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_001.jpg) The first of the two big questions in life is, “Who made
us?” We addressed that question in the previous article and (hopefully) settled
upon “God” as the answer. As we are creation, God is the Creator.
Now, let us turn to the second “big question,” which is,
“Why are we here?”
Well, why are we here? To amass fame and fortune?
To make music and babies? To be the richest man or woman in the graveyard
for, as we are jokingly told, “He who dies with the most toys wins?”
No, there must be more to life than that, so let’s think
about this. To begin with, look around you. Unless you live in a cave, you
are surrounded by things we humans have made with our own hands. Now, why did
we make those things? The answer, of course, is that we make things to perform
some specific function for us. In short, we make things to serve us. So by
extension, why did God make us, if not to serve Him?
If we acknowledge our Creator, and that He created
humankind to serve Him, the next question is, “How? How do we serve Him?” No
doubt, this question is best answered by the One who made us. If He created us
to serve Him, then He expects us to function in a particular manner, if we are
to achieve our purpose. But how can we know what that manner is? How can we
know what God expects from us?
Well, consider this: God gave us light, by which we can
find our way. Even at night, we have the moon for light and the stars for
navigation. God gave other animals guidance systems best suited for their
conditions and needs. Migrating birds can navigate, even on overcast days, by how
light is polarized as it passes through the clouds. Whales migrate by “reading”
the Earth’s magnetic fields. Salmon return from the open ocean to spawn at the
exact spot of their birth by smell, if that can be imagined. Fish sense
distant movements through pressure receptors that line their bodies. Bats and
blind river dolphins “see” by sonar. Certain marine organisms (the electric
eel being a high-voltage example) generate and “read” magnetic fields, allowing
them to “see” in muddy waters, or in the blackness of ocean depths. Insects
communicate by pheromones. Plants sense sunlight and grow towards it
(phototrophism); their roots sense gravity and grow into the earth
(geotrophism). In short, God has gifted every element of His creation with
guidance. Can we seriously believe he would not give us guidance on the one
most important aspect of our existence, namely our raison d’etre—our
reason for being? That he would not give us the tools by which to achieve
salvation?
And would this guidance not be . . . revelation?
Think of it this way: Every product has specifications
and rules. For more complex products, whose specifications and rules are not
intuitive, we rely upon owner’s manuals. These manuals are written by the one
who knows the product best, which is to say the manufacturer. A typical owner’s
manual begins with warnings about improper use and the hazardous consequences
thereof, moves on to a description of how to use the product properly and the
benefits to be gained thereby, and provides product specifications and a
troubleshooting guide whereby we can correct product malfunctions.
Now, how is that different from revelation?
Revelation tells us what to do, what not to do and why,
tells us what God expects of us, and shows us how to correct our deficiencies.
Revelation is the ultimate user’s manual, provided as guidance to the one who
will use us—ourselves.
In the world we know, products that meet or exceed
specifications are considered successes whereas those that don’t are … hmm …
let’s think about this. Any product that fails to meet factory specifications
is either repaired or, if hopeless, recycled. In other words, destroyed. Ouch.
Suddenly this discussion turns scary-serious. Because in this discussion, we
are the product—the product of creation.
But let’s pause for a moment and consider how we
interact with the various items that fill our lives. As long as they do what
we want, we’re happy with them. But when they fail us, we get rid of them. Some
are returned to the store, some donated to charity, but eventually they all end
up in the garbage, which gets … buried or burned. Similarly, an
underperforming employee gets … fired. Now, stop for a minute and think about
that word. Where did that euphemism for the punishment due to an
underperformer come from? Hmm … the person who believes the lessons of this
life translate into lessons about religion could have a field day with this.
But that doesn’t mean these analogies are invalid. Just
the opposite, we should remember that both Old and New Testaments are filled
with analogies, and Jesus Christ taught using parables.
So perhaps we had better take this seriously.
No, I stand corrected. Most definitely we should
take this seriously. Nobody ever considered the difference between heavenly
delights and the tortures of hellfire a laughing matter.
Copyright © 2007
Dr. Laurence B. Brown; used by permission.
Dr. Brown is the
author of The Eighth Scroll, described by North Carolina State Senator
Larry Shaw as, “Indiana Jones meets The Da Vinci Code. The
Eighth Scroll is a breath-holding, white-knuckled, can’t-put-down thriller
that challenges Western views of humanity, history and religion. Bar
none, the best book in its class!” Dr. Brown is also the author of three
scholastic books of comparative religion, MisGod’ed, God’ed, and Bearing
True Witness (Dar-us-Salam). His books and articles can be found on his
websites, www.EighthScroll.com and www.LevelTruth.com, and are available for
purchase through www.Amazon.com.
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