Principle 2: Your purpose is become a Child of God and reflect Christlikeness (John 1:12-13).

What is our Primary Calling? Our primary calling is to accept Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior. Solomon wrote Ecclesiastes to remind the Israelites what their purpose of life is. While he was reflecting on his life, the only meaning that he found was to fear God and keep his commandments. Our primary and chief duty is glorifying God in life forever and ever. We should glorify God in everything that we do in act and in deed. God created us for his glory (1 Cor. 10:13). We are serving our purpose by glorifying God forever and ever. Through Christ, we can do anything but everything (Philippians 4:13). God also wants us not to pursue vanity, but pursue Jesus Christ and keep his commandments (Ecc. 12:13). Solomon said that Fear God and keep his commandment is the whole duty of man.

Today, we will be looking at how we are children of God that should be reflecting christlikeness. First, we will be looking at a quote from the book Twenty Someone on how our primary calling is to reflect on being children of God (John 1:12-13; 1 John 5:1-7). Second, we will be looking at what are characteristics should be when we are children of God (Galatians 5:22-23; the fruits of the Spirit). Third, we will be looking at two pop culture Icons that drifted away from God's intended purpose for their life.

First, Craig Dunham and Doug Serven do a good job on saying that our identity rests in Christ alone because we are children of God. In Twenty Someone: Finding Yourself in a decade of Transition by Craig Dunham & Doug Serven, He wrote, “Our Primary calling comes out of our true identity as redeemed children of God, children of his creation.” (Craig Dunham & Doug Serven, Twenty Someone: Finding Yourself in a Decade of Transition, New York: Waterbrook Press, 2003, 20). This is so true. God has called us children of God (John 1:12-13; Romans 8:12-17; 1 John 5:1-7).

Second, we should be reflected Christlikeness through accepting Jesus Christ and by keeping God's Commandments (1 John 5:1-7). We are marked Children of God when accept Jesus Christ, confess our sins, keeping God’s commandments out of Love for Him. For clarification, Our works are the outflow of personal relationship with God. Our works do not save us (Ephesians 2:8-9). Craig Dunham & Doug Serven also wrote, “God loves us even when we don’t deserve it, even when we actually deserve the exact opposite. He adopts us, calls us, redeems us, changes us, cares for us, gifts us, and sets us apart because of what he did for us.” (Craig Dunham & Doug Serven, Twenty Someone: Finding Yourself in a Decade of Transition, New York: Waterbrook Press, 2003, 21). Jesus Christ is truly the purpose of our life to glorify God.However, some people oppose this and pursue vanity. This leads us to the third point.

Third, Popular icons such as Miley Cyrus and Demi Lovato are not pursuing God's intended purpose for their life. Miley Cyrus came from a supposedly Christian home and was mentored by Billy Ray Cyrus as seen in the reality sit-com of “Hannah Montana.” Also in the Last Song, we saw that she was struggling with her faith. However, today, she totally ditched her faith and pursued vanity. It is very sad to see someone not pursue their intended purpose in life. Then Demi Lovato is another person who purposed vanity in her gender identity. Sometimes Gender Diaspora can exists in the mind of people, but we should remind ourselves that we are children of God set apart for an extremely important inheritance (John 1:12-13; Genesis 1:26). Demi Lovato changed her identity to be nonbinary which is not scriptural accurate due to Genesis 1:26-27. Genesis 1:26-27 records that Males and females are created in God’s image. Males serve their role of being the people who serve others and work the ground (Genesis 2:15).

In Conclusion, Our Purpose in our Life rests in recognizing that we are children of God marked to live a life worthy of the Lord. This life should reflect Christlikeness.

Thank you for reading my discussion post. Sorry for the length. It is just an important topic to discuss about what our purpose is and how we can live our life to glory of God.