Who am I? What am I doing here? What is the purpose of life? Why are we born, and what the truth about death? We live for about 60 or 70 years, then what? Questions, questions, life is full of questions. You may have answers to these and other important questions or are searching for reasons for life. Even so, I ask you to consider some thoughts and illustrations that may help you in your search for knowledge and truth.
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Chapter 2: What Happened?
So, what happened next? Man who was made by God on the sixth day was placed in the Garden of Eden to dress and keep it as the bible says in Genesis 2:15. The word “keep” in the scripture describing Adam’s responsibilities is translated from the Hebrew word “Shamar,” which means to guard or protect. Keep in mind Adam had no fear of any creature in the garden, and he was well able to handle any animal or God made being in the world.
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Chapter 3: The Missing Link
So, we have man and woman in a fallen state, no longer in face-to-face communion with God. He owed a debt of life he could not pay, but God did not forsake man and woman. Even at the fall of Adam and Eve, God gave a promise to Eve that her seed would bruise the serpent’s (Satan’s) head, Genesis 3:15. This was a promise of a savior, someone who would battle Satan for humanity and bruise his head and defeat Satan in his effort to enslave God’s creation man and woman. The implication is that woman would have a virgin birth because the male supplies the seed in childbearing. Isaiah later predicted,” Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.” Isaiah 7:14. Immanuel means “God with us.”
Chapter 4: Out of the Pit
Jesus came to allow God and man to have fellowship again. He came so God could create in a willing man or woman spiritual life. He came to cancel out the debt of sin and death of which humanity existed. Colossians 2:14 tells us Jesus blotted out the handwriting of the ordinances that were against us, nailing it to the cross. God could not restore Adam’s life because of his disobedience, but God could give life back to a child of obedience, Jesus. To do this, Jesus would have to give himself to death without sinning in any way in obedience to God. God would accept his sacrifice of life and shedding of blood for the human race.
Chapter 5: To Be Or Not To Be
God through his Son, Jesus the Christ, has provided a way for a willing man or woman to become a creature of eternity, not an angel, not a God, not some better version of humankind at the end of evolutionary change, not even a part of the cosmos’ ever-changing till we get it right. In truth, we are what God has made us, man and woman. In this life, we have a choice to be a willing participant in the plan of humanity’s salvation, which was written by the Eternal God and performed by His Son Jesus. Conversely, we can ignore the hunger and yearning in our heart that reaches out to our creator and accept the lie from Satan that we are in control of our lives without the need of God.
Chapter 6: The Adversary
John the Baptist, who was beheaded by Herod the Tetrarch, was the cousin of Jesus. John was born six months earlier than Jesus, and most likely, they grew up together because Mary, the mother of Jesus, and Elizabeth, the mother of John, were very close, according to Luke 1:39-56. John was called the voice of one crying in the wilderness, and he prepared the way for the Messiah and told people to be baptized unto repentance and turn from their evil ways. John baptized Jesus in water, and the Spirit of God descended upon Jesus, and he began his earthly ministry in the power of the Holy Ghost. John was very close to Jesus; of all men, John realized who Jesus actually was.
Chapter 7: Who Is HE?
Every child growing up comes to a point in life when they realize there must be something more. There is something greater than the problems in life, more significant than our parents, more important than the governments in the world, and working in the background of our lives influencing every human life’s events. Some part of us wants to believe that there is a supreme being out there somewhere looking out for us and guiding us to Him. But the search for this being has brought us some strange ideas about God and who he is. There is an arrogant, prideful testimony today of people who call themselves believers, assuring us they know all about the being and nature and intent of the God of the universe. In humility, I object to this assertion that we can understand the full majesty of God. How can we being finite physical beings, thoroughly understand the infinite God that created the universe and the other planes of existence? The answer is we can’t, not entirely. To discern God without understanding that he is eternal and far above our ways is to create a god in OUR image and only as big as our own experience and comprehension. God is much greater than we can imagine.
Chapter 8: What Now?
Betty, my wife, came to the door slurring her words, and her face on the left side was sagging. She had trouble walking and was disoriented. I suspected she had a stroke and a brain scan verified it beyond a shadow of a doubt at the hospital. After weeks of therapy and medical help, she was almost back to normal, except she had lost the feeling in the tip of her left hand and could no longer work at the insurance company doing the data entry on the computer. Soon after this, we found that she had an extensive build-up of plaque in her neck arteries that required surgery. It was blocking the blood flow and causing pieces of plague to float to her brain and might cause another stroke. The surgery was not an easy one but was successful.
Chapter 9: The Most Important Thing
What makes you get up in the morning? The bed is warm and comfortable, and it feels good just to lay there, but then you think I must get the kids up for school or get ready for work. The day itself is calling, and the responsibilities of your situation in life are there to motivate you to put your feet on the ground and get ready for the day. Your motivation to act depends on what you deem as important in your life and place value in doing.
The word important describes that which is of great significance or value; likely to have a profound effect on success, survival, or well-being. What motivates you to do good or bad? What is important to you? A Gallup Poll conducted in 2003 shows that Americans rank their family and health as the two most important aspects of life, among nine measured. Their work, friends, money, and religion are viewed as roughly equal in importance but considerably below the importance of family and health.
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