What Is the Meaning of Life?
Introduction
Jonathan Gabay, a thirty-one-year-old professional writer, was facing employment challenges and stress when he hit rock bottom. He began to ask questions about the meaning of life. He wrote to people in all walks of life: world leaders, the homeless, Oscar-winning actors, philosophers, comedians, taxi-drivers, teachers, explorers and prisoners on death row. He even wrote to me!
To each one he asked, ‘What is the meaning of life?’ Gabay compiled a book of our responses, together with others who had attempted, over time, to answer this question. They include the following:
Richard Nixon: ‘Life is one crisis after another.’
John Lennon: ‘Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.’
Dennis the Menace: ‘Life is what you make it – and I can make it UNBEARABLE!’
Albert Einstein: ‘The man who regards his life and that of his fellow creatures as meaningless is not merely unhappy but hardly fit for life.’
Numerous people replied that the meaning and purpose of life was to be found in Jesus Christ. Not only Mother Teresa and Billy Graham, but actors, scientists and the then Lord Chancellor. The Chief Cashier of the Bank of England, Graham Kentfield (whose signature was on every banknote at the time) said, ‘I am clear that the meaning of life can only be properly understood in the context of our relationship with God.’
Psalm 117:1–2
Psalm 117
1 Praise the LORD, all you nations;
extol him, all you peoples.
2 For great is his love toward us,
and the faithfulness of the LORD endures forever.
Praise the LORD.
Commentary
Life is about love and worship
This short psalm says so much about what life is all about. The key is your relationship with God. You should ‘praise’ and ‘extol’ the Lord (v.1) because of his great ‘love’ for you and ‘faithfulness’ towards you (v.2). The psalmist gives us a beautiful summary of God’s attitude to you, and what your attitude to him should be.
Prayer
Lord, thank you that Jesus laid down his life for me. Thank you that I am a child of God. Thank you that the love of God is poured into my heart by the Holy Spirit who has been given to me (Romans 5:5). Thank you, Lord, that through an experience of your love for me, I find the very meaning of my life.
Colossians 1:24–2:5
Paul’s Labour for the Church
24 Now I rejoice in what I am suffering for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church. 25 I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness— 26 the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord’s people. 27 To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
28 He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ. 29 To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me.
2 I want you to know how hard I am contending for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me personally. 2 My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. 4 I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments. 5 For though I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit and delight to see how disciplined you are and how firm your faith in Christ is.
Commentary
The meaning of life is found in Jesus Christ
The meaning of your life is found in Jesus Christ. Christianity is Christ. This passage highlights how Paul’s entire life, thinking and preaching are focused on Jesus Christ.
Paul is in prison suffering for the sake of Christ’s body: that is, the church (1:24). Paul is a servant of Christ, commissioned to disclose the mystery that was kept hidden for ages and generations but is now revealed (v.26). God has ‘chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory’ (v.27).
There will always be an emptiness in your heart until it is filled by Christ living within you. The moment you put your faith in him, he came to live within you by his Spirit. You experience, right now, ‘the glorious riches of this mystery’ and you have ‘the hope of glory’ (v.27).
Jesus Christ should be at the centre of all our teaching and preaching in the church. Paul writes, ‘We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ’ (v.28).
Not only is Christ in you, but you are also ‘in Christ’. Paul’s desire is that everyone should grow and mature in this relationship. This is what drives him: ‘To this end I labour, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me’ (v.29).
This provides an excellent model for pastoral care, discipleship and mentoring:
The aim
Paul’s aim was to bring ‘each person to maturity’ in Christ (v.28, MSG).- Our concern should be for each person. As a good pastor, Paul did not want to lose any of his sheep.
- Aim for spiritual maturity. This does not happen overnight. It takes a lifetime.
- Aim for maturity in Christ. We do not want to attach people to ourselves, but to Christ. In the same way that good parents encourage their children to be independent, Paul encouraged the independence of believers – not to be dependent upon him, but strengthened to cling to Christ.
The method
Our method should be to proclaim Jesus. Paul wrote, ‘We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom’ (v.28). Jesus Christ is the key to spiritual maturity. As your knowledge of and intimacy with Jesus increases, you grow in maturity.
That is why it is so important to prioritise the things in your life that feed that knowledge and intimacy – such as worship, prayer and Bible reading.
The commitment
Paul writes, ‘To this end I labour, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me’ (v.29). In Paul’s ministry, there was a balance between God’s grace and his own responsibility. There was an element of ‘toiling’ and ‘striving’, which all effective Christian ministry involves. It requires time and effort, overcoming disappointments and difficulties.
On the other hand, you can only do it through God’s grace. You do not ‘labour’ and ‘struggle’ on your own. You do it with ‘all his energy, which so powerfully works in [you]’. You need his help and his power for each and every task.
What delights Paul is to see ‘how firm’ the Colossians ‘faith in Christ is’ (2:5). The whole purpose of Paul’s life revolved around Jesus: ‘I want you woven into a tapestry of love, in touch with everything there is to know of God. Then you will have minds confident and at rest, focused on Christ, God’s great mystery. All the richest treasures of wisdom and knowledge are embedded in that mystery and nowhere else’ (vv.2–3, MSG).
Prayer
Lord, thank you that I found the meaning of life in Christ. Thank you that you came to live within me by your Spirit. Thank you that in Jesus I find all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Help me to proclaim Jesus Christ and to present everyone fully mature in him.
Jeremiah 9:17–11:17
17 This is what the LORD Almighty says:
“Consider now! Call for the wailing women to come;
send for the most skillful of them.
18 Let them come quickly
and wail over us
till our eyes overflow with tears
and water streams from our eyelids.
19 The sound of wailing is heard from Zion:
‘How ruined we are!
How great is our shame!
We must leave our land
because our houses are in ruins.’”
20 Now, you women, hear the word of the LORD;
open your ears to the words of his mouth.
Teach your daughters how to wail;
teach one another a lament.
21 Death has climbed in through our windows
and has entered our fortresses;
it has removed the children from the streets
and the young men from the public squares.
22 Say, “This is what the LORD declares:
“‘Dead bodies will lie
like dung on the open field,
like cut grain behind the reaper,
with no one to gather them.’”
23 This is what the LORD says:
“Let not the wise boast of their wisdom
or the strong boast of their strength
or the rich boast of their riches,
24 but let the one who boasts boast about this:
that they have the understanding to know me,
that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness,
justice and righteousness on earth,
for in these I delight,”
declares the LORD.
25 “The days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will punish all who are circumcised only in the flesh — 26 Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, Moab and all who live in the wilderness in distant places. For all these nations are really uncircumcised, and even the whole house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart. ”
God and Idols
10 Hear what the LORD says to you, people of Israel. 2 This is what the LORD says:
“Do not learn the ways of the nations
or be terrified by signs in the heavens,
though the nations are terrified by them.
3 For the practices of the peoples are worthless;
they cut a tree out of the forest,
and a craftsman shapes it with his chisel.
4 They adorn it with silver and gold;
they fasten it with hammer and nails
so that it will not totter.
5 Like a scarecrow in a cucumber field,
their idols cannot speak;
they must be carried
because they cannot walk.
Do not fear them;
they can do no harm
nor can they do any good.”
6 No one is like you, LORD;
you are great,
and your name is mighty in power.
7 Who should not fear you,
King of the nations?
This is your due.
Among all the wise leaders of the nations
and in all their kingdoms,
there is no one like you.
8 They are all senseless and foolish;
they are taught by worthless wooden idols.
9 Hammered silver is brought from Tarshish
and gold from Uphaz.
What the craftsman and goldsmith have made
is then dressed in blue and purple—
all made by skilled workers.
10 But the LORD is the true God;
he is the living God, the eternal King.
When he is angry, the earth trembles;
the nations cannot endure his wrath.
11 “Tell them this: ‘These gods, who did not make the heavens and the earth, will perish from the earth and from under the heavens.’”
12 But God made the earth by his power;
he founded the world by his wisdom
and stretched out the heavens by his understanding.
13 When he thunders, the waters in the heavens roar;
he makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth.
He sends lightning with the rain
and brings out the wind from his storehouses.
14 Everyone is senseless and without knowledge;
every goldsmith is shamed by his idols.
The images he makes are a fraud;
they have no breath in them.
15 They are worthless, the objects of mockery;
when their judgment comes, they will perish.
16 He who is the Portion of Jacob is not like these,
for he is the Maker of all things,
including Israel, the people of his inheritance —
the LORD Almighty is his name.
Coming Destruction
17 Gather up your belongings to leave the land,
you who live under siege.
18 For this is what the LORD says:
“At this time I will hurl out
those who live in this land;
I will bring distress on them
so that they may be captured.”
19 Woe to me because of my injury!
My wound is incurable!
Yet I said to myself,
“This is my sickness, and I must endure it.”
20 My tent is destroyed;
all its ropes are snapped.
My children are gone from me and are no more;
no one is left now to pitch my tent
or to set up my shelter.
21 The shepherds are senseless
and do not inquire of the LORD;
so they do not prosper
and all their flock is scattered.
22 Listen! The report is coming—
a great commotion from the land of the north!
It will make the towns of Judah desolate,
a haunt of jackals.
Jeremiah’s Prayer
23 LORD, I know that people’s lives are not their own;
it is not for them to direct their steps.
24 Discipline me, LORD, but only in due measure—
not in your anger,
or you will reduce me to nothing.
25 Pour out your wrath on the nations
that do not acknowledge you,
on the peoples who do not call on your name.
For they have devoured Jacob;
they have devoured him completely
and destroyed his homeland.
The Covenant Is Broken
11 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: 2 “Listen to the terms of this covenant and tell them to the people of Judah and to those who live in Jerusalem. 3 Tell them that this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Cursed is the one who does not obey the terms of this covenant— 4 the terms I commanded your ancestors when I brought them out of Egypt, out of the iron-smelting furnace. ’ I said, ‘Obey me and do everything I command you, and you will be my people, and I will be your God. 5 Then I will fulfill the oath I swore to your ancestors, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey’ —the land you possess today.”
I answered, “Amen, LORD.”
6 The LORD said to me, “Proclaim all these words in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem: ‘Listen to the terms of this covenant and follow them. 7 From the time I brought your ancestors up from Egypt until today, I warned them again and again, saying, “Obey me.” 8 But they did not listen or pay attention; instead, they followed the stubbornness of their evil hearts. So I brought on them all the curses of the covenant I had commanded them to follow but that they did not keep. ’”
9 Then the LORD said to me, “There is a conspiracy among the people of Judah and those who live in Jerusalem. 10 They have returned to the sins of their ancestors, who refused to listen to my words. They have followed other gods to serve them. Both Israel and Judah have broken the covenant I made with their ancestors. 11 Therefore this is what the LORD says: ‘I will bring on them a disaster they cannot escape. Although they cry out to me, I will not listen to them. 12 The towns of Judah and the people of Jerusalem will go and cry out to the gods to whom they burn incense, but they will not help them at all when disaster strikes. 13 You, Judah, have as many gods as you have towns; and the altars you have set up to burn incense to that shameful god Baal are as many as the streets of Jerusalem.’
14 “Do not pray for this people or offer any plea or petition for them, because I will not listen when they call to me in the time of their distress.
15 “What is my beloved doing in my temple
as she, with many others, works out her evil schemes?
Can consecrated meat avert your punishment?
When you engage in your wickedness,
then you rejoice.”
16 The LORD called you a thriving olive tree
with fruit beautiful in form.
But with the roar of a mighty storm
he will set it on fire,
and its branches will be broken.
17 The LORD Almighty, who planted you, has decreed disaster for you, because the people of both Israel and Judah have done evil and aroused my anger by burning incense to Baal.
Commentary
Knowing God is what it is all about
Today, some people still literally worship idols. Others worship a different type of ‘idol’. We are tempted to worship success, intelligence, money, power, celebrity or sensual indulgence. Personally, I have never met anyone made happy by these things alone. Yet, advertisers consistently play on our desire for these things, even though they fail to bring us true happiness.
Jeremiah proclaims that God’s judgment is coming on his people because they have missed the very purpose of their lives. They are worshipping idols who cannot speak and can do neither harm nor good (10:5).
This is what the LORD says: ‘Let not the wise boast in their wisdom or the strong boast in their strength or the rich boast in their riches, but let those who boast boast about this: that they understand and know me, that I am the LORD’ (9:23–24a).
In other words, Jeremiah says that what matters in life is not your brains (wisdom), nor your body (strength), nor your bank account (riches). None of these provide the purpose of your life. The purpose of your life is to understand and know God (v.24a). If you know God and his kindness, justice and righteousness, then you will imitate him and bring him delight (v.24b).
God’s concern is for your heart. It is not true that the Old Testament was concerned with physical circumcision and the New Testament with circumcision of the heart. God has always looked at the heart and regarded it as far more important than the outward sign (vv.25–26).
God is always looking for leaders of his people who know him and listen to him: ‘It’s because our leaders are stupid. They never asked God for counsel’ (10:21, MSG). They didn’t realise that ‘mere mortals can’t run their own lives’ (v.23, MSG).
Jeremiah on the other hand did listen to the Lord, constantly proclaiming: ‘The word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD’ (11:1).
The great strength of Jeremiah, and of all powerful preachers, is that they wait on the Lord and speak what the Lord tells them to, rather than simply relying on human understanding. God speaks in public through those who first speak to him in private. As the papal preacher, Cardinal Raniero Cantalamessa, says, ‘The more you are called to speak, the more you are called to listen.’
Prayer
Father, help me to grow into maturity in my knowledge of you and to hear the words of Jesus speaking to me clearly. Help me to proclaim Jesus with authority and power, so that many will put their faith in Christ and find the purpose and meaning of their lives.
Pippa adds
Colossians 1:29 says:
‘To this end I labour, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me.’
Sometimes I feel weak and tired and not sure how I will get through a particularly pressurised time. It can feel a ‘struggle’, but it is with ‘all God's energy (not mine), which so powerfully works in me’.
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References
Jonathan Gabay, The Meaning of Life: Revelations, Reflections and Insights from All Walks of Life (Virgin Books, 1995)
Queen, 'The Show Must Go On', Innuendo (Parlophone, 1991).
The Bible with Nicky and Pippa Gumbel (commentary formerly known as Bible in One Year) ©Alpha International 2009. All Rights Reserved.
Compilation of daily Bible readings © Hodder & Stoughton Limited 1988. Published by Hodder & Stoughton Limited as the Bible in One Year.
Unless otherwise stated, Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version Anglicised, Copyright © 1979, 1984, 2011 Biblica, formerly International Bible Society. Used by permission of Hodder & Stoughton Publishers, an Hachette UK company. All rights reserved. ‘NIV’ is a registered trademark of Biblica. UK trademark number 1448790.
Scripture quotations marked (AMP) taken from the Amplified® Bible, Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org)
Scripture quotations marked MSG are taken from The Message, copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress. All rights reserved. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.