Chasing Life
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The first question we learn to ask…when beginning to learn about the world around us is...
“Why?”
And most of the time it is asked often.
Ever think about all the “why?” questions kids ask?
How many of you love “Why?” questions? I suppose some of us …when kids are or were little…sometimes got annoyed with all of those questions...
…but in reality, we have a little mind, a little soul, that is curious about the world they are growing up in.
Why is the sky blue? What’s peanut butter made of? Why doesn’t the dog like its tail pulled? What happens if you swallow a fly?
There was a professor from Harvard who once did a study on “children asking why?” and estimated that between the ages of 2 and 5 a child will ask roughly…40,000 “why?” questions.
And if you think about it…a child isn’t just wanting to build an encyclopedia in their brain of knowledge…or facts about the world.
They truly want to know why?…Why is it that…? They are trying to make sense of things. We are built for logic and reason. They want to know reasons for things.
They know they are connected to the world around them…intuitively…and they are wonder-filled. Why? I think we’re wired to asked and learn and to reason and think.
As we get older…our questions change from brute fact type of questions to deeper thoughts.
Like....
If a cow laughed, would milk come out of its nose?
If nothing ever sticks to Teflon, how do they get it to stick to the pan?
If you’re in a vehicle moving at the speed of light, what happens when you turn on the headlights?
If you tied buttered toast to the back of a cat, and lifted the cat up and then dropped it…what would happen?
Have you ever imagined a world with no hypothetical situations?
Kids want to know about their world…and I think they have a inkling that it should make sense...
If there’s a question…there’s probably an answer. So they ask.
We wonder and have curiosity. But some of our questions go much deeper.
Why do bad things happen?
What is this thing called sin?
Why am I here? Am I significant?
What is life?
I think that last question sums up all of our questions. What is life?
If you read through scripture, what you find is many accounts of people trying their best find that answer. Sometimes doing well, sometimes failing and falling, sometimes learning, sometimes being tested, sometimes being stubborn, sometimes realizing things later in life as they get older....
What we find is a lot of people chasing life. An another side what we also see is God running after us saying…I have it…and I want to give it to you…no real chase on our part needed.
For much of the summer, I think we’re going to head towards this idea of chasing life. We’re going to look at many things from God’s point of view (which in a sense is theology) …things that we see are challenging to the world..maybe us. Things we see people struggling with, battling with, giving into, striving for…and more.
But I think what we’ll see is that we’re all chasing the same thing. Sometimes with success, sometimes with failure and falling (much like those figures we read about in scripture)…and sometimes realizing…becoming very aware of reality. Our eyes are opened.
So today is a day for a concept. Maybe just a starting point.
Anyone here like those history channel shows like Ancient Aliens?
I have to confess…I love that show.
A professor that I’ve been learning from for the last 5+ years, he just passed away, but one thing he realized…and he always talked about…what that...
“There’s a reason that Ancient Aliens has been on so many seasons in a row.”
19 - That’s 230 episodes! Started in 2010 Thirteen years ago.
And for many of those episodes, they look at ancient civilizations, history, astronomy, geology....just a host of things. And they look at big questions....but they always end up asking....could this all be because of extraterrestrial beings? Ancient Alien theorists say yes.
Dr. Heiser would always say that people are looking for answers to the weird things of life…and that’s why he thought, shows like that are so popular.
I’m going to add to his speculation. I think there’s another reason people love those shows.
People love to ask the question....What is life? and Where did we come from? What is this thing called life?
If we figure those things out…it seems that a lot of life would make more sense. Like little kids, we’re trying to make sense of the world we live in…trying to make sense of reality.
....and why things don’t make sense…especially when we try to make life work (our version of life…or the version someone else has told us about)…and it doesn’t.
So …big concept for today. Something to think about…something to think about and then ask more questions from this point forward.
If we think of ourselves as disciples of Jesus…I think this is a great place to work from. This concept is probably a great way to look at everything in the world.
Sometimes we say we look at the world through “rose colored” glasses....
I think we need to have some things settled in our own heart first…and then look at the world and those around us through God colored glasses. To see our life and the lives of others through the heart of Jesus.
10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
Life. Jesus is making a bold truth claim here. He’s saying that He’s the only one who bring life. He’s also saying something else.
We don’t have it. We don’t have it fully.
Even more…there’s an enemy who wants to take it from us.
The other thing we can get from this is that....when we ask about how to pursue the best life possible - asking those why? and how? questions - there will be messages that we hear or see that will either lead to life or away from it.
Think about messaging through each day. How many ads for things do you think you see or hear in a day. Now this will vary for sure…if you’re on your phone or computer more or less will determine some of this but the average is....6k-10k ads per day.
There was recently a group that was trying to make something to help with this…through a crowdfunding page…a set a of glasses that would block these visual ads from your sight…another company was really studying to see how they could block stuff like this from daily life too!
Now think…that’s just ads. Think about the news or shows or whatever…how many, not just ads, but how many messages do you see or hear a day that try to influence you to think about something differently, believe something, try something....to influence you towards a specific ideology…a specific view or reality....
Now if all of these messages are out there…and Jesus said that He came to give life…and Satan is here to steal and destroy…then many of these message will be trying to influence us. Now I know some are just trying to get you hungry enough to go to the store and buy a snickers bar....but many are about what is good in life…what is not good. Who is good…who not to follow....and more. What you should look like. What you should have. Where to find your identity. Maybe even who to be angry at or to hate.
And…if those messages are from Satan, he’s going to disguise them....letting us think ways other than Christ’s message will be good enough to have a great life.
So where do we go to begin looking into answering our questions about how to have the best life possible?
Well, if this is God’s Word…we probably go back to the beginning.
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
From here we read of how God continued to create on earth…life…plants, animals, birds, fish, and finally people.
And something unique is that with humanity, He created them in His image. And unlike the other “living things,” with humanity, God breathed into them…giving them life. A life different than every other.
Then He gave them purpose. Fill the earth with image by being fruitful…multiply my image all over the planet.
Take care of all of creation. Tend to it. Have dominion over it.
(remember there’s no sin).
And for food…I give you every living plant.
Oh…I’ll also give rest.
Purpose, sustenance, family - all given to us. Life…full life given to us…created for us.
Now again this is before sin.
Sin which Jesus died for… Remember Jesus said I’m here so I can give them life to the full....again…given.
Two words to look at… and remember we’re looking at things conceptually today.
Big words....
Obtainment and Attainment
This idea of obtainment vs attainment.
I think this humanity’s biggest battle....
Obtainment is defined this way: to acquire, to get, to receive..
Attainment is defined this way: to achieve, to accomplish, to earn.
In the beginning, the full life, as life was intended, was given. Not attained. Purpose was given, not figured out. Needs were supplied…not earned.
God, in His full love, gave and gave and gave. Full life. A life full of peace, joy and purpose.
And then The Deceiver, deceived Adam and Eve into thinking that they, on their own, could “ATTAIN” a better life. And in that moment, they walked away from their full life, their full purpose, and the One who fulfilled all of their needs.
And in that moment, the spiritual battle started and continues. The battle for our very souls. Satan’s lie is still…you have better ideas than your creator. Go with your own feelings. Live life like you want to. There’s no absolute truth. You design life like you want to. You do you.
Lies.
We battle this idea of obtainment and attainment don’t we? We have this idea of the self made person…you need to be very very careful with that statement. If God is the creator…and the only way to have a full life is through Him and His design for us...then when we try to make for ourselves a full and happy life…I think we’ll always fall short.
It is sometimes…not always…but sometimes in those moments…moments when we fall short…that we ask those questions. Sometimes very deep questions.
Why? Why is this life not working out like I planned?
The Bible talks about moments like these…when there’s a sense of awareness…for a second we think differently. We realize…somethings not right…and we can’t fix it.
37 On the last and most important day of the festival, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.
Awareness…something is needed in life. In scripture, many times, Jesus talked about how He can take care of thirst or hunger…and he wasn’t talking about a cold pepsi and a burger. He was talking about people who, in their life....got to the point where they became aware of their situation…they can’t fix themselves…or attain what they thought was a full life....only Jesus can give…give…give it.
Not attained given.
1 God, you are my God; I eagerly seek you. I thirst for you; my body faints for you in a land that is dry, desolate, and without water.
2 So I gaze on you in the sanctuary to see your strength and your glory.
This is from David. David wrote about his awareness of God often. David was not perfect and if you read the Psalms, you’ll find over and over that David realized that when he tried to attain life on his own…in his way…according to his feelings and emotions…things did not work out. Awareness (that something isn’t right…I can’t fix this on my own) led to the realization of …hunger and thirst…words that described David’s need for God.
God gives life.
2 I only want to learn this from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law or by believing what you heard?
Much of the book of Galatians is an argument on Paul’s part to help the people of that church family to remember that they aren’t good enough to have a full life…they can’t get to a full life by works…through their own ideas…they can’t attain it.
Life is received …given…through God and His spirit.
3 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, 4 who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father,
Jesus gave Himself to give us life. It was a rescue mission. We can’t save ourselves…we can’t find full life on our own.
In the beginning God created....only the creator has the keys to a full life.
I read an article this past week that focused in on a speech given by a student at her graduation ceremony. Cambell Lino was the valedictorian and worked through a speech that was presented to administration and changed here and there and then approved. Here’s some of what she said....her personal testimony.
Life was confusing before she really understood what Jesus meant to her, she shared. She was gifted in learning other languages and academics. She had a great family and friends. Yet she struggled to find happiness in what she saw in the world while battling her own self-centeredness.
“But then I learned that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the true king of the human race,” she said into the microphone, followed by clapping and growing cheers.
Where Jesus and His Lordship are acknowledged, she said, thriving follows.
We all ask why questions. We struggle and work and strive to attain a life for ourselves…happiness for ourselves…peace for ourselves. Only to be left wanting something more. We’re not fulfilled. Why?
Because God wants to give it to us. We can’t do it on our own. God wants us to realize that full life comes only from Him. What we need to do, is come to a point where we realize our hunger and thirst in life is for Him…and Him alone.
24 Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
Paul is writing this very specifically. Those who have come to realize that Jesus came to give life…gave up their own life for His…for His full life. We use the phrase die to yourself. Our baptism is a picture of this. We use the phrase buried with Christ....the old self. Raised up in new life. A life obtained not attained.
What questions are you asking?
Are they coming from a point of hunger and thirst for something you know is missing in life?
Hunger and thirst are not happy experiences. Picture the kids in the back seat on a long trip between stops…I’m hungry…I’m thirsty. Such is life…but hunger and thirst can lead you to “true” happiness.
Are you willing to obtain life rather than constantly trying to attain it?
Are you chasing life? Or are you allowing God to give it to you?
Life is a gift. New life is a gift.
Have you given up your life, the one you’re trying to attain…to receive His life for you? The one He wants to give you?
Next week....
The theology of creation.