Walking With Christ

Mark 10:1 And he left there and went to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan, and crowds gathered to him again. And again, as was his custom, he taught them.(ESV)

“As was his custom”. Jesus travelled a lot during His ministry. When He travelled there was always a purpose, even if it wasn’t always obvious. Today, I want to break down a concept that might be a bit complex. Jesus had reasons behind the places He went, things He taught, miracles He performed, and, ultimately, a purpose for coming to earth.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.(ESV)

Jesus came to this world with only one purpose, which was to create a way for the fallen mankind to be restored in relationship with God, and His death, burial, and resurrection accomplished that. Without this specific set of actions (death, burial, and resurrection), nothing else He ever did or could have done would have mattered, because we would still not have a way to actually remove our sins. All of the miracles and lessons He taught would have been great stories and nothing more. They would have been evidence that God is good, but would not have accomplished the goal of salvation. If we are being honest, the sacrifice could have been accomplished moments after He was born into this world. The sinless birth made Him the perfect sacrifice. If it had happened just after birth, or as ordered by Herod, then the sacrifice would have been no less valid. The rest of Jesus’ life and all of the prophecies surrounding His coming, life, and death were to help humanity see, recognize, and understand His coming. None of the prophecies, miracles, and lessons changed anything about who Jesus was. They only helped to prove who He was to those around Him.

So, if the goal could have been accomplished just moments after birth, why did we need all of the prophecies, signs, miracles, etc.? This is part of the nature of sin. The free will aspect of our lives means that we have to freely agree to love God and follow Him. That means the gift of redemption has to be offered with the possibility of it being rejected. If the offer is made and nobody knows it exists, how easy would it be to hide or cover up the existence of such an offer? That would be a fairly simple prospect and most likely only take a generation or two. However, if there were hundreds of prophecies telling us about specific actions, activities, events, etc. that would take place on or around the messiah such that any one person ever being able to accomplish more than a few of the simpler ones would nearly impossible, then having one single person who is able to fulfill every single one would not only be impossible, but require God. The extreme nature of the prophecy list would also mean that it would be that much more difficult to cover up the evidence pointing to the one who made it happen.

Let’s tie this back to us. Jesus had one purpose. If He had not accomplished that one single thing then nothing else He did would have really mattered. I, personally, think that each of us is exactly the same in that regard. God created each of us with a purpose in mind. He knows that one single moment, thought, or action that we must take. We most likely won’t know what that is until we look back at it. It will be there, in stark contrast to the rest of our lives. Everything else in our lives will give that moment a sharper contrast and deeper meaning. That focal point for our lives will bring our entire existence into focus much like the prism being the focal point that either breaks pure light up into the components or focuses the multiple components back into the pure light it originated in.

In that moment, when you find your focal point and can see your whole life through that lens, you will finally see the purpose for every single thing that ever happened to you. There will be no more questions as to who you are and why you are here. You will see the deeply carved fingerprints of our creator in every moment of your life, and it will bring you to tears. Some are blessed to be able to see this truth from a very young age, while others may not be able to see it until we all stand together before the great white throne. It is there. If you can’t see it then you may not be ready for it yet. It may not have happened yet, but it will. One day, you will see yourself through our God’s eyes and you will see the truth knowing that He knew you before He began to knit you together in your mother’s womb, He loves you, and He has plans for you. He has a purpose for each one of us.