The Meaning of Life

13. GOD'S PLAN
14. MAN'S OPPORTUNITY
15. FREEWILL
16. IN THE BEGINNING
17. AN ISSUE OF GOVERNANCE
18. ORIGINAL CONSEQUENCES
19. REDEMPTION (Explaining the Passion of the Christ)
20. JUDGEMENT
21. THE ELUSIVENESS OF GOD

13. GOD'S PLAN

COPYRIGHT: This book and all excerpts are the sole copyright of author Grant Bowater. No reproductions for any purpose may be made without the prior permission of the author obtained in writing.

God made the universe, this earth and all that is in it some time ago. The age of the earth and the age of the universe are not fundamental to the validity of this claim, for the biblical record of creation is not a science manual. Reputable scholars of differing approaches have been able to interpret the biblical record from varying points of view to endorse both a young and an old age for the universe and the earth. Frankly, it is not that important. What is clear from scripture is that all life was created over a period of just six literal days some six thousand years ago.

Now if this is true, God must have done so with a clear purpose and objective - His plan, which will inevitably lead to the meaning and purpose of life for us. To assume so is perfectly logical and rational. It is just that this philosophical concept raises a number of questions that unless adequately addressed, tend to deny the validity of the concept in the first instance.

For example, one very good question is, "If there really is a God, how is it the world is in such a mess?"

Throughout history life seems to have lurched from one disaster or catastrophe to another and a typical first reaction of many is to blame God. Even good Christians blame God when things go tragically wrong. The car gets wrecked - God's fault! We lose our job - God's fault! Some deal we are doing or some thing we are making goes wrong - God's fault. Sickness comes our way, or accident, or emotional upset - yet again God's fault. Natural disasters are clearly God's fault - that's why we call them "acts of God".

However nothing it seems is more painful than the death of a loved one, particularly an untimely death. Whether it results from accident, sickness, war, criminal intent, or whatever, the untimely death of a loved one is devastating. It is nigh on impossible not to shake your fist at God and to curse Him for the tragedy.

So if a loving, caring, all-powerful God truly does exist, how can all this tragedy happen, and continue to happen so relentlessly? Surely either God does not exist or He just doesn't care?

Superficially the evidence appears overwhelming that God, if He even exists, can only be distant, indifferent, or simply not powerful enough to make a difference.

Another very reasonable question is, "If God truly does exist, why is He so elusive and apparently unknowable?"

What we really must to do is take a careful look at the big picture to get a clear understanding of what is going on. These legitimate questions demand satisfactory and thoroughly convincing answers that hitherto have rarely been forthcoming from those who should know. Unfortunately there is no short answer but the very nature of them gives a strong indication of just how the answer must be. Before apparent anomalies regarding the character of God can be appropriately addressed, it is necessary to develop an understanding of how life came about and God's purpose in creating it.

When God created all life on earth, establishing human kind as the pinnacle of His creation, He did so for His pleasure. If we create good things and derive pleasure from them, it is not hard to appreciate that God might do the same. Central to His purpose of creation was His objective of establishing a mutual loving relationship with every single human being. If you have ever enjoyed the immense pleasure in functional loving families, particularly parent/child relationships, you will have some idea of what God was after. I am sure all parents reading this book can identify with the unique love a mother or father has for their children - even despite how some of them turn out when they grow up!

God made human kind (which from this point on I will refer to as "man"), in His own image. (Incidentally, since scripture consistently refers to God as "He", so will I).

Making man in His own image (male and female - Adam and Eve), meant that we have a number of qualities and characteristics that God has. That is not to say that man is like God. God is certainly not made from dust (or earth) as man was; God is uncreated. Neither does God consist of a physical form as man does; God is a spirit. Man was not made immortal; God alone has immortality. God did not clone himself in making man, he simply created a being with a number of the same characteristics that He has.

Those qualities and characteristics include: the ability to reason, the ability to choose and exercise freewill, the ability to create, the ability to appreciate beauty and artistic form, the capacity to love beyond affection, the capacity to increase knowledge indefinitely, the ability to think abstractly, the capacity to self-sacrifice, the inherent capacity to worship, etc. These qualities distinguish humans from every other kind of life form or animal.

Having created man in His likeness, God's plan and purpose for man here on earth, was primarily to enable a loving relationship between Himself and His creation to be shared and enjoyed mutually. In essence, His creative work culminated in providing for a mutually loving experience between mankind and Himself that is wholly satisfying to both. This unfortunately was destined to falter, and God knew that it would long before He started out.

To clearly understand why God still went ahead and made man, knowing full well in advance that the relationship He purposed would turn to custard, is a fundamental key to grasping the purpose and meaning of life.

First key point: check back on the list of characteristics God adopted to apply to us. There you will see that God gave man freewill - the capacity to choose. This singular characteristic is one of two primary reasons the world has habitually developed into such a mess. So why on earth would God want to give us freewill if it was going to cause so much of a problem?

The answer is somewhat obvious - self-evident if you like. Unless we have freewill, love cannot be love. Love is a quality totally dependent on freewill - you choose to love.

Sure God could have made us like little robots running about saying, "Dear God, I love you", "Dear God, I love you", but that would be of no value to either God or us. As individuals without the option to choose to love God, or anyone else for that matter, then the whole creation exercise would have been futile.

Second key point: God gave man dominion (authority, rule and control) over the whole earth and all that was in it. God chose not to retain absolute control for Himself but invested authority for care of the world to man. God did not say however, "Here you are, go off and run the world just how you want to and I'll catch up with you guys in a few thousand years." It has always been God's purpose to share the responsibility of running this world in partnership with man - God doing His bit and man doing his, much like a family business.

These two irrevocable attributes bestowed upon man are the primary reasons why things in this world habitually develop into disaster after disaster.

Since God knew before He started just how things would turn out, He could certainly have put in a contingency plan to severely limit the consequences. To some extent God has done this and continues to mitigate our consequences with acts of intervention, yet it is for a higher purpose that He allowed things to develop as they have.

God ultimately sought an eternal relationship with man based on a mutually loving relationship. It is the eternal factor that limited the scope of what God would do and how He would do it.

God could easily have set up this world in such a way as to deliver a kind of utopia for us all, but to do so would have prevented His ultimate purpose from being accomplished. Only when we fully appreciate the eternal element of God's purpose, will we understand why God did things the way He did. The crux of this purpose is without doubt the freewill component granted to man.

Because love cannot be love unless there is freewill, then freewill demands the capacity to choose, and it becomes essential that we must have something to choose between.

God has never shirked the responsibility of ensuring we have always had options. Freewill is not freewill if you can't exercise it. To exercise freewill you have to have options.

The dilemma is, when ever there are options, there is always the likelihood that the wrong option is going to be chosen. And as most of us know, the more options there are, the higher the risk. Sure enough, man has made his fair share of bad choices throughout history to prove we have always had sufficient options.

God took a risk in making man and giving him freewill, but it was a calculated risk based on the sure evidence of foreknowledge. God knew the end from the beginning and counted the cost. It was a cost He was willing to pay; and for all the pain, sorrow, and suffering man has endured, it has cost God far more. The end however makes it all worthwhile.

So the short answer to why this world is in a constant state of upheaval: "man's freewill and the bad options he has consistently chosen in exercising his dominion on the earth!"

Obviously this raises even more questions, all of which deserve sound logical and rational answers.

……… Discovering God is a journey that requires two-way responses and God is always faithful to honour His end of the entreaty, but so must we. So careful is God not to overwhelm us and deny us our freewill option, it often appears that He is reluctant to interact with us, but that couldn't be further from the truth. ………

……… God's imperceptibility of course, is the crux of the whole issue. It is why God is hiding from us. It is why He is not that straight forward to find even when we do seek sincerely. It is why so many people can live a long life and never give God a second thought. It is why He seems so distant, resulting in so many people either substituting a real relationship with Him for some pseudo-relationship that they manage on their own terms, or rejecting Him as non-existent. This is why people can follow any particular kind of religion and be none the wiser. This is why God allows evolution, a proliferation of religions, and even variations on the interpretation of His Word to persist. God is not in the business of directing us to Himself every time we acknowledge the need for religious or spiritual guidance.

From a different angle, one could view life on this earth as simply a trial - an opportunity to see if we like it enough to choose the extended version, everlasting life. If life is something we enjoy, discounting the numerous hardships, we usually think that we would like to live forever. Many have sought for immortality - "the elixir of life" so to speak. Why on earth anyone would want to live in this frail body of ours forever is beyond me, but I can see how that would have appeal for some.

On the other hand, some have reconciled themselves to this life only, not at all concerned with the eternal. As difficult as I would find this to do, it is understandable. Because they have not known God, for whatever reason, a number of people are reasonably content to accept that their life will simply cease to exist at death. Hence they find little to no interest in finding God or questioning issues like the meaning of life. While I find this tragic from my perspective of understanding, I fear for many that they reach this acceptance too readily and fail to account for the wider implications. If God does exist and the Christian faith is true, then their failure to account for God's judgement will leave these people with an outcome I believe they will come to regret.

Eternal life however is only available via one source - relationship with Him who has it to give. Only through a mutual loving relationship with God (through Jesus Christ) can we receive the gift of eternal life.

Freewill allows any of us to independently choose to love God or reject Him, and it takes time to know whether that is what we really want to do. Unfortunately man inevitably uses his freewill over this time frame to stuff up a whole lot of things in the meantime.

God determined the length of time man would be given to make the kind of eternal decision we need to make and He does His best to ensure we have it. It is also long enough for those who initially choose to go their own way (even if for some considerable period of time), to have opportunity to change their minds and start building a relationship with God. It is however the only time man has to make that choice - there is no second chance.

The good thing about God's attitude is that He is always ready to start the relationship in a meaningful way just whenever we are ready to make the choice ourselves - pretty much so anyway (bar a few exceptions like trying to bargain a deal with God to get it together with Him after you have had your fling on the wild side).

Making a decision for the eternal life option is no small matter - and God won't let us do so lightly.

Such a decision is hugely significant and has far-reaching, eternal repercussions. Consequently for those who make this decision, there is regular testing to ensure they have meant what they have said. Tests to prove the genuineness and sincerity of those commitments to a relationship with Him. Tests like almost any other love relationship encounters.

God has also structured life to ensure that we can't just "accidentally" discover Him. It is a popular misconception to think God is struggling to reveal Himself to man that man may believe. All the barriers to finding God and embarking upon a life of faith and relationship with Him are purposefully permitted by God to ensure that only those who genuinely choose to know Him actually do. Unless we specifically WANT to know God, we never will.

With regard to eternity, the biggest mistake most people make, is to think that man will automatically live forever. This grave error has developed for a number of reasons.

Firstly, Christendom has for a very long time now claimed that man's choice is either to live with God in heaven and enjoy great blessing for eternity or alternatively to suffer eternal torment in hell. This false notion has arisen from misreading the many scriptures referring to hell and judgement found in the bible. It also presumes upon man being made inherently immortal, something that is unsubstantiated anywhere in scripture. In fact the complete opposite is evident as the scriptures declare that Jesus Christ "alone has immortality".

Eternal torment in hell is a concept that has been passed down over the centuries as a tradition. It may have originated as a means to win converts to Christ. Acknowledging that no one could possibly want to "burn in hell" forever, the very prospect of it must surely turn the heathen to Christianity. Advocates of this concept probably reasoned that anyone rejecting God, having been told that the eternal fires of hell and damnation await them, clearly get what they deserve. Yeah right!

Secondly, the Eastern philosophy of reincarnation perpetuates the myth of some kind of eternal existence, or at least existence beyond this life, culminating in the distant future in a state of eternal bliss.

Even as many reject organized religion and distance themselves from God, they still have an inherent tendency to believe in a life after death that is better than this one. How that can be, is illogical! It is an empty hope based on nothing other than false expectation.

If there is no God, then there can't be a life after this one. Why should there be - it just isn't logical or rational. If there is a God, why on earth would those, whose failings contribute to the mess this world is in, be permitted to live forever in an eternity - they would inevitability bring ruin there too.

It stands to reason, if people who have not changed their ways and turned from doing their own thing are admitted to the here-after, they'll stuff up the new life just like they stuffed up this one. On the other hand, if they don't want to do things God's way in this life, which is but a few years, why would anyone think they would want to do things God's way for an eternity! Similarly if man doesn't want a relationship with God in this life, how could anyone conceive that he would want a relationship with God for eternity?

Since it is impossible for man with his capacity to mess things up, to enter into eternal life with God in such a state, on what logical or rational basis would any alternative life after this death be provided? There is obviously none! ………

21. THE ELUSIVENESS OF GOD

COPYRIGHT: This book and all excerpts are the sole copyright of author Grant Bowater. No reproductions for any purpose may be made without the prior permission of the author obtained in writing.

Before concluding this section, it is important to explain why God appears so elusive.Surely if all that I have said about life and death and purpose and judgement is true, God would surely be more accessible.If only!It is the very fact that God conceals Himself from this world that has given rise to such diversity of religious views; and understandably questions about His very existence are justifiably raised.God's elusiveness is probably the most significant reason why more people have not embraced Christianity and why we have so many diverse religions to choose from.It is because you just never accidentally discover God, or wake up one day to find yourself in His kingdom, that so many people find this whole Christian bit so hard to accept.You certainly are not going to stumble over Him in the market place or find Him waiting for you at home. God is discovered primarily through the process of diligently searching for Him with all your heart. Certainly there are the exceptions where people have encountered God without seemingly applying any personal effort whatsoever - but these are the exception! Such exceptions arise where the prayer of a friend or relative or some childhood response to God, provides God with the occasion to sovereignly intervene in revealing some aspect of Himself.God conceals Himself from man for obvious and not so obvious reasons.Why is it that so many people have an unrealistic expectation that God some how owes them a clear and personal explanation of all the kinds of things I've been saying and more? Perhaps they expect spiritual manifestations, visions, revelation to just fall out of heaven, miracles, or any number of other supernatural acts of God, so that He can prove to them that He exists and is basically a good guy.Well, that just ain't gonna happen!God owes no man anything. He has given us so much already (and continues to do so), and has made such an amazing provision for us, at great cost to Himself, that the responsibility for the next step in reconciliation to God is now firmly in our court. God is reaching out to us, we only have to reach back.We must however think more about this. Why doesn't God reveal Himself clearly to us? ………