This morning we continue our series entitled, “Refined Focus”, with an emphasis on “Focusing on God’s Finished Work”. For about a week now I’ve been giving you examples of grace-cases. Today we will look at another. It’s one of my favorites. His name is Paul.
While the Apostle Paul is arguably the most influential church leader of the first-century church, his story does not start out that way. In the early beginnings of the church Paul was known as Saul of Tarsus and he was the church’s Enemy #1. As Saul of Tarsus, he persecuted Christians, had them imprisoned, stoned, burned at the stake, and eaten alive by wild animals in coliseums. The crazy thing is, Saul thought he was doing this for God. He was being groomed to become one of the Jewish religious elite. He was doing what he was doing in the name of religion, but he did not have a relationship with the God he claimed to serve.
God got ahold of Saul by knocking him off his high-horse (literally). And God revealed to Saul that he was on the wrong side, that he was using his God-given passions the wrong way, and that he was called to minister to people he had no dealings with, the Gentiles. The revelation of his divine assignment changed everything for Saul of Tarsus. He died to his old identity. He lived the remainder of his days as the Apostle Paul. He went on to write, “Even before I was born, God chose me and called me by his marvelous grace. Then it pleased him to reveal his Son to me so that I would proclaim the Good News about Jesus to the Gentiles” (Galatians 1:15,16). God knew all the mistakes Paul had made and would make, He called him to be an Apostle anyway. Being an Apostle was God’s finished work. Being an Apostle was God’s divine assignment. Being an Apostle was God’s best for Paul. But Paul had to die to his old self in order to rest in God’s finished work. He did, and the rest, as they say, is history. The question for you today is: are you willing to die to the person you became on your own, so you can become the person God called you to be?
So what does this mean to you today? A few things.
1. Being passionate doesn’t always mean you are right. Paul was super-passionate about persecuting Christians, but his passion was focused in the wrong direction.
a) Paul invested decades into his identity as Saul of Tarsus and he gave it all up to become the Apostle Paul. Listen to the testimony in Paul’s own words: “I was circumcised on the eighth day after my birth. I am from the people of Israel and the tribe of Benjamin. I am a true Jew, and so were my parents. The law was very important to me. That is why I became a Pharisee. I was so eager to defend my religion that I persecuted the church. And no one could find fault with the way I obeyed the Law of Moses. At one time all these things were important to me. But because of Christ, I decided that they are worth nothing. Not only these things, but now I think that all things are worth nothing compared with the greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. Because of Christ, I lost all these things, and now I know that they are all worthless trash. All I want now is Christ.” (Phil 3:5-8 ERV).
b) Sincerity does not equal accuracy. Paul was sincere in his pursuit of persecuting Christians, but he was sincerely wrong.
c) There is no true success outside of your divine assignment. This is why Saul gave up everything to become Paul. Once you discover who God called you to be, you will never experience success until you die to self and rest in God’s finished work.
2. God does not call the qualified, but His grace does qualify the called. God chose the church’s #1 enemy, a man who was living as a terrorist against Christians, to become it’s leader. God chooses us and then uses us by His unearned and amazing grace.
3. You don’t work for your assignment, you simply REST in it. What did Paul do to earn or deserve the assignment? Nothing. You could make the argument that Paul worked against God. But in the end, nothing Saul of Tarsus did could disqualify him from his life’s assignment. Do you know why? It’s because he never qualified in the first place. God called him before he was born. God knew all the mistakes he was going to make and He called him anyway. God’s call of Paul was finished. All Paul needed to do was discover his assignment and then REST in God’s finished work. Even though he was not worthy, Jesus was worthy for him. The same can be said for you!
4. If you want to give your focus to anything, you should give it to God’s finished work in your life. Don’t try to get God to move for you. He is trying to get you to REST in what He has already done.
Closing Confession: Father, this is a season of refined focus for me. I bring my life into focus in 2016 by dying to self. I die to my past. I die to my mistakes. I die to my limitations. I die to performance-based religion. If it were based on my performance, I could never qualify for my assignment. But Jesus qualified for me. So I accept the assignment You freely offer me by grace and I pursue it by faith. Your grace towards me shall not be in vain. I will work harder than I ever have, but I won’t get burned-out, because I will be working by Your grace. And now, my work, passion, energy and effort will all be pointed in the right direction. It is You Father, living in me, You give me the words, You perform the work, and You change lives through me for Your glory! 2016 is the best year of my life! I declare this by faith. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
This is Today’s Word! Apply it and Prosper.
