"THE PURPOSE OF LIFE"
I. "WHY AM I HERE?" THIS IS ONE OF THOSE QUESTIONS THAT HAS HAUNTED THE MINDS OF MAN.
A. One of the oldest books of literature is the book of Job. We find Job saying,
JOB 3:3 Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night [in which] it was said, There is a man child conceived.
JOB 3:11 Why did I not die in the womb? why did I not give up the ghost when I came out of the womb?
JOB 14:1 Man [that is] born of a woman [is] of few days, and full of trouble.
B. The psalmist said:
PSA 39:5 Behold, you have made my days as short as the breadth of my hand, and my age is as nothing before you. Truly every man at his best state is less than nothing.
PSA 89:47 Remember how short my time is: why have you made all men in vain?
C. Solomon said:
ECC 2:17 Therefore I hated life; because the work that is wrought under the sun [is] grievous unto me: for all [is] vanity and vexation of spirit.
D. The prophet Jeremiah said:
JER 20:14 Cursed be the day wherein I was born: let not the day wherein my mother bare me be blessed.
E. This is one of the questions that challenged the minds of the philosophers, and they had come up with their various theories. But none could give an adequate answer to man.
II. IF THE EVOLUTIONARY THEORY IS TRUE, THEN THE QUESTION IS MUTE.
A. There is no purpose for life. I exist only by the most incredible series of accidental circumstances.
B. This belief opens the door to all kinds of consequences.
1. The survival of the fittest led Hitler to seek to exterminate the non aryan races because they were inferior.
2. It gives a rational to aborting unwanted children, if the sonagram shows it's a boy, and you want a girl, then just get an abortion. What does that matter? There is no purpose for life anyhow.
3. It gives a rational to getting rid of someone who gets in your way. That they were weaker than you was proved by virtue of the fact that you were able to destroy them.
4. It leads to men like John Price who is a prominent New Age proponent to suggest that when Aquarian Civilization comes into place all may join it, but those narrow ones who take Jesus at His word when He said, "I am the way, the truth and the life, and no man cometh to the Father, but by Me" will need to experience a cleansing." His spirit guide Asher in 1985 suggested that those individuals with lower vibratory rates, will be removed in the next two decades. Price answered his guide, "I know that the overpopulation is a one of the greatest problems, but wiping 2 billion people off the face of the earth is a little drastic don't you think?" Asher responded, "Who can say but that these people volunteered to be part of the destruction?" (This conversation is recorded in his book "Practical Spirituality")
5. If there is no God, if there is no true purpose for life, then all of these issues are justified, and the fittest will survive, and will be able to make the next evolutionary upward movement.
III. THE BIBLE TEACHES THAT THERE IS A PURPOSE FOR LIFE.
A. That you were created by God, and He had a plan for you before you were ever born.
1. God said to Jeremiah:
JER 1:5 Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, [and] I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.
2. The Psalmist said:
PSA 75:66 I have trusted in You from my birth; You brought me forth from my mother's womb. I will ever praise you.
3. The prophet Isaiah said:
ISA 49:1 Listen to me all nations, hearken, you people, from far; The LORD has called me from the womb; while I was being formed in my mother's womb, He made mention of my name.
4. The Lord said of the Apostle Paul, "He is a chosen vessel unto Me." Later Paul speaks of being separated for the purposes of God from his mother's womb.
5. Writing to the Romans he speaks of the predestined plan of God for their lives.
6. To the Ephesians he speaks of God working in you to prepare you for the work that He has before ordained that you should accomplish for Him.
B. In our text, as the Elders are responding to the worship of God by the Cherubim, they declare, "You are worthy O Lord to receive glory, honor, and power, for You have created all things and for Your good pleasure, they were and are created."
1. That is the answer to the philosophers quest.
2. We were created for God's pleasure.
C. How can we bring Him pleasure?
1. In the book of Hebrews we read: "For without faith, it is impossible to please God for He that comes to God must believe that He is, and that He rewards those who diligently seek Him."
2. Paul wrote, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. If I put the will of my flesh above the will of God, He is not pleased.
3. We bring Him pleasure when we are obedient to His will.
a. When Jesus came to John to be baptized, John objected, declaring that he needed Jesus to baptize him. Jesus responded, "It becomes Me to fulfill all righteousness." As He came up out of the water, God spoke from heaven saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."
b. Jesus who lived the perfect life said,
JOH 8:29 And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always those things that please him.
D. If pleasing God is the purpose of my existence, that means that my life can never be truly fulfilling until I am pleasing Him.
1. People look to so many things to find fulfillment, but in the final analysis they end up empty.
a. Solomon is a classic example. He sought fulfillment through partying, wisdom, great building projects, wealth, a wide variety of women, 300 wives, and 700 concubines. He holds the Guiness record.
b. How did he end up? He said that he hated life, that it was grievous to him for everything left him empty and frustrated.
c. As Jesus said to the woman of Samaria, "Drink of this water, but you will thirst again."
2. We have only one life, and it will soon be past, and only what's done for Christ will last.
E. Like it or not, you were created for God's pleasure. If you will live your life for His pleasure, your life will be rich and fulfilling.
1. If you fight that concept, and live for your flesh, you will end as Solomon, bitter, cynical, and empty.
2. As you take inventory of this past week, how much of your time was spent in seeking to please yourself, compared with how much of your time was spent seeking to please the Lord?
3. What have you done lately to please Him?
Verse-Reference
Square — [Jhn 1:1 KJV]
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