Why Were We Created?

Thousands of years ago God displayed His power by creating the universe. At a later time He created the highest form of life in all of eternity: humans. And they were given their birthplace as a temporary home. God wanted a special creature of flesh made in His image. We humans have the unbelievable advantage of being designed with the capacity to look like God. Interestingly enough our reason for existence has been lost as the years rolled by. The average American today is not even interested in our eternal purpose. Occasionally some poet or philosopher will bring up the subject of our existence with very little understanding of it. They don’t know that the secret of our life is contained in the word “Image”. There is absolutely nothing that our unlimited God could create to have a meaning any higher than His own image. He actually created people so that they could partake of His perfection. Because God is a Spirit, He decided long ago to display many of His attributes through creatures made in His image. Wow, can we see how plainly America has missed the actual meaning of life?

Today it may be difficult to accept that we can be a display of God’s own attributes. The reason we struggle with our image problem goes back to that terrible day when Adam decided to disobey God. Every time a human does what they want, rather than obey God, the “fall of man” is being reenacted. Some people want to know the meaning of “the fall”. Simply put, every human will fall out of God’s perfect image into a wretchedness of our own making. Jesus said; You don’t realize that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked.  So I advise you to buy gold from me. Rev 3:17-18 (NLT) The average American continues to live in their wretchedness when, all the while, they possess the opportunity of returning to God and being shaped into the image of His perfection. The reality is that God would love to place all His goodness into our life. This would allow His image to be reflected to everything that exist anywhere. We can actually become a mirror that reflects God to our entire universe and beyond. However, the path of our return to God’s image will require the path of humility.

Most people do not think of God as humble, but there is no pride in Him. We know that Jesus was the exact image of His Father and has His characteristics. The Bible says: When he (Jesus) appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross. Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor Phil 2:7-9 (NLT) There is no way God could have allowed people to do all the things they did to Him if He were not humble. Knowing why we were created should help us see that our path to glory is the path of humility. Humans lost the way of humility during Adams insubordination. The disobedience of Adam gave every one of us a nature of pride. Evil absolutely thrives in our pride. When Jesus redeems our soul it is a reversal of what Adam did to our nature. We do not have the power to throw the Devil and his evil ways out of our life. But when the Spirit of Jesus lives in us His power can change our nature. Humility must become the basis of our new life if we want to live in the image of God.

Realizing that the plan of God operates out of humility should clear up some of our thinking. For example, Jesus is asking us: If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. Luke 9:23-24 (NLT) Jesus needed humility to find meaning and victory on His cross then it is certain that we will need humility for our cross. It is now becomes obvious why we must become an empty vessel. Our potential to be the image of God depends on our old life being wiped clean. The only meaningful life is to return to the purpose of our creation. We must reflect the image of God’s perfection. Living in Jesus Christ is our only chance. Many believers made a start with the Savior but have fallen by the wayside. This is because they would not continue to learn from the revelation of God. His revelation gives a Christian their strength. God created all of us to be totally dependent on Him. Our new humble live will not survive if we don’t maintain a continual dependence on His power, God must constantly project His image into our humble, clean life.

Every Christian must maintain the correct attitude if we hope to honor the restoration work that God has done on our behalf. Actually, if we can see it, our fallen nature is a sign to us that we really need to find the path of humility. Having humility is a kind of “stamp of deliverance” that the Lord now allows us to have fellowship with Him. As reasonable creatures we should find our proper place and gladly wait for His next command so that we may obey Him. It sounds odd, but when we find our correct sense of nothingness, life can begin to take on true nobility. The entire family of God suffers when our leaders fail to teach the Church the humility that our new life is based on. Understanding the meaning of life allows people to accept their correct place so that God can make them part of His life forever. Our pride of life must die so that the grace of God may come through Christ and into our new life. The most meaningful life is obviously one that pleases God and brings glory to His Almighty presence.

The Old Serpent was cast out for his pride. Every human lost their fellowship because of pride. Pride is the reason we make wrong choices and we must allow it to be taken out of our life. The secret of life is knowing our proper place with the creator. Then with the help of God we can live a life that is pleasing to Him and in His image. Humans have the unbelievable privilege of choosing to walk in pride of in humility. Of course we can only find humility in the Savior. Jesus said: “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” Luke 16:13 (NLT) When we freely chose to serve God, in humility, we can bring honor to Him. My friends, we were created to reflect the image of the Almighty as we serve others. This is how we can be of value to our Savior. The believers in our church must humble themselves and crucify themselves or face judgment for our pride. We do have a choice.

My Master's House

If only people knew the privilege of living in the Master’s house. He is so good to a servant that freedom is never considered. No one in this servant position ever wants to go outside of the luxury and peace of this big wonderful house. The Master is so powerful that there is no person who will not fall on their face before Him. Every living being outside of this house wants to show honor when a servant speaks. They listen to the servant because of his powerful Master. There is absolutely nothing that any servant will ever need or want. This powerful Master loves each one of His servants. It is certain that not one of His servants will ever have a worry about anything. Every servant holds tightly to their position because they know that all the Masters servants will someday be promoted to a family member. This is why a servant of the Lord wonders why so many people ignore the Master and continue to serve this dirty world and its terrible leader who is bound for Hell? It is a shame to serve this world.

Every Christian is a servant in God’s house. The Scriptures give us good advice on how to serve in the Masters household. Christians are so different from this world that we should support each other. It is helpful to try and remember how totally different we are. Jesus said: Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many. Matt 20:26-28 (NLT) Many of us have never actually experienced a time when the pastors and church leaders were all servants. But in God’s household the people must understand that a servant in our church will be a ruler in Heaven. In the parable of the talents Jesus said: Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord. Matt 25:21 (KJV) Even if we hold a humble position in God’s house we know that being faithful to our work will be rewarded by the Lord. We all must learn to be a servant.

Jesus must be considered the only authority in the Church. Then when Christians gather together, the Lord will assemble with them. The Bible says:  For where two or three gather together as my followers, I am there among them. Matt 18:20 (NLT) Should a servant take the lead over Jesus when the Lord attends our church meeting? When humble church members get together they must all look to Jesus for his guidance. If we have the proper attitude, as church members, the Lord will become real and precious to us. There are times in a church service that we can feel a wonderful lifting of our spirit. This boost in our spiritual life is caused by a close encounter with the presence of the Savior. Any time people who are energized by the Spirit of Jesus get together and look to Him as the authority they will feel His presence. Here is the reason: God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church. And the church is his body; it is made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with himself. Eph 1:22-23 (NLT) We must return to church ways that honor Jesus and give Him the place at the head of everything we do.

When our church is blessed by someone who does humbly serve as a leader we should respond in the proper way. The Bible says to show them respect: Dear brothers and sisters, honor those who are your leaders in the Lord’s work. They work hard among you and give you spiritual guidance. Show them great respect and wholehearted love because of their work. And live peacefully with each other. 1 Thess 5:12-13 (NLT) A church should be full of humbleness and respect as we stay busy with the Lord’s work. Paul continues his lesson on church behavior by saying: We urge you to warn those who are lazy. Encourage those who are timid. Take tender care of those who are weak. Be patient with everyone. See that no one pays back evil for evil, but always try to do good to each other and to all people. 1 Thess 5:14-15 (NLT) Doing good to each other is the standard that a church can be judged by anywhere in the world. We have no idea how many different ways the Lord can show us to serve. We are living in America where people own everything they need for this world. But we still must work extra hard to try and meet their spiritual needs, of which America has plenty.

There are Christians who will ask; how do I meet a spiritual need? Paul gave us some simple things we can do: Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. Do not stifle the Holy Spirit. Do not scoff at prophecies, but test everything that is said. Hold on to what is good. 1 Thess 5:16-21 If we hold on to the good things of God, it can bless those around us. Servants in the household of God will always come to agreement on spiritual matters. We should always try to use seasoned Christians to take the lead in the Lord’s work. Here is an example: So we decided, having come to complete agreement, to send you official representatives…who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We are sending Judas and Silas to confirm what we have decided concerning your question. “For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay no greater burden on you than these few requirements” Acts 15:25-28 (NLT) These people had asked the Spirit of Jesus to guide their decisions and they gave Him the credit. This is how the church should work: with the help of the Spirit until Jesus comes back.

When the Lord’s Church began there were no denominations. This is because they were of one spiritual body:  Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit. 1 Cor 12:13 The Master has asked us to overlook the differences and the faults of each other. Being in the same Spirit we can begin to help each other find the things of truth. At times Paul felt so close to other Christians that he said: For we have the same spirit and walk in each other’s steps, doing things the same way. 2 Cor 12:18 With this attitude it is easy to love the many other types of believers. This can only begin when we are honest with ourselves. The importance that we have placed on our own thinking is limiting the real work God has for us. We must: Let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy. Eph 4:23-24 (NLT) In the Master’s house we must think of others as more important than ourselves. Then we will fit into the Master’s household.