Trinity 1-3, Purpose of Men
Isaiah 43:18-21, Romans 12:1-2
Why Were You Born?
Genesis begins with the creation
story. It says that God is the Creator of everything and human beings are
created by God. We need to remember it in order to build a right relationship
with God. Why is that?
When I went to college, one of
the first classes I took was ‘Systematic Theology.’ The professor had his PhD
degree in Germany, and he told us to read the German Philosopher, Martin
Heidegger’s book, “Being and Time.’
It is Heidegger’s major book that
profoundly influenced 20th century philosophy, particularly existentialism,
hermeneutics and deconstruction. The book was not easy to read, especially for
a college freshman. Most of the students read the book and wrote 5 pages book
review without understanding the book. But I still remember one thing that the
book said, “We are beings thrown into the world.” In other words, we were born
to this world without our choice.
Is it true or is it not true? We
didn’t intend to be born but our births were given. In the Christian world, we
did not create ourselves but we are created by God. According to Heidegger,
most people live as if they were born by themselves until they face death. Once
they recognize that they could not avoid death, they feel anxious and question
themselves, “Why am I here?” “What is the meaning of my life in this world?
Heidegger said that we exist only
within a limited time and we cannot control our being and time. The only thing
that we can do is to seek the meaning of our existence so that we can be free
from anxiety. Our life is a journey to seek the meaning of our being in this
world.
The Purpose Of Men
If we exist by ourselves, then we
can find the meaning of our existence in ourselves. But since we are created by
God, the reason of our existence is not from us but from God, the Creator. Let’s
say that I built a table. Then, people do not ask the table, “Hey! What is purpose
of your existence?” Rather than asking the table, People would ask me why I
made the table. I know the purpose of the table because I made it.
It is the same that since God
created us; the purpose of our existence should come from God. God knows the
purpose of human beings, and God said the reasons in the Bible. There are two
reasons for creating human beings.
First, God created us to take
care of His creation. Genesis 1:26 says, “Then God said, “Let us make humankind
in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the
fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over
all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps
upon the earth.” (NRSV)
This verse suggests that humanity
is the image of God in the dominion over the rest of creation. God created the
heavens and the earth, fish, flowers, animals and God said it was good. Then
God created human beings to have dominion over His creation. Hebrew word for
‘Have Dominion’ is rada. It means "care giving and nurturing" but not
exploitation. God asked us to take care of His creation. So, God gave us
dominion over the creation in behalf of God, and therefore we represent God to
His creation.
Second, God created us to praise
His glory. Isaiah 43:18-21 talks about God’s new creation. Since God’s creation
was corrupted by human sins, God declared that He would renew his creation and
said at verse 21, “the people whom I formed for myself so that they might
declare my praise.”
Isaiah said that God created
human beings that they may praise God’s glory.
‘Praise God!’ is our reason to
exist.
Therefore, the last psalm, Psalm
150 ends with praising God’s greatness.
1 Praise the LORD! Praise God in
his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty firmament!
2 Praise him for his mighty
deeds; praise him according to his surpassing greatness!
3 Praise him with trumpet sound;
praise him with lute and harp!
4 Praise him with tambourine and
dance; praise him with strings and pipe!
5 Praise him with clanging
cymbals; praise him with loud clashing cymbals!
6 Let everything that breathes
praise the LORD! Praise the LORD!
Verse 6 says that it is not only
human beings but all of God’s creation should praise God. All creatures are
made to praise God’s greatness. It is interesting to compare the first reason
with the second reason.
When God told us to have dominion
over His creation, we take care of all of His creation in behalf of God. When
we praise God, we praise His name in behalf of all of His creation.
On one hand, we represent God to
His creation, and on the other hand we represent His creation to God. So, we
are the mediator between God and His creation: we take care of His creation and
we worship God.
Third, God created us to be a
blessing. During the Bible study, we studied on Genesis and we learned about
God’s promise to save His people. In order to save his people God called Abraham
and said “you shall be a blessing.” (Gen. 12:2) Page
All of the Bible stories are
about God’s saving efforts through the people He called. God called Judges,
Prophets and Priests to save His people. God sent His beloved son Jesus to save
His people. God called disciples, deacons, elders, missionaries and Christians
to save His people. All of God’s calling is about saving His people and
blessing them.
In the Old Testament, God said
‘you shall be a blessing,’ and in the New Testament, Jesus said, “you are the
salt and the light of the world.”(Matt.5:13-14)
Either way, it is the same that
God calls us to be part of His salvation plan for the world.
Dancing With God
‘Destiny’ is another word for
‘the purpose of men.’ Louis Savary is a Jesuit professor in Spirituality. He
said “our destiny is where God’s mystery and our mystery intersect.” Destiny,
goal or mission of our life is not fixed but it was like dancing with God. It
is well expressed in “the Creation of Adam”, a fresco painting by Michelangelo.
This is part of the Sistine Chapel's ceiling, painted in 1512.
There are many paintings of the
creation of Adam, but the uniqueness of this painting is that God and Adam
stretch out their hands for the creation. This painting indicates that God
created us not like a robot that moves as programmed, not like animals that
live by instincts, but according to His own image and invited us to join His
ongoing creation. God created us to be His partner by His grace, and called us
to reflect His glory in this world. That is our destiny, the meaning of our
life in this world.
I like this story that happened
in a college. At the end of a semester, a college professor asked if there were
any questions.
A student held up his hand and
said half-jokingly, “Sir! I have a question. What is the meaning of life?”
Everyone laughed. They knew it
was an impossible question and that the student was teasing. But the professor,
well into his seventies, didn’t laugh. He reached into his pocket and pulled
out a small mirror.
Then the professor said, “When I
was a small child, during the war, we were very poor and we lived in a remote
village. One day, on the road, I found scattered broken pieces of a huge mirror
on the ground.
I tried to find all the pieces
and put them together, but it was impossible, there's probably a million little
pieces, so I kept only the largest piece.
By scratching it on a stone, I
made it round. I began to play with it as a toy. And I became fascinated by the
fact that I could reflect light into dark places where the sun would never
shine…
As I became a man, I grew to
understand that this was not just a child’s game but a metaphor for what I
might do with my life. I came to understand that I am not the light or the
source of light. But light, like truth, true understanding or knowledge is
there, and it will only shine in many dark places if I reflect it.”
Christians are like the mirror.
We are not light, but we can reflect God’s light.
We are not a blessing, but we can
reflect God’s blessing to people.
When we take care of God’s
creation, when we love people and when we worship God, we can reflect God’s
love and grace.
Let’s remember that we are made
wonderfully and beautifully so that we can reflect God’s love and grace in this
world.
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