The Meaning of Life-According to God. A Message for Easter Sunday
This Sunday, many across the world will be celebrating Easter, or what some churches call Resurrection Sunday.
For the last several months, the Lord has been showing me the most important purpose of His heart…which has been written in His Word, the Bible. If the world could understand the true purpose of the Lord, the desire of His heart-I truly believe we would ‘stop in our tracks’ and fall to the ground and be completely overwhelmed with the greatness of His mercy and love for us.
There is no better time to begin to understand the Purpose of the Lord than Easter Sunday 🙂
Sometimes, the simple explanation allows us to begin to understand how great and vast the love of God is- towards us.
Easter Week is generally described by two events.
One-His sacrificial Death for Us on The Cross and
Two-His Resurrection on Easter Sunday.
From Genesis in the Old Testament to Revelation in the New Testament, there is a general truth running through the Bible’s chapters, a teaching that goes from cover to cover.
That is, to have man’s relationship to God become completely restored. Let’s look.
In the Old Testament, after Adam and Eve sinned, God gave a sign to them that a sacrifice will someday cover their sins. He used an animal sacrifice-their skins to cover their sin. This was an example of a future sacrifice that will be a permanent ‘covering’ for the sins of the world.
Genesis 3:21 The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.
Adam and Eve-and the physical world were thrown into sin Rm. 8:19-21. This included Adam and Eves’s natural decedents, we inherited their sinful nature.
Throughout the entire Old Testament, the Jewish Temple was used to illustrate a sacrifice given to God to cover our sins.
The selected men from the tribe of Levi that performed the sacrificial ceremony were meant to represent holiness-and the animal had to be spotless-free from defect in order to be a worthy sacrifice for us.
Until Jesus came, the ‘Holy Men’ and the ‘Perfect Sacrifice’ were mere examples-illustrations of a coming ‘Holy Man’ and ‘Perfect Sacrifice’ that was going to be from God Himself.
The Holy Man and Perfect Sacrifice
Sometimes it can be difficult to imagine a world different than the one we experience in our lives. Sin is constantly around us and until we have been completely freed from it…we sadly see the effects of sin. We even have become accustomed to this world with sin.
We have to understand this critical point however, it will literally determine our destiny for eternity.
The divine fix for our sin cannot come from sinful man. A divine restoration of our relationship with Him has to come from God. Divine holy restoration has to come from a Divine Holy God… there is no other solution…no alternate fix. This makes complete ‘sense’ and we have to understand this in order to restore our eternal relationship with God.
It really is soooo simple. God has to restore the holiness He gave to man when He made man in His image.
Genesis 1:27 So God created humans in his image. In the image of God he created them. He created them male and female.
This restoration of divine holiness has to come from a Holy God and not a sinful man.
Sooo, He sent His Holy Son from heaven who literally had the universe under His feet…
Psalm 110:1 The LORD says to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.”
His Son took on the nature of man…became one with man through a virgin birth.
Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.-(God with us).
Born of a woman and also having the nature of God.
Philippians 2:6-8 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; 7 rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross!
Jesus was truly Immanuel, meaning God with us. See Heb. 1-2
Sum Total of Saving Grace
Jesus came down from heaven and became a man, flesh and blood. He has the nature of both God and Man. Thus, He could represent us before the Father. Jn. 1:14
John 1:29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
He did not sin (remember the summary of the Old Testament-the Jewish Bible-a ‘holy man’ a ‘spotless sacrifice’ had to be given to God. Jesus now could permanently fulfill the needed eternal sacrifice for our sin. A holy Man giving a perfect sacrifice to His Father in heaven. Jesus was both the holy Priest and the sacrificial Lamb, dying on the cross for our sins.
Hebrews 9:14 how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
As a sinless Man (with the nature of man, being born from Mary), Jesus- could enter His Father’s sinless realm. For the first time since Adam and Eve sinned, Man could now enter God’s presence and represent us.
Psalm 2:7 “I will declare the decree: The LORD has said to Me, ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You.
As an Eternal God-Jesus could restore sinful man ‘back’ to their original state, (made in the image of God Gen. 1:27). Jesus-the Almighty God, coming down from heaven…was able to restore God back to man.
Do you see the ‘fix’ our Divine restoration! The virgin birth brought the purity of God back to man through the sinless life of Jesus, the Son of God.
John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
His sacrifice for us on the cross paid the price for our sin. He ‘took’ our punishment. This will be an eternal testimony of how much God loves us. Please see How Much God Loves Us.
Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
1 John 4:19 We love Him because He first loved us.
Isaiah 53:4-5 Surely He took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered Him punished by God, stricken by Him, and afflicted.
5 But He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.
How beautiful is the eternal plan that the Lord has for us!
Since God is absolute love however, He cannot force us to receive this gift, He cannot violate us. We have to come to Him like a child and enter our relationship to Him with sincere hearts 2 Tim. 2:13, Matt. 18:3. To personally know our Father in heaven please see links at the end of the article.
Now It’s Time, to Understand The Meaning of Life- According to God
Here we go. Let’s start by thinking about the most special gift we could ever receive.
Imagine, if you were God for one day, you would understand that you have absolute qualities.
Some theologians have categorized these qualities in various ways, but in general…here they are
God is…
all-knowing (Omniscient), all-powerful (Omnipotent), Everywhere (Omnipresent), Eternal, Never Changing (Immutable) with absolute Righteous and Justice. God is also completely Sovereign. Please See Understanding
Wow, being able to ‘understand’ all things, powerful enough to ‘defeat’ all enemies, having the sovereignty to rule all creation…most would feel like they have become the ‘ultimate’ being. Something however would be desperately missing. That something is
God has these qualities, but without His love and glory (some call His Holiness) the prior abilities are just that-abilities. Void of His Divine glorious love-like everything else we have experience in this world, the ability to be ‘the best, smartest, strongest’-does not mean much if we do not have meaningful relationships to share our qualities with one another.
Simply, God wants us to have the greatest gift He can give us…and the greatest gift we could ever have is being in His presence…sharing ‘Himself’ with us.
If you were God, and in your presence there was an infinite, burning eternal love radiating out of you…that would fulfill the ultimate hope and desires in everyone’s life…this is exactly what you would want to give away. Nothing else would come close to this gift of sharing ‘yourself’ with them.
This closeness of spirit is demonstrated on earth. Money, success, good times, trials and hardships-and even in the closing of our lives-we desire to share our lives in the presence of others we have a personal close relationship with.
Amplify this by infinity, and we realize our purpose in life…
Coming close to God, being devoted to Him with a sincere heart, a sincere walk with Him-will allow us to enter His presence. There is no greater goal, no more meaningful quest, than following the will of God and becoming close to Him. This is literally living the ultimate life experience-becoming one with the presence of an Almighty God. Here are a few scriptures that emphasize our close walk with the Lord.
Matthew 22:36-38 “Teacher (man asking Jesus), which is the greatest commandment in the law?” Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and great commandment.
Jeremiah 29:13 And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.
Jesus at the Mount of Olives the night before the crucifixion
Luke 22:42
42 saying, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.”
This is Why
The kingdom message takes priority over all other teachings in the Word of God
Matthew 6:33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
Matthew 13:31-32 “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, 32 which indeed is the least of all the seeds; but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.”
The Kingdom of God’s scriptural message can be summarized by having the presence of God coming down to earth. This will be finalized at the Lord’s return. Please see the 1st 4 articles on The Kingdom of God.
Personal Note: I believe if you were to pray specifically to the Father in heaven, He would show us that His ultimate desire is for mankind to come into His loving Glory…to become one with them as He is with Jesus.
John 17:20-21 “My prayer (Jesus speaking) is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message,21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in Me and I am in You. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent Me.
The Lord is simply wanting the world to come into His blessings, the greatest blessing is having the Lord manifest in your life, the very essence of God within us. His love so infinitely powerful, His glory ‘burns’ into us with a holy fire. It is the most addictive –but wonderfully healing-experience we will ever encounter. Our value as individuals skyrockets…in penetrates through our minds, throughout our entire souls. Every corner of our heart radiates how much we are loved by an infinitely loving Father. Every quality of our personality becomes aware of how special we are…and how pleased He is to share His life with us. There will be no more shame, doubt, guilt…we will discover our personality traits within us that are burning with joy-wanting to share them with others-for all eternity. Please see the entire chapter of 1 Cor. 13.
Sooo….
Having God share His glorious presence with us, is His purpose of life for all mankind.
2 Peter 3:9 Instead He (the Lord) is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
Naturally then, it should be our purpose of life, our greatest desire being accomplished here on earth.
Following His will allows us to accomplish this, God becomes ‘manifested’ in our hearts.
John 14:21 Whoever has My commands and keeps them is the one who loves Me. The one who loves Me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and manifest-show Myself to them.” Matt. 22:37
Once we experience this, taste the glory from heaven-and continually strive to abide in this glory…we will never desire anything more. John 15:7. All problems we have on earth-while different-are all ultimately solved by experiencing His glorious love for us. We see ‘glimpses of this on earth, but will ultimately live in complete awareness of this infinite love when He comes and restores His heavenly realm to earth 1 Cor. 13, Rev. 21-22.
Our purpose in life therefore is to develop our relationship with God by sincerely following His ways on earth. This will bring us into the presence of God, the most exciting meaningful experience we will ever encounter for all eternity. Let’s start this Easter, by beginning our journey with God.
Please scroll down to ‘Knowing God’ to start.
God bless, Bill
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