Deuteronomy 18:13
God's ideal for us is to be perfect, but through Christ, He provides the way for us to fulfill His plan and become a new creation.
Chuck Smith explores the question of what God desires from us, emphasizing that life without God's purpose leads to emptiness and frustration. He discusses the ideal requirements set forth by Moses, Micah, and Jesus, highlighting the call to perfection and the realization of our failures to meet these standards. However, he reassures that through Christ, God has provided a way to reconcile our shortcomings, asking us to believe in His provision. Accepting Christ transforms our lives, empowering us to strive towards God's ideals, even as we acknowledge our ongoing growth in grace.
Text
"WHAT DOES GOD WANT OF ME?"
Intro: Assuming there is a God who created me and placed me over other creation, what
does He want?
I. QUESTION OF PRIMARY CONCERN AND INTEREST.
A. Does life have a meaning or not - a purpose?
1. Why does your life seem empty?
2. Basis of most psychological ills is frustration - why are so many
people frustrated?
B. To try to live apart from God's plan leads to futility.
1. The greatest busiest life apart from God is empty.
a. Solomon the satiated man sought answers in:
1. Wealth
2. Education
3. Building
2. At the vise of cynicism to eliminate God & His purpose from life leaves
you with nothing; a worthless, empty, waste.
C. For the sake of my own well being, I must discover God, His plan, His purpose.
II. GOD'S IDEAL REQUIREMENTS STATED BY THREE MEN IN THE BIBLE.
A. Moses - Micah - Jesus.
1. Deut. "Thou shalt be perfect with the Lord thy God."
2. Micah "Do Justly love mercy, walk humbly with God."
3. Jesus "Be ye therefore perfect even as your Father."
B. God requires perfection of me.
1. The word perfect means to hit the mark
2. Standing in the presence of Christ I feel great consciousness of guilt,
I have already missed!
3. I become conscious of sin.
4. Even when I wanted to hit the mark I failed.
III. HAVING MISSED GOD'S IDEAL IS THERE ANY HOPE?
A. God's actual requirement.
1. "What must we do to do the works of God?"
a. Question of paramount interest.
2. "This is the work of God, that you believe on Him who God has sent."
3. God asked that I be perfect, this I could not meet.
4. God demanded that I do justly, love mercy walk humbly before Him. In this
I failed.
Good news:
B. God provided for my failures.
1. Through Christ He accepted the guilt for my failure - "And God was in
Christ reconciling the world to Himself."
C. Now God asks that I believe in His provision.
IV. WHEN I ACCEPT CHRIST WHAT HAPPENS?
A. He comes into my life with power.
1. He gives me the strength to do what could not previously do.
2. He implants His nature within me. -"If any man is in Christ, He is a
new creation".
3. Thus through His imparted power and implanted nature, I am able to
fulfill God's ideal for me.
4. God never gave up on His ideal, He provided the way through Christ.
5. Upon accepting Christ this ideal not realized all at once.
a. Paul "neither do I count myself perfect".
b. But my failures now taken care of, my guilt all gone, I grow
in His grace and the knowledge of my Lord.
Sermon Outline
- I points: - Does life have a meaning or not - a purpose? - To try to live apart from God's plan leads to futility. - For the sake of my own well being, I must discover God, His plan, His purpose.
- II points: - God's ideal requirements stated by three men in the Bible. - God requires perfection of me.
- III points: - Having missed God's ideal is there any hope? - God provided for my failures.
- IV points: - When I accept Christ what happens?
Key Quotes
“To try to live apart from God's plan leads to futility.” — Chuck Smith
“God's actual requirement is that you believe on Him who God has sent.” — Chuck Smith
“If any man is in Christ, He is a new creation” — Chuck Smith
Application Points
- I must discover God's plan and purpose for my life to find true fulfillment.
- God's ideal for me is to be perfect, but I can't achieve it on my own, I need Christ's power and nature.
- When I accept Christ, He comes into my life with power, giving me strength to do what I couldn't previously do.