Life: Where Does it Begin, Where Does it End?
This title would probably lead many of you to think that this article will deal with two issues which concern all of us, namely, abortion and euthenasia. These two issues obviously need to be addressed and condemned on the basis of biblical principles. It is not my intention to comment on these issues however; I have asked this question for a different reason.
In the October 28 issue of U.S. News and World Report, a 14-year-old girl from Los Angeles was quoted as saying, Life ends at 20; what is there after that? I found this to be a rather shocking statement from a young teenager. It certainly conveys the very opposite of the statement which is so frequently heard, Life begins at forty! Both statements obviously express two very different views concerning life.
This logically raises the question, What is life? In using the word life, reference is clearly not made to our mere physical existence, but to the spiritual dimension of human existence. For this 14-year-old girl there appears to be nothing to look forward to beyond the age of twenty. The world she lives in is a world threatened by nuclear holocaust, by moral and physical pollution, by over-population, by AIDS, etc. For many in her age-group life no longer appears to have any purpose, and therefore the suicide rate among teenagers is alarmingly high. The yuppie generation of our day seems to believe that life begins at forty after all, for they are totally obsessed to gain all the material wealth they need to enjoy the life which awaits them after forty. How sad it is that the generation over forty is still desparately looking for the life they thought they would find. Does all this not remind us of what David wrote in Psalm 39:5c,6, Verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity. Selah. Surely every man walketh in a vain show: surely they are disquieted in vain: he heapeth up riches, and knoweth not who shall gather them.
Young friend, why is it that Scripture gives us such a disheartening evaluation of human existence? If this is true, is there any purpose to your existence? Let us turn to Scripture again, for it is there that you will find the answer to the question I have raised in the title. The Bible tells me that life already ended in Paradise! When Adam and Eve were created they truly knew what life was. God Himself was the essence and fulfilment of their life; their entire existence was focussed upon Him. How incomprehensibly great was the joy and happiness of this life! Satan, however, suggested to our parents that true happiness was to be found in being focussed upon themselves. They believed his wicked lie, thinking they could be as God, and it is at that moment that life ended! What a wretched creature man has become and is, as a result of being focussed upon himself. Man is now living dead, separated from His Maker, separated from His favor and communion. It is even worse: we have lost God Himself! That is the bitter and dreadful reality of our fall, and as long as we live without God as our portion we are in reality dead!
This reality does not only apply to the world at large, but also to all who live within the confines of the church. In spite of all that you may have, your religious upbringing, your impeccable reputation, your interest in religious literature, your participation in church activities, or whatever else it may be, if God is not your God, you are spiritually dead and your life is vanity, i.e., empty! This is the sad picture of all of us, whether we live in the world or are religious. As long as my life is still focussed upon myself, I miss the true purpose of my existence, I am without God, without hope in the world, and of all men most miserable.
This of necessity leads to the scriptural answer to the question where life begins. Life begins when God begins with us! This is precisely what Christ conveyed to Nicodemus, who from a human perspective had so much going for him, namely, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he can not see the kingdom of God (John 3:3). Only by the mighty work of Gods Spirit can I become a new creature again, a creature whose existence is focussed upon God again, in whose heart the love of God has been shed abroad. When by the grace of God I may become such a new creature, then I will mourn over and hate sin, because it separates me from the God I love, whom I have so deeply offended, whose just wrath I am worthy of, and yet whom my heart so deeply yearns for! How precious and indispensable Jesus then becomes, who is the Way, the Truth and the Life! For it is in Him alone that God can become my God again and therefore my heart will cry out, Give me Jesus, or else I die!
My young friend, I hope that this may become the cry of your life, for outside of this Jesus there is no life, but only the prospect of everlasting death! This is life eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent (John 17:3). If you are still without God, and therefore still dead, then this Jesus proclaims to you, I am the resurrection and the life: he that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die. Believest thou this? (John 11:25,26).
Battel Elshout is laboring as evangelistelder in the Denver, Colorado area on behalf of the Netherlands Reformed Congregations.
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Bekijk de hele uitgave van zondag 1 december 1985
The Banner of Truth | 28 Pagina's
Bekijk de hele uitgave van zondag 1 december 1985
The Banner of Truth | 28 Pagina's