Created to be SENT!

From before time began God had a plan. He had a plan for you and me. In fact He said before we were born our days were already written.

Psalms 139:16

Your eyes saw my unformed substance;

in your book were written, every one of them,

the days that were formed for me,

when as yet there was none of them.

Gods intention for us was even greater than our intention for ourselves. Look at the next two verses..

Psalms 139:17-18

How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!

How vast is the sum of them!

If I would count them, they are more than the sand.

I awake, and I am still with you.

I AM STILL WITH YOU! Powerful words. We find them in Matthew 28. In what is called the "Great Commission."

Matthew 28:18-20

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

In some translations, the last statement reads, "to the ends of the earth", a thought that is carried on through in Acts 1:8

Acts 1:8

But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you:and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

I am with you even to the ends of the earth. These are the final instructions Jesus gave to the simple men he called his disciples. Where, may you ask, is the "ends of the earth"?   Certainly back when these instructions were given, the known world was a lot smaller.  But in Matthew 12 we see a reference to the ends of the earth in that day.

Matthew 12:42

The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it:for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here.

This text refers to the uttermost parts of the earth as the the place where Queen Sheba (the Queen of the South) came from.  Ie. The ends of the earth was in fact, Ethiopia (a fact I was just made aware of by author of Jesus in Ethiopia- James Rankin.)

They disciples were not the ones who would go to the ends of the earth though.  Now the ends of the earth are so much greater.  We can now Google Earth our way around in just a few seconds. The ends of the earth are for you and I.

I always find myself going back to Gen 1:27. It reminds us that we were created in the image of God. He perfectly created us to be a reflection of his nature here on earth.

Genesis 1:27-28

So God created man in his own image,

in the image of God he created him;

male and female he created them.

And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

Here is our first command to go into the earth. He says to fill the earth. Not to just stay in one place. He says to fill.. Which by definition means "to put someone or something into a space so that is completely or almost completely full." This is the first instruction of mankind.

For this to happen it means there must be some travelling, expanding of existing borders, sometimes self established borders, sometimes borders that are established by nature or governments. But this movement of man was established from the beginning of time.

So of course when God establishes something, the enemy attempts to disestablish it. He questions it in the minds of people... Did God really say that? He whispers oh so subtly. He creates fear in the hearts of people so that they don't ever experience their potential in life. He distorts Gods word to bring about confusion. I know this from first hand experience. From a young age God called me to travel the world but from a young age the enemy planted fear in my heart about travelling. From the time we were in Australia to the times where I had to go to camp in my teenage years- I feared leaving HOME.  That seed was planted in my mind. But the word of God says

2 Corinthians 10:3-5

For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

Knowing God is key to bringing down the lies that the enemy tries to place against us.

So God, what are you like?

 If we were created in your image, 

what then am 

I meant TO BE like?

There are many aspects and attributes of God that we could study. Our beginning verses point out some.

He is EVER present. He is OMNIPRESENT.

He is TRIUNE. This is one attribute that sets our faith apart from others. He is three in one. God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit.  Here's some proof ;)

1 John 5:7

For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost:and these three are one.

John 1:1

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

The Word is God. Jesus is The Word. Jesus was sent by the Father into the world. He was with God but He was also God. For humans, it would make no sense, but for God, He supersedes sense.

John 3:16-17

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

God sent His Son. Jesus testified of this over and over again. Just in the book of John, We find Jesus referring to God as the one who "sent me" 33 times. Verses like this one we find in John 4.

John 4:34

Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.

Then as He gets ready to depart from this earth, he prays this prayer to His Father for His disciples:

John 17:17-20

Sanctify them through thy truth:thy word is truth. As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;

That's YOU and ME. As WE believe through the Word the apostle John left for us, we enter into the "Recipient" file of Jesus' email He sends out right here. He is saying that He has sent US! Hmmm.

John 20:21-22

Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you:as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost

John 14:26

But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

God the Father sent the Son, the Son sent the Holy Spirit, The Father sent the Holy Spirit, so as we were created in their image, so we too were created to be sent.

God is in the sending business. He is the greatest human trafficker of all time. But unlike those who are trafficked for evil and under great deception nowadays, God directs His traffic of believers into the world to carry His light and truth.  To be carriers of His Love and Presence.

At the end of His prayer to the Father, Jesus says this

John 17:25-26

O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”

As Jesus was about to leave this earth, He knew that He needed bodies in which to carry out the Fathers will. To carry that great love that the Father had for His son into the world. He wanted that Love to be known in the world. So He I looks for some love carriers. Even if they are jars of clay, they can still carry his love treasure.

Romans 10:12-15

For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”

The pinnacle of the matter is here. If we are not sent, people will not get to hear the gospel. They won't hear it so they can't believe it. People, Gods most prized possession, the reflection of His image will miss out on the destiny here on earth and in eternity that He had lined up for them. All because we don't understand that that desire in us to go into the world is an innate desire that reflects the nature of the One who created us in His image.

I think about that in our life. What if we never came? What if these ladies never experienced the love of God that He had placed in us? Oh we have a great responsibility. It is an act of worship. Of shifting our focus off our own desires and comforts and letting God live His will through us. Abandoning our own agenda for His agenda. That's exactly what Jesus did and expects us to do too.

And if God can use people like US, surely He can use ANYONE. He wants to use those who are willing to GO!