What is the meaning of life and what happens when I die? Why did God allow me to survive this way? Wouldn't it be more compassionate to have me die? If God is loving, why does he allow anyone to suffer? Being close to death and seeing how fragile my body is as a quadriplegic, if anyone should ask these questions, it's me.
King Solomon wrote that God has put eternity in our hearts and this is certainly true for all people (Ecclesiastes 3:11). Just as we understand right and wrong by our God given conscience, we long for something beyond the finality of this life. As children, we just see what's in front of us. We want to be gratified now and then, having little to no sense of our limited time here. It gets easier as we get older, but we still are never satisfied with all we acquire in our lifetime. We want to be remembered, we want to leave a 'legacy', we want to stay younger longer, and increasingly, defy mortality. Across all cultures are stories of a 'next life.' Although the West is increasingly secular and hostile to notions of heaven or hell, we cannot escape the idea that there is more than this life.
Steve Berger writes on his blog: "Many times we can’t quite articulate this feeling. Songs, books, movies and visual art tries to capture it. Many come close, but most fall short. The problem is the authors, writers, painters and actors don’t know the Scripture. They know and recognize the longing, but they don’t know and recognize the Savior."
In a post-modern society where we are taught that truth is relative, very little people are searching for the truth about life after death. But the Bible answers all the questions surrounding the meaning of life: Why am I here? What is right and wrong? What is my purpose? and what happens when I die?
In an atheistic worldview, we have evolved by chance and so everything is arbitrary, without real purpose. Sure, an atheist can choose to live morally, but according to his worldview, that can be no better than one who chooses to live immorally, for all choices are subjective. Bertrand Russell, an atheist philosopher admits:
"That Man is the product of causes which had no prevision of the end they were achieving; that his origin, his growth, his hopes and fears, his loves and his beliefs, are but the outcome of accidental collocations of atoms; that no fire, no heroism, no intensity of thought and feeling, can preserve an individual life beyond the grave; that all the labours of the ages, all the devotion, all the inspiration, all the noonday brightness of human genius, are destined to extinction in the vast death of the solar system, and that the whole temple of Man's achievement must inevitably be buried beneath the debris of a universe in ruins--all these things, if not quite beyond dispute, are yet so nearly certain, that no philosophy which rejects them can hope to stand. Only within the scaffolding of these truths, only on the firm foundation of unyielding despair, can the soul's habitation henceforth be safely built."
Other atheist philosophers like Nitzsche and Sartre also admit that life is meaningless without God. The only way atheists can live happily in their worldview is to live inconsistently. We see that the wealthiest populations are the least happy and have the highest rates of suicide. Solomon had it right centuries earlier when he declared emphatically "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity!" (Ecclesiastes 1:1) Solomon was the richest, wisest man of all time and had plenty of time to ponder the meaning of life. He first pursued all the pleasure he could. He realized that no matter how much you enjoy, you still crave pleasure like a bottomless pit. The eye is not full of seeing, the ear, not full of hearing (Ecc 1:8).
We are constantly striving for global peace. No war. No famine. No injustice. Really, we want to return to Eden. Only then will our souls be satisfied. King Solomon got it right when he said:
"I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that men will revere him." (Ecclesiastes 3:14)
There is no purpose to life if everything stops at the grave. We all long for eternal peace and that can only come when we have peace with God. Jesus said, "For from within, out of men's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly." How do we clean our sinful hearts? How do we obtain peace with God to enter into his eternal Kingdom? Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit." One is born again through faith in Jesus Christ and calling out to him to be saved. The apostles testify, "Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him." (John 3:36; John 14:6; 1 Cor 3:11; 1 Tim 3:5; Acts 10:43; Psalm 2:12; Prov 30:4)
In my difficult circumstance, God has answered my questions concerning who he is as revealed in the Bible. Through my condition, God is glorified as many can see how I've changed and my joy. It's still difficult but I have a peace that's beyond what the world can give. It was by God's plan that I would come back to the Bronx where my family is, be reunited with my father, have him close so he can advocate for me in this institution, and be restored to the Lord, growing in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ. It is a painful circumstance, with eternal purpose to bring others to himself (Romans 8:28; Isaiah 6:10; Psalm 138:8; Proverbs 19:21 Ephesians 1:11; Ephesians 2:15; Ephesians 3:11; Revelation 17:17).
Where will you be in eternity? Tomorrow is not promised to anyone and if you feel God speaking to your heart, please listen. You can have your questions answered at:
www.answersingenesis.org
www.gotquestions.org
God Bless
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