Alive - by Dave Smith

‘Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I
am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said,
“Receive the Holy Spirit”’ (John 20:21–22).
The effect of Jesus’ appearance among the disciples and his double
proclamation of peace was two-fold. Firstly, their world was changed
as he spoke peace to them, freeing them from fear and filling them
with joy. Then, as he spoke peace to them for a second time, he
commissioned them and filled them with the Spirit, to go and change
the world in his name. This is the same for us today: Jesus
transforms us by his living presence, and then calls us to be those
who transform others!
Having the right purpose in life is an essential component for us to
be fully alive; so much so that we’ll be picking up this theme in the
next chapter and then majoring on it in the final chapter. For now, let
me emphasise the link between peace and purpose. I don’t know
about you, but the more I am at peace with God and with myself, the
more able I am to discern the big picture and the smaller details of
my life purpose in a way that is hopefully honouring to Jesus, fulfilling
to me and helpful to others.
As we’ll explore over the next couple of chapters, we all have a
specific purpose that is unique to us. However, all true followers of
Christ also have a general and over-arching purpose that should
undergird our own individual life calling. Jesus highlights this in these
stunning words: ‘As the Father has sent me, I am sending you’ (John
20:21). The language here is striking: the mission of Jesus and the
mission of the disciples are depicted as one mission. Just as the
Father sent Jesus, Jesus was now sending his people – to bring a
message of hope and healing to a broken world. What an incredible
calling!