Most members of humankind will confer that life is not a bed of roses. Total happiness merely interjects on occasion while hardships, disappointments, conflicts and tragedies seem to take center-stage in life.
We all want and seek the good things in life. During our childhood years our parents, by providing all our needs and most of our wants have, by doing so, shielded us from the harsh realities of life. And so the expectations of childhood innocence rapidly transforms into apprehension of what the real world holds in store when we reach adulthood. We soon discover that money and happiness are bosom buddies, but that this positive drowns in a sea of negatives within a world that is spinning crazily from the human onslaught imposed upon it.
That human onslaught comes in the form of personal or collective greed leading to conflict, war, poverty, famine, destruction and death. While this is the global scenario playing out between the nations of the world we, as individuals, conduct our own little acts of self-gratification within the relationships we have with family, colleagues and friends. It is clear that we certainly do not live in a happy world and that the reason for this lies within the human element.
Are we supposed to have joy, peace, material abundance, physical health and happiness for the duration of our lives and is this world the perfect platform to ensure the existence of such blissful proportions?
All our accomplishments in life are of no consequence – whether we die young or old. What is certain though is that all of it remains within the consciousness of our souls as we pass on and we either enter a state of remorse or a future filled with joy untold in the spiritual realm in which we find ourselves for eternity. This final destination will have been determined by us as individuals prior to our departure from Planet Earth.
This may raise eyebrows and perhaps also raise the ire of some, but what if you were to be told that blissful living is totally out of the current design for human existence upon the Earth? We have not been placed here to live out lives of Utopian joy, abundance, wealth, health and peace.
We have been placed here for the sole purpose of seeking and finding salvation from the condition of the world and from our very own fallen nature. We have no other reason to be here. Absolutely nothing else touching our lives – our upbringing, our education, our experiences, our memories, our emotions, our relationships – is of any importance or consequence. And to further bring home this point, let it be known that human life is a waste of time unless the above-mentioned salvation is appropriated. To reiterate, there is absolutely no other reason for the existence of human life. This may sound harsh, but one might as well be dead before one is born if this salvation is not attained, for what lies ahead in life here and beyond the grave is a living death itself, without that salvation.
For children life might be about their weekly allowance and game play stations. For young adults life might be about money, drugs, music, rock stars, tattoos, fashion trends, fast cars and being held hostage to the internet. For older people life might be about movies, soap operas, justifying their self-importance and other forms of worldly self-gratification. All of these things are nothing more than death warmed up and when the elderly look back at their lives they can do nothing else but nod in agreement and wait for the end while repeatedly exclaiming, “What was it all about?!”
Many may ask, “If this is the case, why did God continue to insert the Spirit of Life into the body of every human being entering this world through the womb if He had omniscient awareness that their lives would be a waste of time as He had no intention for them draw any satisfaction from life whatsoever?” This is a valid question – for it would certainly appear that God had given life solely for the purpose of assigning everyone to the pit of hell, but not before allocating to each a foretaste of it on Earth.
Perhaps a full reply to this question deserves a lot of space, but suffice to say that the Sovereign Creator and Ruler of the Universe, in His wisdom, allowed for the procreation of the human race until the very last one appointed to be born, was fulfilled. God sees the beginning from the end and He knew from the beginning exactly what would transpire during the period from start to finish. He knew that man would fall and He knew that man would have to be saved – the man that He created in His own image, for His pleasure and with whom to have fellowship while providing for every need in abundance. This included health and everlasting life.
But man was deceived by Satan and lost everything God had placed in store for him. Man now possesses the nature of Satan, having lost his Divine birthright when the satanic curse fell upon him. And man became totally blind within the sphere of spiritual death in which he now finds himself, having passed on this condition to all the generations that followed the very first to be transformed from Life to death in the Garden of Eden. Yes, for a very brief period we had it all. And ever since then the life of man became a holding cell for death row.
Life is but a vapour and if we do not enter into the salvation planned by God from the very foundation of the world, then that life is totally worthless and meaningless. What is the key to the appropriation of this salvation? It is our God-given freedom of choice. It’s a matter of hearing, believing and using that free will to receive that salvation to everlasting life.
Although salvation is accompanied by the restoration of our birthright by which we may enjoy its benefits (God’s favour and protection) while we still occupy Planet Earth, Earth itself is scheduled for a makeover (to put it mildly) and this re-creation is upon us right now. And then the freedom of choice, either way, will have its entrance to its assigned realm of reality.
Is it possible to experience peace, joy and happiness during our brief stopover on this planet? Yes, of course, but only if we are reconciled to God and become doers of his Word. Reconciliation not only sets us free, but it also gives us knowledge of a future well worth looking forward to.
The reality check is that whatever one is doing right now is a total waste of time and a needless waste one’s life if this Truth is not heeded. We can turn it around by making time to stop at the Cross of Jesus Christ, the place where eternal life begins for those who receive Him as Lord and Saviour. We have the key (our free will) to make it happen. It’s late – very late.
“Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.
For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.” (Eccl. 12:13,14)
The South African Road to Freedom 