Purpose Statements of Jesus

Sunday evening I watched a video presentation by Pastor Craig Groeschel of LifeChurch.TV. He makes a great point:

"Everyone ends up somewhere. Few people end up somewhere on purpose."

I haven't picked up Rick Warren's gazillon copy best seller Purpose Driven Life in some time, but Craig's statement got me thinking again about our purpose.

Consider these purpose statements of Jesus:

• "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." (John 10:10)
• "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." (Mark 10:45)
• "For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost." (Luke 19:10)
• "For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me." (John 6:38)
• "For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind." (John 9:38)
• "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them." (Matthew 5:17)
• "Jesus replied, 'Let us go somewhere else—to the nearby villages—so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.'" (Mark 1:38)
• "From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life." (Matthew 16:21)
  

When you read the Gospels, you never get the sense that Jesus is in a rush to do anything. He never has to hurry off anywhere. And yet, Jesus isn't wandering around aimlessly. He has a mission--and fulfills it.

Now while Jesus made a conscientious decision to leave heaven and come down to earth, you and I simply "showed up" through birth. Jesus knew his purpose from the beginning. We have to learn it.

For me, that is a constant process.