped. “Because God has already sent a Christian to witness to the people in your office.” Her eyes got large. “Who?” she asked. “You!” I said. Often we look at the needs of lost people and ask, “God, who are You going to send? What are you going to do?” In Matthew 5:13-16 God has already answered that question. He said, “You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world.” God’s answer to this hurting, lost, world is you!
God will do whatever we cannot do, but God will not do what we can do. God’s method is mankind. His plan is people. His strategy is you and I. We are the only Jesus the world will ever see. Making a difference is up to you and me. If we do not do it, it will not get done. If it is not getting done, it is because we are not doing it.[2]
Please remember that God is with you through out this great work that you have to do!
Notes
[1] Unless otherwise noted, all biblical passages referenced are in the New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2009).
[2] David Wheeler, “Being Vulnerable by Sharing Your Recovery Testimony” (video of lecture, EVAN 525-B12LUO, week1, Liberty University, spring 2015), accessed January 12, 2015. Lynchburg, VA, January 17, 2015).
You Are Not the Only One 