THE PRIMACY OF PURPOSE (2)

“FOR THIS PURPOSE the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil” – 1 John 3:8b

Our Lord Jesus Christ models THE PRIMACY of PURPOSE: “He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. FOR THIS PURPOSE the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil” (1 Jh.3:8). The primary purpose of His manifestation was “to take away our sins” and “destroy the works of the devil” (vv.5,8). Purpose is the Reason for Being. Our Father-God is a God of Purpose. Nothing exists in creation accidentally. God works all things according to His Purpose – the counsel of His Will (Eph.1:11). Jesus is “the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person” (Heb.12:2). Like the Father, Jesus Christ the Son models Purpose.

On a particular day, Jesus amplified His Purpose – the “WHY” of His manifestation. He entered the temple, picked up the scrolls of Isaiah and began to proclaim what the Prophet had spoken about Him: “The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, because  He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD” (Lk.4:18-19). In the Volume of the Book, He discovered His Purpose: “Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come – In the volume of the book it is written of Me – To do Your will, O God’” (Heb.10:7).

In John 10:10, Jesus Christ declared: “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I HAVE COME that they may have LIFE, and that they may have it more abundantly.”  Satan’s purpose – his reason for being – is to steal, kill, and destroy. In contrast, Jesus’ purpose is to destroy the works of the devil, and simultaneously give abundant Life to those who are under the dominion of the devil: “How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil; for God was with Him” (Acts 10:38). Satan came as a thief, killer, and destroyer. Jesus came as the Healer, Deliverer, and Life-Giver.

Jesus knew WHY He came. He told Pilate: “For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth” (Jh.18:37). Beloved, do you know WHY you were born and what God sent you to do? Have you discovered what He has gifted or anointed you to accomplish? In the pattern of Jesus, as Believers, the WHY of our lives is already written “in the volume of the book” (Heb.10:7). May we be awakened to the LIGHT of PURPOSE and VISION, for the discovery and fulfilment of Destiny’s Why!