"Why do I exist in relation to God?" And other meaningful things

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It has been a few days since my last post and I think I left you hanging. The question I asked previously was, "Why do I exist in relation to Earth?" I gave some awesome comics to think about, which I did again, and promised to discuss the next issues, "Why do I exist in relation to God?" Why am I curious about this? That is very simple, because I want to know what I am here for. There has got to be some reason why I was existed other than to sit here typing away on my awesome iMac taking up physical and cyber-space. We all want to know- here is some more Calvin and Hobbes to ponder over:












Did I evolve from monkeys? Did you evolve from a monkey?

"Why do I exist in relation to God?" Meaning, if I agree there are two natures, a "supra" nature, or supernatural realm, and a natural realm, then what is my relationship to the supernatural while existing in the natural realm? Before we begin, I think it best that I define what I mean by "supra" nature. For a definition, please see the picture to the right -->

Supra, when added as a prefix, carries a meaning of "beyond," "transcending," or "above." Anything that is beyond physical reality, the nature that we can normally see, hear, and feel, is supernatural. I don't want to get into trying to prove whether or not there is such a thing as supernature or not. For that you can check out C.S. Lewis' book Miracles or a soon to be published book by Dale Kratt that speaks very comprehensively on the topic of philosophical naturalism and things of that nature. These are topics I don't want to delve into today- that is not my "purpose."

Just like I have a purpose in this little blog, I also have a large purpose as a human. But what is that purpose? Last week I talked about how we have a purpose to take care of God's orderly nature, to not exploit it. Maybe our purpose, as Hobbes has it, is to be tiger food. What do you think?

The reason I appreciate Calvin and Hobbes so much is because a lot of it is true about some of us. Just take the first comic for example. Calvin has just convinced himself that the whole history of the universe is leading up to a certain, unavoidable climax (something I agree, we call this the "second coming of Jesus Christ.") So Hobbes asks him, "what are you going to do about this knowledge?" And what do they do? They spend the rest of the afternoon watching cartoons on tv.... haha. That seems like a response that I would have had, and it seems like a response we all have from time to time. At some point in our lives, the thought that there might be something greater than ourselves comes to us. It might not be something we think about all the time, but it comes, maybe subtly, but its there. And sometimes we respond by seeking out the truth of that inquiry or subconscious suggestion, or sometimes we just shrug it off and go to watching cartoons for the rest of the day.

Then we have the 3rd comic. Calvin asks Hobbes, "what is the purpose of humanity?""Why are we here?" To which Hobbes describes, "to devour each other alive." Now, if you are any fan of Thomas Hobbes or have ever taken a Poly Sci class, you will know that Hobbes is famous for saying in his book The Leviathan, about mankind in the state of nature: "and In such condition, there is no place for industry; because the fruit thereof is uncertain: and consequently no culture of the earth; no navigation, nor use of the commodities that may be imported by sea; no commodious building; no instruments of moving, and removing, such things as require much force; no knowledge of the face of the earth; no account of time; no arts; no letters; no society; and which is worst of all, continual fear, and danger of violent death; and the life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short."(Thanks Wikipedia for this exact quote)

I wonder how much of us hold to this understanding? Or how many of us out there practice life according to Hobbes (the tiger) that the purpose of man is to devour one another alive. I unfortunately think that more of us fall into this category that we like to admit... But enough of that, its too convicting (thanks Howard Hendricks!). Even more, how many of us think we are the perfect end of evolution?

Anyway, that long introduction finally leads me to the point of this blog today, which is a big question, "Why do I exist in relation to God?" There are many answers to this, and of course there is the "big answer" which is to glorify Him, which is irrevocably true. But today I want to focus on one thing: fellowship.

Mankind was created in the image of God to have fellowship with God, to worship God completely and walk with him(Gen 1---3). Fellowship with God means complete blessing. But as a result of Adam and Eve's sin, mankinds spiritual condition was corrupted and was cut off from fellowship from God: For a more comprehensive reading, see Paul Ennis in Moody's Handbook of Theology:

JUDGMENT

Adam and Eve now came to a knowledge of good and evil but not in the manner they should have. Immediately the world around them looked different; they recognized their nakedness, something they had not previously considered (Gen. 3:7). Their minds had become defiled, hindering fellowship with God.

God called for Adam, the mediator of His truth, to accountability (Gen. 3:9). Adam as head of the human race was being held responsible. God first pronounced judgment upon the serpent and Satan who was the power behind the serpent (Gen. 3:14–15). Because the serpent sought to exalt himself he would be abased, crawling on his belly, eating the dust in his path. Genesis 3:15 should be understood as referring to Satan. Although he would have a minor victory, the seed of the woman (Christ) would deal Satan a death blow. God also judged the woman; she would have pain in childbirth (Gen. 3:16) and desire for her husband⁷ who would rule over her. The judgment on Adam meant he would work hard; the ground would resist him.⁸  The tragic news awaited Adam: death would occur. Adam and Eve died both physically and spiritually.

Promise of Redemption 

In Genesis 3:15 God announced the enmity that would come between Satan and mankind. This is the protevangelium, the first announcement of the gospel in Scripture. Satan would be dealt a destructive, head crushing blow. This is a reference to Christ’s victory over Satan at the cross (Col. 2:14–15; Heb. 2:14) when Christ would render Satan powerless, enabling man to be forever restored to fellowship with God, making possible man’s ultimate rule. Satan would have a minor victory (“you shall bruise him on the heel” ), suggesting the death of Christ; however, that very death would spell Satan’s defeat.

Although Adam and Eve had sinned, incurring death, God moved to resolve man’s dilemma by pointing to a future Savior who would eliminate death, restore believing man to fellowship with God, and consummate history with Messiah’s reign on earth to restore all that Adam had lost.

Even though Adam lost considerable authority in his kingdom rule as God’s mediator, Genesis 3:15 looks to the future when the Messianic kingdom will be inaugurated, restoring all that Adam lost.

And the "promise of redemption" is the good news. Before Christ, if man wanted fellowship with God, to be "friends with God," to "be with God," he has to partake in the sacrifical system, the shedding of blood for the remission of sins and guilt. But since Christ came, the message of Easter, man no longer has to shed the blood, but because of the shed blood of Christ, is free once again to partake in complete fellowship with God and to share in the blessings that follow. If you want to know more on what it means to have fellowship with God, I encourage you to check out 1 John. That is a great little book in the back of the Bible that focuses on this issue of what it means to have fellowship with God. Or, check out the C.S.
lewis article I linked on an earlier post called, "The Weight of Glory."

"Why do I exist in relation to God?" I exist for the purpose of having fellowship with God, of calling God my "friend." Of partaking in the blessings and, often times, the suffering that comes with being God's friend. We try and find experiences that can relate to what I am talking about- we try and use chemicals (alcohol, drugs, caffeine (yes), ect. ect.) or whatever to empower our senses toward some other kind of supernatural or "out of body" experience. But the real, true extra-sensory experience is had in true relationship with our creator- that is a purpose.  It may sound silly and hokey to you. But once you have experienced God's fellowship you will know what I mean, you will understand the blessing that comes and the pure blessing that awaits when we can finally have perfect fellowship with God for eternity.

PJ