Colossians 1
Keys to Knowing God's Calling
by Gary DeLashmutt
Teaching t10564
Watch | Download
| PowerPoint | Mp3 high/low
Introduction
Briefly review setting. Because Paul has never met these people, he gives them (and us) a glimpse into his heart so they/we may know what makes him tick. Read 1:24,29. Wow! Here is a man who is suffering greatly (Greek words; imprisonment)—yet he is anything but defeated or depressed. His life is full of purpose and destiny—so he speaks of the great privilege of suffering for that purpose, and of God’s power which strengthens and energizes him to labor for that purpose.
What is this purpose that fills and drives Paul? Read 1:25. He has been called by God to play a unique and significant role in his plan. We’ll take a closer look at Paul’s calling in a minute, but first I want to focus on the main point—Paul was filled with joy and a sense of privilege and motivation and power because he was gripped by God’s calling for his life.
This is almost always the case with truly great people. I recently read David Aikman’s Great Souls, which looks at the lives of six people who changed the 20th century for the better (NAME SOME). In the introduction, Aikman reviews how different these people were in many ways. But he also notes some similarities, including this one: “(They) came to be convinced—though not in identical ways—that their lives had been touched by a divine calling, a calling so unique that only a personal God could have envisaged it, engineered the circumstances of it and communicated it, and then provided the strength and energy necessary to carry it out.”1
How rare this is in our culture! So rare that most people cannot conceive of suffering for a cause greater than their own comfort, let alone feeling privileged to do so. But with this life without calling comes emptiness, boredom, and cynicism. Yet because we are made in God’s image, we cannot help but resonate with the idea of living to fulfill a cause/calling greater than ourselves. We have become a culture of “calling voyeurs”—people who watch movies about others who live this way (e.g., “Lord of the Rings;” “Braveheart;” “Gladiator”).
How sad to live vicariously through other people’s sense of calling when God has a calling for each and every one of us! Read and explain Eph.2:10/2 Tim. 1:9. Long before you were born, God designed a unique role for you to play in his plan—and he has fashioned every major aspect of your life accordingly (e.g., NATURAL TALENTS; SPIRITUAL GIFTS; PERSONALITY; PLACE & TIME IN HISTORY; LIFE EXPERIENCES; CIRCUMSTANTIAL OPPORTUNITIES; MINISTRY PASSIONS). And he is ready to reveal his calling for your life, and to give you all the resources you need to fulfill it. Although there are unique aspects in the ways God reveals his calling for our lives, there are also some universal keys to knowing God’s calling. Paul reveals three of these keys in this passage...
Receive God’s mystery—“Christ in you”
The first and foundational step in knowing God’s calling for your life is to receive God’s “mystery” (read 1:25-27). A biblical “mystery” is simply a part of God’s redemptive plan for humanity that hasn’t been revealed until now.
The Old Testament prophets knew that God’s plan centered around the Messiah (“Christ”)—that Messiah would come at the end of the age to re-establish God’s kingdom over the whole, and that he would pour out God’s Spirit on all of his people (Jews and Gentiles) so that they would all experience God’s glorious presence in amazing ways (Isa.11:9,10).
But they did not know that prior to the end of the age, the Messiah would come as a Suffering Servant to die for humanity’s sins—and that he would actually live inside all who put their trust in him (regardless of ethnic origin). When Jesus lives inside you, he enables you to personally experience God’s love and presence in your life—a taste of God’s future glorious kingdom now. And when Jesus lives in you, he begins to reveal your unique part in God’s plan.
When I look back on my own life, I can see this much more clearly now than I did at the time. People open their hearts to Jesus for many different reasons (forgiveness, loneliness, etc.)—I opened my heart to Jesus for purpose and direction. I realized that my own direction of my life was a failure. Though I would not have used this term at the time, I felt “lost.” In the moment that I admitted this to myself, this wonderful invitation came into my mind (Rev.3:20). I sensed that the time had come to do this, so I said: “Jesus, if you are real, come into my heart and lead my life.” That decision to ask Jesus to live inside me—to receive God’s “mystery”—was almost exactly 36 years ago—and I am awed by the significance of that decision. It was the “Y” in the road between stumbling in the dark and (gradually) discovering God’s calling for my life.
This same decision can have the same result for you. There are many other keys to knowing God’s calling for your life, but it always begins with this key—responding to Jesus’ offer to live in you. He is the Lord, he made you for himself and for his plans. You are fundamentally out of synch with the purpose of your life until he lives within you. How will you respond to his invitation/summons?
Commit yourself to making Christ known to others
Once you have “Christ in you,” God calls you to make Christ known to others (read 1:28)—both to invite others to receive Christ and to help others who have Christ in them to become more mature in him. Elsewhere, Paul calls this “building up the body of Christ” (Eph.4:12)—adding members to Christ’s body, and helping them grow in Christ. God’s calling for each of our lives is unique, but each of our unique callings will express this same priority of making Christ known in these two ways.
Paul’s specific calling was to reveal what God had done through Jesus’ death and resurrection, and to take this message (especially) to non-Jewish peoples in the northern Mediterranean Basin—inviting them to receive Christ and helping them to mature in their relationships with Christ. In other words, Paul was called to be an Apostle and a cross-cultural church-planter.
My specific calling involvesteaching God’s Word, helping to start and supplying leadership for this church, and helping young adults develop as Christian workers. It is primarily through these means that God works through me to bring people to Christ and help Christians mature.
My wife’s calling involves practicing hospitality, showing mercy to hurting people, and giving wise counsel about relationships. In these ways, God provides her with unique opportunities to bring people to Christ and to help Christians to mature.
Your specific calling will be wonderfully different than Paul’s or ours—but it will make Jesus’ love and truth known to people who don’t know him and it will help those who do know him to become more mature.
If you understand this, then it should be clear that learning God’s calling for your life requires committing yourself to making Christ known to others. This commitment must be both general and practical.
Generally, it means that you need to give God your whole life to make Christ known to others. God doesn’t want you to be in the dark about his calling for your life—but you have to give him your life to work with! It is a tragedy when Christians complain they have no clearer idea of God’s calling for them today than they did 10, 15, 20 years ago. And it is usually because they have never given their whole lives to Christ, but instead have been trying to work this in around other, higher priorities (e.g., material affluence; hobbies; educational/career advancement; etc.). What about you—have you committed your life to this purpose?
Practically, it means that you need to start making Christ known right now, right where you are. Although God gives some people specific calling directions from the time of their conversion (e.g., Paul), he normally guides us more gradually into our calling as we start making Christ known right now where we are.
You have been uniquely placed among people who don’t know Christ (WORK; SCHOOL; NEIGHBORHOOD; FAMILY). God is giving you unique opportunities to show and share his love with them. Do you ask him for guidance on this (WHO & HOW)? Do you obey the guidance he gives you?
You have been uniquely placed among other Christians whom you can help to mature—not only those less mature than you, but also peers and those more mature. Do you ask God for guidance on this? Do you obey the guidance he gives you? This implies a third key...
Live in community with other Christ-followers
In a hyper-individualistic culture like ours, we are inclined to think about God’s calling in a hyper-individualistic way (e.g., GIFT TESTS; CAREER TRACKS). But it is clear from this passage that God’s calling involves living in community with other Christians.
Notice that Paul switches from “I” to “we” in 1:28. He is probably referring to the members of his apostolic team who traveled with him as he planted churches, and who were working with him in his imprisonment. We know from other passages how much he loved and depended on them.
Read 2:2. Notice that Paul earnestly desires that they be “knitted together in love” so that they can fully comprehend Christ and his purpose for their lives. Since God’s calling is for you to build up Christ’s family, you have to be involved with his family in order to build it up. What if I told you that I took seriously my role as husband and father—but only interacted with my wife and kids once or twice a month?
Read 2:19. Each of us is like an organ in a physical body. It is only as we hold fast to Christ and allow ourselves to supplied and held together by other Christians that Christ’s body grows and matures the way God designed it to. Your calling is designed to be expressed in conjunction with others who have different gifts and callings—so together you express Christ’s love far more effectively than you could alone.
Also, God will provide important insight about your calling through other Christians. Their feedback on your edifying influence is the most reliable guide to your spiritual gifts. Some will speak prophetic words about your ministry calling (1Tim.4:14). God will provide crucial guidance for your ministry as you pray with other Christians (Acts13:1,2).
This may be the key step in front of you. You may be preventing God from showing you his calling for your life because of your unwillingness to be genuinely involved with his people. Why not get involved in a home group?
Conclusion
SUMMARIZE: Which step is God calling on you to take today? How will you respond?
DISCUSS: How have you experienced insight into God’s calling through these (or other means)?
1 David Aikman, Great Souls: Six Who Changed a Century (New York: Lexington Books, 2003), p.xiii
| 
