FULFILLING YOUR PURPOSE

  SEVEN STATEMENTS FROM THE CROSS

“FATHER FORGIVE THEM FOR THEY KNOW NOT WHAT THEY DO”. (Luke 23:34)

FULFILLING YOUR PURPOSE
 

History has recorded the Last words of many great men.

• Nathan Hale (a 21 year old school teacher from Conn. Captured while spying on the British Government. Sentenced to hang the next day without trial.  “I regret that I have but one life to give for my country”.)
• Robert E. Lee (had a stroke and died of pneumonia one month later “Tell Hill to move up, strike the tents”
•  This is the last of earth! I am content.  John Quincy Adams, US President
• I have tried so hard to do right. Grover Cleveland, US President
• It is very beautiful over there. Thomas Alva Edison, inventor
• A dying man can do nothing easy. Benjamin Franklin, statesman,  
• Oh, do not cry - be good children and we will all meet in heaven.  Andrew Jackson, US President
• Let us cross over the river and sit in the shade of the trees. Killed in error by his own troops at the battle of Chancellorsville during the US Civil War. General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson
• Lord help my poor soul.  Edgar Allan Poe, writer
• I die hard but am not afraid to go. George Washington, US President
•  “I am ready.Woodrow Wilson, US President

I believe that a man’s last words mean a lot to him and to those who are privileged to hear them.

A man’s last words are important because they cost him a lot.  They cost him precious, limited breath.  (You hear it on TV or in movies a lot, (“Don’t talk. Save your breath.”)

We have discussed the suffering that Jesus went through on the cross.  He hung like a piece of meat from a nail on the cross beam.  We have mentioned the condition in which Jesus was placed and what pain He went through just to be able to exhale.  We also commented on the fact that in order to speak from the cross that one would have to pull himself up against the spikes in his hands and push up against the spikes in his feet.  This would produce extreme pain.  But while there on the cross those 6 hours Jesus still had things that He wanted to say.  Even though it would cause Him pain and even though it took away strength of which He had very little left, He chose to speak those seven sentences. 

As I've mentioned, the thing that hurt me so and caused me to dig further into this crucifixion experience was the fact that I did not know what He said.  It was important enough for Jesus to inflict that pain upon Himself just to say those words but it was not important enough for me to even know what He said. 

Some of you may know what Jesus said that day.  Some of you may be able to quote His sentences.  But for those of you who are like me and do not know or do not remember what He said, I feel it is very important for us to, at the very least, give close examination of His words.  

In this lesson we will study what most believe are the first words that Jesus spoke from the cross. I’m not sure that we can be 100% positive in which order these words were spoken.  Your study may have them listed in another order.  But as I have studied these sentences this is the order in which I have found them listed. 

FULFILLING YOUR PURPOSE:   The first statement that Jesus made is listed in Luke 23:34: “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do”.   

Suppose we went to where you work.  Suppose we took 20 people at your job, or any job for that matter, and asked them “What is the purpose of your job”?  What kind of answers would we get?

We might go to the little girl who works the drive through at McDonald’s and she would probably say, “It’s my job to take the orders and collect the money”.

We might go to the carpenter who is working on a job site and he might answer, “It’s my job to put the roof on this house”.

We could even go to the politician and he might answer, “It’s my job to attend functions, meetings, and try to satisfy the complaints of the people”.   

Would any of them get it right?  Would you?   What is the purpose of your job?

Doesn’t it make sense to you that if you were going to hire someone to do a job that you would give them good, clear, understandable instructions on the purpose of that job?

We have talked in other lessons about how as a soldier in the military you needed to understand “command’s intent”.  It would be ideal for each fighting man to know the intent of the commander.

“Our intent today is to take this hill” or “Our intent today is to secure this roadway” or perhaps simply “Our intent today is to search out and destroy the enemy” would be simple explanations of exactly WHAT the commands intents were. 

Soldiers and employees are most often never let in on this.  They are just told to “jump” and not told when to come down. As employees we are faced with the Nike syndrome of “Just do it”; and I guess we have just gotten used to it because we “just do it”.

What about in our Christian life though.  Wouldn’t it be great that when you first gave your heart to Jesus Christ that the pastor would shake your hand hug your neck and say “Here you go; this is what God wants you to do.  This is your purpose for being a Christian”. 

But sadly many of us, I dare say, most of us go through our entire life not exactly knowing the purpose of our Christian experience.  Stay with me here, I hope before the lesson is over to show you your purpose.

Just a few years ago a pastor named Rick Warren made lots of money by writing a book entitled, The Purpose Driven Life, some of you might have read it.  He followed it up with, The Purpose Driven Church and other books.  People need to know, want to know, their purpose.

I believe, no, I know that Jesus knew His purpose. 

•  From the time He heard the first crunch of the apple in the Garden of Eden, He could also hear the ringing of the hammer on Golgotha. 
• From the moment He felt the soft, tender touch of Mary his Mother on His face, He could feel the flagellum's ripping the flesh off of His back.
• Even as a 12 year old boy, He explained to Mary and Joseph, “Do you not understand?  I must be about my Father’s business”

God’s plan and Jesus’ purpose was the redemption of mankind.  He came to save the souls of men from eternal damnation or “He came to save YOU”!  With Jesus, it was personal. 

How do we know that He knew?  Look at His teaching.

John 10:10:  “I have come that they might have life and might have it more abundantly”

John 5:24:  “Verily, verily, I say unto you , He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.

Luke 19:10:  “For the Son of Man is come to seek and save that which was lost”

Jesus’ every move, every act, every word was to glorify God the Father and to redeem the people He so loved.

We may not understand why we are here.  We may not be able to comprehend our purpose here on this earth but we could spend the rest of the night going through scripture which clearly show that Jesus knew why He was here. His purpose was to glorify the Father and love His people by providing redemption from their sin.

And His statement on Calvary’s cross confirmed it.  “FATHER, FORGIVE THEM..”  He was there, nailed to that old wooden cross beam for one reason and one reason only….TO FORGIVE ME!

II.HOW?  Ok, so He understood His purpose.  He got it.  He could grasp “Command’s Intent”.  But How?  How could He love so much?  How could He be so forgiving?

I like to think that it is possible for me to be forgiving.  I like to think that if someone wronged me, and came to me and said “I’m sorry” that I could find it in my heart to forgive that person.  But there are a lot of “if’s” there. 

If they came to me

If they said I’m sorry

If they were repentant

If they really sounded like they meant it

Then, maybe, perhaps, if I were in a good mood and felt “forgiving” and If I were having a good day, I would extend forgiveness to that person.  But that’s not the way it was in the case of Jesus.

·         Jesus forgave when no one was asking for forgiveness.

·         Jesus forgave when no one said “I’m sorry”. 

·         Jesus forgave when no one was repentant.

·          Jesus forgave while they were still hurting Him. 

  

HOW is that possible? I think if we look at the rest of His statement we will see HOW He could say that and mean it.

“FOR THEY KNOW NOT WHAT THEY DO”:  Jesus was looking at these men not as the aggressors, or the “bad guys”; instead He looked at them as the victims.  They were being “dooped”.  They were being misled by Satan.  “Father they don’t know what they are doing”.  With these words He placed His tormentors in the position of victims. He was loving them and thinking of them.

What love!  What understanding!  What compassion!  The flesh has been ripped off of His back.  Spikes have been driven into His wrist and feet.  He has tasted the spit from men who despised Him and yet He wasn’t trying to get even.  He wasn’t trying to get back.   

What would happen if you and I did that?  What would that look like? 

When a conflict comes up at the office or wherever you work, when you and a friend have a disagreement, when you have been wronged by someone undeservedly or when someone has treated you badly and you can see THEM as the victim you will treat them differently.  The conflict will be naturalized.  The selfish attitude will go away because you will not be focused on “what happened to me” but “what has happened to them”.  “Lord, they are trying to hurt me.  Lord, they are trying to do me wrong, but FORGIVE THEM; they don’t know what they are doing”. 

If we can do that then we are establishing our position as a Christ-like person.  We establish ourselves as followers of Christ.  And we also establish our “enemies” as “victims”.  It’s a lot easier to love them when we see them that way, isn’t it?  Jesus focus was on others rather than himself.  That is so unlike me, but so much like Jesus.

That statement, said in honesty, neutralizes the hate.  Wouldn’t it be great to not feel bad at people even when they do you wrong?  Here is the answer.  See them as the victim.  Focus on them and not on yourself. 

III. WHAT IS YOUR PURPOSE?  Jesus knew His purpose but He was God.  He knew everything.  How can I know my purpose in life?

What school should I attend?  What job should I take?  What position should I work in at the church?  What should I spend my next 5 or 10 years doing? 

We are told to BE LIKE CHRIST.  That is exactly what the name Christian implies.  I am to be Christ-like.  Oh, I don’t look like Him.  I don’t sound like Him.  I can’t teach like Him.  But my purpose should be like His purpose. 

That might involve going to collage, taking another job, working harder at the job I have, having folks over for supper.  It might involve going bowling. It might involve baking cookies or singing or teaching or simply being nice to people but ultimately our purpose is just exactly like the purpose of Jesus;  to GLORIFY GOD BY LOVING THE PEOPLE HE LOVED.

Will you commit this verse to memory?  Will you work on it this week?  “Father, forgive them for they know 

not what they do” (Luke 23:34) But more than that, will you commit to living out the purpose of that profound statement that Jesus made from the cross that day.  Will you commit your life to glorifying God and loving people?