The Reason for Life

T

Terrence

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[FONT=Courier New,Courier,mono]The Reason for Life[/FONT]

[FONT=Courier New,Courier,mono] A Passion for His Glory[/FONT]

[FONT=Courier New,Courier,mono] I've seen, heard, and experienced many glorious splendors. Some simple some complex. And yet, some so grand as to not only take your breath away, but to serve as a reminder of how small and insignificant man is. Consider the Grand Canyon. No one stands at that marvelous sight and turns their back to it to notice the formation of clouds. There is glory in beholding that awe-inspiring sight. There is glory in beholding something much greater than yourself. At the moment of beholding glory manifested, whether it be at the grand canyon, or the sun setting over the Nigeria Falls, time seems to stop. Consider a basketball game. Yes, there is glory in that too. The home team has the ball and is down by one point, with two seconds to go, and they make the shot. The crowd erupts in unanimous cheers as the team celebrates in remarkable disbelief. Waves and waves of ecstasy flows through the audience as they celebrate the victory of their team. There is glory in that.

Consider love. Oh, what a glorious splendor it is to experience love. To have your heart skip a beat every time you witness a smile. To laugh and cry and hold hands and kiss and fight and make up and smile again, there is glory in that too. Consider sex. The passion and the intimacy and the ecstasy and the sheer pleasure that comes with it all, what a glorious thing. These are all marvelous and glorious things. [/FONT][FONT=Courier New,Courier,mono]Yet, I have come to know that this isn't all that life is about; for all those glorious things, i.e., the Grand Canyon, Nigeria Falls, family, friends, music, food, sex, children, cars, money, fame, laughter, summer breeze, snow flakes, art, etc., all point to a greater joy and a much greater Glory - Namely, the Glory of God in Christ.

It is He [Christ] who spoke the world into existence and gave us all these pleasurable things. It is He who ordained art and music and gave us creativity, whereby we may excel in these things. It is He who made sex pleasurable and gave us marriage. He created the snow flakes; each one different from the other. He created emotions and gave us laughter. He created the awe-inspiration sights that take our breath away and made us in His own image, whereby we may appreciate love and desire intimacy. It is He [Jesus] who became flesh, dwelled among men, and who's glory shown through sad eyes.

He is King of kings, yet was born in the worst of circumstances. His riches are infinite in worth and He rode a donkey and didn't have a home.[/FONT][FONT=Courier New,Courier,mono] He baffled the wisest of intellectuals with His wisdom and was simply enough to be understood by children. He is powerful enough to stop thunder storms with a single word and is patient enough to allow ravenous and wicked men time to repent. He has power over demons and they fear Him. He saves from sickness and calls the dead to life. He is mighty over all, yet gave Himself over to wicked men to be slaughtered. He is the Almighty King, yet He gave Himself as gentle lamb. He was dead and now He lives. The famous American Preacher, [/FONT][FONT=Courier New,Courier,mono]Jothan[/FONT][FONT=Courier New,Courier,mono] Edwards, said over 250 years ago, "what makes Christ glorious is that we observe in Him an admirable conjunction of diverse excellencies."

He is the ultimate paradox: The Almighty and Sovereign God who gave himself to be beaten, ridiculed, spat upon, [/FONT][FONT=Courier New,Courier,mono]torchered[/FONT][FONT=Courier New,Courier,mono], and murdered. At anytime, His Almighty hand could have [/FONT][FONT=Courier New,Courier,mono]stopped[/FONT][FONT=Courier New,Courier,mono] it. He who commanded the winds and the waves, in one word, could have stopped the agony. Yet, He did not. He died and rose to defeat sin and the power of Satan, and yet in sovereign wisdom did not destroy him, but left him to watch his defeat play out by millions of souls choosing Christ' excellencies over sin's pleasures.[/FONT][FONT=Courier New,Courier,mono] He is glorious - the very definition of the word! Have you had a real encounter with Him? I'm not talking about praying a prayer and accepting Jesus into your heart, nor am I talking about being born into a religion or religious family.

I'm asking do you know Him? Has He become the all inclusive center of your life whereby all other joys and pleasure revolve around? Is He the passion of your life? Do you love Him? Do you aim to have Him as the the sun of the solar system of your heart, whereby all other desires like money and love and sex and children and wife and husband and fame and happiness, all revolved around? I dare say, if this isn't the case, you are wasting your life and you have absolutely nothing.

All known joys and pleasures will come to an end and life is but only a vapor. It is here today and gone in an instant. As I said in the beginning, there are many glorious splendors to behold and experience. But, if you only seek after them and not succeed in finding the glory in which those things point to, namely God in Christ, you would have missed it and wasted your life. Don't miss out on the share and indescribable sweetness of God in Christ. Know Chirst, that you may be fully sastisfied in Him and that God may be fully Glorified in you. Become one with God's will and allow His passion for His Glory to become your own passion. Seek that you may find Him and have a reason for living.[/FONT]

[FONT=Courier New,Courier,mono] - Terrence[/FONT]
 
I cannot help but compare this with Lot's thread, "purpose through it all" and I have to say that I'm more taken with his/her idea.

A few years ago I was at the Victoria Falls, it was shortly after rainy season and the level of water was phenomenal. The surrounding are had its own little ecosystem because the spray from the waterfall made the area into a sort of mini-rainforest.
There was a small wood suspension bridge that ran near to and kind of parallel to the falls. Standing on the bridge, the emmense power of the water was undeniable. The up-close sight of millions of gallons of water pouring over the edge every second. The thudering sound of that water, the smell, and taste of that water in the air. If you stood on the bridge for a second you would be soaked with water. It was a sensual overload.
But I haven't yet told you the thing that stands out most strongly in my mind from that experience. I was just walking off the bridge and I decided to take off my shirt and wring it out. I turned around and behind me there was a woman, I guess she was German, about 50, I was 22 at the time. She saw what I was doing and then took off her shirt and started wringing it out too. (Just realised this could be the start of a porno, actually it wasn't the slightest bit sexual.) I guess we could recognized in each others eyes those same ecstacies of awe that we each felt ourselves. Standing there squeezing the water from our shirts we started talking to each other, me speaking English, her, German(?). I don't speak German, but I didn't need to. I know exactly what she was saying, they were the same words that were coming from my mouth.
With this meeting, the experience of the Vic Falls was lifted onto a whole new level for me, for us both. That it was with a woman from a different generation who spoke a different language didn't matter. We had a relationship and it was incredible, above and beyond even the waterfall which made it possible.

Being awed by that waterfall was incredible, but the wonder of that brief and total equality was out of this world.
You go to any "praise and worship session" big or small. People singing choruses about the glory of God, or the sacrifice of Christ Jesus. Which is more important. Which thing is more important, which sends shivers down the spine, the words they are singing, or the communion with like minded others?

"By this, you will know my people, by their love for one another."

I don't have time to check this over, I hope it makes sense.
 
Sorry but it doesnt. What are you saying? Can you explain, please?
 
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