Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - What's God's Purpose for Your Life? | The Life of Solomon | 1 Kings 8

Starting point is 00:00:00 Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life in the time it takes to get to work. I'm Keith Simon. And I'm Patrick Miller. Also, if you want to connect with us, follow us on Twitter at TMBT Podcast. You can also check out our hashtag, hashtag, Ask TMBT, where you can ask us anything, and we'd love to connect with you. Okay, pop quiz. What's the first command given by God in the Bible? Get a guess in your head.

Starting point is 00:00:34 Okay, here's the answer. Genesis 1.28. And God blessed them, and God said to them, be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth. That's the first command that God ever gives humans. So who said obedience can't be fun? In all seriousness, though, what does it mean to be fruitful and multiply? Marriage isn't for everyone. Some of us may experience same-sex attraction. Others of us might not ever have the chance to get married. Others of us might be. be called into singleness. Others of us, we might be married, but unable to have kids, or maybe we choose not to have kids. So we got to ask the question, how can be fruitful and multiply? How can that be God's first command when sex and children aren't for everyone? Unfortunately, I think the church has done a really poor job at understanding this, which explains why so many churches elevate the family above everything else and treat singleness or childlessness as some sort of abnormality. It's not It's part of God's vision for the church. And I think our culture, interestingly, actually does

Starting point is 00:01:39 the same thing. What it does instead, though, is it elevates erotic and romantic love to the near exclusion of friendship. But this isn't the Bible's perspective. If anything, the Bible seems to see friendship as a love that can even go deeper than romance. I don't want to get too far afield. What does it mean to be fruitful and multiply? Have you ever noticed that the New Testament actually picks up on this language. Remember, God calls people to increase a number. And when Jesus gives the great commission, he calls the disciples to increase their numbers by making more disciples. He calls them to go to the ends of the earth in the book of Acts, recalling God's command to fill the earth in Genesis 1. What about fruitfulness? Well, Jesus spoke about living a fruitful

Starting point is 00:02:29 life by being obedient to him. The Apostle Paul described the fruit of the spirit. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and he calls disciples to grow in that kind of fruitfulness. When we put it all together, the picture really comes into focus, doesn't it? Being fruitful and multiplying, it's not just about having children, it's about increasing the number of Jesus followers in living lives which are fruitful and good work. This is our most basic human command, and it was God's vision all the way back in the garden. In our last episode, Keith explained how the temple Solomon built is really just a reboot of the Garden of Eden. It's the place where God dwells with his people and life is as it should be, just like it was in the

Starting point is 00:03:14 garden. But we can press this comparison between the Garden of Eden and the temple. We can press that comparison even further. You see, humanity's calling in Genesis 1 was to spread the boundary lines of Eden, to be fruitful and to multiply. And in doing so, they would fill the entire earth with the Garden of Eden. Of course, that's not the way the story goes, but the goal always stayed the same. The goal of the garden was to expand, and the goal of the temple is no different. Solomon praised this amazing prayer in 1st Kings 8 when he dedicates the temple, and it's clear that he wants the Israelites to be fruitful and multiply, to fill the world with disciples of Yahweh and spread his fruitful love, justice, and mercy to the ends of the world.

Starting point is 00:04:01 At the center of this prayer, in the most important spot, catch what Solomon says. He says this, as for the foreigner who does not belong to your people Israel, but has come from a distant land because of your name, for they will hear of your great name and your mighty hand and your outstretched arm. When they come and pray toward this temple, then hear from heaven, your dwelling place. Do whatever the foreigner asks of you so that all the people of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your own people Israel. and may know that this house that I have built bears your name. Can you hear the echoes of Genesis in there? The calling to fill the world with Yahweh's followers, to be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth.

Starting point is 00:04:46 Israel's calling is a reboot of Adam's calling. And our calling is a reboot of Adam and Israel's calling. God wants you to multiply. And the main way you do this is by sharing Jesus with others. Who does Jesus wants you to start a spiritual conversation with this week? A family member? Maybe it's someone at the office or a friend at the gym or a neighbor down the street. Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth. We do this by making disciples. I know that can sound fancy and you might think, well, I can't do that.

Starting point is 00:05:21 I don't know how to do that, but that is a lie. You can and you know how I know you can because God literally made you to do this. If you want a simple way to start, try this. The next time you see someone who is hurting, sit down and talk with them, listen to their story. And when they ask you how you process things like this, share about Jesus. Share how Jesus has walked with you. Or maybe if you've got a friend in a hard spot, you can offer to pray for them. Not right then and there, but just say, hey, I'd love to pray for you.

Starting point is 00:05:51 Maybe if you're talking to someone who's battling with anxiety, you can share your own battle with anxiety, and how trusting in God's sovereignty and his provision in your life has helped set you free. Try taking small steps to increase in number, to fill the earth. That was the purpose in the garden. That was the purpose in the temple. And that's the purpose in God's new temple, the church. Now, I need to caveat this, because this can only really happen when God's temple does what it's supposed to do.

Starting point is 00:06:22 If you read through Solomon's prayer, you quickly discover that the temple is not just the place that God lives. It's also the place where the vulnerable can plead for justice. Because God lives there. It's the place where the guilty can direct their repentance because God lives there. It's the place where you can seek forgiveness because God lives there. Solomon sees a future day when Israel will live in exile. And even though they may live in a foreign land and the temple itself might be destroyed, he says you can still turn your prayers toward God in the temple and somehow, some way God will live there. there and hear you. Of course, when we think about it, earth and heaven combined are too small for the

Starting point is 00:07:01 reality of God. Solomon knows that all of creation is too small home for the weight of God's glory. And yet in his kindness, God makes a home a place where we can seek him. Paul and Peter called the church God's new temple. And they don't mean buildings. They're not talking about church auditoriums or foyers. They mean people, followers of Jesus. Those are the blocks and the new temple that God is building. we are the new place of God's presence, his justice and his forgiveness. You are a block in that great structure. And so you have to let this prayer echo in you, the way that Solomon's prayer actually echoed in that original building. Will you heed the call to obedience? Will you live a fruitful life, filled with love and joy and peace and patience? Will you allow your church to be a place that people

Starting point is 00:07:49 can go when they need justice? A place where sinners can go when they need to repent, a place where we all can go in need of forgiveness. Will the church be that kind of place, just like the temple was, where people can be fruitful and learn how to walk in the way of Jesus? Will you heed that call? Will you make disciples? Will you be the living embodiment of God's mercy and grace and forgiveness and presence to others? Pray for that today. Thanks for listening. If you've enjoyed this content, please subscribe and give us a rating. That helps other people find this podcast more easily. Also, ask yourself, who could you share this podcast with? Texting an episode to a friend or a family member is a great way to help them grow spiritually.

Starting point is 00:08:36 If you want to go deeper, check out our show notes for book recommendations.

Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - What's God's Purpose for Your Life? | The Life of Solomon | 1 Kings 8

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