Beyond the present day...
Life on earth is not the ultimate point of human existence. Perhaps at
one
time it was meant to be so. But now, since the fall of humanity in Adam
and
Eve, life on this planet is cursed, and any real fulfillment will only be
found in the age that is to come -- the eternal age that we enter after we
leave this world.
If you doubt that, just look around you. See the childish and pointless
desires and ambitions which fill the hearts and minds of the world?
So then, life in this world, and the things we experience down here will
not
always come together as we might hope. Even our greatest success cannot
bring true meaning and lasting happiness.
Is there any justice?
God's justice always prevails, from generation to generation. Yet many
human beings (and other living creatures) will suffer and die in any given
week without ever having witnessing God's justice in their lives. The
innocent and/or righteous may perish under the cruel hand of the wicked.
Yet
an evil man may live a long life, prospering greatly from all his evil.
Jesus Christ teaches that this life -- this present world that we see
around
us -- is not all there is. He echoed and clarified what many Old
Testament
prophets also knew in their hearts but did not always express vividly: God
will make everything right -- if not in this world, then in the one to
come.
Even scanning through the Psalm, you can see such issues discussed.
Life on planet earth is not "all there is" to human existence and
experience.
Every human life has its beginning at conception in the womb. But human
existence has no end. We continue on forever -- in one place or another.
All the wrongs of this life will be righted by God, and all that is truly
right will receive its reward. But no one receives eternal life without
Jesus Christ.
The Lord Jesus said:
"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may
have life, and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good
shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
"The hired hand (who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep) sees
the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away -- and the wolf
snatches
them and scatters them. The hired hand runs away because a hired hand
does
not care for the sheep.
"I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the
Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the
sheep.
I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them
also,
and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one
shepherd.
"For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life in order
to
take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own
accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again.
I
have received this command from my Father." (All the above taken from
John
10:10-18)
When will life make sense to me?
Without the Lord Jesus in one's life, there is no ultimate meaning in all
the days and nights of our existence. We may speak and act and try to
learn, but for what reason? We strive to get ahead, but ahead of what?
Death catches up anyway. Ultimately, all our efforts are for nothing more
than a distant dream, a hope that cannot be satisfied.
And the things we ac***ulate, they are for what? Unless a person has a
walk
with God, there is no point to being alive or in gathering up possessions.
In the end, everything rots (the body and all its possessions), and the
eternal soul is judged, only to be found guilty of rejecting the true life
of God.
Only in the Lord Jesus Christ does a human life have complete meaning and
purpose and fulfillment.
The Preacher in Ecclesiastes says it this way:
"So I hated life, because what is done under the sun was grievous to me;
for
all is emptiness and a chasing after the wind. I hated all my hard work
in
which I had toiled under the sun, seeing that I must leave it to those who
come after me -- and who knows whether they will be wise or foolish? Yet
they will be master of all for which I toiled and used my wisdom under the
sun. This also is a great emptiness.
"So I turned and gave my heart over to despair concerning all the toil of
my
labors under the sun, because sometimes one who toils with wisdom and
knowledge and skill must leave everything to be enjoyed by another who did
not work for it. This also is worthlessness and a great evil.
"What do mortals get from all the hard work and strain with which they
labor
under the sun? For all their days are full of pain, and their work is a
vexation; even at night their minds do not rest. This also is pointless
emptiness.
"There is nothing better for a man than to eat and drink, and find
enjoyment
in his hard work. And this, I saw, is from the hand of God; for apart
from
Him who can eat or who can have enjoyment?
"For to the one who pleases Him God gives wisdom and knowledge and joy;
but
to the sinner He gives the work of gathering and heaping up, only to give
to
one who pleases God. This kind of gathering is also emptiness and a
chasing
after wind." (Eccles. 2:17-26)
Yet even the Preacher of Ecclesiastes, who sounds so pessimistic and
skeptical in the above quote, echoes an even deeper conviction, saying,
"Though a sinner does evil a hundred times, and his days are prolonged,
yet
I know with certainty that it will be well with those who reverence God,
who
wait in awe in His presence. But it will not be well with the wicked; nor
will he be able to continue stretching out his days like a shadow, for he
does not stand in awe in the presence of God." (Eccles. 8:12,13)
Getting a clue...
A person may live a long life in this world, ac***ulating wealth and
power,
but this world is not all there is. Everything in this world is fading,
decaying, passing away, as the Scripture says.
"...for all that is in the world -- the desires of the flesh, the desire
of
the eyes, the pride in riches -- comes not from the Father but from this
world. And the world with its desires are passing away, but those who do
the will of God live forever." (1 John 2:16,17)
Only those who do the will of God will experience fulfilling life --
forever.
Jesus again said, "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter
into the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in
heaven." (Matthew 7:21)
Becoming a part of the kingdom of God means becoming one of the sheep kept
by Jesus, the Good Shepherd. But that is not something that we wait for,
hoping to discover after the resurrection. We enter the kingdom of God
right here and now. We must do whatever the Lord says to become one of
the
true sheep Jesus talks about.
Jesus said it this way: "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born
again, he cannot see the kingdom of God... Most assuredly, I say to you,
unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of
God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of
the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born
again.'" (John 3:3-7)
So what's the will of God? What must we do? What is God telling us?
Jesus said: "And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who
sees
the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise
him
up at the last day." (John 6:40)
Again He said, "For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them,
even so the Son gives life to whom He will. For the Father judges no one,
but has committed all judgment to the Son, that all should honor the Son
just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not
honor
the Father who sent Him. Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My
word
and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come
into judgment, but has passed from death into life." (John 5:21-24)
God's will for every human life is for us to believe -- to place our
trust -- in Jesus Christ. God calls us to admit our sinful ways, and to
accept the solution that He Himself has provided for sin -- namely the
gift
of His own Son.
The problem of sin (and God's solution):
You see, all of us are the sinner (mentioned in the first passage from
Ecclesiastes above) who does evil a hundred times (see the New Testament
book of Romans, chapter 3:10-18), in the Holy Bible. We may not all
commit
the unbridled evil of a Hitler, or of a mass murderer, or rapist, but
we're
all sinners, just the same. Sin is sin, and the wages of sin is death
(Romans 6:23).
Sin is often the acting out of our self-centered thoughts and desires.
It's
the way of the whole world, not just of a few isolated people.
And all sin deserves death not only for the body, but also for the eternal
human spirit. Spiritual death is not the cessation of existence, but the
bani****ng of a spirit to eternal darkness, way from the glorious light and
Presence of God. The Bible says that it also includes being cast into the
lake of fire that was originally prepared for the devil and his angels.
(See
the New Testament book of Revelation, chapter 20:11-15, in the Holy
Bible.)
But God has made a way for any and all of us to live, to be forgiven, to
receive life with Him for eternity.
The Bible says, "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God
is
eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 6:23) God makes a way for
us all, for anyone who will turn their attention, and their faith to Him.
As
the well known passage in John 3:16 says, "For God so loved the world that
He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not
perish but have everlasting life."
And the Bible sums it all up this way:
If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater; for this
is
the witness of God which He has testified of His Son. (He who believes in
the Son of God has the witness in himself; he who does not believe God has
made Him a liar, because he has not believed the testimony that God has
given of His Son.) And this is the testimony: that God has given us
eternal
life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who
does
not have the Son of God does not have life. These things I have written
to
you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you
have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the
Son of God. (1 John 5:9-13)
None of this information is new, even though it may be news to you. God
has
been rescuing people from the wages of sin from the very beginning, all
the
way back to Adam and Eve. The shedding of Jesus' blood on the cross was
effective then as now (yes, long before He actually hung on a cross, see
Hebrews 9 & 10), and only by His death on the cross, and His resurrection
from the dead can anyone ever be saved.
If you want to experience what God has prepared for those who know and
trust
Him, you must accept the free gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ.
Kneel to Him as the Lord of your life.
Trust Him to be the Savior that we all need.
He will rescue you. He will take away your sins today. He will give you
eternal life with God.
Jim
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