What a Week

In one week's time, we saw the passing of Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett, Ed McMahon, and Billy Mays: the "King of Pop," the queen of pin-up girls, the longtime sidekick to the king of late night television, and the king of informercials. They had world-wide fame, had millions of dollars, and were the most achieved in their fields during their day. And what I'm about to say is in no way intended to say anything negative about any of them.

My point is simply this - are any of the things that we know them for (fame, wealth, success) providing them with any satisfaction now? I don't know their spiritual states, I have no idea of their relationship with God, and I won't speculate on what each of their eternal destinies are. Whether their present states are good or bad, the question is the same: Are of the things we know them by giving them any satisfaction now? If any of them are satisfied now, it's not because of those things. If any of them are not satisfied now, these things are obviously not fulfilling them. (I sincerely hope that each of them are fully satisfied now.)

What do people know you for? By what means do people know of your name, know you exist, even interact with you? By what means do you want people to know you? If I were to ask people around you to describe you, what attributes would they focus on?

We have every temptation possible to want to be known by things that will not bring us one bit of satisfaction after we shed these mortal coils. We want to be known as having X or doing Y or being Z, and the temptations are to pursue the XYZ's that will not benefit our eternal satisfaction one bit. If the kings and queens of XYZ are not satisfied by them, how can mere citizens of those kingdoms be satisfied?

Satisfaction can be had - satisfaction now as well as satisfaction after we pass on. The Christian life is not only about delayed satisfaction, but true satisfaction now (otherwise, the Gospel would say, "Grab fleshly satisfaction now while you can"). In fact, it only stands to reason that the same things that will satisfy us after death are the same things that can most satisfy us before death.

Let the ridiculously overblown coverage of these deaths prompt you to ask yourself where you are really seeking to find satisfaction. Ask if your pursuit is something that will be satisfying you 2 seconds after you die ... or 500 million years after you die.

Our deepest satisfaction now and forever is found in a person - The Person. Pursue Him. Chase after Him with the same fervor as the world pursues satisfaction in XYZ. Make knowing God through Christ your life's career goal. Do not be satisfied with only being saved - be satisfied by walking with Him closely on a daily basis.

Only what will satisfy you after death can truly satisfy you before death.

Why Did God Create Us? (Part 4)

For the last 3 weeks, we've been exploring the question of why God created us by asking several other questions in order to get to an answer. So far, we've asked:

1. How did God make man different than the animals?
2. How does the penalty of sin drive us away from our purpose?
3. What is the end result of redemption?
4. What is the goal of our mission?
5. Was there an important story before man was created?
6. What is the ultimate purpose of Christ taking on a human nature (the "incarnation")?

Please refer to the previous posts to see how each of these questions has been answered.

All of the answers keep coming back to this concept of the imago Dei (the "image of God"). We were created with it uniquely, sin damaged it, redemption repaired it, our mission is to bring this repair to others, the angels are watching the drama of it unfold, and Jesus bore the image perfectly, which was absolutely necessary for our salvation.

Clearly, God created us to bear His image, and to bear it well. But since the image of God is what allows us to have a relationship with him, we can also add that God created us to have a relationship with Him. That's why He gave us the image, that's why we had to have it repaired when it was damaged, and that's why Jesus had to bear it perfectly. God created us specifically to bear His image and to be in a relationship with Him.

What's the big deal about bearing God's image? Because that's what glorifies Him most. The best thing we can do to glorify God is to reflect His image with excellence. The more we bear His image, the more we glorify Him. There is nothing in this universe more glorious than God, so it makes perfect sense that the best way to bring Him glory is to bear His image - to be like Him as much as possible. If we are like anything else, we cannot bring Him as much glory as being like Him. The more we resemble Him, the more glory we bring to Him.

Therefore, when God created us in His image, He uniquely created us with the ability to bring Him glory - more than any other creature.

One of the classic statements of the faith comes in response to the question, "What is the chief end of man?" The answer that the Church has taught for centuries is, "To glorify God and enjoy Him forever." That's exactly correct! Specifically, to glorify Him by bearing His image accurately, and to enjoy Him forever by being in a relationship with Him (which is made possible by the image of God created in us and repaired by Christ).

We exist to bear His image in order to bring Him glory and to enjoy Him forever. We have a lofty purpose indeed! God created us for the grandest purpose imaginable.

Next week, we'll close out this mini-study by exploring how to find our individual purposes, now what we know the general purpose of mankind.

Why Did God Create Us? (Part 3)

We've been carefully tracking down the question of why God created us, asking several key questions in order to find the answer to the big question. So far, our exploratory questions have been:

1. How did God make man different than the animals?
2. How does the penalty of sin drive us away from our purpose?
3. What is the end result of redemption?
4. What is the goal of our mission?

Refer to the previous posts to see how these questions contribute the answer.

There are two more questions that drive us toward an answer to the question of the ages.

First, was there an important story before man was created? If there was a significant story that existed before man was created, then we can speculate that man was created in order to fit into a larger story. Therefore, our purpose can be derived from how we fit into this larger story.

There was, in fact, a story before man was created. We are part of a much larger narrative. The angels were created by God long before man existed, and they were all created good. They were also created with enough free will to be able to sin. At some point in time, that's exactly what happened - Satan and some large number of followers rebelled against God.

There was no grace offered to the rebels. The angels who remained loyal to God appear to be completely confirmed in their position with God, and the angels (now demons) who rebelled are clearly confirmed in their position against God. There is no evidence any where that God has extended a saving grace to the demons - no chance to be forgiven and come back to God.

This larger narrative between good and evil existed long before man was created. When God created us, He created us in His image, which we damaged through sin. However, unlike with the angels, God did not confirm Adam and Eve and their descendants to a fallen state. Since the first day of sin, God has made grace available to us in ways angels never received. He made provision in the Old Testament sacrifice, and ultimately makes provision in the Cross for saving grace to be extended to sinful rebels to allow them to come back into God's family.

Jude 6 and 1 Peter 1:10-12 reveal that angels are anxiously looking down onto the story of mankind, basically to see how it turns out. They are watching to see how this plan of grace will play out. In other words, we were created as just a piece of the larger story of God's universe and the rebellion against Him.

Our purpose somehow comes from our place in the larger narrative. (Don't worry - we're going to be bringing all these strings of thought together next week.)

Second, what is the ultimate purpose of Christ taking on a human nature (the "incarnation")? The purpose of mankind has got to be revealed in large part by the fact that Jesus took on a human nature. Our purpose must be discernible from the one perfect human, and the purpose of the incarnation should clue us in on the reason God created us.

Jesus came to take on a fully human nature while maintaining perfection. In other words, to perfectly bear the image of God (imago Dei). Remember from question 1 that the image of God in us is what distinguishes us from the animals. Our purpose is found in bearing that image, and the incarnation of Christ was for Him to perfectly bear the image of God. Only by perfectly bearing that image can Jesus be a perfect sacrifice for us on the Cross. If He is a flawed image bearer, then His sacrifice on the Cross cannot be adequate for us, and thus we would be without hope for forgiveness.

The pieces are starting to fit together. Next week, we'll bring all 6 questions together and explore how they combine to reveal our purpose as a race. On the following week, we'll then discuss how to discover our individual purposes as members of the human race.

I remind you that these are questions that we have been wrestling with in the Youth Group on Wednesday nights. Yes, we have our fun in the Youth Group, but we dig into Truth in some significant ways. (Thanks to Betty Ann for all her leadership in bringing all the pieces of the youth program together.)