I would like to start by asking this question “Why are you here? Why are you on this planet? Why are you alive?” This question baffles most of the world’s greatest thinkers. They don’t have an answer to this, but we as Christians have the answer. Right? In Proverbs 29:18 “Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.” Sometimes in our lives we lose sight of the most basic things, even why we are here. So why are we here?
In Genesis 2:15-18 we read “And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” So in the beginning Adam was given work. Even before he was given the commandment not to eat of the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil, we read that he was told to keep and dress the garden. Now those of you that have tried to plant and keep a garden know how hard it is. Work is not easy, it requires, well, work. It takes effort. While work in the garden was not as hard then as it is now, Adam was still required to work, and so are we. The difficulty increased because Adam sinned. After mans sin, work became harder and we began to look at it negatively. Whether it is going to a job, working at home, going to school, or taking care of children, we all have to work.
One of the reasons is our bodies are designed to work. How many of you have broken a bone and needed to have it in a cast for a long time? What happened after you had the cast taken off? Your muscles were weak and needed to train to get back to where they were. Our bodies need to work or, much like your muscles after a cast, it begins to grow weaker. Why else to we need to work? Money is a consideration as well. What would happen if you woke up tomorrow and said you didn’t want to go to work? You might not see the effects right away but soon you will see the results. We need to work to provide for ourselves and our family. What does the Bible say in 1 Timothy about someone who doesn’t provide for his family? 1 Timothy 5:8 says “But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.” The Bible makes it very clear that we need to provide.
Surely this cannot be the end of a Christian’s existence? Is all we live for to till the ground, plant crops and do paper work and die? Not quite.We are here to have fellowship with God. Let’s look back to Genesis 3:7-9 “And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden. And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?” After they had eaten of the fruit they heard the LORD walking in the garden. What was He doing there? He was there to fellowship with them. This is why God had created us, so He could have a relationship with us. I don’t know about you but I think this is amazing, that the God Who created everything wants to have a close relationship with me.
Now I know that I am guilty of this, of using God as a blank check, calling on Him only when I need something. “Lord, please help me on this test; God I need a new job; Lord, I can’t remember where I left my keys.” God certainly wants us to ask him for help, in Philippians 4:6 it says “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.” But some of us that’s the only time we talk to him when we need something. I know, because I do it too. So we are to pray to God and in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 we are told to “Pray without ceasing.” Funny thing about prayer when I was younger, I was a confused child. The way prayer was explained to me was like calling God on the phone, so me, being the very confused child that I was thought to had to start every prayer “Dear God” like picking up and dialing the phone and had to end with “Amen” like hanging up the phone. So I would be on my bed and start praying, “Dear God, thank you for today… uhm please help me tomorrow”… and my mind would start to wander. About twenty minutes later I would remember, “Oh no, sorry God Amen,” thinking that I was wasting God’s time. But we are to have a close relationship with Him. What is it we tell people when they ask what’s our religion? I don’t have a religion, I have a relationship with Jesus.
So we are to work and have fellowship with God, but why are we still here even after we don’t need to provide for our family anymore and we have a strong relationship with God? There is another reason.We are here to tell others about Jesus. Now I’m sure most of you guessed this last point but it is important. We are commanded to tell and show others about what Jesus has done for us. In Matthew 28:18-20 “And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” We are here to spread the Good News of what Jesus did. But how to do we do this? Well the first thing is to show by how you live. How you act and react will show far more than by what you say. Your coworkers, friends, family and especially your children will learn what Christianity is by watching you. One saying that that we heard a lot in college was “you may be the only Bible some people ever read” Now I’m sure you have been around one of them, you know those you say they are a Christian but don’t look, act, or sound like one. People can tell the difference between the two, the one who says and acts accordingly, and the one who says but doesn’t act accordingly. What are people reading when they see you?
Now, you know exactly why you are here. You are here to work, we need to provide for ourselves and our family; you are here to have a relationship with God, not just a blank checkbook; and you are here to tell others about Jesus. The whole sum purpose of our existence, the meaning of life if you will, is summed up in those three distinct ideas.
Nick
In His Image 