Four Fundamental Questions of Life

When talking to people of all walks of life, I find that we differ most in opinion about the following four questions:

1. What's the origin of life?


2. Are moral standards set by culture? If not, where do they come from?


3. What's our destiny?


4. What's the meaning of life?

I sometimes found myself confused and scared when I thought about the answers to these questions. I used to believe we had no soul and that when we died we simply died in the physical way. Let me tell you, that's the devil trying to pull you down into hell. I even had to rewrite this entire article because the devil wouldn't allow it to be saved on my website that easily. And I'm a computer expert.

Life is more than just the physical. We are spiritual beings, hence why most of the Human population has believed in some form of higher being since the beginning of time. The good news is that God in the flesh, Jesus Christ, provided answers for all of these questions and more. His answers to the above four questions are in line with reality and have internal consistency, unlike any other faith system. Click read more below to find out the answers.

You mean someone knows where we came from?

You bet! The book of Genesis in The Bible tells us that we are created in God's image by God himself. We are not identical to God, but distinct from Him. Since we are created in his image, God gave us dominion over all living creatures and plants. Furthermore, because we are made in His image, this accounts for human beings having a moral point of reference.

Moral point of what?

Moral point of reference. In a nutshell God gave us free will and the conscience to know what is right and wrong in our hearts. However, it's in our nature to try and live life our own way, by the corrupt moral standards imposed from society and culture. We can inevitably set those values, so it doesn't make any sense to judge us against them. But there's a set of morals that don't change: The entry requirements to heaven as set by God. God is permanent, eternal, infinite, and inseparable from his character. Just in case we can't see those values in our heart, Moses spelled them out for us in the book of Exodus in The Bible.

So wait a second, if I abide by these moral standards I have a free ticket to heaven? Absolutely, but is God first in your life? Do you love him with "heart, mind, soul and strength"? Have you made a God to suit yourself? Have you used his name in vain? Have you set aside a day for rest in God? Have you always honored your parents? Have you ever hated anyone, and therefore committed murder in your heart? Have you looked with lust and therefore committed adultery in your heart? Have you lied (including "fibs"), stolen (the value is irrelevant), or coveted other people's possessions? If you are honest you know you will be found guilty on Judgment Day. And this isn't a movie about robots who take over the world.

Sounds hard? The only man alive who could do it was Jesus - and he was God, so that doesn't count!

So what's our destiny then? An eternity in hell?

Yes. Not!! God loves us too much for that! He doesn't want that to happen, but he does require that heaven is perfect. God has made provision for your debt to the law to be paid in full, so you can be completely forgiven and enter heaven when you die.

When Jesus died on the cross, He was taking your punishment Himself. You broke God's Law, but Jesus Christ paid your fine. Three days later he rose from the grave, defeating death, proving he was God and proving that all he said was true.

To be forgiven of all your sin, God is commanding you to sincerely repent (to turn away from all the things you know are wrong) and to trust in his Son for the rest of your life. When you repent honestly and sincerely before God, acknowledging your sin and turning from it, and accepting Jesus Christ as your Saviour, God will forgive you and grant you everlasting life. It's a free gift! But in order for someone to give a gift, the receiver must take it.

Okay so eternal life aside, why am I here on earth?

One reason: To glorify and worship God, our creator! I think the decisions we make on this life determine our place in the next life. Look at everything around you, including the complexity of DNA. Is this an accident? Did we evolve to be so intelligent? How great is our God!

If you want to know more, get in touch with me!

Fear the Lord

This note is the start of many small moral studies from my own life experience. If no one learns anything from it, at least I did.


We just had a flat meeting here. I had lied to my flatmate a while ago about the reason I didn't buy milk for the flat in time. I said that I hadn't been eating cereal for a while and so I hadn't had much of a chance to check the milk was running low. I thought it was the reason when I said it, but just after I said it I realized it was a lie. My other flatmate told the accusing one that I had in fact been eating cereal and that was a lie. I should have admitted to my flatmate that I lied straight away, but I chose not to (and sinned).


MY FLATMATE WAS FURIOUS when he/she got up this one morning because they had told me to get more milk and I said I would... but I didn't. Luckily for me when my flatmate fell into a fit of rage that day stomping loudly all around my room for a long time trying to get me out of bed, he/she was going away on work. So I didn't get up. I felt I deserved all that stomping and loud music.

At our flat meeting tonight the flatmate brought the incident up, and I just sat and listened. They were getting really defensive as they explained how I lied to them, as if they thought I would deny it. Then something that pleased me, in a way, came out:

"... and you lied, and you're a Christian, so you're going to HELL!" Wow, I was a little surprised at that. Obviously my flatmate is not a Christian (although the other one is Catholic so he/she instantly argued back and said "you can't say that..." etc). I just sat there and shook my head. I had never had anyone use my religeon openly against me before. The reason I didn't take offense to it, and the reason it pleased me was because I think I knew it pleased God. Plus, I'm positive of my salvation, and so I didn't question it at all.

You might think "Why would this kind of speech please God?". The reason is because my flatmate showed a fear of God. They had no right to Judge whether I go to heaven or hell, because only God has that right. God will judge my flatmate in the same way that he/she judged me today (see Mat 7:1).

Obviously there is some kind of fear/threat here because the fact that he/she brought Christianity into the argument in the first place shows that they know at least some part of it is powerful and real.

Mat 10:28 (NIV) [Jesus] "Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in hell."

And to emphasise the point that it's God we should fear:

Isa 8:12-13 (NIV) "...Do not fear what they fear, and do not dread it. The Lord Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy, he is the one you are to fear, he is the one you are to dread."

Ps 76:4,7 (NIV) "You [O God] are resplendent with light... You alone are to be feared."

Now check out why this is exciting:

Ps 111:10 (NEB) "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and they who live by it grow in understanding..."

Prov 9:10 (NEB) "The first step to wisdom is the fear of the Lord, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding."

A definite career decision

I've finally made a decision for my university exchange to the states. Although I more than likely could have gone, I've decided not to.

My neighbour helped me realise that I was planning to go for the wrong selfish reasons. Going to America meant I was pursuing the path of my own happiness - the computer programmer that would be living in a flash new house and who owns an awesome car. Those dreams are fading though because they would never keep me truly happy. They are being replaced by a more passionate God-driven vision I have. A burning desire to help others. There's nothing more exciting than to see what God is doing in other people's lives. Unless you've experienced that (say - a friend coming to know Christ), then you can't imagine how exciting it is. I want to do that full-time.

But I haven't abandoned computers completely. They have been my passion for over 10 years, and always will be. However, I just know that I'm made to do more. I'm made to save lives. I'm made to help people grow into amazingly awesome people. God wants to use me in these ways, so I'm going to let Him, and see what happens! Now I'm excited!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So this year I'm going to be out on the university of waikato campus. I'm going to be helping new students move in to the Halls of Residence. I'll be helping students tune in to Jesus through the Student Life club here. I'll be sharing the gospel with people who want to know God and his infinite love more. And I honestly don't care what people think of me doing this. Including you mum!

I have other plans too, after a term of doing that I will be well trained to go to Fiji and help accelerate their campus ministry in easter!

Stress

I'm sitting at home, just got back from work.

It feels like my head is actually going to explode, throbbing even after lying down and relaxing for a while. My eyes can't focus properly. My neck is like a tight knot, and my right shoulder has been spasming for at least a week. How the hell do people work on computers full time? It beats me, because I don't even do the same hours, and I've only been working for a month now - though I do work hard, usually without breaks. Plus having 6 kids screaming and fighting all the time around the office amplifies the stress factor for me by about 10x, especially when Debbie's kids get on her nerves too.

I've decided I'm going to stay in Uni for as long as I can, so I never have to work. I could imagine work being better in a relaxed company with other colleagues close to my own age. Maybe I'll start my own business so I don't have anyone looking over everything I do. Then I can set how a full time atmosphere should be! Just need some cash.. make that a lot.. and how do you get that? ..working... shit. Sometimes I really do hate life.