MESSAGE

FROM THE

WORD

WHY ON EARTH AM I HERE?

Ephesians 2:10

Series:  40 days                                                                                                Message # 9

            Welcome to day 1!  For months we have planned prepared, studied, met, and prayed for this day.  It is here and we pray that God would accomplish His work in our life.  We begin today to examine why we are placed on this Earth.  The simple questions, “Who am I”?  “Why am I here”?  “What is the meaning of life” will be answered over these next 40 days.  Have you noticed how God seemed to do great things over 40 day periods of time? 

            It rained during the time of Noah for 40 days

            Moses was on Mt. Sinai for 40 days

            The spies spent 40 days in the Promised Land

            David stepped forward after Goliath challenged the Jews for 40 days

            Elijah spent 40 days alone with God without food.

            Nineveh repented after 40 days of preaching by Jonah

            Jesus spent 40 days in the wilderness being tempted by the devil

            Jesus spent 40 days with the disciples after the resurrection.

            There is something significant about a 40 day period.  Over the next 40 days, we are praying that God will do something significant in the life of our people and our congregation.  We are praying that the number of people attending our services increases.  We are praying that the number of people in small groups exceeds the number of people in our services.  We are praying that many people will turn their life over to the Lord.  We are praying that some, who have fallen away from the Lord, will find their way back to Him.  We are praying that every one of our people will develop the habit of studying.  We want you to study your Bible.  We want you to learn Bible verses.  We want you to read good books.  We want our people to learn to show hospitality in your neighborhood.

            The life span of the average American is just over 25,000 days.  If you participate in all of the activities planned for “40 Days”, it will involve about 40 hours.  Isn’t taking 40 hours of your life over the next 40 days a good investment in planning out the rest of those 25,000 days?  Over the next 40 days we are going to examine what the French call the “raison dètre”; or our reason for being.  Philosopher and atheist Bertrand Russell wrote a book before he died entitled, Escape from Reason.  The book was a defense of the belief that life was only what you make out of it.  Life in and of itself has no meaning.  He stated, “Unless you assume the existence of God, the question of life’s meaning and purpose is irrelevant”.  He was right.  Russell died in 1970 at the age of 98.  He is now a believer.  What is the purpose of a lizard, a snow storm, or Mt. McCoy?  If there is no God, they are all simply accidents of a cosmic act.  However, if God exists and seeks to desire a relationship with His creation, life has purpose.

            As you examine what people in our culture claim to be the purpose of life, there are many groups claiming to have the keys to the meaning of life.  They say they have all the answers to the purpose of life. 

            As we begin to look at The Purpose Driven Life, we want to introduce our thoughts this morning.   We want to look at the three most important questions which can be asked.  Then, over the next five weeks, we will look at the five purposes for our existence.  The three most important questions are, “Why am I alive”.  “Does my life matter”?  What am I here for”?  If you were to put it in outline form, it would be 1) the question of existence, 2) the question of significance, and 3) the question of intention.

            FIRST, WE SEE THE QUESTION OF EXISTENCE.  In this we are asking the question “why am I alive”.  It was the French philosopher Descartes who stated, “I think, therefore I am”.  While this may sound elementary, in the world of philosophy it is profound.  It is in the world of philosophy where we argue over whether we even exist.  His conclusion was in the positive because he believed he existed.

            It is important to realize the question is not new.  The question of “why am I alive” was not originated by Sigmund Freud.  We read              JER. 20:18          Most of us don’t get that analytical, but we do wonder at times “why am I alive”?  There are many possible answers to that question.

            The Hedonist claims that the purpose of life is sensuality.  Indulge the physical senses.  If it feels good, do it.  Morality is an inhibitor of that which is pleasurable.  Whatever you enjoy doing is alright.  Let yourself go and experience the passions.

            The New Age Movement claims that the purpose of life is spirituality.  Spirituality is defined as discovering whatever God you want while having no obligations placed on your life.  It is, in fact, the creation of a god of your own making.  You get to choose God’s requirements and limitations.  You also get to define His expectations of you, which are few, and His obligations to you, which are many.

            The radicals claim that the purpose of life is social change.  Whether it is the killers of abortion doctors and the gay bashers on the right, the religion haters on the left, or the terrorists in the Middle East, the philosophy comes down to, “do it my way or we will destroy you”.  Their purpose in life is to use the political process to get their own way.

            The materialist says that the purpose of life is stuff.  The more you can acquire, the better off you are.  It is summed up in the bumper sticker that says, “He who dies with the most toys, wins”.  I saw a follow up bumper sticker that said, “He who dies with the most toys, still dies”.  Possessions are nice and useful, but all of them will be left behind when we die.

            The evolutionist tells us that the purpose of life is survival.  The claim of Darwin was, “survival of the fittest”.  The only problem with this is it can’t create a compassionate culture.  We have all watched nature films and seen spiders eat bugs, snakes eat mice, sharks eat seals, and alligators eat zebras.  But, if you bring “survival of the fittest” into the human existence, you have anarchy.

            The narcissist claims that the purpose of life is self.  To them, the motto is “To thine own self be true”.  I believe you do need to be true to yourself, but that self need not be the ruler of the universe.  Rick Warren opens chapter 1 by writing, “It’s not about you”.  There is no greater problem in our culture today than the belief that “the world revolves around me”.  It doesn’t.  However, an entire industry has been created in our society to make sure that the individual’s ever whim is protected.  If your purpose in life is to have your every desire catered to, you will be miserable.

            The believer states that the purpose of life is sacred.  In other words, “It’s all about Him”.  John understood this.  We read,                REV. 4:8-11             In Heaven, it is all about Him.  The purpose of this life is to prepare us for that life.  Because of that, we need to prepare now to live our life for Him.  This was the model that Jesus practiced when He prayed, “NOT MY WILL BUT THINE BE DONE”.  We were created for a purpose and finding that purpose gives meaning to life.  You were born for a reason.  Regardless of the circumstances, God formed you in the womb and allowed you to be born.  You were born for a reason.  Let’s find out that reason.

            SECOND, WE SEE THE QUESTION OF SIGNIFICANCE.  In this we ask the question, “Does my life have meaning”?  During World War II millions of people, a great percentage of them being Jewish, were herded into concentration camps.  Some estimate that 80% of the Jews in Europe were executed in what Hitler defined as “the final solution.  Many of them gave up and went insane.  Victor Frankel, a Jewish psychologist, was in one of those camps and did all he could to motivate people to live one more day.  When the camps were liberated, Frankel began to put some notes together and concluded that the individuals most likely to survive the camps were those who had meaning in their life.  He titled his book, Man’s Search for Meaning.  The animal world does not ask for the meaning of life.  Plants do not ask about the purpose of existence.  Only humans ask questions like, “why am I here”?  One of the reasons why teen suicide is the second leading killer of teenagers is because they have concluded that life has no meaning.  This conclusion comes from two different directions.  First, it comes from their accepting the evolutionary argument that they are simply accidents of the food chain.  They are accidents of a cosmic event that began billions of years ago, therefore they are here by accident, not by design.  Second, it comes from an acceptance of the materialistic world in which we live.  The purpose of life is stuff, pleasure, excitement, the thrill of the moment, etc.  In other words, the only purpose for life is to fill up my senses.  What happens when teens have gone the whole route of stuff, drugs, drink, sexual activity, rebellion, and mysticism and still have a hole in their heart?  They ask the question Patti Page asked a generation ago, “Is that all there is”?  Many conclude that if this is all there is, life is meaningless and they check out.

            To the question “Does my life have meaning”, the Christian answers “YES”!  This is seen throughout the scriptures.  Just one   PSALM 139:1-6; 13-16         Your life has meaning because you were created by God to do great deeds.  We read                      EPH. 2:8-10          Your life has meaning for no other reason than God formed you.  If you die at three days of age, your life had meaning because God formed you.  On the other hand, if you live a normal life, that life has meaning because God has good works He wants you to perform.  What are those works?  For each individual they will be different.  They would include encouraging the discouraged, financing the work of God, loving the unlovely, praying for the lost and hurting, giving a cup of cold water, proclaiming the word, loving God, being kind to those who don’t deserve it and reminding people of the love of God.

            Often times the understanding of our meaning in life revolves around our sphere of influence.  We have meaning because we are a wife, husband, mother, father, grandparent, friend, neighbor and church member.  As we grow older, it is easy to sometimes question our meaning in life because those people we care about die or move away.  This is seen at funerals and in what is called “empty nest syndrome”.  We need to see those as sad times, but as times when God is giving us a transition in life.  This is why Paul tells Titus to encourage older women to teach younger women.  About the time your children are gone, you are ready to “adopt” younger women to nurture.  Older widows are given the task of being prayer warriors because they have more free time.  I came across a story that deals with this transition several weeks ago.  It is from the book, Chicken Soup for the Christian Soul # 2.

                                    READ ARTICLE.

            Your life has meaning.

            THIRD, WE SEE THE QUESTION OF INTENTION.  In this we ask the question, “what is my purpose”?  Once we answer the question “Does my life have meaning”, we then need to determine what that meaning entails.  In other words, having determined that life does have purpose, what is my purpose”?  The Shorter Catechism states that our purpose in life is to “love God and enjoy Him forever”.  I read earlier the quote from Bertrand Russell concerning the existence of God and its relationship to the meaning of life.  He was not alone in his belief.  Carl Sagan was the most famous astronomer in our nation and the host of the PBS program Nova.  He stated simply that, “our planet is an insignificant speak of dust in an insignificant Solar System which is in an insignificant Universe”.  If Sagan is right, then there is no meaning in life.  We should follow the advice of Paul when he wrote              1 COR. 15:32b            If life has no meaning, if it is truly the survival of the fittest, then go for the jugular and take everyone else down.  However, there is a God and because of that your life matters.  The application of that question then must be the discovering of the purpose for my life.  We are not asking what your vocation should be, but what your reason for being is.  To this question we answer “show up for the next five weeks and find out what the purpose is for your life”.  Let me give you a brief outline.  The purpose for your life can be wrapped up in five statements.  Your purpose in life is to:

1.                  Bring God pleasure

2.                  Be in God’s Family

3.                  Become like Christ

4.                  Serve God 

5.                  Understand your mission

            To each of these purposes, we have one word titles.  We call them:

1.                  Worship

2.                  Fellowship

3.                  Discipleship

4.                  Ministry

5.                  Evangelism

            What is your purpose?  Do you want to make it big on Wall Street?  Become famous?  Get married and have kids?  Buy a big house in a nice neighborhood?  I do not know what your purpose in life might be.  I do know this.  It does not revolve around you.  Paul tells us in                COLOSSIANS 1:16-20               Your meaning in life begins when you realize that your purpose begins and ends with Jesus Christ as the center of your existence.  When you live in the light that He is the Lord of everything in your life, then your life has purpose and the understanding of that purpose not only involves the here and now, but for all eternity.

            Knowing why you are here, let me ask you to make four commitments.

1)         I commit to being here for the next six weeks

2)         I commit to being in a small group to learn more about my purpose.

3)         I will memorize God’s word for the week.

4)         I will read a chapter every day in The Purpose Driven Life.

This message is from the teaching ministry of Glen Jackson, pastor of Faith Christian Church in Simi Valley, CA.