Why Are You Here?

FORGET NONE OF HIS BENEFITS
volume 20, number 10, March 11, 2021

I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. . . for this purpose I have appeared to you, to appoint you a minister and a witness. . . to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me, Acts 26:15-18.

Surely you will agree with me that we in the United States are living in the midst of profound darkness which can only be described as demonic. Jesus told us that the thief came to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10) and the devil in many ways is succeeding at this present time. There can be no other explanation for the radical, leftist policies of the present Administration. We desperately need revival and I have been writing the last several weeks about the prescription for revival. We must humble ourselves, pray, seek God’s face, and turn from our wicked ways. So specifically, how are we drive out the darkness in our nation? How are we to turn from our wicked ways? We tend to begin such discussions with the what or how—what should we do, how should we do it? However that is not what Jesus wants us to do. He wants us to begin with the why? Why are we in this world? Once we understand the why then we will have the motivation, the staying power to persevere at our task and then answer the what and the how. 

In Paul’s defense before King Agrippa in Acts 26 he gives his amazing testimony of being arrested, as it were, on the road to Damascus as he was continuing his persecution of Christians. You know the story. Paul saw a light brighter than the sun which blinded him. He heard the resurrected and glorified Lord Jesus speaking to him. Jesus told Saul to stand on his feet. And then Jesus gave Saul His answer to the why question. Why was Jesus speaking with Saul of Tarsus? Why was Paul in the world? What he would later do and how he would do it would flow from the answer to the why question. Jesus said to Saul, “for this purpose I have appeared to you, to appoint you a minister and a witness. . . to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me, (Acts 26:15-18). 

Why was Paul in the world? What was his cause for living? He was appointed by Jesus to be a minister and a witness. That’s it. Plain and simple. Then came the what and how questions. To borrow from the words of the Apostle Peter, he was to proclaim the excellencies of Him who called Paul out of darkness into His marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9). He was to fulfill the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20). Like the other apostles, he was to be Christ’s witness to the nations (Acts 1:8). Paul told the Corinthians that they were new creations in Christ, ministers of reconciliation, ambassadors for Christ (2 Cor.5:17-20), and co-laborers with God (1 Cor.3:9). He told the Roman believers that they were instruments of righteousness (Rom.6:13). Paul clearly understood the same thing about himself. Paul’s job was to be a faithful minister and witness to the life, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, the only hope of salvation for anyone. 

Is your life any different? Now to be sure none of us are apostles. Most of you reading this are not in “full time” ministry. You have your jobs, families, and a myriad of other responsibilities. But based on the words of 2 Corinthians 5:17-20 the unmistakable call, the why, for every believer is to labor for the salvation and sanctification of God’s elect from every tongue, tribe, people, and nation (Rev.5:9,10, 7:9-12). 

The why of our calling leads naturally to the how. How do we do this? The answer to this question will obviously be different for everyone. At the very least you should pray for people to be saved and grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus. You should pray for God to raise up evangelists in your church, community, and nation and pray that He will multiply those faithful evangelists and disciple makers. You should financially support your local church and missionaries and evangelists. You should ask God to give you open doors each and every day to speak a word of truth and do deeds of kindness to supplement the word you are giving people with whom you rub shoulders. 

And what is the what? What results from such labor? Consider again the words of Jesus to Saul of Tarsus, “to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me,” (Acts 26:15-18). My friends, people must turn from this present darkness to the light of the glory of God in the face of Jesus. They are enslaved to the devil and know it not. They must turn from the demonic way of life which is enslaving them and turn to Jesus where they receive the forgiveness of their sins and the glorious inheritance of eternal life. 

Every sincere disciple of Jesus Christ wants to see results. We want to see the church of Jesus grow in numbers, holiness, and impact on the world. But without the why we will focus on the how and the what and thus easily succumb to worldly methodologies to “get there.” Paul was motivated by the love of Christ (2 Cor.5:14,15) and this came from the why. How else can we explain him walking 1900 miles, sailing another 1200 miles on his second missionary journey? How else can we explain his sufferings, being beaten times without number, five times receiving thirty-nine lashes, three times being beaten with rods, and stoned one time and left for dead (2 Cor.11:23-25)?

As my mentor Henry Krabbendam has said, “There is only one overarching reason for this world and for God’s people. We are fishers of men and the world is the spawning ground.” Your why will surely be different from mine in the particulars but the overpowering reality for you and me is that, at the end of the day, we are here for the purpose of making disciples, of turning people from darkness to light, from the kingdom of Satan to God, so that they receive the forgiveness of sins and the glorious inheritance for all the saints. 

Have you answered the why question? Why are you here? Why are you in this world?