The truth is we are not going to be here forever , one day we are going to die and pass on to the afterlife.This will either be heaven or hell depending on whether we had allowed Christ to make us children God or that we had utterly rejected Him. None of us know the day or the hour of our death but we know that its coming.Therefore the issue of identity and destiny is very important and it is of great urgency. Who we become will determine our destiny. The scriptures are very clear about this, Corinthians 5: 17,21 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. And John 3:3 Jesus answered him(Nicodemus), “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” We can all do good things and obey all the commandments but unless we "become" new in Christ we will never see God but rather we will spend eternity away from the presence of God.
Concerning this issue there are four basic questions that people are asking. They might not express them the same way but these questions can be summarized as follows:
1. Who am I
2. Why am I here
3. What is wrong with the world
4. How can we fix it?
Who am I?
The post-modern belief is that we are a result of series random of evolutionary processes or accidents.However, with the complexity and sophistication of the human being we cannot be a result of a series of evolutionary processes. Therefore there has to be an intelligent designer, who has thought about us and created us. There is no other worldview that answers the question of origin like the Christian worldview answers it. The Bible says that we were created by GOD in His own image. Think about this for a moment , the LORD GOD almighty who is all sufficient and all wise decided to make us in His own image! This speaks of value and worth. After God had created man He said it was very good , we are therefore the crown and glory of Gods creation and created to maximally reflect the majesty and the Glory of God.
Why am I here?
The post-modern thinking says we are here to consume and enjoy , to get all that we can get. Furthermore it says that we are here to make most of this life because that's all that is. This philosophy says that we are not responsible to God but rather we are responsible to ourselves and that we can create our own destiny. This is rather tragic because we have decided to exclude the very God who has created us and this is the very thing that builds up the wrath of God against us. Romans 1: 21-26 says " For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen."
We are here to glorify God by enjoying him forever , we are here to delight in GOD the fountain of living waters. In Acts 17 :26-28a Paul says "And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, in the hope that they might feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, In him we live and move and have our being’"
We are here to glorify God by enjoying him forever , we are here to delight in GOD the fountain of living waters. In Acts 17 :26-28a Paul says "And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, in the hope that they might feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, In him we live and move and have our being’"
What is wrong with world?
Whats wrong with the world is "me". The problem is that man has fallen, and has sinned against God, they have mistreated and looked down upon Him and his Word. And if we don't address this underlying problem in our world it will continue becoming chaotic and evil. I know that people are asking serious question about evil and suffering but they tend to forget the sinfulness and the evil that is in their hearts and minds. In a nutshell man has sinned against the Holy God and that has resulted in the evil and death that we see today. In Jeremiah 2:13 God says for my people have committed two evils:they have forsaken me,the fountain of living waters,and hewed out cisterns for themselves,broken cisterns that can hold no water. " We have literally eyeballed God told Him that we don't need Him and decided that we are going to be rulers of our lives.
How can we fix it?
Is there a solution to this problem? The Bible says Rom 6:23 "For the wages of sin [is] death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." 'Death here means eternal separation from God and this is the penalty of sin. Because God is Holy and Just He cannot leave sin unpunished , He has to punish it! God is also a loving God and He wants a way to satisfy his wrath and at the same time save us from the penalty of sin. In the fullness of time God decided to come to this world in the person of Jesus Christ. "John 1:10-11 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.He came unto his own, and his own received him not. "
God in all his Glory and Excellency decided to come and live in Time and with His creation. This He did because he loved us with an everlasting love. Hebrews says"Hebrew 2:14-15 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. "
Christ gave his life for us , it was not taken away from him because he had the power to save his life. He was crucified on the Cross for our sins and it was not the nails that held him on the cross but it was His love for us. The Bible says he became sin for us and all our sins and and curses were upon Him . He experienced the penalty our sin in our stead and God justly satisfied his wrath against us upon Him. He died and was buried and on the third day He rose again victorious over death. And by His resurrection we have received eternal Life. And if we receive and obey this, we pass from death unto life.John 1:12-13 says "But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, [even] to them that believe on his name:Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."
Then the first thing we need to do is to recognize that we are sinners and have sinned against God . We cannot change without acknowledging our current situation.Therefore lets us repent from our sins and receive eternal life from Christ Jesus! This is an answer to the question of origin, purpose,value, and destiny.
by Camagu Potelwa
For more posts go to : camagu.blogspot.com
