Chapter 3

The Blueprint For Creation

Purpose to Life

FINDING PURPOSE

The most basic need of the human heart is to know that there is purpose and meaning to its existence. This need to know exists because sin separates the heart from that knowledge, yet it knows there is supposed to be a purpose. This emptiness of heart has been called the "Christ Void" by some believers. This void is filled when one receives Christ into one's heart. God created mankind and the universe for a purpose. Before He ever spoke a word in creation, God had a purpose for each and every human to be created. But the darkness of sin has caused mankind, throughout all history, to seek another explanation to the meaning of life. In philosophy this study is called, teleology [4]. While the doctrine of evolution may benefit the wicked in salving their conscience from guilt, and justifies their wicked behavior, hopelessness and despair affects the wicked, as well as the sincere, when evolution is accepted as truth. Creating one's own purpose to life always ends up with a sense of emptiness and unimportance sooner or later. If life is accidental and there is no purpose, what difference is there between us and the animals?

The meaning of life to the unregenerate is an elusive quest of discovery. Many try to find meaning in life through works and service. For example, in the humble task of parenting; to raise up the next generation. Or, in a more lofty ambition, to discover a vaccine to an incurable disease. While these are worthwhile and noble goals, they in themselves do not satisfy the void in life's purpose. When the kids are grown, where is one's purpose? When the vaccine is found, what's next? And if it is not found, does one feel that his life has been in vain?

PREDESTINATION

There is some confusion regarding the doctrine of predestination. To some people it is regarded in the same way as Fate, from which there is no escape. The Bible speaks of our being predestinated, but that does not mean every detail of our life is predestined by God [5] -- certainly God does not plan our sins! This conflict of opinion comes from two Reformation schools of thought. Frenchman John Calvin (1509-1564), who was converted by Martin Luther's teachings, developed the doctrine of election which teaches that only a select few are predestined for salvation, whereas the rest are predestined for damnation. He formally systematized his Protestant theology, with this doctrine and others, in his writings, Institutes of the Christian Religion [6]. Later, the pan-Reformed Synod of Dort (1618) distilled Calvin's teaching into 5 points: 1) the total depravity of man; 2) unconditional election of salvation by God; 3) limited atonement of efficacy in the elect; 4) irresistible grace in effectual calling; and 5) final preservation of the saints. Followers of his teachings are called Calvinists. These 5 points mean that [1] man is wholly sinful. Yet [2] the elect are saved only by God's grace in His choice. Being saved, however, [3] doesn't prevent us from sinning. When God calls a sinner [4] to salvation, it is an irresistible call. Once a sinner answers His call, [5] it is God who keeps us saved, hence the expression, "once saved, always saved."

Calvinism seems to imply that there is no choice given to sinners in accepting or rejecting salvation. Dutchman, Jacobus Arminius (1560-1609), whose teachings were formally stated by his disciples in their manifesto, Remonstrance [7], refuted this implication. The 5 points of Calvinism were modified by the Arminianists. They accepted the first point: i.e., the total depravity of man; but of the second point they taught that election to salvation rests on faith foreseen by God, hence God knew who would accept and reject his gift from the beginning, yet Christ died for all, nonetheless. The third point was accepted, but the fourth point was rejected. The free will of man is able to resist the calling of God to salvation. The fifth point, too, was rejected. They taught that man's free will can later reject salvation, even after having received Christ into his heart, therefore perseverance is needed by the believer over and above God's help. Arminianism, then, holds to the teaching that man's free will was given by God, and that God won't violate a man's freedom of choice. Unfortunately, Arminianism was rationalistic in spirit, therefore slipped into heresy in questioning the full deity of Jesus Christ, and some followers further embraced Greek philosophies as equal to Scripture.

Division on the doctrine of predestination was increased further during the Great Awakening by John and Charles Wesley and George Whitefield during the 1740's [8]. The Wesley brothers were Arminianists in that they believed that salvation was for all, hence they were aggressively evangelistic. Whitefield, however, was a Calvinist, preaching the doctrine of election. Both rode the circuit trails in America, touching many with their doctrines.

So, which is correct? The Bible does speak of predestination (Rom. 8:29 & 30, Eph. 1:5 & 11), but in neither sense. Specifically, predestination refers to God's intent that we should be "conformed to the image of his Son" (Rom. 8:29). This began with the creation of Adam in the image of God (Jesus Christ), and in restoration by "the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself" (Eph. 1:5). The call of God to salvation is to all people since God is "not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance" (2 Pet. 3:9). Therefore all "whom he did predestinate, them he also called" (Rom. 8:30). Why? Because life is a gift from God "in whom we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will" (Eph. 1:11). "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them" (Eph. 2:10).

My stand on Calvinism and Arminianism is in the middle. I agree with Arminianism regarding our freedom to reject the call of salvation. The writer of Hebrews said, "It is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost [hence were born again], and have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, if they shall fall away, to renew them again to repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame" (Heb. 6:4-6, emphasis mine). However, I also acknowledge the holding power of God to keep people saved. Jesus said, "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: and I give them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand" (John 10:27 & 28, emphasis mine). To re-crucify Christ afresh requires a hardening of the heart towards God. This path is trodden when one disbelieves God's good character and ascribe his work as unto the devil, which is the blasphemy of the Holy Ghost (Matt. 12:24, 31). In which case, it then is the choice of God to let us go. Nonetheless, that choice to blaspheme God still remains. To say one was never genuinely born again, then, is to deny what the Scriptures have said.

Jewish tradition and the book of Revelation state that God has a book of life which records the lives of people before the creation of the world. "And they that dwell on the earth shall wonder whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world" (Rev. 17:8b). There is also a book of life identified as "the book of life of the Lamb" (Rev. 13:8b). As stated earlier, "Christ, is the image of God" (2 Cor. 4:4). Before all creation it was in the mind of God to "predestinate [us] to be conformed to the image of His Son" (Rom. 8:29b). God's plan for all who will believe in Christ is for us to be in His image. "According as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love" (Eph. 1:4). Perhaps the first book is the plan for all to live, but the second is the record of all who make the choice to live by accepting Christ's salvation. As the Arminianists say, it is foreseen by God who will make that choice, hence we are the "elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father" (1 Pet. 1:2a) but the names in the Lamb's book of life are not written until that choice is actually made. It is the plan of God for Him to have a family and for us to be His children, but a family who freely loves Him. This came from the motivation of his love.

God knew before He created us in His image that we would sin against Him. Our redemption was planned "with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world" (1 Pet. 1:19-20). When Adam actually sinned then "the Lamb [Christ was] slain from the foundation of the world" (Rev. 13:8b) who has "suffered since the foundation of the world" (Heb. 9:26). While, from our point of view it didn't happen until 2,000 years ago, from God's point of view it was finished at the beginning, and manifested 2,000 years ago. The meaning of life and purpose for life are fulfilled when we abide in Christ.

DESTINY

The quest for meaning in life is not confined to the unbeliever. Even after coming to Christ their is a need to know the plan of God for the individual believer. King Solomon sought meaning to life in his book, Ecclesiastes. In obtaining wealth he concluded it was vanity. In merriment and mirth he concluded it was vanity [9]. In obtaining wisdom he concluded that the fool and wise man both die alike so it is vanity. In all things that he applied his hand to he concluded that it is all vanity. He ends the book of Ecc1esiastes with this admonition, "Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man" (Ecc. 12: 13b)

But the Bible does indicate that there is meaning and purpose to life. "Your labor is not in vain in the Lord" (1 Cor. 15:58). God said to Jeremiah, "Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations" (Jer. 1:5). In speaking to all of Israel after the 70 year captivity, Yahweh says, "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you... thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end" (Jer. 29:11). This is a promise that clearly can be applied to the individual, as well. God has a plan for us all. God knows us individually because, "This is what Yahweh says, your Redeemer, who formed you in the womb," (Isa. 44:24). God has a call for all of us because as the prophet said, "Yahweh hath called me from the womb" (Isa. 49:1). As the Book of Life indicates, God had a plan for our lives long before we were created. Two examples of this are Josiah and Cyrus. As soon as Jeroboam forsook the Lord and led the northern kingdom of Israel into idolatry, a specific king was prophesied, "Behold, a child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name" (1 Kings 13:2a). The prophecy was made about 940 BC. It came to pass about 640 BC, 300 years later. Isaiah also prophesied about a specific man to be born, Cyrus, king of Persia (Isa. 44:28-45:1) about 727 BC and Cyrus was king of Persia about 540 BC, almost 200 years later. To specifically name people to be born demonstrates that God had planned their lives, and I believe that He had done so before creation.

But having a purpose for God does not mean that we will know it, nor will we fulfill it. God has left it up to us to find out His plan for us, and left us the free will to pursue it. As Solomon indicated, it is only by seeking God and obeying the personal directives of the Lord that one finds one's destiny. As it has been said, "What you are is God's gift to you; what you make of yourself is your gift to God." The meaning of one's life comes from the unveiling of God's plan for your life as a whole. That is a part of our discipleship. "The steps of a good man are ordered by Yahweh: and he delights in his way" (Psa. 37:23). As we follow the path that God lays before us, we have the choice, like Esther, to be daring in invoking the king's wrath, or to shirk away in fear. For "who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" (Esther 4:14). Take the step and act in courage, for you may be fulfilling your destiny.