Have you ever thought about Jesus having a personal “mission statement”? Companies, churches, and institutions often have mission statements. It is a brief explanation of why they exist. And all actions, decisions, or events are planned within the framework of that mission or purpose—at least ideally.
I have heard of individual people who have their own personal mission statement. There is even a book entitled, How to Develop Your Personal Mission Statement. It seems odd to me that a whole book would be required to figure out your personal mission and purpose, but whatever gets you there!
And make no mistake about it: Christ was crystal clear on what His purpose was. And, indeed, He had a personal mission statement. And what was it? There are a number of places where Christ talks about His “purpose,” but it seems to me that all these places could be easily and simply summarized in this one statement: “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10).
That’s it! Nothing fancy. Nothing complicated. Nothing all that profound.
And yet it is, of course, profound, if you were to really pause and meditate upon it for a second or two. This “Son of Man” is none other than God, Himself. And yet His divine purpose—His divine mission—was, and continues to be, to seek and to save the lost. Why this divine Being would desire to seek and save those who are lost—and those who don’t even care to be found—is almost beyond comprehension! And yet this is the reality of Christ’s mission, His purpose, his all-encompassing reason for being.
And what a beautiful reality it is. What a beautiful idea to contemplate. Sinful though we are, Christ’s greatest desire, mission, and purpose is to bring us back into right relationship with Himself.
And, of course, Christ’s mission has implications for ours as well. For, if God’s very mission is to stoop lower and lower in an attempt to seek and save the wretched and sinful people that we are, are we not called to do the same?
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