For You have made him a little lower than the angels,
And You have crowned him with glory and honour.
Proverbs 8:5
There are three dimensions to the divine purpose of our earthly walk: identity, function and timing. From Adam to Apostle Paul, we see these three aspects to everyone's purpose(s) repeatedly attacked to derail the divine big picture. In the previous entry, we saw how Jesus withstood temptations to prove His divine nature, pervert His purpose (or function) and prematurely abort His ministry by remaining self-confident and responding through his divine persona – the Word. Shall we examine the next dimension – function?
Thanks to the manufacturing boom in the last half-century, living spaces in our homes are getting smaller. We’ve got larger TVs, shelves filled with books and kitchens crammed with devices we rarely use from veggie juicers to air-fryers. This surge in consumerism is largely attributed to innovations in device functionality and manufacturing processes (thus cheaper, smarter products with specific functions).
To combat this unsustainable trend with a negative environmental impact, there’s a current drive to declutter our lives through adoption of minimalist lifestyles. And thanks to the internet-of-things (IOT) we’ve begun to design and produce the tools we need to achieve this: multifunction devices that organise our finances and work schedules, track fitness and personal health goals, remotely control home appliances and not forgetting basic communicative functions (calls, messaging, emails). With this paradigm shift, the idea of solitary functionality is gradually being replaced by the concept of appliances being “multipurpose” and the argument for this shift is compelling: reduced personal and environmental carbon trails. Multifunctionality promises cool times ahead for modern living. But should we apply the same expectations to people?
There’ve been recent attempts to suggest people need to be flexible and adopt multiple roles for society to keep progressing. And so, a case has been made for blurred gender roles in homes and side hustles to keep up with rising costs of living. The idea that work should be defined by “problem-solving" is gradually being replaced by the “anything that pays the bills” mindset. Afterall, we’re in a rat race. Therefore, we’re professionals by day and online content creators come nightfall. While these “forward-thinking” approaches have their benefits, they create ideal environments for wrong outcomes through perversion of intent (or function) via distractibility. Think these distractions are new? Think again. Jesus called them “the cares of this world” alluding to the fact that they were present in His time as well; maybe just in different forms. And did they lead to perversion of divine intent? Betcha! The temple purge was geared towards restoring its function of fellowship after centuries of depravity turned it into a house of profit (Matthew 21:12-13). Apparently, it is possible to get caught up in the demands of our earthly functions that we are distracted from our spiritual purpose (s).
And what might that (those) be? Rick Joyner describes four divine purposes (functions) for Adam’s creation1:
i) fellowship with God;
ii) cultivate the garden;
iii) be fruitful and multiply and;
iv) rule over the earth and all that’s in it.
Since we’re new creations in Christ, it’ll be instructive to note that His spiritual purposes paralleled Adam’s physical ones nicely:
i) fellowship with God – He was literally God on earth, walking with men;
ii) cultivate the garden – birthed the first church;
iii) be fruitful and multiply – died in order that all mankind (Jews and Gentiles) may become sons;
iv) rule over the earth and all that’s in it – all in due course as per John’s Revelations.
Finally, let’s look at two innocuous-appearing adjectives that are recurrent in the book of Genesis: “good” and “wicked”. It’s probably natural to assume that these words describe innate character but apparently, they also apply to functionality. Creatures and processes that adhered to their divinely bestowed functions are described as good (Genesis 1) while a perversion of original function is repeatedly described as “wickedness” (Genesis 6:5; Genesis 13:13).
Where does all this lead? The functional aspect of our divine purpose is rooted in our fellowship with God and advancement of His kingdom on earth. We’ll do well to avoid the distractions of modern living and make out time to function as He wants us to.
What is man that You are mindful of him,
And the son of man that You visit him?
Proverbs 8:4
“I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless
Genesis 17:1b
Reference:
https://publications.morningstarministries.org/word-for-the-week/four-purposes-man
