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What is the purpose of life?

   Written by on March 24, 2016 at 11:10 am

What is the purpose of life?  Some would say that gaining wealth is the overriding purpose of life– (By the way, I have never seen a hearse going down the road pulling a U-HAUL trailer behind it.)  Others would say that becoming famous is that one purpose.  The wise would say that preparing for eternal life is the clear and overriding purpose of this life.

The Bible teaches that all have sinned, and the one who sins shall die. (Romans 3:23; Ezekiel 18:20.)  What is sin? The Apostle John writes that sin is “the transgression (breaking) of God’s law (commands).” (1 John 3:4.)  Consequently, all of mankind, including you and me, need salvation from eternal death.   “But the transgressors shall be destroyed together: the end of the wicked shall be cut off.” (Psalms 37:38.)

In the third chapter of John, the account is given of Nicodemus, a religious Jewish leader, who comes to Jesus seeking salvation.  Nicodemus witnesses many of the miracles performed by Jesus, and he says to Jesus: “…no man can do these miracles except God be with him.”

logo-hevenerThen, Jesus tells Nicodemus that he, a sinner, must be “born again,” or he will not see the kingdom of God and find eternal life in heaven. Jesus is speaking on the symbolic level, the metaphoric level, but Nicodemus tries to understand Him on the physical level.  Nicodemus protests that he is old and cannot be born again by going into his mother’s womb.  Then Jesus tells him that to find salvation one must be born of “water and the spirit;” that is, he must be converted, changed from living a life of satisfying and glorifying self to living a life that glorifies his Creator through obedience and service to Him: “That which is born of flesh is flesh, and that which is born of Spirit is spirit.”  In other words, the one who lives to satisfy self is living the fleshly life, but the one who has found conversion through the grace of Christ and the Holy Spirit, is, indeed, joyful now as well as preparing for eternity.

Nicodemus still has difficulty understanding what Christ is telling him, for Nicodemus’ has not yet transferred his thinking from the physical level to the spiritual, metaphorical, level.   Jesus then explains that no human spiritual leader can explain heaven as He can, for no man, including the Jewish leaders, has been to heaven and returned to report on the glories of eternal life there.

Although Christ does not give a more detailed description of heaven in this passage, later, through John the Revelator, a much more comprehensive description is given.  Here are a few passages from Revelation, chapter 21: Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth.”[a] For the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no more sea. 2 I, John, saw the Holy City, the New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from heaven, saying, “Look! The tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them. They shall be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God. 4 ‘God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. There shall be no more death.’[b] Neither shall there be any more sorrow nor crying nor pain, for the former things have passed away.”

Dear Reader, today I invite you to accept Christ as your Savior and follow His example of obedience, love, caring, and dedication to serving His Father in Heaven.  I invite you to make preparation for eternal life in Heaven the central purpose of your life.  (For contact information, see below.)

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Dr. Fillmer Hevener, Pastor, Guthrie Memorial Chapel, 2663 Cumberland Road, Farmville, VA (434) 392-6255; fhevener@oilart.com; www.guthriememorial.org.

© 2016, Fillmer Hevener

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