In Quest for Meaning

At an exhibition in switzerland, the sculpter Tinguely presented a gigantic and strange machine. It had metal bars, flywheels, sheet metal, chains and gear wheels. Very quickly a crowd had gathered to admire the construction, and began discussing what it was created to produce. Eventually, they asked the sculpter himself, and they were baffled by his response. “Nothing…it produces nothing”

The artist had manufactured a kind a symbol of our world. “In our world so many wheels are spinning that it can be frightening. We live in a system that proceeds with an immense speed. There is always motion, action, noise, and intoxication. But with many, there is no real aim, meaning, and fruit. Why am I hear? What is the meaning and purpose of life?

As believers and followers of Christ I believe we should have strong understanding of the purpose of our existence. We have access to answers. We have faith that pushes and presses us. Yet we are not immune to the complancey of the world. We are not immune to the desire of unhealthy pleasure. We are not immune to feeling lost and baffled by what our purpose is. Today I want to take us on an expedited journey toward understanding what God’s purpose is for us as his people. Like any journey I begin, I want to start with praying to God for guidance.

Prayer.

I haven’t made it any secret, that I enjoy sports, both playing, and following sports, and most more specifically, football. As a teenager, I think I cared to much in fact. If you are or have ever been a fan, its very unlikely your team is going to win it all. Every team eventually comes up short except for 1. That is why it is so special when you see your team win it all. In February 2011, my greenbay Packers won the Super Bowl with a just entering his prime quarterback Aaron Rodgers. The next morning he was asked a question. You just won the super Bowl! How do you feel??? I still remember his response. “I guess i’m feeling like “ok now what?…I guess we’ll try to go out and win some more.” He had just ascended to the highest peak as a professional competitor, and was left wondering, in the grand scheme what did it matter? He was right, the joy of triumph only lasted a little while and then preparation for the next season already had begun.

The desire for meaning is felt by those who are young and old alike. As the youngest of 3 siblings, I felt the chip on my shoulder to demonstrate that my voice counted and mattered. I wanted to be heard, I wanted to matter. Those who have lived a long life, maybe they have made their money, or grown their family, maybe they even can see a legacy left behind, but still the question remains internally, did I matter, what did I accomplish?

Victor Frankl, the Austrian psychiastrist and holocaust survivor, held that the search for meaning is the primary motivation of human life.” There are also some people who believe that ultimate meaning cannot be found. I would suggest to you though, meaningness creates emptiness, boredom, and a vacuum of other things. These other things cannot create meaning: anger, hatred, resentment, business, conformity, pleasure-seeking, entertainment, or power…these are all hollow. Because of a lack of answer, some would instead choose to ignore the question entirely, what are we here for?

I understand that people do have constructed answers and some are very good. I also admit its not just Christians who can give good answers to the question. Some will say, living for their family, or living for their nation, and some will say that working in their chosen field, maybe medicine, non-profit work, ministry, teaching in school, or in law, or fighting for social justice, or even laboring construction, gives their life meaning…but that doesn’t completely answer the question. Because those answers can be countered with other questions, what is the purpose of the existence of a nation and of humanity? What is the meaning of the lives of my family members? If I do not know why i live and why others live, why should I, for instance, become a physician and help others live?

I don’t know for sure, but I highly doubt anyone here would want written on their tombstone, “this person consisted exclusively of work” the same could be said of that of a mule.

Live life to the fullest and enjoy it! this is a popular slogan that many of us follow. This is not a bad slogan, but it has holes like the others.Solomon in the book of Ecclesiastes pokes all sorts of holes in it recognizing this attititude as meaningless and chasing at the wind. If the pursuit of pleasure is the meaning of life, what a sad world we live in, with all of the suffering that exists. Much wicked pleasure comes at the expense of others suffering,.

If we do not know why we live, we tend to have lousy priorities in life. We have a false value system. As soon as people have enough to live, many find out that they do not know what to live for? You know, if you read only a few chapters in Ecclesiastes, but not the whole thing, you might be tempted to think, the inspired author saw no value in life. And if life is meaningless, what difference does it make if I die today instead of years or decades later.

I hope I’m not depressing anyone! December is usually one of good tidings and a joyful spirit…stay with me, the good is coming!

In college, after my first semester, I brought home at Christmas break a report card that read, 1 B-, and whopping 4 C’s, and a C-. This was pretty embarrassing for me, as I had been a mostly A’s and B’s student throughout high school. My father expressed his dissapointment in my efforts and gave me a bit of a wake up call. He said, “You only get one shot at this college thing, its to expensive to be there for multiple tries” He was telling me, to not only take my academics seriously, but to take my life seriously. We only have this one life like this here. This life counts! You know I wrote a lousy paper a few times in college, and sometimes and generous professor would allow me to make corrections and resubmit it. This is not the case with life. Life is irreplaceable.

Jesus was once speaking about the state of humanity before the flood, and compared it to the state of humanity before his coming.

English Standard Version Chapter 24

38 For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, 39 and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.

These people were content to have their private peace and prosperity. But is it sufficient to work, eat, have some fun, and when death comes, all is gone?

What is the meaning of life? I would like to offer a two response answer. Both responses cannot be separated, and the 2nd becomes pointless without the first. If you want to take notes, here is the headline answer.

“The meaning of life: is to become children of God and live with Him and to live for others.”

Lets allow the Bible to be our guide.

Genesis 1:27

English Standard Version Chapter 1

27 So God created man in his own image,

in the image of God he created him;

male and female he created them.

Living in a land of paradise, Eden, Adam and Eve lived fulfilled lives. What gave them meaning was being created in the image of God. This implied intimate relationship with God and as His representatives on earth they took care of God’s creation.

Flipping the page over to verse 8 we read

English Standard Version Chapter 3

8 And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.

God would walk in the garden. Before the fall, adam and eve, lived in the presence of God.

psalms 63:1

English Standard Version Psalm 63

O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you;

my soul thirsts for you;

my flesh faints for you,

as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

Sin ruptured this relationship and robbed humanity of meaning. While we are still God’s creatures by nature, we are not automatically His children.Some might argue, we are born naturally a child of God, as He is our creator. This is true, but we are also born with the ability to reject Him and the family. Accepting the identity of being a child of God is in itself a desire to live with Him. Sin the entrance of Sin, we have been searching for something ultimate which gives perspective to who we are and what we do.

Can a fish survive without living in water? So is being connected to God, is our element we need for survival. As a fish is destined to die without water, we ruin ourselves, if we try and live without God.

The early theologian, Augustine is quoted “You, (God) have created us for union with yourself, and our hearts are restless until we find rest in you.”

Going back to , now verse 15....Here is a verse I could make the topic of an entire sermon, I won’t today. It does though take a little more explanation then other verses I am sharing.

English Standard Version Chapter 3

15 I will put enmity between you and the woman,

and between your offspring and her offspring;

he shall bruise your head,

and you shall bruise his heel.”

Some of you may not be aware or may not believe but this is one of the earliest prophecies of Jesus coming as the Messiah.

1. The Serpent Is a Symbol of Evil. The context of clearly indicates that the serpent is a symbol of evil and rebellion against God. It misrepresents and contradicts God in an effort to persuade Adam and Eve to break away from the Lord, offering an unreal, alternate existence apart from Him. This power is identified in the New Testament as Christ's archenemy, Satan (). In the Garden of Eden this evil power defeated Adam and Eve and extended its dominion over the descendants of the woman.

2. Victory Over the Serpent. The contrast between the serpent and its descendants and the seed of the woman suggests a final victory over the serpent. The serpent will "strike" the heel of the woman's seed, but the woman's seed will "crush" the head of the serpent. The Hebrew verb (sûp, "bruise, strike, crush") is the same in both cases, suggesting that the seriousness of the assault depends on the part of the body that receives the wound. The attack against the woman's seed is not permanent, but the fact that the woman's seed aims at the head of the serpent indicates that the intention is to bring this evil power to a permanent end.

3. The Meaning of "Seed." The Hebrew noun zeracis usually employed as a collective noun to designate "offspring, posterity" in the sense of descendants as a single group. However, it can be used to refer to a single descendant (e.g., , ). In we find both usages present. We read about the descendants of the woman and the descendants of the serpent/Satan, but at the same time mention is made of a male descendant of the woman (hû') who will crush "your [singular] head," that is to say, the serpent's head. Whenever "seed" denotes a particular descendant, the pronoun that follows it is in the singular.

The Greek translation of the Old Testament, the Septuagint (LXX), suggests that the translators understood the passage to be a promise of a future descendant. In this particular case they understood "seed" not in its collective sense but rather as designating a single descendant.

4. Allusions in the New Testament. There are at least two allusions to in the New Testament. The first one is . There we find similar terminology and the concept of a conflict between the woman and the dragon and her child and the dragon. The dragon is explicitly identified with the "ancient serpent" (NIV), an obvious reference to . The "seed" of the woman defeats the serpent, determining its future extinction (). According to , what was announced in is now being fulfilled in the flow of history. The seed of the woman has crushed the head of the serpent and the consummation of that victory is rapidly approaching.

The victory of the descendant of the woman assures the future victory of her descendants over the dragon. This is what , the second allusion to , states: "The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet" (NIV). This wonderful hope was first announced to the human race in the Garden of Eden.

Now I say all that to say this: God knowing that with sin and separation from Him our lives had become meaningless and would end in eternal death, stepped in. He promised that the messiah would come and make things right again.

John 10:10

English Standard Version Chapter 10

10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly

When Jesus lived among us, here on Earth, and died for us, and showed us the father, He brought a fullness to life, that had not yet been seen or felt.

English Standard Version Chapter 14

6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Meaning of life is found in Jesus.

John 1:12

12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,

I believe we receive ultimate meaning and a future beyond death through a decision for the one who is the life, and by constantly living with Him. Then we are God’s children with all the privileges coming along with this status.

I found a story, in a German book called “Jesus, our destiny” I wanted to read to you an excerpt found in the book.

There is story of a young man who has graduated from high school. His uncle asks him about his future plans.

A young man went one day to visit his elderly uncle. He said, "Uncle, you can congratulate me. I just passed my 'A' levels." "That's great!" answered his uncle. "Here's some money. Go and buy yourself something you'd like. But now, tell me, what are your plans for the future?" "To start with," answered the young man, "I'm going to continue my studies. I want to go to Law School." "Fine," said his uncle, "and after that?" "Well, after that, I'd like to get some experience at the County Court." "Fine," said his uncle, "and after that?" "After that, I shall be Assessor at the Court of Appeal." "Fine," said his uncle, "and after that?" "Well, after that, Uncle, I'll get married and raise a family." "Fine," said his uncle, "and after that?" "I hope to become influential - a judge at the Court of Appeal, perhaps, or a Public Prosecutor." "That's fine," said his uncle, "and after that?" The young man was beginning to get annoyed, but he answered, "I guess by then old age will be creeping on and I'll have to retire." "Fine," said his uncle, "and after that?" "When I retire, I'll settle down in some beautiful part of the country, build myself a house and grow strawberries!" "Fine," said his uncle, "and after that?" By then, the nephew was fuming. "After that, some day I'll die!" "Is that so?" asked his uncle, "and what then?" The young man wasn't laughing any more. He was panic-stricken. The old uncle insisted, "And after that?" "Uncle, I've never really thought about it." "What," exclaimed the old man, "you've just passed your 'A' levels and yet you're not intelligent enough to see further than the tip of your nose? Shouldn't a boy to whom God has given a sound mind have a little more foresight than that? What will happen after that?" The young man replied hastily, "But, Uncle, nobody knows what happens after death!" "You're wrong, my lad," said the old man. "There's one person who knows exactly what happens afterdeath. It is Jesus.

What is the meaning of Life? First the meaning of life is to become a child of God and live with Him. The second meaning is to live for others.

If we live with God and Jesus lives in us, then living for others is very meaningful and rewarding.

Acts 10:38

45

English Standard Version Chapter 10

God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. 39

This verse summarizes Jesus’s earthly ministry. It was about doing good, caring for others. He left us the example that we are to follow and emulate.

after that, Uncle, I'll get married and raise a family." "Fine," said his uncle, "and after that?" "I hope to become influential - a judge at the Court of Appeal, perhaps, or a Public Prosecutor." "That's fine," said his uncle, "and after that?" The young man was beginning to get annoyed, but he answered, "I guess by then old age will be creeping on and I'll have to retire." "Fine," said his uncle, "and after that?" "When I retire, I'll settle down in some beautiful part of the country, build myself a house and grow strawberries!" "Fine," said his uncle, "and after that?" By then, the nephew was fuming. "After that, some day I'll die!" "Is that so?" asked his uncle, "and what then?" The young man wasn't laughing any more. He was panic-stricken. The old uncle insisted, "And after that?" "Uncle, I've never really thought about it." "What," exclaimed the old man, "you've just passed your 'A' levels and yet you're not intelligent enough to see further than the tip of your nose? Shouldn't a boy to whom God has given a sound mind have a little more foresight than that? What will happen after that?" The young man replied hastily, "But, Uncle, nobody knows what happens after death!" "You're wrong, my lad," said the old man. "There's one person who knows exactly what happens afterdeath. It is Jesus.

Matthew 25:40 ESV

And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’

Living for others! At the end of our lives we have to leave behind all material posessions, power, and fame. What can we take with us is our own character and the people who have found the Lord through us. What lasts is what should take top priority in our lives.

John 15:8 ESV

By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.

,

John 15:16 ESV

You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.

John 15:

While living for Jesus, and with Him in our hearts, we can’t help but embrace the cause of bearing fruit. His desires are now your desires.

Matthew 4:19 ESV

And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

Matthew

Through God’s power our lives have purposes of multiplying the Kingdom, becoming fishers of men!

2 Timothy 2:2 ESV

and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.

2 Timothy

The chain of witnesses though which the gospel has reached us needs to be continued by us. We are links in this chain, to pass onto others the good news of salvation, fellowship with God, and meaning to life.

Outside of a small old church was a pond. There a pastor and deaconness stood beside talking. The deaconness pointed to the water and said to the pastor. “Here is where my life took its decisive turn.” The deaconness had lived in this community and attended this church her entire life. In the water where she was pointing were the remains of a few old tombstones from the cemetary. The space was limited, and some had been thrown into the water to make room for new ones. She continued, when I was a young lady, I stood here in this very place. I noticed a specific tombstone. The name had already faded off and was unrecognizable but the dates remained. 1789-1821. And then it happened It became clear to me that an entire human life had fit between the numbers—so little. I also understood the enormous responsibility we have to make the best of this little line. So I committed my life to the savior and decided to place it into His service.”

We ask: Why am I here? What is the meaning and purpose of my life? The ultimate meaning of life is to become children of God and live with Him, and to live for others. We could also express it differently: The ultimate meaning of life is to live with God and glorify Him.(; ; ), or as Jesus expressed it: “And you shall love the Lord with all your heart, and all your soul, and all your mind, and with all your strength. you shall love your neighbor as yourself. ,.

What are you going to do with your life here on Earth?

In Quest for Meaning

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