Have You Served the Purposes of God in Your Generation?

All believers have a job to do – are we doing it?

Christians are here for a reason. Getting a free ticket to heaven is not the end all and be all of the Christian life. Yes, it will be wonderful to live with our Lord forever, but here on planet earth we all have a job to do. We are here for a purpose.

And those purposes will vary and differ as much as individual Christians vary and differ. And there may well be many purposes that God has in mind for you. He might have a number of jobs for you. So the goal is to discern what it is that God would have you to do, and then to do it faithfully and whole-heartedly, for his glory.

A major text on this is found in Acts 13. There we find the words of Paul to those at a synagogue on Antioch. He is comparing Jesus with David, and he says this (vv. 36-39):

For David, after he had served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep and was laid with his fathers and saw corruption, but he whom God raised up did not see corruption. Let it be known to you therefore, brothers, that through this man forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and by him everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses.

After David had fulfilled the purposes that God had for him, he passed away. That is something all believers should be concerned about. In this regard recall what is found in Esther 4. A plan to kill all the Jews was revealed, and Queen Esther had a chance to do something about it, as we read in verses 12-14:

And they told Mordecai what Esther had said. Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, “Do not think to yourself that in the king’s palace you will escape any more than all the other Jews. For if you keep silent at this time, relief and deliverance will rise for the Jews from another place, but you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

Thankfully she went on to fulfill the purposes that God had put her there to do. We also all have purposes that God has for us. Will we be faithful in fulfilling them? Just to make this practical and not too airy fairy, let me mention a few purposes God has for me.

I obviously write a lot, and have done a lot of teaching over the years. And my love for reading, writing and sharing what I had learned with others has been with me from an early age – well before I became a Christian. I even helped to edit an underground newspaper back in my wild hippy days. So God had put gifts and talents in me before I came to know him, and now they are being used for his purposes – and for his glory.

Other things can be mentioned, even if seemingly a bit more low key. I have stated before that in my twice daily dog walks, I will try to pray for all the folks who live in the houses I walk past. That includes prayers for their salvation and the like. Chances are good that I might be the only one praying for these folks. So that too might be another purpose that God has in mind for me.

Some things we might not even be aware of can also be part of God’s plans and purposes for us. The main thing is that we be found faithful, and that we seek to serve and honour God in everything we do. And that can include all sorts of things, such as seeking to be the best parent for your children that you can be, or being a conscientious and hard worker at your secular job.

The other day it turned out that I ended up sharing that well-known verse from Acts to two different people: one was a somewhat younger fellow who has many years to go in his Christian ministry, and the other was a much older guy who is about to call an end to his various Christian ministries.

The young man was actually a former student of mine who I had not seen for maybe 20 years or more. We connected on the social media, so he asked if we could catch up for lunch. He is doing a lot of good work for Christ, and at one point he asked me if there were any words of wisdom I might share with him.

So I did discuss Acts 13:36 with him. It is of course a very well-known passage, and one that has been preached on countless times. I had written about it in a previous piece, and included parts of a sermon by Charles Spurgeon on that text: https://billmuehlenberg.com/2024/11/19/are-we-serving-gods-purposes/

Later that day I got a call from a great friend and a great champion for Christ and the Kingdom. He told me that he will soon turn 80, and that he will soon step down from his various crucial ministries. I have known him for almost as long as I have been here in Australia (I arrived permanently in 1989).

I told him he had been such a great worker for the Lord, and I shared Acts 13;36 with him as well. He has indeed served the purposes of God in his own generation. He said that early next year he will announce the end of his ministries, which has included Christian radio work, Australian Christian history work, and Christian leadership work. I assured him that when he does this, I will write him up in an article, and rightfully sing his praises.

So there on the same day I met with a young Christian leader, and an elderly Christian leader. The words of Paul concerning David were fully applicable to both of them. Those who are new in the faith and ready to begin ministry need to be challenged by words like those found in Acts 13:36. And those who have fought the good fight and finished the course also need to be reminded of those words.

I should mention that before I left my lunchtime get-together with my former student, he told me that I had a real impact on him all those years ago when I was teaching him things like apologetics, ethics and the like. I told him that I appreciated hearing those kind words, and that they help to offset all the regular criticism I get!

But seriously speaking, to get a good report like that, to get a bit of praise like that, helps me to understand that I too am hopefully fulfilling the purposes of God for me. I, like many believers, can often get despondent and wonder if I am doing much good for the cause of Christ and the Kingdom. So encouragement such as this is always helpful and valued.

Indeed, a third episode happened that very same day which can be mentioned. I received an email that night from a terrific Christian culture warrior in New Zealand. So I immediately sent an email back thanking her for it. She thanked me for that. I recall a few years ago she had told me that I was one of the few people who ever responded to her, and she was glad that I did.

With that in mind, I posted a quick word on the social media, in the hopes that we all can lift our game in this regard. I had written this:

OK, here is the scoop: There are many folks doing great things for Christ – at least online – but they never hear a peep out of others. They might post great things, or share neat stuff, or pen terrific pieces, but they wonder if they are doing any good. I have had folks contact me and say, ‘Bill, you are the only one who acknowledges what I am doing.’ It only takes a lousy second to press a ‘like’ button, or send a quick word of thanks to others. “Therefore encourage one another and build one another up.” (1 Thessalonians 5:11)

I think you can see the connection here with what I have been talking about. We all must seek to be like David and fulfill the purposes of God that he has for us in our generation. But one way to ensure that this happens is by encouraging one another.

It is just too easy to get discouraged and wrongly think that we are doing nothing of value, and thus ask, ‘what is the point of keeping at it?’ To ensure that each believer keeps on keeping on with his divinely appointed tasks, we really do need to encourage one another and keep telling them they are doing a great job, and they need to continue.

I close with these words once again: are you serving the purposes of God in your own generation?

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