The foundation for realizing your God-given dream starts with 2 questions:
1. Why were you created?
2. What’s your purpose in life?
The purpose of your life here on the earth is to glorify God as you prepare for your eternal future. You were created to have fellowship with God through the process of realizing your God-given dream. With that foundation, let’s start in Ephesians chapter 2:
Ephesians 2:8-10 (NKJV)
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,
9 Not of works, lest anyone should boast.
10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
Verses 8 and 9 in Ephesians 2 intimate that you were born to be born-again. You were born physically to be born-again spiritually. Let me explain: Reality as we know it is the result of a God who created everything we see. God created the world because He wanted to be part of it; He wanted to infuse His life into it. As part of a means to this end, God created mankind to be able to represent His wisdom and ability within creation. God created people to be bearers of His life and nature, so He breathed into them His very breath.
Genesis 2:7 (AMP)
Then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath or spirit of life, and man became a living being.
God’s breath in mankind was the way God was entering His creation. God wanted His glory to be present in this world through the human experience. But in tragic irony the very beings God created for Him to have access into the world rebelled against His intention, and lost access to His breath – they lost access to His presence. The breath of God, the presence of God, the Spirit of God, no longer lived inside mankind; they lost God’s life and nature, the very thing they were created to possess. The human race died spiritually, and now every person in creation is separated from his or her Creator.
The good news it that not only is God a Creator, but He is also a Redeemer and a Restorer. God found a completely legal way to resolve the problem by finding a way to reconnect with the human race and bring His original intention to pass. Jesus Christ came to this planet to take on our spiritual death, and He found a way to re-“breath” into us – to cause us to be, in a spiritual sense, born-again.
John 20:22 (NLT)
Then he (Jesus) breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” (emphasis mine)
When a person places their faith in Christ and confesses Jesus as Lord, God’s life and nature once again indwell that person. The Spirit of God (the Holy Spirit) comes to live inside that person, in their born-again spirit. That person once again has access to the presence of God.
What is the gift of God referring to in Ephesians 2:8?
Ephesians 2:8 (NKJV)
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the GIFT of God.
Romans 6:23 gives us the answer:
Romans 6:23 (NKJV)
For the wages of sin is death, but the GIFT of God is ETERNAL LIFE in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The gift of God refers to Eternal Life. Eternal Life is the life and nature of God that is imparted to a person’s spirit at the new birth making that person a New Creation, a person filled with the presence of God in the person of the Holy Spirit.
This experience is commonly referred to as salvation. Salvation puts a person back into the original relationship that God intended for each person to have with Him since the beginning of time. You were born to be born-again.
Establishing a relationship with God is the first step to realizing your God-given dream. Ephesians 2:8 and 9 deal with the “relationship” aspect of your life with God.
The second step to realizing your God-given dream is to maintain daily fellowship with the Holy Spirit. Ephesians 2:10 deals with the “fellowship” aspect of your life with God.
Ephesians 2:10 (NKJV)
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
Ephesians 2:10 refers to each individual’s God-given dream, which was prepared by God for each person to realize during his or her life here on the earth. The way you realize your God-given dream is to get saved (salvation establishes your relationship with God through Jesus Christ) and then by maintaining daily fellowship with the Holy Spirit through the process of realizing your God-given dream. Why were you created again? You were created to have fellowship with God through the process of realizing your God-given dream.
This two-step process is confirmed by Jesus in John 17:
John 17:3-4 (NKJV)
3 “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.
4 I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do.”
Salvation refers to receiving Eternal Life, which establishes your relationship with God.
Finishing the work that God has given you to do refers to realizing Your God-given dream, which is only possible by maintaining daily fellowship with the Holy Spirit.
Now look at the first sentence in John 17:4, “I have glorified You on the earth.” Jesus said that He glorified God on the earth. What’s your purpose in life again? To glorify God as you prepare for your eternal future. Jesus glorified God on the earth by realizing His God-given dream; by completing the work that God had given Him to do. Your God-given dream includes the special work that God has given you to do while you’re on the earth. The realization of your God-given dream will glorify God on the earth.
Let’s compare and contrast relationship and fellowship for a moment:
Have you ever heard the phrase “Christianity isn’t a religion, it’s a relationship.” That’s only partially true, and here’s why: As a Christian, your relationship with God will never change. Because of Jesus’ death on the cross, you are and always will be a child of God. What can and will change is your fellowship with God, and your life will reflect the quality of your fellowship. Your relationship with God is never in jeopardy, but the quality of your fellowship with Him will determine what direction your life takes and where your focus will be.
For example, when two people get married, a legal relationship is established, but that marriage will never become heaven on earth marital bliss unless daily fellowship takes place between the husband and wife. And so it is with God. The relationship has been established through Jesus Christ and anyone can enter into that relationship by placing their faith in Christ, but you will not know God intimately unless you spend time with Him by maintaining daily fellowship with the Holy Spirit, and one way you can do that is through the process of realizing your God-given dream.
Ephesians 2:10 (AMP)
For we are God’s [own] handiwork (His workmanship), recreated in Christ Jesus, [born anew] that we may do those good works which God predestined (planned beforehand) for us [taking paths which He prepared ahead of time], that we should walk in them [living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us to live].
For we are God’s [own] handiwork (His workmanship), recreated in Christ Jesus, [born anew].
We were born to be born-again. Why? The second part of the verse gives us the answer:
That we may do those good works which God predestined (planned beforehand) for us [taking paths which He prepared ahead of time], that we should walk in them.
This part of the verse refers to realizing your God-given dream. Your dream is simply God seeking expression through you. What is the outcome when you get born-again and maintain daily fellowship with the Holy Spirit through the realization of your God-given dream?
(You’ll be) living the good life, which He prearranged and made ready for you to live.
When you are in the process of realizing your God-given dream, you will find yourself living the good life that God prearranged and made ready for you to live!
God’s purpose for your life lies in why you were created; namely, to realize your God-given dream. This means that your life matters to God. It also means that what you do and how you live matters, because your life is being defined from an eternal perspective. You are part of something bigger than yourself. You are a part of the story that God is telling the world. In this story, God picked you before time began, and your primary objective is to make room for God to inhabit the world through you during your life here on the earth, and one of the ways you do that is by realizing your God-given dream!