Your Assignment From God

Pastor Dan Walker, PhD, MDiv

Introduction: Created by God With Purpose

You and I were created by God, and you are not the product of evolution. If you and I were the product of evolution, then life would have no meaning, we would have no purpose, except to live and die. However, you were created by God, therefore your life has purpose, but what is that purpose and what are you and I supposed to do with our lives.

Today I begin a new message series called "Created To Do What?" That’s one of the most important questions anyone can ask, and it doesn’t matter if you’re 9 or 90, you need to ask and find answers to the question, "What Was I Created To Do?" As I was pondering that question, I was reminded of an old song by Bob Dylan called "Gotta Serve Somebody," and it begins to answer the question, "Created To Do What?"

You were created to serve somebody, and you were created to accept an assignment for your life from somebody. You have a choice to make about who you are going to serve, and the song says there are two choices of who you’re going to serve, the devil or the Lord, and Dylan is right about that.

NIV Romans 6:13 Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God ... as instruments of righteousness.

That’s the choice, offer yourself to serve sin and the devil or offer yourself to serve God. Now most people think there are three choices in life, serve God, serve myself, or serve the devil, and few people think they serve the devil because most just want to do what they want to do. The truth of the matter is whatever you don’t give to God, you give to the devil.

Serving yourself, the big I, is the same as serving the devil, and there are only two choices in life, serving God or the devil. Both God and the devil have a plan for your life, God has an assignment for you, and Satan has an assignment for you. Today I want to talk about your assignment from God.

Only by accepting God’s assignment for your life will you be doing something significant, only by accepting God’s assignment for your life will you be part of making a difference in the world for good, and only by accepting God’s assignment for your life will all the pieces of your life fit into place. So don’t fight it any longer, this morning I want to encourage you to offer all of yourself to God and accept your assignment from God. In future messages we’ll be talking more about what your assignment is, but today I want to answer the question, why accept your assignment from God.

You Were Created With Your Assignment in Mind

When God created you, He had your assignment for life in His mind. Who you were created to be and what your assignment from God is are integrally related, and God is not an arbitrary God because everything He does has purpose, and that includes creating you. You were created with intention and direction, not randomness or chance.

Some people think that the way that they are is just a result of a genetic lottery and simply chance. Some people don’t like the way they look, some people don’t like their personalities, and some people don’t think they’re smart enough or tall enough or pretty enough. But the way you are is not an accident, so don’t try to change the way that God has made you, because you were shaped by God’s hand for your special assignment in life.

NIV Jeremiah 1:5 Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.

Although this verse specifically applied to Jeremiah, the universal truth applies to you. The universal truth in this verse is that God formed you, set you apart, and appointed you for your assignment in life. No one else can complete your assignment, only you can.

Not only were you shaped for your assignment, but your assignment was shaped for you. Your assignment in life is one that uniquely fits you, and your assignment was created by God so that you are best able of all the people in the world to complete it. Some people complain that what God asks of them is too hard, too boring, or too incomprehensible, but the facts of the matter are that God has prepared your assignment just for you.

NIV Ephesians 2:10 For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Notice that last phrase, God prepared good works in advance for you to do. Your assignment was prepared by God when He created you, and He isn’t coming up with it now because it was prepared in advance. You were created by God with your assignment in mind, so accept your assignment.

In 1972, NASA launched the exploratory space probe Pioneer 10, and the satellite’s primary assignment was to reach Jupiter, which was considered a risky plan. But Pioneer 10 accomplished its assignment and much, much more, and it was designed with a useful life of just three years. It sent back data from Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto, and the signals came from an 8-watt transmitter that radiates about as much power as a bedroom night light.

It worked for 30 years with its last signal received in 2003, far beyond what was expected. You might think that you don’t have much to contribute to your world, that your life can’t make much of a difference, or that your life isn’t brighter than a night light. Today God wants you to know that just as NASA made Pioneer 10 for its mission, so He created you for your assignment in life.

You are perfectly designed for your assignment, and your power supply won’t fade until that assignment is done. Accept your assignment from God with confidence, knowing that He has already equipped you for what He has called you to do. Your design and your purpose are not in conflict, they are intentionally aligned.

You Are Saved for Your Assignment

When someone enters into a relationship with Jesus Christ, when someone admits they’ve sinned, believes in Jesus, and commits their life to God, they are saved. They are saved from their sins and saved from an eternity in hell, but if that’s all that being saved is, why doesn’t God just take them straight to heaven. The reason that doesn’t happen is that God has an assignment for your life here on earth.

Accepting your assignment honors God because a believer is someone who has committed their whole life to God. A believer is someone who calls Jesus Lord and has committed their life to following God. When you accept your assignment and say, yes Lord, whatever plan you have for my life I will follow, that honors God.

NIV 1 Corinthians 6:20 You were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.

It cost God the death of His only Son on the cross to buy you, and you are no longer your own because you have been bought by someone else. In fact, the Bible says that you have been changed from being a slave to sin to being a slave to God. By accepting your assignment, you honor God who has set you free from slavery to sin.

Now I need to be careful here, because you are saved not because of good works that you have done, but because of God’s free gift of salvation received through faith. Yet the Bible shows us that anyone who is a genuine believer, anyone who is a genuine Christian, has certain characteristics in their life. One of those characteristics is love for other believers.

NIV 1 John 3:14 We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers.

Passing from death to life is being saved, and you can know that you are saved because you love other believers. Love for other believers is not just a warm feeling in your heart toward them, it is lived out through loving actions done for other believers. When you live out your love for other believers, it is called service or ministry.

Ministry is an essential part of your assignment from God, and John tells us that your love toward other believers proves that you are saved. If someone says that they are a Christian and yet does not want to associate with other believers in a church or serve other believers, then one must question whether they indeed are saved at all. Since you were saved for your assignment, God wants you to accept that assignment.

Jesus told a story of a young man whose father had entrusted a large inheritance. The son took his portion of the inheritance, spent it on his wants, and was miserable. He returned to his father who forgave him and reassigned his son his place in the family.

God has a large inheritance for you, resources to be used to fulfill His assignment for your life. Don’t waste the life and resources that God has entrusted to you on what you want. Accept your assignment to honor God with all your life and resources.

You Are Commanded to Do Your Assignment

In order to become a believer, you need to commit your life to God, and the Bible says that you must make Jesus Lord of your life. What that means is that you don’t call the shots anymore, God does. Whatever God commands you to do in the Bible or through His servants in the church, you will do.

You are not in charge of your life anymore because God owns you now. You now belong to Him, and He has an assignment for you. The Bible tells us that the purpose of belonging to God is usefulness in His service.

TEV Romans 7:4 ... Now you belong to him who was raised from death in order that we might be useful in the service of God.

Notice that the verse begins by saying that you, as a believer, belong to Jesus, and you don’t belong to yourself anymore. The purpose of you belonging to God is so that you can be useful in serving God. When you were in charge of your life, you served yourself, but now God commands you to do your assignment.

In everything, Jesus is to be our example. Just as Jesus came to this earth to serve others and give His life in service, so we also must follow His example and have the same attitude of serving God. Not accepting your assignment is not an option for a believer.

TLB Matthew 20:28 Your attitude must be like my own, for I, the Messiah, did not come to be served, but to serve and to give my life ...

Whenever God gives a command, you have a choice to make, to do what you want or to do what God commands. Those who are believers accept their assignment and do what God wants. Today you have a choice to make, will you choose to do what God wants you to do and will you accept your assignment or will you continue to do what you want to do.

Conclusion: Choosing the Assignment God Gave You

God created you with a special assignment in mind, you were saved for that assignment, and God commands you to do your assignment. You’ve gotta serve somebody, either the devil or the Lord, and the choice is yours. Choose serving the Lord, choose life, and choose accepting your assignment.

📘 Continue the Journey

Looking for community?
Join a Life Group and grow in your faith with others walking the same path.