“Before you were born”

Isaiah 49:1-7

January 20, 2008

Today we’re going to look at life’s three greatest questions:  1) The question of existence – why am I alive?  2)  the question of significance – does my life matter?  and 3) the question of intention – what is my purpose?  Much of what we’ll talk about today comes from a message that I preached three years ago when we kicked off our 40 Days of Purpose campaign, because it speaks to the questions of relevance and meaning that Isaiah asks in today’s scripture reading.

Now this first question, “Why am I alive?” is not exactly a new question.  It was asked thousands of years ago.  In fact, in Jeremiah 20:18 , it says this “Why was I born? Was it only to have trouble and sorrow, to end my life in disgrace?”   Have you ever felt that way?  Was I born just to have a bunch of problems?  Was I put here just to have heartache, grief and stress?  You know, those are tragic statements folks, because the life without purpose isn’t a life worth living. 

Okay, so why does God want us here?  Why are we alive?  Why are we on this planet?  Is there a reason?  Well, the Bible says this in Proverbs 16.4, “The Lord has made everything (circle everything) for His own purpose.”  It’s for His purpose.  Now God has never made anything without a purpose.  Every rock has a purpose, every plant has a purpose, every animal has a purpose and you have a purpose.   

Today, though, I want us to see God’s motive.  Ephesians 1:4 reads, “Long before He laid down the earth’s foundation, He had us in His mind and settled on us as the focus of His love to be made whole and holy by His love.”  If you don’t get anything else, I want you to understand this: God says He made you to love you.  You might want to write that down.  You were created to be loved by God.  God is love and God wanted to create something to love and so He created you.  He didn’t need you.  He wasn’t lonely.  But He made you in order to love you.  And before we can talk about anything else, you have to understand this is what on earth you’re here for – to be loved by God.

The second key question of life is the “Question of Significance: Does my life matter?”  In our scripture reading today, Isaiah asked this question. He said, “My work all seems so useless.  I’ve spent my strength for nothing and for no purpose at all.”   You know, many of us feel like that sometimes.  We were made for meaning, and if you don’t have a meaning and purpose in your life and you don’t know why God put you on this planet, life doesn’t make sense. 

Now you’re going to go through life living at one of three levels:  The first and lowest level is what I call the Survival level.  The Survival level is really where most live today.  They’re just existing.  They’re not living.  They are controlled by their circumstances.  They put in their time and live for the weekend. 

A step up from that, a better way to live, is the Success level.  If I had to guess, I’d say that this is where most of you are.  By the world’s standards, you’ve got it made.  You’ve got a comfortable living, and compared to the rest of the world, you’re extremely wealthy.  So you have possessions, you have freedom, you have good health and you may have prestige.  But today there are a lot of books coming out that say things like, “If I’m so successful, how come I don’t feel fulfilled?”  The reason is, it takes more than success and it takes more than status to satisfy. 

You need to go to the third level of living, which I call the Significance level.  Not a Survival, not a Success but step up to the level of Significance.  How do you live at the Significance level?  Well, you get there through three things:

#1:  You know the meaning of life - that gives Significance.

#2:  You know how much you matter to God - that gives you Significance.

#3:  You know God’s purposes for your life and you’re living them out, and that

       gives you Significance.

If you want to know how much you matter to God, listen to this.  God says, “I am your Creator.  You were in My care, even before you were born.” (Isaiah 44:2)  God was caring for you even in His mind, as He thought you up.  We heard from today’s reading that we were called by God before we were born.  The Bible says, ”You (talking about God) scheduled each day of my life before I began to breathe.  Every day was recorded in your book.”  That’s how much you matter to God.  He paid so much attention to your life that every detail was recorded in His book, before you even took a breath.  He made you to love you and the Bible says you do matter.  

He wants you to know His purposes. God has extremely long-range plans for you.     

In fact, you were made to last forever.  The Bible says this, Psalm 33:11, “His purposes last eternally.  In other words, God says that we were made to last forever.  I was made to be loved by God, and I was made to last forever.  And so were you.  This life is not all there is. 

One of the biggest ways you can waste your life is thinking all there is, is here and now.  On this side, you may get to live 60, 70, 80 or 90 years or so.  But that’s just a drop in the bucket compared to eternity.  It’s like if you stretched out a line from London to Lakewood , across the Atlantic Ocean .  The first millimeter of that line would not even equal how tiny your life is compared to all the time you’re going to spend in eternity.  You were made for eternity and life is preparation for eternity.  This is not all there is.     

2 Corinthians 5:1 says, “When this tent we live in – our body here on earth – is torn down, God will have a house in Heaven for us to live in.  A home He himself has made, which will last forever.”  You want to know how much you matter to God?  Well, I’ll tell you – you matter so much to God, He wants to keep you with Him for the rest of eternity.  Forever.

So God answers the question of existence – “why am I alive?”, by saying, “I made you to love you, that’s why you’re alive.”  In the question of Significance – does my life matter?  God says you matter so much that I intend on keeping you alive for the rest of eternity.  You’re going to be around for a long, long time. 

So then comes the third question, the “Question of Intention: What is my purpose?”  What on earth am I here for?  In Psalm 89:47 David asked the question, “Why did you create us? For nothing?   Probably the greatest atheist philosopher of the last century, Bertrand Russell, said, “Unless you assume the existence of God, the question of life’s meaning and purpose is irrelevant.”  You see, if there is no God, if you’re just a freak chance of nature, you’re just complex pond scum, and guess what- your life doesn’t matter.  If somebody wants to take it, go ahead.  Because there’s no real reason, meaning or purpose.  But God made you for a reason, and He made you for a purpose. 

The only way you’re going to ever know your purpose in life is not by listening to the philosophers, because even the best ones are just guessing.  It’s not looking within, because you’re not going to find it there.  You’ve got to talk to the Creator and look in the owner’s manual.  It’s the only way you will ever know your purpose in life. 

It all starts with God, it continues with God, it ends with God.  “In the beginning, God created.”  The Bible says this in Proverbs 9:10 – “Knowing God results in every other kind of understanding.”  You want to understand the meaning of life; you want to understand your purpose of life?  You find your purpose by getting to know God.  It all starts with God.  Colossians 1:16 says, “For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible…everything got started in Him and finds its purpose in Him.”   

The more you get to know God, the more you’re going to understand the ways and the wisdom of God and the more you’re going to understand the meaning and purpose of life.  You’re not going to learn it on some talk show.  You’re not going to learn it in some séance.  You’re not going to learn it going to a seminar.  The only way you’re going to learn the meaning of life and your purpose in life is to get to know God.  It all starts with God, because it’s all about God.  “In the beginning, God.”  It’s all about God.

I realize that all of us here today are at different stages in our spiritual journey.  That doesn’t matter.  We’re all going to go through this journey together, no matter what stage you are in.  Some of you are seekers, some of you are brand new believers; some of you are what I call “stumblers.”  You say, “I call myself a Christian, but I’m not really very close to God.”  Well, it’s January, the start of a new year and a new beginning, and this is the time to come home. 

Wherever you are, over the next year I invite you, I encourage you, to go deeper with God than you’ve ever gone before.  Regardless of where you are in your spiritual journey, listen to this last verse.  “It makes no difference who you are or where you’re from – if you want God and are ready to do as He says, the door is open.” (Acts 10:35 )

George Herbert once said, “It’s never too late to be who you might have been.”  My friends, it’s not too late.

Let our first step be taken today.