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“LIFE’S MOST IMPORTANT QUESTIONS”
PSA 8:4-6
Psa 8:4 What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?
Psa 8:5 For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honor.
Psa 8:6 Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet:
Last week Bro. Jerry sang a beautiful song with a wonderful message and it had a life searching question. WHO AM I? That is not a new question. It was ask in the passage we read this morning. WHO IS MAN?
Life is full of questions, Questions abound everywhere. What am I going to do with my life? What will I be? Will the kids turn out all right? What will tomorrow bring? What will happen to the economy? What about my job? Will I find the right person to be my soul mate? and so on . . .
Jesus said that the clamor of the crowd is – WHAT SHALL WE EAT? WHAT SHALL WE DRINK? AND WHAT SHALL WE WEAR?
Most commercials on TV. strive to answer these question for us. Half is for food the other half is what kind of medication we should take to help us get over the food we eat.
There are Spiritual question: Who is God – What is He like? When will I die? – Where will I go? – What will it be like?
Then there are the philosophical questions: Which comes first the chicken or the egg, Can God create a rock to big for Him to pick up? The one I liked best," If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it fall, does it still make a noise?"
Or lately I read one that said, “If I am in the forest talking and my wife is not there to hear me, Am I still wrong?”
They say that Jesus is the answer to all of life’s problems but that is only partially true. It should say that Jesus is the answer to all of life’s problems if we are asking the right questions and if in turn then we are responding in the right way.
There are some questions which are as old as the human race, yet they are as new as an infant in its mother’s arms. These questions have boggled the mind of man since the inception of understanding.
T/S Today we want to look at 7 of these question:
I am not suggesting that this list is complete or that they will answer ever question you have or that you may not come up with some better questions but consider these 7 with me today.
1. Who am I? We will start with the question Jerry sang last week.
I am identified by several names: Larry, Pastor, preacher, Dad, Papa, Sweetie etc. (some I won’t go into, Ha).
WHO ARE WE?
I am a special, unique creations from the mind of a living God. I am a sinner capable of making any mistake but through God’s love and forgiveness I am worthy to receive all the benefits that He has prepared for me. This includes being forgiven of ALL my sins – Accepted into the family of God - Given a divine purpose to live for – and someday spending eternity in perfect fellowship with my creator and my heavenly Father.
You are not an accident: Isa 44:2 I am your creator. You were in my care before you were born.
We sing, “I Am Somebody” because God love me – and I’m accepted, just the way that I am. His love is higher – It’s deeper and wider than you and I will ever understand.
2. Where did I come from?.
You might say, Well, I came from my mother’s womb. Do you believe that you are only a biological accident? Let’s face it – most of us were not planned by our parents. My wife and I had 6 children and we tried to claim the cost of each on our Accident Insurance Policy. (They would not let us get away with it. Ha!) However, you were not an accident to God. He planned you before He created this material universe.
Again, you are a special creation of the mind of God.
{NLT} Jer 1:4 The LORD gave me a message. He said, 5 I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my spokesman to the world.”
Eph 1:3 How we praise God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we belong to Christ. 4 Long ago, even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. 5 His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. And this gave him great pleasure.
6So we praise God for the wonderful kindness he has poured out on us because we belong to his dearly loved Son. 7 He is so rich in kindness that he purchased our freedom through the blood of his Son, and our sins are forgiven. 8 He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding.
3. Why am I here?
You might say, “I am here to accomplish all I can in this life”. I need to get all – learn all and do all I can. No, we are here only in a temporary setting – this life is the school room for eternity.
This life is like a cup of water cast into the Atlantic ocean. Most people are placing the emphasis on what’s in the cup not the ocean. We are only here to prepare us for eternity.
THE TRUE FORMULA FOR LIFE:
JOHN WOODEN, who won many college basketball national championships in a row while at UCLA. Was asked, ‘What does it take to make a winning team?
THREE THINGS.
1) Get players in right condition (Salvation)
2) Teach them the fundamentals (Discipleship)
3) Teach them to play together as a team (fellowship)
I would add to that: HAVE THE RIGHT COACH.
Apply these principals to our spiritual life.
This is why being a part of the church (the right kind of church) is so important. If the home is the training ground to teach us to live in this life – the church is the home that is the training ground to teach us to live in this life and in the life to come.
In Rick Warren’s book, "The Purpose Driven Life" it gives the five purposes of the church:
TO CELEBRATE GOD’S PRESENCE – WORSHIP
TO COMMUNICATE GOD’S WORD – EVANGELISM
TO BE A PART OF GOD’S FAMILY – FELLOWSHIP
TO EDUCATE GOD’S PEOPLE – DISCIPLESHIP
TO DEMONSTRATE GOD’S LOVE – MINISTRY.
THE RIGHT KIND OF RELATIONSHIP WITH THE RIGHT KIND OF CHRISTIAN FAMILY IS A WONDERFUL EXPERIENCE:
A church that has a true passion of worship is a church where:
"Discouraged folks cheer up, sour folks sweeten up, closed folk, open up, gossipers shut up, conflicted folks make up, sleeping folks wake up, lukewarm folk, fire up, and pew setters stand up! But most of all, Christ the Savior is lifted up."...
4. Why are we in the mess we’re in?
If I had the money that has been spent on book and tapes and videos trying to explain what is wrong with us and the human race in general – I could build the largest cathedral ever seen by man. And after all that – man is still searching for the reason we are in the mess we’re in.
Why do we start wars? kill each other? hate? envy? Despise others for their color or nationality or because they are different? The Apostle Paul wrote an epitaph to the history of mankind in Romans:
{NLT} Rom 3:10 As the Scriptures say, “No one is good— not even one. 11 No one has real understanding; no one is seeking God. All have turned away from God; all have gone astray. No one does good, not even one.” “Their talk is foul, like the stench from an open grave. Their speech is filled with lies.” “The poison of a deadly snake drips from their lips.” “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.” “They are quick to commit murder. Wherever they go, destruction and misery follow them. They do not know what peace is all about.
Rom 1:29 Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, fighting, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip. 30 They are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful. They are forever inventing new ways of sinning and are disobedient to their parents. 31 They refuse to understand, break their promises, and are heartless and unforgiving. “They have no fear of God to restrain them in anything they do.”
NOW THE WORLD CALLS ALL THESE PROBLEMS BY MANY DIFFERENT NAMES BUT GOD CALLS IT BY ONE NAME: "SIN"
Sin Defined: Sin is the willful disobedience to the law of God. (whether by commission or omission).
Names: INIQUITY: Doing that which is evil
UNRIGHTEOUSNESS: Doing something that is not right
UNGODLINESS: Leaving God out of what you do.
TRANSGRESSION: Stepping over the line that God has drawn.
SIN: Falling short of the mark.
5. What can we do to get help?
Psa 121:1 Will I lift up mine eyes unto the hills? (No} Where will my help come from? 2 My help comes from the LORD, which made heaven and earth.
Jesus said, Matt. 7:7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: 8 For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Rom 10:13
6. Where am I going in life?
While it is true that there are certain elements of the future that we don’t know – It is most definitely true that there are many things we can know.
The things we know for sure start with a decision and a commitment on our part. There are many things I do know.
WE KNOW THAT EVEN THOUGH THINGS DON’T ALWAYS WORK OUT THE WAY WE WANT THEM TO THAT GOD IS ALWAYS WORKING HIS PURPOSE IN OUR LIFE:
Rom 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
We can know that a person is not justified by any works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, Rom 3:19 Now we know that what things soever the law says, it says to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. 20 Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
I can know that I am secure for time and eternity by my faith in Jesus Christ:
2 Tim 1:12 For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed , and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.
1 John 5:11-13 And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. 13 These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.
7. What will happen when we leave this world?
1 John 3:1 See how very much our heavenly Father loves us, for he allows us to be called his children, and we really are! But the people who belong to this world don’t know God, so they don’t understand that we are his children. 2 Yes, dear friends, we are already God’s children, and we can’t even imagine what we will be like when Christ returns. But we do know that when he comes we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is.
