Awaken my Soul with a Renewed Purpose

As we spend time this week reflecting on the events that happened in the last week of Jesus’s life that culminated on the cross, and what this week should mean to us as followers of Christ, I have been trying to not let this week just come and go without giving it the recognition and importance it rightly deserves.

This does not mean that we usually take for granted the gift of salvation that we receive, but sometimes we can allow for this week to slide by, doing what we are expected to do without giving it too much pause. So, let us slow down and let what this week means to us sink in a little bit more and let our souls be stirred with praise for what Christ did for us.

I was drawn to a couple of verses in revelation this week. The first one is a vision that John had where he sees the throne room in heaven.

Revelations 4:11 “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honour and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.”

This chapter gives us a glimpse into the heavenly throne room with God in the centre of it all, as it should be. We are reminded that He is first and foremost God our creator. We acknowledge that He created all things, because of Him we have breath and life and we are sustained through Him. This lays the foundation of our praise. He alone is worthy. Our existence is because He willed it and therefore the purpose of our being should be to live a life that is according to His will and pleasing to our Heavenly Father.

How can we do that?

In Hebrews it says that without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6)

Faith in what? Faith in God, Faith that we are His, Faith in the fact that we are sinful creatures that need His saving grace without which we remain separated from Him. That He send His son to die on the cross to take away our sins so that we can be redeemed and have a relationship with Him and spend eternity with Him.

The word of God is the source of our faith. Romans 10:17 says “Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.”  We must continue to feed our faith by reading the word every day. Dwelling in it so that our roots are anchored within Him.

The second verse that I was drawn to is Revelation 5:9-10 “And they sang a new song: You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men from God from every tribe and language and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God and they will reign on the earth.”

After seeing the emphasis on God’s work of creation in the earlier verse, we now see His work of redemption. In the old testament a new song celebrated a new act of divine blessing or deliverance.

God loves us so much that He the creator of everything made a way for us through Jesus. Jesus stepped down from His glory into this world to sacrifice himself as a perfect sacrifice so that we can be restored in our relationship with God.

That love is truly beyond what we can comprehend. And it is ours to receive if we choose to.

Christ is primarily recognised here in that verse as the Lamb who was slain for us. He redeems people by His blood and is worthy to be praised alongside the Father. The sacrificial death of Christ for each and every one of us is the emphasis in this verse reminding us of the great gift that we so freely receive.

And by His sacrifice, we are made to be a kingdom, and priests to serve our God and will reign on earth (verse 10).

What a blessing He has bestowed on us to belong to His kingdom, we are to be one, under one King with the purpose to serve our God.

We are created to be in relationship with Him. We are to be living sacrifices (Romans 12:1), with intention surrendering to God and allowing ourselves to be transformed into the image of Christ by obediently following His way of life.

Reflecting on these two verses, brough to the forefront my very reason for being here in the first place. My existence is not chance, or coincidental, it is very much precisely planned by our Heavenly Father. And so is yours. He made us and purposed our existence. May we let the gravity of that never fade in our souls and live each day with an awareness of the intention with which we are made and the sacrifice that was given to restore us to Him. So, let us live our life with a renewed purpose to serve God, honour Him with our obedience and be filled with praise for Him every single day.

God Bless.