1 Corinthians 11:1 "Follow me as I follow Christ.”
(Paul the Apostle)
In the book of Ephesians, we can find all four elements of Paul’s Kingdom Assignment.
Ephesians is my current favorite book of the Bible. We’ve been dissecting each verse in my Sunday morning small group for the last twelve months and have gotten through chapter 3! In this masterpiece of writing, Paul weaves together glimpses of God’s magnificent Eternal Purpose with observations about his unique and extraordinary Kingdom Assignment. If we look closely and know what we’re looking for, we can spot
Paul’s Design
Paul’s Two-Word Purpose Statement
Paul’s Tribe
Paul’s Mountain to Claim
Paul introduces himself by his design/title to the readers of his letter in his very first sentence:
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God…” (Ephesians 1:1)
Now, “apostle” isn’t in the Romans 12 list that I suggest as a place to look for your design, because it was a specialized role given only to a few people. Paul, along with the other apostles, had the unique responsibility and privilege of establishing the Church and her doctrine. Notice that Paul realized full well that this appointment came directly from God and was not of his own choosing, and though he always thought of himself as unworthy, he stepped into his role whole-heartedly.
Paul’s Two-Word Purpose Statement
Or three-word statement in Paul’s case. He did have a ginormous assignment, after all, so we’ll allow him two "God-frequency words." This should be an easy one if you’ve read Paul’s letters. From Romans to Philemon, how did he always begin his letters?
…”grace to you and peace to you from God our Father…”
(Ephesians 1:2)
God’s grace and God’s peace were the central characteristics that Paul resonated with and was compelled to reflect to the people to whom he ministered.
In chapter 3 of Ephesians, Paul begins to delve into the Kingdom Assignment that he had been given. He calls it “the stewardship of God’s grace which was given to me.” (Ephesians 2:2) Which, by the way, is a phrase I love!
The action word of Paul’s purpose statement can be found in Ephesians 3:8, where he defines his assignment.
“To me, the very least of all saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ…”
Paul’s action word was “preach.” He preached Christ’s unfathomable riches, the foremost in his preaching being grace and peace.
So Paul’s Two(Three)-word purpose statement is “preach grace and peace.”
The people to whom Paul was sent to facilitate change are right there in chapter 2, verse 8 as well. Paul was sent to the Gentiles. He would probably have preached to a rock, but he knew his primary target group was gentiles.
Paul reveals the change he wants to see happen in his tribe through the prayers he prays for them. We find two lofty prayers in Ephesians chapters 1 and 3. Here is what Paul is asking:
“…so that you will know what is the hope of His calling,
what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the boundless greatness of His power toward us who believe.” (Ephesians 1:18-19)
and
“…that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory,
to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner self, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints
what is the width and length and height and depth,
and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge,
that you may be filled to all the fullness of God.”
Do you see how detailed Paul is in his prayers for his tribe? He knows exactly what transformation they need and is agreeing with God in it. And then he offers himself to the Lord and to them to make it happen. Let's summarize this mountain with the last words from Paul's prayer: "that you may be filled with the fullness of God."
Putting it Together
If Paul had read my book (Ha!) and written out a concise Kingdom Assignment statement, it perhaps would look like this:
My Kingdom Assignment is to
use my design of apostle
to preach grace and peace
to my tribe of gentiles
to claim this mountain: that they may be filled with the fullness of God
Using the same pattern, here's my Kingdom Assignment:
to use my design of teacher/creative
to illuminate wisdom
to my tribe of Warrior Women
to claim this mountain: to help them step into their identity and assignment in God's Kingdom
See how it works? I truly believe that if we can discern these four elements, it will help tremendously in fine tuning our service to our King!
You can buy my book, The Four Elements of Your Kingdom Assignment: How to Discover Your Place in God's Eternal Purpose here.
Go forth and shine the Light!