The Meaning Of Life

As I have begun to read the Bible once again this year, I’ve attempted to do so without the input of pastors and theologians. Each time I study the Bible, I try to do so in a different way so I not only become bored with reading it, but also to learn things from a different light and perspective. This year, I’ve prayed and relied on the Spirit to teach me the truth; not that all pastors are bad, but I know many do not speak the truth. And I want to be lead by the Spirit of God rather than the opinions and teachings of man.

I know you are not supposed to create doctrine based on one verse along, but there are two verses that keeping hounding my brain. The first is in Hebrews where the Lord says, “I will put my laws in their hearts and minds” (paraphrasing). To me, that is the New Covenant. God put the Old Covenant on tables of stone, and that didn’t work. He may have been tempted to hit us over the head with those tablets in an effort to drive the message through our thick skulls, but knowing that God is a loving God and would never hurt us, He chose the second path, and that was to put His laws in our hearts and minds.

The second scripture that I can’t let go of is, “If you’ve seen Me, you’ve seen the Father”. That was said by Jesus, and to me, that means the character of God is just like the character of Jesus. Did Jesus stone the prostitute to death as was prescribed in the Old Testament? No, He forgave her and told her to sin no more. Was Jesus angry and full of wrath at the sinners? No, the only time I remember reading about His anger was when they turned His Temple into a flea market and He overturned the tables. When Jesus encountered a sinner, He met with them, dined with them, and tried to teach them the right path on which to go down. Even when the Romans were coming to arrest Him and take Him to His death, which He knew was coming, He was gentle and kind. When Peter cut the ear off of one of the guards, Jesus scolded him, then He healed the prisoner out of love.

So, I have no doubt in my mind that God is loving, is merciful, and is not full of wrath and anger as the Old Testament suggests. Yes, I know how to read, but I also know the Old Testament was written by man, mortal beings, just like me, with brains that were subject to perception. I also know that the definition and meaning of many Hebrew words differ greatly from those in the English language. For example, we hear the phrase “fear God” many times in the Old Testament, but another definition of “fear” is “awe”. Yes, we should be in awe of the powers and abilities of God, but we have no reason to fear Him. Another definition I learned recently is the word “hate”, as used in “God hates a sinner”. Another definition of hate, in Hebrew, is “like less”, so it makes sense that God would like sinners less than He likes the righteous; it doesn’t mean He loves them less, He just likes them less. His love is the same for both, because sinner or saint, we are all God’s children.

Now to the jest of this writing. How was God going to “write” the laws in our hearts and minds? What method was He going to us?

That is where Jesus comes in.

Everyone, including the most strictest of Jews, the Pharisees, believed in an angry and wrathful God. They believed that if they met a sinner, that sinner should be stoned to death. They believe their “Messiah” was going to come to earth in full battle array, riding a horse with sword in hand, and utterly kill every Roman that oppressed them. But that is not what the Messiah came for.

Most Christians will say that “Jesus came to die on the cross for our sins”, but unfortunately Satan has twisted that around where most Christians believe that all of their sins are forgiven if they believe in Jesus. And that reminds me of the story a pastor once told (I know, I said I wasn’t going there, but it isn’t a scriptural interpretation), this pastor told the story about driving home after work. He was listening to a Christian radio stations and his thoughts were deep into the message that was given. And he didn’t realize he was speeding until the trooper pulled in behind him, lights flashing, and he looked at his speedometer and realized he was guilty.

After explaining to the trooper how he had failed, the trooper admired his honesty, and let him off with a warning.

The pastor then asked his congregation. “This trooper gave me grace for speeding. That must mean that I am now able to speed the rest of the way home, because I was under grace.”

Obviously the answer was no. The trooper forgave him for speeding, but that didn’t mean he was free to speed home, it was a reminder to observe the speed limit.

Yes, we have grace because Jesus died on the cross for our sins, but that grace is for past sins, not future. We still must observe the law going forward. Doesn’t that mean “legalism”? No, we observe the law not because it’s the law, we observe the law out of love for our Savior, and because we don’t want to hurt Him.

So, it is my opinion that God had to send Jesus to earth for many reasons.

First, Jesus came to earth to teach us, to write those laws in our hearts and minds. Jesus showed us how to live, how to love each other, how to be forgiving of those who sin against us because He knows that as humans, we are not capable of a sinless life. And even for those who are trying to kill us, we have to be loving and forgiving towards them.

Second, Jesus was sent to earth to show us God’s true character. Why else would he say, “If you’ve seen Me…”? He specifically said that to show people that God was no different than Him. That God wasn’t an angry, wrathful, vengeful being that just can’t wait to punish sinners.

And finally, yes Jesus died on the cross to give us grace, but I believe He died on the cross mainly to show us the love that God has for us, to show us that God is also willing to die for us.

He showed us the way. He showed us the true character of God. And He showed us the true meaning of a love that we cannot begin to fathom, a love so great they would give up Their lives for us.

I follow many Christian groups on Facebook; I admit they are getting fewer and fewer because they continue to perpetuate lies about God, and right now the heated talk is how we shouldn’t observe Christmas because it is a pagan holiday. And here’s what I have to say about that.

No, we don’t know the exact day Christ was born. If He was crucified in the spring, and He lived 33 1/2 years, He was likely born in the fall. But is celebrating the birth of our Lord and Savior really pagan?

I can’t think of anything more pagan than worshiping on the day of the sun. The true Sabbath, the seventh day of the week, was changed to Sunday by a pagan Roman, concerned that more and more people were becoming Christians, observing the seventh day Sabbath. Now Christ was a Jew who observed the seventh day Sabbath, and as Christians, we are supposed to follow Christ. But instead, we’re following the traditions of man, made up from a pagan Roman. So if we worship on Sunday, without any scriptural dictates that changed the day of the Sabbath, we are actually following a pagan day.

So we worship on Sunday, yet we declare Christmas a pagan holiday. Doesn’t make sense to me. But then again, I’m different.

Yes, if we worship Santa Claus, and if we observe Christmas because it is a wonderful day to spend enormous amounts of money (the root of all evil), to lavish each other, then yes, we are pagans. But God knows the heart. He knows if we are celebrating the birth of Jesus. He knows that if we exchange gifts, it is symbolic of the wise men who brought gifts to the baby Jesus. God knows us.

That said, I happily and unapologetically celebrate Christmas, and I wish everyone a very, merry Christmas.

Amen!