Life is What you Make it

Introduction

From the dawn of time, people have desired to play the role of God. We know of people in the Bible who desired to be worshiped like God (think of Nebuchadnezzar and the Roman Emperors). We know of people in the Bible who desired to elevate mankind to the status of God in order to disrespect God (think of Satan in the Garden) and we know of people throughout history who have publicly taunted God and refused to believe in His existence. Why do people do this? Why do people elevate ourselves at the expense of God? Often they don’t believe in God in the first place and, if there’s no God, why not put ourselves as humans at the top of the list? One of the growing trends in our world today, along with atheism, is the belief that of self-will and self-fulfillment. What does this look like? It looks like a lot of different things.

To some people, they believe that what their purpose on this earth is is to simply make themselves happy. To become at one with themselves and reach their true self. For others, they believe that their purpose is to achieve their truest potential in order to reach enlightenment. Others think that there is an energy inside of each person that we simply have to unleash and whenever that happens, we will find true happiness. There are even some people who think that what they need more than anything is control and power and whenever they have these things, they will be able to truly dictate things as they desire and become the master of their own fate. For many humans, it’s always all about ourselves. Why is this the case? Why are we naturally all about ourselves? Because of the Fall. The original lie was that if we ate from the apple, we’d be just like God. That has been the lie that humans have been chasing for thousands and thousands of years since - we want to be just like God. Why do we want to be like God? For some, because they long for power. For others, because they long to be worshiped. For some, though, it’s simply because they want to be the one in control.

We love being in control, and we’re going to talk about that idea a little bit more next Sunday night, but with control there comes a false sense of security that tells us that there is no higher authority. Our anti-religious world loves this idea, but this idea spreads like a weed and convinces people - Christian and non-Christian alike that we can more or less play the role of God and this is a very dangerous proposition. The world loves the idea that “Life is What you Make It.” This is our 5th lie and it is one that our enemy loves to sell because it forces us to believe so deeply in our own ability and strengths and power that we can fail to see the reality of the situation. People can get so busy in wanting to be their own god that they convince themselves that there is no Creator, Sustainer, and Provider who created them and knew them before time began.

Let’s read this evening out of the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5, as Jesus says this

Matthew 5:3–12 CSB

3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs. 4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 5 Blessed are the humble, for they will inherit the earth. 6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. 7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. 8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. 9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. 10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs. 11 “You are blessed when they insult you and persecute you and falsely say every kind of evil against you because of me. 12 Be glad and rejoice, because your reward is great in heaven. For that is how they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

The Popularity of Life is What you Make It

There’s an idea that is strangely popular with many people and it comes down to hard work. I’ve seen this sign at Hobby Lobby, I’ve heard many Christians say this aloud and I’ve seen many more post about this online. The idea is that God helps those who help themselves. Now we’ll focus more on this statement in a few weeks, but it’s a distant cousin of our false fruit this evening. Our world loves the idea of helping ourselves. Our world loves this idea that we’re not dead in sins or that we’re not that bad, we just need to try a bit harder and help ourselves. After all, life is what we make it! If I try harder, I can save myself. If I try harder, I can make myself happy. If I do ______, I’ll finally get what I’m seeking and be in control.

How many of you have ever been to Barnes and Noble or a big book store? Lindsey and I went to one in Branson a few weeks ago just to see what they had (sometimes you can find great deals on Bible commentaries and genuinely good resources at these places), and I was shocked at the findings. First, there were next to no Christian books. Second, the Joel Osteen prosperity Gospel and various self-help books dominated the book shelves. Why do so many flock to such books? Because these types of books talk about real-life problems. They often promise solutions as well as they say that this is how you can live your best life now! Who wouldn’t want to learn that secret. Others promise that if you read and apply these 6 principles then you’ll unlock God’s plan and never be anxious again. Who wouldn’t want to get this information? What do these books often promise? They promise far more than they can give. They do address legitimate problems, often times, but what do they fail to address? They fail to touch on our biggest problem as human beings. What is our biggest problem? The Bible shares with us that our biggest problem is ourselves and our sin!

Romans 3:23 CSB

23 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God;

Our sin is the problem - what is the solution? Our Savior.

Romans 6:23 CSB

23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

This is the truth of the situation. However, what our culture and what some supposed Christian authors would love for us to think is that the problem is not ourselves, instead the problem is something in our lives. The problem is this situation, this feeling, this person and the solution to the problem is you. You are the answer. You are the hero. You are IT!

Friends, this lie is dangerous in part because it’s so popular and pervasive! Who doesn’t want to hear that we’re the solution? Like this makes us feel really warm and fuzzy inside. For example, as a husband and father, it makes me feel good whenever I am able to provide for my family in a way that they can’t. Whenever Lindsey can’t reach something, it makes me feel good to be able to help out and provide a solution to a problem. This makes us feel good as humans. We like to be the answer! What’s the problem with this when it comes to our biggest problem, though? Are we the answer to our biggest problem? Can we be the solution to our sin. Can we figure it out by trying a bit harder or by becoming our true self? Can we fix ourselves? No.

In the Garden of Eden, did Adam and Eve try to solve the problem of their sin by themselves? Yes, they did! What did they fashion for themselves? They sinned and then they made clothes out of fig leaves. They knew they had messed up and they tried to fix the problem. Did they adequately fix the problem? Absolutely not. Do fig leaves fix our sin? We laugh, but what are some of the ways that people try to solve their sin today? They try to balance out their bad works/sin with good works and good deeds. Nice tweets and facebook posts. They try to hide and cover up the sin, just like Adam and Eve. What is God’s response to Adam and Eve whenever they sinned and clothed themselves? You cannot cover yourselves. Your covering isn’t good enough. But I can cover you and I will. He clothes them not in fig leaves but with animal skin.

People think that they can solve all of their problems and that they truly are 100% in control of their lives. This is simply a lie, though. We cannot solve all of our problems on our own. There are things that we will go through that are too powerful and too difficult for us to figure out on our own. As we’ve experienced with COVID, there are numerous reminders to us that we are not as in control of things as we might think or want to be. What do we need to be reminded of in these moments where we realize that we aren’t in control? We need to be reminded that God is in control. We need to remember that God is holding us. The enemy whispers that God is holding out on us. That He doesn’t really know what’s best for us and that if we want to live our best life, we need to do it ourselves.

So, try harder. Work better. Do whatever makes yourself happy, because after all, life is what you make it. This is the mentality and worldview of many inside and outside of the church. What does the Bible have to say about this?

The Truth: Life is What He Makes It

The truth of the matter is that our life is not what we make it, our life is what He makes it. The Bible is clear that we are created by our God uniquely for a purpose. The Bible is clear that our God knows the numbers of hairs on our head and the Psalmist declares

Psalm 139:16 CSB

16 Your eyes saw me when I was formless; all my days were written in your book and planned before a single one of them began.

God knows all things. God has a master plan. True life is not found in forging our own path and pursuing our own happiness and by working really really hard at being in control of every single situation. True life is found in laying our life down. Laying our freedom down and picking up what Christ has in store for us. True joy is not found in living our best life now - true joy is found in finding God’s plan for our lives and following that plan as best we can! True control isn’t in doing whatever our heart desires - true control is in found whenever we lay our lives, dreams, ambition, and goals down at the foot of the cross and respond to our King like Isaiah did several thousand years ago and say

Isaiah 6:8 CSB

8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord asking: Who will I send? Who will go for us? I said: Here I am. Send me.

The world tells us that this isn’t control because we’re following orders and fulfilling a mission. True freedom and control comes in doing whatever we want to do. To those of us who have a relationship with Jesus Christ and who have been born again, we know that what He has in store for our lives is infinitely greater than what we could ever imagine! We know that He has a plan and that He allows things to happen in our lives for a reason. We know that He is rich in mercy and grace and love and that He has our best interests at heart.

The world looks at this thing called life as a cosmic accident. We are living and there’s no higher purpose or rhyme or reason as to why we’re alive, so let’s live it up! The Biblical worldview stands in stark contrast to this idea. The Bible shares with us that life is not an accident but that life does in fact have a purpose because we have been designed and created by our heavenly Father. We have a purpose in this life and that purpose is to know Him and to live for Him. To be conformed to His image and to reflect His goodness to the world around us. We know that He has created all things good and we know that He sent His Son, Jesus to save us from our sins.

What’s the truth, then? Is life what we make it? Look around at our world today - we see disease, disaster, disunity, discord, devastation, and dysfunction left and right. We experience these things in our daily lives in fact! These are the results of what we’ve made. God didn’t make these things. We have made them as a result of our sinfulness. If people want to live their life and do whatever they think is right and whatever feels the best at the time, that’s their decision, but there will be a consequence. It won’t be a traffic violation or a small fine. It won’t be like an overdue book fee or a slap on the wrist. The consequence for rejecting Christ and His Way will be an eternity separated from God in a place called hell. After all, who does Jesus say will inherit the earth in the Sermon on the Mount? The proud? The greedy? The self-made people? No. None of these people will inherit the world and have a place in His Kingdom. Who does? The humble. Those who are poor in spirit. Those who recognize that our very best planning and ideas fall infinitely short of the glory of God. That we cannot save ourselves and that we have absolutely no room to boast outside of the cross of Christ! Those people are those who are a part of Christ’s Kingdom.

Life isn’t what we make it - it’s what He makes it. He created all things good. We know that He is in the process of redeeming and reconciling His bride to Himself and we know that one day He will return to set things right. To judge the world. To do away with evil once and for all. To recreate the world. To live with us. As we live our lives on this side of that day, let’s remember that regardless of our strengths, talents, abilities, and intellect, we are held not by any of those things, but we are held in the palm of God’s hand thanks to the infinite love and grace and mercy of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Without the cross, we would have no mediator, no high priest, no salvation. Thanks to the cross, we have hope for tomorrow because we know that He is with us and He is for us. We know that He has a plan and even if we are persecuted in this life, we have confidence that the kingdom of heaven is ours as Matthew 5:10 reminds us.

Conclusion

The lie sounds tasty and tempting. We love control. We love our own abilities and strengths. The enemy knows these things and he loves to wrap this lie in bacon and brown sugar in order to get us to bite in. Don’t fall for his tricks, friends. Regardless of how hard we try, we are powerless to save ourselves. We can do lots of things, but we can’t change the fact that we have sinned. We need a savior and this can only be found in Jesus Christ. Trust in Jesus for salvation, yes, but trust in Him to provide and guide you each day of your life. Don’t trust in Him in the big stuff but fail to follow Him daily. His plan for our lives is better than ours. Life is not what we make of it - it’s what He makes of it. He is the potter. We are the clay. Let’s trust in Him to continue to transform us into the image that He has in mind and let’s use the time that we have left to implore others to trust in Him as well!