What Am I Doing Here? - Pt 2

These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens. When no bush of the field was yet in the land and no small plant of the field had yet sprung up—for the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground, and a mist was going up from the land and was watering the whole face of the ground— then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature. And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. (Genesis 2:4-8 ESV).

Our lives are certainly represented well by the image of an iceberg. Most of the mass of such a formation cannot be seen on the surface. It is hidden beneath the water. So it is with our purpose and meaning. Yesterday we began to look into the first chapters of the Bible for an understanding of the meaning of life. It is in these early chapters that we are told the origin and the story of the first of humankind. It is also here that we discover the purpose of our creation. Let me give you a few bullet points from our reading today as we unpack that thought. Man is distinct from the animals. We’re made in the image of God. We can think abstractly like God. We can reason, create, and appreciate beauty and moral order. We’re to be fruitful and multiply in the context of marriage. Sex is a great gift invented by God for mutual enjoyment and procreation, but for marriage only. We’re called to rule over creation. We are to care for the environment and all of God’s creation. We are His managers, with a great responsibility. We’re to maintain balance between work and rest. Work is a gift, a key to fulfillment to be done for God’s glory. But God initiated a day of rest as well. We are created to have a relationship with God through trust and obedience. When we don’t, we fail to experience peace in our lives. Now, let’s come to some conclusions. When we think about the “stuff” we have to do and be, it is easy to lose sight of what these things actually accomplish in our lives. We can think. We can manage creation and be responsible in using our environment. We can do all of these things we were created to do; however, the real purpose is found in that in doing them we achieve a sense of happiness. That’s why God created us. We live a meaningful life, at peace with God and others when we have a positive relationship with God and others. That is accomplished through the work of Christ. That’s why we’re here. There’s much more in Him than any of us have yet discovered.