What is Life Really All About? This is a question that seeks an answer to the purpose and meaning of life. But before we can truly answer it we must first resolve for ourselves the most fundamental of all questions and that is, ‘Does God exist?’ The answer to this question affects everything.
There are of course many people who say that God does not exist. Allowing for a moment the possibility that such an idea is true, then there is no Creator. This means that the universe somehow came into existence by itself and, despite all the evidence to the contrary, is the product of chance not design. If God does not exist and we are here as the result of an unintentional and unguided process then life really has no ultimate meaning and we have no relevance whatsoever beyond our earthly experience be it long or short. Shakespeare’s Macbeth therefore got it right when he said:
‘Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player That struts and frets his hour upon the stage, And then is heard no more: it is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing’.
If there is no God then as real as good and evil are now, in the end, like everything else, one won’t matter more than the other.
But if God does exist and He is the Creator as the Bible says then the universe is there by design and we are here for a reason. Therefore the purpose of my existence and what gives me significance as a human being find their answer in the one who created all things. So how I live and respond to Him now will, in the end, absolutely matter.
According to the Bible, ‘God created man in His own image’ (Genesis 1 v 27). In contrast to all other created life, humans, male and female, were uniquely made to reflect the character of God and represent Him to the rest of Creation. This explains why we are moral, spiritual and rational beings. God created humankind for His glory and for the joy of relationship with Him and each other.
Sadly, sin has marred the reflection of the divine image in man and alienated us from our Creator. This is why redemption became necessary. Immediately after the first man Adam had sinned by his act of disobedience, God promised a Redeemer would come. Addressing the serpent, who was in fact Satan in the guise of a serpent, God said: “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel” (Genesis 3 v 15). The imagery of these words depict the offspring of the woman as a victorious conqueror crushing the head of the serpent with His foot while knowing the venomous bite of the serpent as He does so. The fulfillment of this promise was realized in Jesus, the Son of God who came into the world as the virgin born Son of Mary. It was at the Cross He faced the unrestrained enmity and cruelty of men energized by Satan. Yet, despite every effort to destroy Him, the Lord Jesus purchased our liberty from sin’s bondage and Satan’s power on the Cross by paying the price of redemption required by God and in so doing He defeated the great deceiver and evil usurper. Christ paid for our freedom and forgiveness with His life.
The centuries have rolled on since then and still the ‘long war against God’ continues unabated. A final ‘showdown’ between Christ and Satan is coming. The Bible tells us that there will be a last battle the outcome of which is not in doubt.
So what is life really all about? In a word, it’s about knowing God. This is what He desires for every one of us. This is why He created us and this is the reason He sent His Son Jesus into the world to die on the Cross. It was for our sins that He died and rose again and it’s because of His ‘finished’ work that God assures the gift of eternal life to all who believe in Him. The Bible says:
“He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him” (John 3 v 36).