An Old Preacher’s Wisdom
Philippians 1:21 For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
Beauty
This planet is a beautiful place. It is teeming with all different forms of life. There are birds for the sky, plants for the earth, fish and other mammals for the sea as well as a multitude of other sea life. Then there is man—the creator’s crowning display of His power and creativity. But unfortunately, along with all that beauty came evil. The evil in this world sometimes drowns out all the beauty and good.
Self-Evident Truth
That we were created seems to be a self-evident fact. We certainly didn’t make ourselves; and to assume as some do that we are simply the product of time and chance seems very fanciful and foolish. A world this beautiful and orderly had to be created. We didn’t have anything to do with our first breath and apart from suicide and bad eating habits we will not have anything to do with our death. Just as there is a divine creator, there is a diabolical destroyer. The events of 9/11/01 certainly point to the existence of such a destroyer.
While a divine creator and a diabolical destroyer seem to be self-evident to me, I do understand why people wonder if they can know their creator. There are many religions and philosophies in this world. Some would say it makes no difference as to which one of those philosophies or religions (or lack thereof) a person believes, because there is no way to really know the truth about the divine and the afterlife. But either we believe in an authority outside ourselves or we must believe that we are the final authority. That makes man (who has obviously been created) god, knowing good and evil. But while mankind may want to believe that he is the final authority, man certainly didn’t create himself. Whether the story in Genesis is considered an allegory or whether it is considered literal, the story illustrates the struggle that man has. Either man is the final authority which makes man god or man has a creator that he needs to find and get to know.
The Revelation of God and His Contract with Men
The thing that gives my life meaning and purpose is the Bible. I realize that we know about God through creation. We also know about God because we have consciences that know good and evil. But the only way we can really know God is if He shows Himself to us. He says He has done that through His Son Jesus Christ. In addition to giving us a God-man in Christ, He has given to us a contract with promises in the Bible. It seems simplistic to believe that an old book could be the guiding light in knowing Christ, but I am just simple enough to believe that. We need a constitution to run a government. We need written contracts to do business. We need a Bible to know God.
I realize that while I could give many reasons for believing in this old book, the real reason I believe in it is because I want to. It tells me of a God who loves me. It tells me about the solution for sin. It tells me that, for the believer, there is a hereafter that is better than anything we can imagine on planet earth. It also tells me that there is an awful eternity awaiting those who are not true believers. In addition, it tells me about a diabolical destroyer who wants as many people as possible to share that awful eternity with him.
I keep seeing my friends and family members placed in the ground. Some of them have had great success and great pleasure. Some have more toys than I will ever have. Some have lived lives of great trial and sorrow. But ultimately, they all die. Is that the end? Wouldn’t life be depressing if living and dying was all that we had to look forward to? Paul had more than that to make his life worthwhile. He was in prison with a death sentence almost a certainty. And he said that if he lived, He would serve Christ. If He died He would be with Christ and that would be gain or better. He realized that there had to be more to life than being born to pass through life and then ultimately die.
There was a preacher in the Old Testament that struggled with these issues. He tried everything and found that nothing satisfied. At the very end of his philosophical dissertation, he says, “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments. For this is man’s all (or the whole duty of man). “See Ecclesiastes 12:13. Fearing God and guarding His truth by doing what He asks and preaching His Word gave Paul’s life purpose. It gives my life meaning.
I think the preacher was on to something.
Bruce Collins
Meditation for the week of July 26, 2015