What do we as human beings live for? In every place all over the world, men and women alike are very busy working. People are up as early as 3 a.m. to start their day. Others don’t even have the time for bed. They only take a nap, either on trains or planes as they connect to some job someplace. What exactly are they trying to achieve? Yes, after all the business, what do they settle down to?
Ask anybody anywhere and you will get the same answer. Which? Everyone is striving for a good living. Whatever effort in whatever they do, the aim is to find peace, comfort and enjoyment in life. Yes, people are looking for a good and glittering life. Look at everyone; the leading men and the being lead, the learned and the illiterate, the rich and poor, great and small; according to everyone, good life is brought about by wealth. This notion springs from the observation of what wealth can do.
In pursuit of that comfort and peace, people use the wealth to build themselves a fine dwelling place packed with all goodies which wealth can afford. After that, one begins to show off; posing as greater and more superior than those who have not. The have-nots also acknowledge him as being more of a person than they. In an acknowledging talk, you will hear the have-nots saying, “He is the owner of such and such premise in town center; the president, the CEO; he owns the such and such bus company and so on”.
With the ability to pursue what wealth can afford, and the praises by fellowmen, one feels contended and terms him/herself as successful in life. According to everyone, wealth is what it takes to be successful and it is what everyone is striving to achieve. Is this true? Is wealth and all it affords what amounts to success? Is it the bringer of peace and happiness?
Let’s see. With wealth, people think they will solve all problems in life. The things people fear most is death and whatever causes it. Yes, they fear sicknesses, famine, wars, robberies, catastrophic occurrences (the like of earthquakes and windstorms).
The strange thing is; the wealthy and the poor alike are affected by all these calamities, and at the end of it they die.
God witnesses to this when He says, “for men who trust in their wealth do see that, the rich and the poor, wise and the fool die and leave their wealth to others-Psalm.49:6,9-10”. Now that everyone chases for wealth as the major goal in life, and at the same time, they see that it doesn’t solve their most feared problems, what else are they doing as a further search for a solution? Could it be that there is something else which men need to know about life that can solve their problems permanently? Yes, is there a purpose for life other than acquiring wealth and fame?
CHRISTIANITY
Nearly two thousand years back, The God who created all things, who authored and sustains life, and who alone can tell its secrets did send his messager to mankind. He saw the blindness of men, how they grope for light but all they get is deeper darkness; how they search to understand but only get into deeper confusion. So, He sent the messager to open the minds of those who will listen and make them understand. This messager is Jesus Christ, of whom it is said, “and now has manifested through the appearance of our Lord and savior, Christ Jesus, who abolished death(what we fear most),and made life and immortality known through his gospel(message)-2 Tim.1:10”. What exactly is it that Christ revealed? What did He say we should live for, which is the very reason for creating us in these physical bodies?
He began his message by saying, “The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe the gospel-mark.1:15”. I know, at the mere mention of the gospel, scoffers are ready with a disqualifying talk. They say, “but this is for Christians; it has nothing to do with us”. Let all men understand that the name, Christian, is given to those who believe and accept the message which God’s messager whose name is Christ send to as many as will accept it.It is a message for all mankind about what they should do to remove the life-threatening and death-bringing problems.
God is permanent. So, whatever he had in mind when He created human beings has not changed. So, He is here revealing it, which if taken and followed will give men the peace and comfort they are looking for.
GOD’S KINGDOM
Why did Christ begin his message by announcing the coming of god’s kingdom on earth? (For details on this, request for our message,” What is man?”).
If we acknowledge God as our creator, then let’s listen to what He is revealing here please. He says, “Let us make man who is like us (our image and our likeness), and let them have dominion (rulership)……upon the earth-Gen.1:26”.We were created, to be made like God, and all this, for the purpose of ruling in his kingdom here on the Earth.So,our strive in life should be geared at qualifying for ruler ship in that kingdom. But now, if God created us to rule, why didn’t He just have us do it straight away and the earth is His? What are we waiting for? God’s kingdom is spiritual and everlasting. So, it can only be ruled by everlasting-spiritual beings, for, “flesh and blood (physical beings) cannot inherit it-1Cor.15:50”. And also, the physical men we are cannot understand nor see spiritual things. For this reason, man must become a spirit being first in order to qualify to inherit and rule.
WHY THE PHYSICAL
Why didn’t God then make us spirit beings straight away? Why the physical bodies first? In order to be like God, we must learn to live like him. For us to do so, we must freely chose to live it.This physical life is for that choice making and character developing. As we all know, man made a wrong choice and so, a wrong beginning (Request for our message, “Are you a Christian?” for details). God’s message through Jesus Christ is to make man know that original unchanging purpose. It is why ,after talking of the coming kingdom, He told man to repent(turn from). Since what Christ is revealing is spiritual and something,”….no eye has seen, nor ear has heard, nor the mind of man conceived, what god had purposed for those who love him-1Cor.2:9”,it took Christ to put on a physical body(to be like man),and demonstrate in a visible way, what God expects every man to be doing and living for in this life.
So, as an example, what did Christ live for? Did He recommend what men are striving for today? As an example, did He strive to be the wealthiest, the most senior, most famous and praised of all men? Yes, did he show life to be only for this physical? What did he say we should be striving for? Remember, this message is not just for Christians; it is for everyone who wants to live forever in peace and happiness. So now, what did he display in setting an example?
Shortly before he began the proclamation, He was in the wilderness and without food and drink for forty days. One of the most feared things in life is hunger. But after being that hungry, Christ was not worried or concerned about it.When Satan came to him suggesting for a way of getting food, Christ told him, “man does not live by food alone, but rather by every word that comes from god’s mouth-Mat4:4”. He later on continued to show this in a more precise manner when He told his disciples, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work-john.4:34”. What is God’s will? That we learn to live like him so that he may give us spirit bodies and have us rule in his kingdom. This is the purpose of our lives. It doesn’t concern food; it concerns character building.
It doesn’t depend on food, it depends on God who is,”… the source of our lives in Jesus Christ(by him were all things made-john.1:3)-1Cor.1:30”. As we have seen, material things seems to be the life-goal for everybody. It is what everyone is working for. This means, if one is offered the whole world, he/she will have achieved his goal and all that remains will be to make merry.
But when Satan offered Christ the whole world with its wealth and glory in exchange of bowing down and worshiping him, Jesus rejected the offer, and told him,” you shall worship the Lord your God, and Him alone, you should serve-Mat.4:10”. Christ is hereby showing that, obedience to God on how to live is more important than materialism. Why? Because the uppermost thing in God’s mind is to make man a spirit being which warrants, godly-character development first, and which comes by practicing to do everything according to god’s word(His law). We are going for wealth, recognition by fellowmen, leadership positions, fame, etc; but in display of what God wants us to live for, which is the life goal, Jesus rejected all these-see john.2:24;luke.6:26;1pet.2:21-22;john.8;48,59;4:32-34;luke.12:15-read please.
Was it just a style of his own, or it is for everyone who wants to achieve life as per the purposed destiny? Today, people are killing each other for wealth, and fame. Land grabbing has seen many being displaced.
Against this, when Abraham, a man who believed God was told to leave his land, and his good house and location, he left without questioning-see Gen.12:1-3.Joseph in Egypt was offered free sex by a very beautiful lady in the king’s palace, something the today’s men are paying money for. But he rejected the offer, saying, ”…how can I do this great wickedness and sin against my god-Gen.39:9”;meaning,there was something more valuable than the physical enjoyment.
Moses was offered to become a king in the then world superpower-Egypt, but he declined the offer,”…refusing to be called pharaoh’s son; choosing rather to share the ill treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin (Egypt’s life, which is the today’s life men are striving for)-Hebr.11:24-26”.Who in the today’s generation can decline such an offer? It is what everyone is working for. So it proves beyond doubt that, what god has as the purpose of life for man does not depend on what people are striving for today. Everyone wants to be at peace, to enjoy and prolong life to the most. Man will give all he has if it will preserve this physical body.
But it is very different with those who accept what God is revealing through this message. When Christ was dying at the cross, for standing by what god instructs, He never pleaded for pardon. He never tried to deny God in exchange for His life. Instead, He was pitying those who were crying for him, He prayed, “father, forgive them, for they know not what they are doing-luke.23;28”. Stephen had no value for the physical when they were stoning him for not rejecting God’s truth. He even pitied those who were stoning him, praying,” Do not count it on them-act.7:60”.
Time and space Denys us the chance to go on with these examples of those who lived godly lives, of whom, it is testified,”…they were tortured but refused to accept release, that they may rise again to a better life; they wondered over deserts,mountains,dens and in the caves of the earth,——of whom the world was not worthy-heb.11:38,35”.Yes,all that the people who accepted God’s message lived for has not the slightest element of what people are going for today. What did they discover, which became more valuable than materialism and, even their own bodies?
BODY AND MATERIALISM
The truth is, they have discovered the true purpose of their being here, which once followed will give them what the world is seeking for unsuccessfully. They have acquired wealth, leadership positions, top class level in their societies, but with all these, they still suffer what they thought these things will save them from. What? Death, sicknesses, accidents, catastrophic effects etc., —–exactly in the same way those who have not do.
Paul is here confirming it, saying, “If anyone thinks he is an achiever, and so has a reason to boast about physical achievements am the more; according to tribal superiority-a Jew; as to ruler ship position-a Pharisee; as to fighting for national traditions-a persecutor of god’s people. But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss that I may gain Christ (the true life)-phili.3:4-8”.What is the gain in Christ? The message of God (gospel of Christ) gives the true order of life, which if followed, gives the desired life- satisfaction of all ages. This is what these people discovered, and followed keenly. According to it, God shows clearly that this physical life and its accompaniments is not the purpose for which God created us, and so it is not the goal. He tells us, “this physical is the first stage, after which, the spiritual will come; for as we have borne the physical body, so shall we also bear the spiritual one-1cor.15:46,49”. This being the case, what should we be living for in this physical life? As we saw somewhere in our message, the pinnacle of life is when we become spirit beings like god himself, and inherit His kingdom. We are in this physical bodies for the purpose of training in godliness, by which, “we are being renewed in the spirit of our minds (acquiring god’s knowledge about life),and as we apply that in all our doings, we develop that nature which is created in the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness-Eph.4:23-24”.(for details on this, ask for our message, “why the law?).
The body, materialism, and Satan are the trying agents. They are the resistance we have to face as we strive to obey the law. They offer an alternative life, by which we make a choice and confirm our acceptance of God’s life-see Rom.8:7; 7:18, 21-23; 1cor.2:14.God has offered those who follow him the power to resist these opposive agents.
It is therefore a truth that, Satan uses the physical body, and material wealth to try and make man disobey god by following them. The today’s world went the physical way and up to now, it lives physically. This is why, all that we here from leaders, the learned, rich and poor alike is about the physical,i.e,Developments,good health,security,and the sort.
Now, God is here revealing to us that, all we do in the body should be according to his law through which we will learn to live like him as we reject the bodily appeals. Those who believe this message do shift their goal from that of the present life to the promised world-tomorrow, when God’s kingdom will be ruling the earth. It is the one that makes them devalue the glories of this present life.
Are we saying that the material wealth and its physical enjoyments are bad? Not really. What we are saying is that, God has instructions on how we should handle, and enjoy them.
By using them according to God’s law, we are practicing to live like Him, thus, developing His behavior. Therefore, our thoughts should not be on the physical but on the spiritual should be guiding every other thing we do physically. In other words, whether we do business, enjoy sex, or wine, it should be strictly according to what God says in His word. Sin is not the thing. Sin is the wrong use of the thing.
So, having this in mind Christ gave the true order of life in this manner; “seeking first the kingdom and His righteousness, and these other things too-Mat.6:33”. Does it mean, we stop working first to seek the kingdom? No. It means, we do everything according to God’s law. Yes,we should always ask ourselves this question before we do anything. “Am I doing it according to God’s law, according to how He created it to be done?” If it can’t be done according to God’s law, then we don’t do it for it will be pulling you out of the purpose. This is why those who have lived Godly lives before us used to refuse any deal, how good, if it goes against the law.Daniel,an example, told King Darius,”Let your gift be for yourself and give your reward to somebody else-Dan.5:17”.Peter and John, rebuked Simon the sorcerer, telling him,”…your silver perish with you-act.8:20”.Why?Because,they had seen that, even after getting all that the world may offer, If they don’t use it according to god’s law, it will not benefit them, if they really want to achieve the purpose of life. They will still suffer what they fear, i.e, the feared physical problems, and death.
What do we say then? That materialism is dangerous? That we should avoid it? By no means. It is God who created it for us to enjoy it.But it is not what we live for. Its achievement is not the life-goal.
Its role in our lives is to help us(as we use it legally)understand how God’s law works, and prove why it is the best life to follow in this physical dispensation, As a training for qualification for the overall purpose which is to become a spirit being and inherit god’s kingdom. God’s messager is hereby giving us the right information concerning the true goal of life, which is, “Seek yee first the kingdom of God (primary purpose),and his righteousness(training to live by his laws-Psalm.119:142,144),and these other things(materialism)will be yours as well-Mat.6:33”.
Solomon, after acquiring whatever his appetite craved for, and digging for a fulfilled life from them, ended up confirming what Christ had said. Hear what he discovered. “the end of the matter; fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man-Ecles.12:13”. Friends,this is the value of Christianity. It is all that man is alive for, and the only way that will give the desired goodness. Do you want good life now and forever? “…keep the commandments-mat.19:17-18”; for, length of days and years of life, and abundant welfare will they give you-Prov.3:2”.
God’s voice through His messager is here, informing you about yourself and all that you need to live now and forever. Do you wish to engage in this spiritual training and be a true Christian, reaping the true values of Christianity?
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