THE MEANING OF LIFE
The most important question that has al-ways concerned humanity is the question of the meaning of our lives. A number of well-known personalities in history have philo-sophized about this question. Countless books have been written on this topic over the millennia. Most people consider health and family as well as career and material prosperity to be the most important things in life. Some live for their personal pleasure, while others use the short time of their existence to fulfill themselves or their life-long dream.
But is this the true meaning of our life or does our life have a deeper meaning? In the Bible, the Word of God, we find the answer to this elementary question:
The origin of life
"In the beginning God created the heavens
and the earth."
(The Bible: Genesis chapter 1, verse 1)
The Bible testifies that there is one God and that this God is the Creator of all things and the origin of all life. This means that our lives are based on a concrete plan, which in turn is connected to God. Every-thing God has created - from the smallest flower to the largest galaxy in the universe - is an expression of His infinite wisdom and creativity. The universe and nature in their indescribable beauty and diversity show us how powerful and admirable the Creator of all things is and how much He deserves our worship (See: Who is God?).
God gave us life so that we humans could live in eternal communion with Him. This relationship between us and our Creator forms the meaning and basis of our exis-tence. God wanted us humans to enjoy our existence on earth without hardships and worries; and not just for a limited time, but forever and ever. This was God's plan from the beginning. According to biblical tradi-tion, the first people were called Adam (in German: "human") and Eve (in German: "mo-ther of the living"). From them emerged the entire human race that populates the earth today. When God created the world and man, according to God's Word, everything was very good. This means that in the begin-ning there were no wars, disease, or death. The Bible describes this flawless world, in which the first humans lived in harmony and abundance, as paradise. And God wan-ted it to stay that way forever.
Man as the image of God
"God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female
he created them."
(The Bible: Genesis chapter 1, verse 27)
God is love. This means that God fundamen-tally only has the best interests in mind for all people and that God takes pleasure in doing good to us. God created us humans to give His love to us. God does this in many ways: God entrusted us humans with the earth and his entire creation, including all animals and plants, so that we could conscientiously care for them and preserve them. Everything God created should be for our joy (See: Ten reasons to love God).
God gave us humans a mind to be able to learn and understand logical connec-tions. Furthermore, God gave us various abilities and characteristics. This includes the ability to feel joy, gratitude and com-passion. In addition, God gave man the abi-lity to reproduce in order to raise children in love. There are also other talents, in-cluding creative ones, through which we humans can create things. God has given us all of these abilities and diverse talents that make us humans unique among all creatures so that we can use them for the glory of God and the benefit of our fellow human beings.
The connection to God gives our lives meaning. Through God we humans have an identity. We find everything we need for a happy and fulfilling life with HIM. God has placed this longing for our Creator, for His love and presence in our lives in the hearts of every person.
Since God made us in His image, our thoughts and actions should also be deter-mined by selfless love. So that we can recog-nize God's love on the one hand and be able to love ourselves on the other, God gave us free will, which distinguishes us from mind-less robots. God wants us humans to respond to his love for us by trusting him and fol-lowing his commandments so that we pros-per. The connection to God and a life in harmony with His will is at the same time the prerequisite for us to be able to live toge-ther safely and in peace on earth.
Without God - no meaning
"Man is like a breath; His days
are like a passing shadow."
(The Bible: Psalm 144, verse 4)
Many people who call themselves atheists reject God or completely deny his existence. For them, God is a human invention or an outdated construct to explain the inexpli-cable. But by denying God, they are also denying themselves at the same time. Because without God, the existence of us humans remains without meaning and purpose. Fur-thermore, if death is the end of our exis-tence - as most atheists believe - our life remains nothing more than a breath in the wind. Just as man came from nothing, he returns to insignificance. All of man's ef-forts on earth, his possessions, his joys and all his memories are therefore void and transient. It also doesn't matter in the slightest whether and for how long a per-son exists, since everything ultimately has an end...
Because atheists are convinced that they do not need God, they instead build their lives on their possessions, on modern techno-logy, on the security that the economy and the state promise them, on other people or on their own strength and wisdom. But it is abundantly clear that this attitude is like a house of cards that can collapse at any moment. While people feel secure in times of prosperity and economic stability, in times of crisis, illness or disaster, when circum-stances change suddenly and unexpectedly, they realize how limited and dependent they are and how little security and relia-bility terrestrial systems offer in case of doubt. This fact also confirms our need for God. Because without God as a foundation, people build their lives on sand. In addition, man remains on his own throughout his short lives and his longing for identity and a permanent perspective in life is completely unfulfilled....
Without God - no justice
"Blessed is the man Who walks not
in the counsel of the ungodly,
Nor stands in the path of sinners,
Nor sits in the seat of the scornful."
All people in the world want justice and peace. But thousands of years of human history prove that this goal has remained a utopia to this day. Instead, we see our society becoming more and more selfish and incon-siderate. Furthermore, it is shown that fal-len man is capable of any kind of cruel act unless there is a higher moral authority to stop him. People also repeatedly fail when it comes to adhering to their own ethical and moral principles because they are weak and corrupt. This also confirms reality....
In order to distinguish good from evil, God gave us a conscience. It is no coincidence that the vast majority of people view mur-der, theft or sexual infidelity as something negative, regardless of whether it affects them personally or others. This proves that there is an objective truth, i.e. an objective standard for good and evil. Otherwise our conscience would be of no use. Since this truth must lie outside of man to be equally valid for all, we must seek it from God.
The well-known German philosopher Frie-drich Nietzsche, on the other hand, claimed that there is no God and therefore no objective truth, but only subjective truth. Accordingly, every person must give their own existence their meaning and value. If Nietzsche's claim were true, it would have fatal consequences for humanity. If there is no one to whom a person is accountable for their actions and at the same time each per-son takes himself or herself as a standard, then in fact everything is allowed. Because if there is no God and therefore no abso-lute standard for good and evil, every-thing remains a question of personal defini-tion. In this context, the question arises as to why one should even strive to be a "good" person, to be considerate of others, to pro-tect the environment and to pay attention to ethical and moral principles?
Consequently, if truth lies within ourselves, there is no objective measure of right and wrong. This in turn means that no one has the right to judge another person; no mat-ter how wrong and reprehensible his beha-vior may be from the other person's point of view. This also applies to terrorists, rapists, child molesters and other criminals. This would make it possible to question even hu-man dignity and the value of life, as did Adolf Hitler and the National Socialists, among others, whose racial ideology cost the lives of millions of people and which still influences the thinking of many today shapes. If there is no moral standard that applies to all people that lies outside of our-selves, then racism, fascism, slavery and ex-ploitation as well as murder and torture are legitimate and people like Hitler, Stalin or Polpot are no better or worse than any other person. This also means that any at-tempt to create a better or fairer world without God is doomed to failure....
Knowing God
Jesus Christ says:
"And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ
whom You have sent."
(The Bible: John chapter 17, verse 3)
God wants us humans to recognize Him, our Creator and Father, and to give Him the honor and recognition that He deserves. Because without God there would be neither us nor this earth nor anything that we enjoy in life. But recognizing God means more than believing in His existence. It means getting to know God, understanding His wonderful plan for our lives and living in fellowship with Him. God wants us to find our meaning in life and our happiness in HIM. God is not concerned with religious rituals or traditions, nor with formal church membership, but with a personal relationship - like that between a child and its father - based on love and trust. God is our Father and He wants us humans to be His children and for us to live in complete unity with Him and His will; just as Jesus, the Son of God, showed us. By trusting God and voluntarily following His commandments, which serve the good of all people, we can express our love to God and receive His blessing. In this way we have fellowship with God and can show that we know God.
All a person's striving for wealth and po-wer, for professional success and a long and happy life is of no use in the slightest if he ignores the actual meaning of his life. So instead of wasting our time and efforts on vain things, we should invest them in see-king and knowing God, our creator and the source of our life. Because only what brings us closer to God ultimately has meaning and persistence. Furthermore, God is also the one who can free us from the tran-sience of our existence (See: The way to redemption).
Through our relationship with God, we humans find our true identity. Anyone who recognizes God has recognized the mea-ning of his life.
"Let us hear the conclusion of
the whole matter: Fear God and keep
His commandments, For this is man’s all.
For God will bring every work into judgment, Including every secret thing,
Whether good or evil."
(The Bible: Ecclesiastes chapter 12, verses 13-14)