Purpose and Mission

           While attending a class on sermon preparation, the teacher reminded us that a message should have one central idea.  Why do you want to preach a message to a specific group of people at that given time?  In the same manner,  I once heard the expression that a teacher should be able to put his or her lesson into one sentence and if they were not able to do so, they were not ready to teach.   What is it that you hope to teach?   This is the age of purpose statements and mission statements.  These are little sentences that express the basic reason why an organization exists.  I heard one man state that the main purpose for the Holy Bible could be summed up in four words.  Those four words are:  "Man's problem.  God's solution."  It is true that there are a lot more things in the Bible than those four words, but the words are basically true.  From the very beginning, we soon learn about man and the problems that occurred which separated man from God.  Then, the Bible traces the history of the Jewish people from that point on and how it was all going to lead to the coming of the Messiah.  John 3:16-17 says, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.  For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved." 
        While we spent a lot of verses showing man's problem, we can now see in this verse what is God's solution to the whole problem.  This is also a prime example of our definition of "Biblical love" whereby it is expressed with the words, "Righteous acts to meet the needs of another."  We are the "another" in this verse and God's righteous act was the sending of His Son to die on the cross for our sins.  Now, we may have over simplified the purpose statement as the Bible goes on to state just how God came to the sending of His Son.  As Galatians 4:4 reminds us, it was at the "fullness of times."    The world was ripe for the sending of His Son and so the events at Calvary were accomplished that our problem might be solved.   Of course, that solution was guaranteed by the empty tomb.  We can now have eternal life simply by believing in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation.  So, praise God today for His goodness and especially for sending His Son to die for your sins.