You're a pretty decent person, I'm guessing. Maybe you've never done anything that's majorly horrible and maybe you have a pretty average life. I assume you got yourself ready this morning and brought yourself to wherever you had to be. You like your friends and you like what you do. You decided what you were going to eat and you chose what movie or TV show you wanted to watch.
For the most part, if you had to, you could do life pretty much on your own. Set your own rules, go at your own pace, live life exactly the way you wanted to live it. You'd be juuuust fine.
If my assumptions have been mostly correct, then I'll make another assumption: Most people genuinely think they don't need God.
Some have said this explicitly and some live like God is just a thing that may or may not exist. If they believe he does exist, then he's not a critical part of life. And if a person thinks he doesn't exist, then his non-existence has no significant impact on humanity or the universe.
People don't realize what it would mean if there were no God. I want you to consider a few very significant implications of a universe without God. But before you see them, let's make a couple of things crystal clear.
God ≠ Religion
God = perfect Creator who gives eternal life; a PERSON
So if there is a God, then he created everything, he is personal, and he gives eternal life to humans. And if there is no eternal-life-giver, then there is no eternal life. That means humans are doomed to death and so is the universe. Yes, the universe isn't going to last forever. And as for you, after something like a hundred years, you'll be gone. Gone, gone, gone.
So I dare to say this: without God, life has no meaning, no value, and no purpose. Believers and non-believers alike have searched and analyzed these implications and all have come to the same conclusion: life is absurd. The following points (taken from On Guard by William Lane Craig) won't prove God's existence, but it will prove the absolute absurdity of life without him.
*I'll break it up for you and post the other main points in separate blogs. Consider this Part 1.
So I dare to say this: without God, life has no meaning, no value, and no purpose. Believers and non-believers alike have searched and analyzed these implications and all have come to the same conclusion: life is absurd. The following points (taken from On Guard by William Lane Craig) won't prove God's existence, but it will prove the absolute absurdity of life without him.
*I'll break it up for you and post the other main points in separate blogs. Consider this Part 1.
If there is no God, then...
1. There is no meaning.
Meaning has to do with why something matters. So you're here for a little while on this accidental rock spinning in outer space. This accidental rock and these coincidental cosmos were caused by nothing. In essence, your life was also caused by nothing because it came from a universe that was caused by nothing. You are composed of material. You are just "stuff." You have no soul or spirit. You're just a mind and a body.
Now, imagine a cigarette lighter clicking on and then off. Picture a mist of perfume spraying from its pump and then fading away in seconds. The fragrance may linger, but it will be gone soon enough. That's your life. It is extremely minuscule compared to the length of the beginning and end of time. Think of all the billions and billions of people who have ever lived. You are one person out of all of them. That means you are a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of a percent of all humans.
Now, imagine a cigarette lighter clicking on and then off. Picture a mist of perfume spraying from its pump and then fading away in seconds. The fragrance may linger, but it will be gone soon enough. That's your life. It is extremely minuscule compared to the length of the beginning and end of time. Think of all the billions and billions of people who have ever lived. You are one person out of all of them. That means you are a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of a percent of all humans.
Sure, you have good things in your life, nice friends, and maybe a significant other who is the world to you. But just like you, those things and those people won't be here much longer. You may be working to achieve something great, but if you're not going to be here a hundred years from now driving your car and updating your Facebook account, why all the fuss? You might get remembered for something and you might cure cancer, but, think about it--the sun is going to eventually burn out. The stars and planets and galaxies will become litter. You might say that it already is litter. Everything that you see will be gone. Whatever you are living for right now will ultimately not matter.
BUT if there is a God, then we have a chance to do things that will have an impact (literally) forever, because forever is a reality with God. If God exists, then we have a chance to live not only this life in this created, non-accidental world, but also in eternity (forever) with our good and perfect Creator. If this personal God is real, then we have the opportunity to not just know about him, but actually know him.
And that's pretty meaningful.
And that's pretty meaningful.
No comments:
Post a Comment