In Acts 13:36, Paul was preaching in Pisidia Antioch when he said, “For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep and was laid with his fathers…” What a wonderful commendation of David – He served the purpose of God in his own generation. What about us? Can this be said of us toward the end of our life? That we have served the purpose of God in our own generation. That will be a worthwhile commendation.
There are general purposes of God, but there are also specific things that God calls us to do. For us in this generation as Christians and the church, what is God’s purpose? In specific sense it is what the Lord Jesus commissions us to do as a church in Matthew 28:18–20,“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. [19] Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, [20] teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
This is what the early church did and gave themselves to. They were mums and dads, students, workers, businessmen and women, politicians, lawyers, farmers, doctors, even slaves. They did all of those things faithfully, but the special calling on their lives as followers of Christ was the Commission that Christ gave them.
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