Is there a point???

Is there a meaning of life? Before we can discern what the meaning of life is, we first have to decide whether or not there even is a meaning of life. There are only two possible answers. Either there is a point to everything, or there is no point to anything. The whole universe matters or nothing matters.

If there is no purpose for the universe, then there is no purpose for the Earth or any other planet in the universe. And if there is no purpose for the Earth, then there is no purpose for you or any other creature on Earth. And if there is no purpose for you, then there is no purpose for you to eat properly.

Likewise, it only matters that you eat properly if it matters that you even exist. And you and all the other creatures on Earth only matter if the whole Earth matters. And the Earth and all of the other planets in the universe only matter if the whole universe matters.

For example, the engine in your car only matters if the car itself matters. Not only can the engine in your car matter only if the whole car matters, but the engine must matter less than the whole car. Because the car also consists of the upholstery, paint job, and other parts. The significance of the car is the sum of the significance of the parts. The car matters more than any individual part. So, the only way that your life can matter (have a purpose) is if the whole universe matters a great deal (has a very grand purpose).

If we could show that there is a purpose for the universe as a whole, then we would know that there is a purpose for every part of the universe. And the converse is true. If we could show that there is a purpose for any part of the universe, no matter how small of a part, then we would know that everything in the universe and the universe as a whole has a purpose.

So to answer the question, is there a point to your life (does your life matter), we just need to find a point to anything at all (something that matters). If anything matters, then your life matters as well.

The interesting thing is that we all sense that there is a meaning or purpose to some things. We have to be convinced otherwise. That is why we feed the hungry, educate children, take care of pets, brush our teeth, and an endless list of other actions that show we know there is a meaning to life. The reason you are reading this is because you want to see if I can confirm what you sense is true, that there is a meaning to life.

Even the people who struggle to find a meaning to life, that seem to think there may not be one, are evidence that there is a purpose to life. They are only struggling because deep inside they know there should be a meaning to life, it is just that they are having a hard time determining what it is.

Perhaps the biggest stumbling block for those who have decided there may not be a meaning of life is this -- in order for there to be a point or purpose to your life, there has to be a point or purpose to the whole universe. And in order for there to be a point or purpose to the whole universe, there has to be someone "outside the box" of the universe who had a point or purpose for everything. There had to be a creator. And they simply don't want there to be a creator.

We don't usually start by thinking that there is no point to anything, and as a result of taking it to the logical conclusion end up thinking that there cannot be a creator. We start by thinking that there is no creator, for various reasons, and as a result of taking it to the logical conclusion end up thinking that there is no point to anything.

As we have seen, the whole universe matters or nothing matters. And the whole universe only matters if there is a creator.

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So what IS the point???

The Bible says “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth... in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory” (Genesis 1:1, Romans 9:23).

In other words, God's purpose in creating the universe was to create people who would know and enjoy the glory of God for eternity. Do you live for this? Do you hear this design for your life and feel a passion to pursue it?

Perhaps you feel it’s impossible for you. If that’s how you feel, please remember it is all mercy. Impossible to you, yes, but not to God. "With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God" (Mark 10:27).

Or perhaps you don’t pursue this purpose for your life because you don’t want to see glory, you want to be glory. However, if you seek your own glory rather than seeing and savoring God’s glory, you will be bitterly disappointed in the end. Because in the end you will not be glorious, and everyone will see that and turn their face away.

Or perhaps you don’t pursue with passion to know the glory of God because you simply have no taste for it and don’t know what it is and therefore cannot feel drawn to it. To you I would say: The glory of God is shining everywhere. You live and move and have your being in God. When the psalmist says, "The heavens are telling the glory of God" (Psalm 19:1), it does not mean that sunrises and sunsets are the glory of God. It means, their magnificence across the bow of the earth, and their spectacular array of colors, and their evocative power to awaken deep emotions are tiny reflections and mere shadows of the glory to which they point. God is reaching out to us to say: it’s like this, only better – lots better!

C. S. Lewis once said: Nature never taught me that there exists a God of glory and of infinite majesty. I had to learn that in other ways. But nature gave the word glory a meaning for me. I do not see how the "fear" of God could have ever meant to me anything but the lowest prudential efforts to be safe, if I had never seen certain ominous ravines and unapproachable crags. And if nature had never awakened certain longings in me, huge areas of what I can now mean by the "love" of God would never, so far as I can see, have existed.

In other words, to you who say, you have never tasted the glory of God, I say, you have tasted many of its appetizers. Have you ever looked up? Have you ever been hugged? Have you ever admired anything? Have you ever sat in front of a warm fire? Have you ever tasted sexual desire? Have you ever walked in the woods, sat by a lake, lain in a summer hammock? Have you ever drunk your favorite drink on a hot day or eaten anything good? Every desire is either a devout or a distorted enticement to the glory of heaven.

You say you haven’t tasted God’s glory. I say. You have tasted the appetizers. Go on to the meal. You have seen the shadows; look at the substance. You have walked in the warm rays of the day; turn and look at the sun itself. You have heard echoes of God’s glory everywhere; tune your heart to the original music.

And the best place to get your heart tuned is at the cross of Jesus Christ. "We have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth" (John 1:14). If you want the most concentrated display of the glory of God, look at Jesus in the Gospels, and look especially at the cross. This will focus your eyes and tune your heart and waken your taste buds so that you will see and hear and taste the glory of the true God everywhere.

That is what you were made for. I plead with you: don’t throw your life away. God made you to know his glory. Pursue that with all your heart and above all else.

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Why did the chicken cross the road?

The real reason was to buy some eggs!







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"The Gospel" in Mark 1:15

Dispensationalists teach that "the gospel" in Mark 1:15 is a different gospel than "the gospel" in Mark 16:15. They say "the gospel" in Mark 16:15 refers to "the gospel" found in John 3:14-15, but that "the gospel" in Mark 1:15 is another gospel.

But when you harmonize Mark and John's accounts of Jesus' life, it appears that Jesus said John 3:14-15...

And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

BEFORE He said Mark 1:15...

The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.

John 3:14-15 records something Jesus said before John was put in prison while Mark 1:15 records something Jesus said after John was put in prison. So it would seem that "the gospel" in Mark 1:15 is the one and only gospel, "that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures".

John 3:14-24
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. ... After these things came Jesus and his disciples into the land of Judaea; and there he tarried with them, and baptized. And John also was baptizing in Aenon near to Salim, because there was much water there: and they came, and were baptized. For John was not yet cast into prison.

Mark 1:14-15
Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.

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Add a Bite to our Barking!

I sent the following email to the host of the "Christian Worldview Today" talk radio show, but got no response. Perhaps this message was meant for YOU instead!

Tony,

Perhaps the reason that the Washington officials are not heeding our barking about the government takeover of healthcare is because they know that we do not have a bite.

Socialism is being forced on America, but it did not start with our soon-to-be nationalized healthcare. In fact, our healthcare system is not as socialized as it could be.

We are currently forced to buy healthcare, but we do not yet have single-payer healthcare (where the government pays for all the healthcare), and we do not yet have a single-owner healthcare system (where the government owns all the hospitals). And the hospitals do not indoctrinate us.

If we are really opposed to our slide into socialism, rather than pouring some tea into a few rivers over our concern about socialized healthcare, we should stop using the socialized public school system!

Like the healthcare system, we are required to send our children to the public school system (so most people seem to think), which already has a single-payer, and already has a single-owner, and already is an indoctrination chamber.

For the healthcare system to be as socialist as the public school system, all the hospitals would have to be owned by the government with the services paid by our taxes, and when you went in to a doctor's office they would indoctrinate you about the values of homosexuality, abortion, etc. So as you can see, our healthcare system is not near as socialized as our public school system.

So, if we are truly against socialism, our first action should be to stop using the public school system. After we have done that, we can throw some tea in the river and it may mean something.

I am amazed that with all the barking on your show about socialism, I have yet to hear anyone mention the public school system and just how socialized that institution is.

I am challenging you to be the first. Just as that one man seems to have started all the tea parties with his rant about government payouts, you could be the one to start the movement to TAKE OUR CHILDREN OUT OF SOCIALIST PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN THE FALL!

You could be the spark!

God bless you.

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Did Jesus Have An Origin?

We have been debating with some Jehovah's Witnesses about the nature of Jesus. We believe the Bible teaches that Jesus had no beginning (that He has always existed), whereas the Jehovah's Witnesses believe that Jesus had a beginning (an origin).

The Jehovah's Witnesses official website says... Jesus’ life course might be divided into three stages. The first began long before his human birth. His origin was "from early times, from the days of time indefinite," says Micah 5:2.

The Jehovah's Witnesses Translation says... And you, O Beth´le·hem Eph´ra·thah, the one too little to get to be among the thousands of Judah, from you there will come out to me the one who is to become ruler in Israel, whose origin is from early times, from the days of time indefinite.

If that is what Micah 5:2 actually said, maybe Jesus did have an origin. But that has not been the standard English interpretation of that verse in the past.

The King James Version says... But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, [though] thou be little among the thousands of Judah, [yet] out of thee shall he come forth unto me [that is] to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth [have been] from of old, from everlasting.

The King James Version makes it clear that Jesus had no beginning, no origin, and that He is everlasting. Jesus has always been "going forth".

But I am troubled by some of the newer translations. For example, the English Standard Version seems to side with the Jehovah's Witnesses Translation on this verse.

The English Standard Version says... But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days.

Are you disturbed by the English Standard Version rendering of Micah 5:2?

What motive did the translators of the English Standard Version have to render Micah 5:2 that way?

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"Pivotal Passage" Ezekiel 17:22

When you are given a list of turns and distances to a particular destination, getting the first turn right is the most critical. If you make a wrong last turn, you may only end up on the wrong street. Whereas if you make a wrong first turn, you could end up in another state. The same is true with various Bible passages. If you get some passages wrong, you will have only slightly different views. But if you get the “pivotal passages” wrong, you will end up with a completely different “big picture” in many cases.

Ezekiel 17:22 is one of the "pivotal passages" in the Bible because what you believe the phrase "his young twigs" in that verse is referring to will greatly affect what you believe about the historical and prophetical portions of the Bible.

Ezekiel chapter 17 records a riddle of the Lord. We are given the interpretation of the first part of the riddle, but we are not given the interpretation of the last part of the riddle.

Ezekiel 17:3-4 Thus saith the Lord GOD; A great eagle with great wings, longwinged, full of feathers, which had divers colours, came unto Lebanon, and took the highest branch of the cedar: He cropped off the top of his young twigs, and carried it into a land of traffick; he set it in a city of merchants.

Ezekiel 17:12 Know ye not what these things mean? tell them, Behold, the king of Babylon is come to Jerusalem, and hath taken the king thereof, and the princes thereof, and led them with him to Babylon;

We are told that "the highest branch" is referring to "the king" (King Zedekiah) and that "his young twigs" is referring to "the princes" (the children of King Zedekiah).

So now we come to the "pivotal passage", verse 22. The Lord gives us more of the riddle without giving us the interpretation.

Ezekiel 17:22 Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will also take of the highest branch of the high cedar, and will set it; I will crop off from the top of his young twigs a tender one, and will plant it upon an high mountain and eminent:

According to the natural reading of this passage, "the highest branch" in verse 22 must be referring to King Zedekiah and "his young twigs" must be referring to his children. Keep this in mind when you are searching for a commentary to tell you what this passage means.

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