Impact: It is What You Were Created For, Part Four- Anointed for Service
I question myself frequently? What does God want me to do? Why was I created? What is my purpose in life? What gets me out of bed in the morning? (Besides coffee?) What keeps me going day after day? What is my dream? Can I go out and serve God and still live my dream? What makes me think I can go make a difference? Will God go with me as I live out my dream? Will I be out there doing what I love but not have God’s blessing?
I desperately want to live my dream, be used by God and have his touch upon my life. I want to have the sense that God is there with me every step of the way!
To what has God called you? What has God created you for? What is it that gets you out of bed each day? What is your dream? I am sure that we all have various dreams, desires, and visions of ways we can make a difference. Using your natural gifts and talents plus the gifts and fruit of the Spirit, what could you accomplish for God?
As we have said in the first message in this series, we are created for a purpose: to carry on the mission of Jesus. In the last two weeks we talked about the gifts and fruit of the Spirit. I have over all of these weeks tried to communicate that God wants to use you. I have tried to communicate that we were created and equipped to do good works. The dream that is inside of you is a dream that was put there by God! God wants to take that dream and use it for his purposes.
Ephesians 2:10 For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do
God knew you and created you with certain passions, gifts and abilities. He created you that way for good works. This verse says God prepared these good works in advance. It is our destiny to accomplish them. When we were born again, we were given a new purpose in life: to fulfill the great commission.
There are many aspects to this mission. Some people have more out front types of callings, and gifts. Others have dreams and gifts that are more subtle and behind the scenes. Remember we said that all of the gifts are needed. All parts of the body of Christ are valuable. God wants to take the gifts and abilities you already have and anoint them for service.
Let me tell you about anointing a bit.
Exodus 30:22-25
22 Then the LORD said to Moses, 23 “Take the following fine spices: 500 shekels [6 kilograms] of liquid myrrh, half as much (that is, 250 shekels) of fragrant cinnamon, 250 shekels of fragrant cane, 24 500 shekels of cassia—all according to the sanctuary shekel—and a hin [4 liters] of olive oil. 25 Make these into a sacred anointing oil, a fragrant blend, the work of a perfumer. It will be the sacred anointing oil.
This oil of anointing was not liquid like cooking oil. Rather, it was thick and very smelly. The purpose of anointing oil was to dedicate things to a special purpose. For example, the items in the temple were all dedicated (set apart) for special service. The oil was used to anoint the priests who labored in the service of the temple. They were set apart for a special purpose. In a very real sense, they were empowered for service.
We believe in something commonly called, “The Priesthood of All Believers.” This is taken from the book of 1 Peter, Hebrews, and Romans.
1 Peter 2:5, 9
5 you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
We are a holy priesthood, a royal priesthood, a chosen people, holy nation. We belong to God that we may declare his praises. We are to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
These sacrifices are not redemptive sacrifices, in that they do not have any bearing on our eternal destiny. Rather, these are sacrifices of gratitude to God.
Paul tells us in Romans to offer our bodies as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to God. As we do this, we express our spiritual priesthood in acts of praise and thanksgiving and in the selfless service of others as we meet their needs.
Hebrews 13:15-16
15 Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that confess his name. 16 And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.
As believers we are all priests offering our lives and sacrifices of praise to God. Here we are told specifically to do good and to share with others.
In the N.T. outlines of the offices of the church (Eph 4:11 and 1 Cor. 12:28) there is silence about the priestly functions. There is no mediator between God and man:
1 Timothy 2:5
For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.
Each believer has the ability and the invitation to go directly to the Father. There is no difference between any members of the body of Christ. All of us can pray for people. We have this idea that the pastor or elders in the church are the only ones who can baptize or lead communion. There is no scriptural support for that.
We all have the same mandate of making disciples. We have different roles and gifts, but that does not make one superior to the other. What does all of this have to do with you?
You were created and gifted for a purpose. As a believer your mandate is to embrace and live out that purpose. Just as the priests were set apart and empowered by anointing with oil, we too want to anoint you with oil.
What is your dream? In what way can God use you? Perhaps you can serve in some area of the church? Perhaps you have let some dream or gifting die. Whatever it is that God is speaking to your heart about right now, that is it.
REFLECTION TIME
Answer the question: If I could do anything for God I would __________.
My answer to this question is: I would like to lead a church planting movement in the Baltic states.
I am asking the leadership team to come and anoint me with oil and ask God to empower me to fulfill this dream.We are going to ask those of you who would like to be anointed for service, to come and
- Answer that question.
- Be anointed with oil.
- We will pray for you.
