I was awakened this morning to a factoid from Holy Spirit: “God is not merely a means to an end.”
Many people consider God as if He were nothing but a gatekeeper or the person standing between them and their goals. I remember thinking God was a kill-joy who wanted to keep me from living my best life. There are many such distortions of who God is all over the place. Deception — lies out of the mouth of Satan — floods the Earth.
“7 Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. 9 I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”
So, yes, Jesus is the gate. But what does that really mean? That means, simply put, that He is the only One who has the authority and governance to let people into Heaven (the sheep pen). He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. There was a series of kings throughout history in the Middle East who fancied themselves the king of kings (humble guys they were not), but Jesus is the only One who actually reigns supreme, so He is humble when He makes that claim. Humility is best understood as “the character trait of someone who strictly adheres to the truth.”
Yes, Jesus is the means to an end, but let’s go deeper.
Many people know of God, but use religious rituals to try to convince Him that they are worthy enough to bless so they can advance their agenda/line their pockets as they see fit, not as God sees fit. This is the ultimate crossroads of spirituality — the place where God wants a relationship and where many people want to be “successful” … whatever that means to each person.
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The remarkable part of this philosophical view of God is that this is not who He is. He is not merely to be conceived of as anything less than our Creator and Heavenly Father. Anything other than that and we have wrung all personage from Him and devalued Him from the place of glory and majesty to a place of servant and servitude. Imagine an earthly king leaving his palace to come down to your house just to fix you dinner! Mind blowingly, many people have chosen to view Him as a butler!
The devil has succeeded in convincing people the world over that ‘if God was caring and loving, He’d give you what you want and when you want it.’ The tragedy of such nonsense is that some pastors and church leaders have embraced this and promote this God-as-butler mentality with what is called “The Prosperity Gospel.”
God absolutely wants us to succeed. He’s not concerned so much about our personal ideas of success, however. He’s very concerned about saving as many people from the pit of Hell as possible. That’s why Jesus did what He did and continues to do what He does. It is apparent that “God desires that none should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” However, do we have that same passion?
God defines success far differently than most of us. We typically think of the ten bedroom mansion with the Olympic-sized pool and six car garage and many millions of dollars in an off-shore account as successful, yet this is not the typical lifestyle of your average Christian. Why would that be? God will bless us so the talents He gave us are put to use in the best possible way.
Consider this: would most wealthy people listen to a man who appears to be destitute for advice on life? Of course not — unless he is sent on a direct mission with a Word from the Lord. However, God knows full well this is not the best way to go about ministry on Earth. He sends people to people who will listen to them for maximum impact. He sends the poor to the poor and the wealthy to the wealthy and distributes His Kingdom resources to those who best utilize them.
“God raises up specific people within socioeconomic positions to reach the people within them.”
Are you familiar with the parable of the talents? The bottom line of the parable is that we are all responsible for the talents God gives us especially since He blesses us with abilities that are always in perfect alignment with His plan (will) for our lives. We have no excuses.
Everything God intends for us is for success and that success is reaching lost souls for the sake of the Gospel. Once we are securely within the confines of His sheep pen (the Body of Christ) and have experienced enough of His love to share, He sends us out as sheep amongst wolves (evangelists, pastors, prophets, teachers, and apostles) — not so we can get harmed, but to help others know the way to the sheep pen! That is success in the Kingdom of Heaven!
“What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul?”
So … yes, Jesus is a means to an end — the saving of souls from the eternal pit of Hell.
Prayer
Father God, I come before You today to thank you for the wisdom contained in this article. I needed to hear this. Thank You so much for directing my path so I may come to know You better and better every single day. My Lord, I apologize for taking You for granted and having been thinking of You as a type of holy Butler as if You were supposed to take care of me with no reciprocity. Thank You for taking care of my needs, Lord. You have been wonderful and have more than proven Yourself capable and willing to help me no matter the circumstances. I repent of, renounce, and reject viewing You as anything less than who You are — my Lord and my God. Help me to reach people like me for the sake of the Gospel and allow me the honor and privilege of helping them get to know You at least as well as I do! In Jesus’ name, amen!
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