It's All About God!
A search for the meaning of life must begin, continue, and end with God. It's all about God! The theme of the Bible is God. All that He has created proclaims His greatness. Even the conscience of man is a powerful defense attorney proclaiming the existence of God (see Psalm 19; Romans 1). Therefore, the loftiest thoughts that one can entertain are about God. Since the Bible is God-centered, the universe is proclaiming His greatness, and everyone's conscience proclaims His existence and power--then it is in our highest interest to contemplate the character of God.
Those who discover the God of the Bible and are intoxicated with His character find both meaning and passion for living!
According to the Bible, everything was created by God and for God, and therefore finds its meaning only in God (Collosians 1:16). The supreme activity of one's life is the worship of God (John 4:23).
God is the author both of physical and spiritual life. All of life moves under His control and towards His decreed objective. Therefore, we can say with confidence that "It's all about God."
Since it's all about God, one need that we have is to know God, and to know all we can about Him. The question is: How? There are certain truths about God that we might say are 'self-evident' truths. For example, the fact of His existence and power is evidenced in all that He has created. The stars above, the mountains, the valleys, seas, animals and people below all give compelling evidence about God: His existence, power and glory.
All that God created serves as a very eloquent preacher of the Creator, and it speaks in a language that is universally understood (Psalm 19:1-6). Yet we have more than stars, mountains, and even our own existence to teach us about God. There is greater revelation.
God has told us about Himself. His autobiograohy is the Bible. There we discover that God is holy, just, all-powerful, all-knowing, all-present, merciful, loving and gracious. It is also in the Bible that God reveals His Son--The Lord Jesus Christ. So important is this revelation, that the Bible proclaims that there is no way to God the Father except through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ (John 14:6). Knowing God is essential! In fact, knowing God is eternal life (John 17:3)!
"Our great problem... is SIN"
Our great problem in knowing God and having eternal life can be summed up in one word: SIN. That is not a very popular word in our day, but it is a key word if we are to understand the amazing, rescuing, grace of God. The Bible proclaims that all have sinned--all have fallen short of God's glory--and that the wages of sin is death (Romans 3:23; 6:23). We are sinners by nature and by choice, and our sin has left us in a hopeless estate. The Bible teaches, in fact, that we are spiritually stubborn-for we are dead in our trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1). As a preacher, I have officiated services.
Not one time has a body in a coffin ever lifted a finger during a funeral service and asked for help. Of course not. They were dead! Dead people can't sry out for help. The same thing is true of people as it relates to spiritual life. We are born dead and in need of life. Because of our condition, if we are to have spiritual life and find the true meaning of life, then we need outside help. We need God to give us spiritual life so that we can the seek Him, know Him, and worship Him. Only God can cause a spiritually dead person to come to life. He does just that through the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the Word of God (John 1:12-13; I Peter 1:3-25).
Turn and Trust the Lord Jesus Christ!
Turn from your sins. Turn to God. Turn and trust Jesus Christ alone for salvation from your sins. Jesus is the Son of God and the only way of salvation. He lived without sinning, died on the cross for sinners and was raised again from the dead. Trust in Him and then pursue God with a devoted heart. A preacher from the 1800's, Charles Spurgeon, said: "The highest science, the loftiest speculation, the mightiest philosophy, which can ever engage the attention of a child of God, is the name, the nature, the person, the work, the doings and the existence of the great God whom he calls his Father...It is a subject so vast, that all of our thoughts are lost in its immensity; so deep, that our pride is drowned in its infinity." Since it's all about God, to be "nourished in the Word" is to focus your attention and affections on the God proclaimed in the nature, the conscience and, most clearly, in the Bible.
Copyright Ray Rhodes Jr. Nourished in the Word
