Today on the verdict with Pastor John Monroe. Question today, as we continue the series, questions we would ask God is divine purpose. or chance existence. With this question, I'm asking What is the point of life? What is the purpose, if any, in your life?
Is life ultimately meaningful or meaningless? Welcome to The Verdict, featuring the Bible teaching of Pastor John Monroe. Evolution suggests that our universe and our very lives are based on chance, implying our existence is without purpose and meaning. But today on the verdict, we'll look at the evidence for a divine purpose and inherent meaning to our lives.
Now, continuing our series, what would you ask God? Here's Pastor John Monroe with today's lesson. We're considering the huge subject of God. Does God exist? Is He our Creator?
Or did we evolve? Today we're continuing to think of the question. Divine purpose? or chance existence. If there is no God and the evolutionists are correct, it's difficult to think about life's ultimate meaning.
What's the point? Is Richard Dawkins right in saying, well, there is no purpose, and to ask what it is is a silly question? But isn't there something within us which cries out for meaning? Does it make sense to you that your life ultimately has no purpose? Today we'll learn that God not only created you, but created you for a purpose.
Even if you don't believe in God, let me ask you to listen. The verdict is yours. Will you turn with me in your Bibles to the book of Ecclesiastes to read the words of a man? Who found that meaning and purpose in life were very elusive? He is Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived.
Ecclesiastes. Chapter one. Verse 2, vanity of vanity, says the preacher, vanity of vanities, all is vanity. The New International Version gives a good translation and says, Meaningless, meaningless, says the teacher, utterly meaningless. Everything is meaningless.
Do you get his basic point? Life seems a dreary cycle of pointless activity. It seems a waste of time. meaning and purpose in life. are often very elusive, aren't they?
Turn to the New Testament, to John chapter four. We thought of a man in the Old Testament seeking purpose. Here is a woman in the New Testament seeking purpose. In John chapter 4, the woman of Samaria, we've met her before. John chapter 4.
Four. And we'll read from verse five. Jesus came to a city of Samaria called Cycer. near the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. And Jacob's well was there.
Jesus, therefore, being wearied from his journey, was sitting thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour. There came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus said to her, Give me A drink. Verse 15.
The woman said to him, Sir, give me this water so I will not be thirsty nor come all of the way here to draw. He said to her, Go call your husband and come here. The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said to her, You have well said, I have no husband. For you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have is not your husband.
This you have said. Truly. Here's a woman who had had five husbands, was now living with a man who was not her husband. constantly seeking meaning in human relationships. She was on a search for intimacy.
She thought that meaning and significance in life would be found in a relationship. But as Jesus says, your thirst. is still not. satisfied. This woman's life was still without meaning.
There was an emptiness. within her. crying out for fulfilment. and meaning. Because meeting and purpose in life often seem elusive.
You know that and I know that. That's the first thing I want you to understand. The second thing is this. that God Created you. for a purpose.
I want you to get that today. I want you to take this very personally. God created. Me, put your name there. God created Jenny or Jim or whatever your name is.
Personalize it. God created you. He created me for a purpose. The Bible tells us that when God made us He didn't simply make us. He made us in his image.
Genesis one verse twenty seven. We are made in the image of God.
Now God is spirit. Being made in the image of God is a huge subject, but at the very least, it means that there is a correspondence and affinity between God. And us. And being made in the image of God means, among other things, that we are spiritual. beings.
He is spirit. And being made in his image means that we are spiritual beings. We're not just physical beings, we're not just intellectual beings or emotional beings, we are spiritual beings. You are a spiritual being. There is a spiritual dimension to you.
Now, you may suppress that, you may ignore that, you may deny that. But don't you know In your heart. that you have a deep longing for God. God made you to know Him, to commune with Him, and to glorify this God who is your personal Creator. And if that is true and it is It follows then that worship of God is essential to your self-fulfillment.
Worship of God. is essential to achieving meaning in life. Do you get there? You will never know true meaning in life apart from the world. From worshiping God, apart from knowing God.
The Frenchman Pascal was right when he wrote And said that there is a God-shaped gap. a God-shaped hole within each one of us. And there's nothing big enough in this world to satisfy your desires and your longings other than God. Only God Himself Who made you in his image can fill that gap, that hole within you. Yeah.
When I was a student at Edinburgh University in Scotland. There's about nineteen or twenty at the time. Thinking about my faith, struggling somewhat. And I happened to read a book Not as part of uh any of my courses. But just for my own pleasure, as it were.
I I read a book by a British writer called C. P. Snow, which I'd be surprised if any of you have have read, and I'm not necessarily recommending him. He was a scientist, he was an atheist, and he wrote a series of books, uh fiction, And this particular book is called The Light and the Darkness. And the story Is about this Cambridge professor who's a brilliant Oriental scholar.
And brilliant although he is, and very successful although he is in academic circles, there is a side to him. which is very restless, which is very empty. There is a darkness to him. As it were, and he tries to shrug this off, and he tries to bury himself in his academic studies, but he still can't get rid of it. And in the book I read for the first time.
what I have read many, many times since, and which many of you have heard, That wonderful, famous quotation By Saint Augustine. Thou hast created us. for thyself. and their hearts Can never rest. Until They rest.
In thee. And these words leapt off the pages. Augustine is saying, and saying so right. God, you have created us for For yourself. And our hearts can never rest until they rest in you.
Now the man in the book of the novel that I was writing. shrugged that off, sadly. But this is so true. That I want you to understand that God has created you. He's created you for a purpose.
He's created you for Himself, for His glory. And your heart will always be restless. There will always be a hole. There will always be frustration, there will always be a sense of disappointment, a sense of something not right until your heart rests in God. Doesn't that make sense that if there is a Creator who is all wise, all loving and all good, that He has made you for a purpose?
Just as a car manufacturer makes a car for a specific purpose, just as a builder builds a house for a particular purpose.
So God, your Creator, This is exciting, isn't it? It's incredible when you think about it. God has made you far a purpose. And you and I are to fulfil the purposes of God. for our lives.
One of my favorite movies and I'm not a movie buff. His chariots of fire. My son used to get tired of it. When he would say on a Friday night, could we watch a movie? I would say, well, what about Chariot Sofar?
He'd say, We've seen that one before that. One of the few movies I I've ever watched more than once. Charis for Fire, of course, tells the story of the Scottish athlete Eric Liddell. And Eric Little, as well as being a wonderful athlete, very fast athlete, is also a strong Christian attending Edinburgh University in Scotland. And there is a wonderful scene in that movie which some of you may recall when Eric Little is with his sister Jeannie and they're on Arthur's seat just behind Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh.
And Ginny is rather upset with her brother. Because she knows that her brother feels called by God to go as a missionary to China. But Eric Little is also a runner. And she is trying to get Eric to leave the running, leave the athletics. And to focus on becoming a missionary and Eric Little says To her.
God made me. for a purpose And God made me fast and when I run I feel His pleasure. Isn't that a great line? God made me for a purpose And God made me fast. Brilliant runner.
And he's saying that when I run, I feel the pleasure of God because he believed that God, yes, he was going to use him as a missionary in China, but God was also using him as an athlete as he ran with all of his might, not for his own glory. but to bring glory. to his Lord and Saviour. Jesus Christ. A God has made you He may not have made you fast.
But he has made you, as we thought last Sunday, God is a creator and he makes us creative, and he's given you gifts, and he's given you opportunities, and he's shaped you, and he's molded you, and he's made you in such a way for a purpose not to waste your life self-indulgently, not to choose your own way. But humbly to surrender yourself. to Jesus Christ Realizing that God has made you. And that purpose and meaning in life is not when I go my own way, which I'm tempted to do very often, believe you me. But when I humbly Walk With God and commune with God.
And whether you're an athlete running for the glory of God, whether you're a homemaker changing your baby's diapers or mopping the kitchen floor. Whether you're a student studying Whether you're a business person putting a A big deal together when you know that this is what God has for you. You feel his pleasure. You feel his hand on your shoulder, as it were, and your life. is being lived then to the glory of God.
He said, John, that's wonderful. I would like that. It can be a reality in your life. Because God created you for a purpose, for meaning, and this God who created you is seeking you. You say, How can I know this purpose?
How can I know this God? I'm undylimited by the boundaries of my own existence. If there is a God, how does he make himself known to me? How can I encounter this God?
Well, we've learned over the last few weeks that we can understand much of God as we consider his creation. His fingerprints are all around us. The sky, the flowers, the mountains, the birds, our own children, all of them are revealing something of the glory and the beauty of God. But God has done more than that. And this is the gospel.
of Jesus Christ God. has come into human history. into time and space, the eternal God, and He comes to find us. And this is what we celebrate at Christmas. This is the perfect revelation of God This is what we call The doctrine of the incarnation, the becoming flesh of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Word becoming flesh and dwelling among us, God becoming man, Emmanuel.
God with us.
So that Jesus said, He who has seen me has seen the Father. That is the perfect revelation of God. It's impossible for you to climb up a kind of heavenly ladder to God. You'll never reach God that way. But God is so gracious.
And our Lord Jesus Christ so humble. that he comes all the way down. Down, down. Not only becoming a man, becoming a servant. not only becoming a servant coming to die for you.
not only coming to die for you, but coming to die the death of a cross. The most humiliating death imaginable.
So that you and I, who are low because of our sin, Who are not fulfilling God's purposes, but have turned their back on God, so that now, through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, this great God who comes seeking us in His Son, will transform us, will forgive us. And put us on the right path so that Jesus can say, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but By me, and so we learn. That meaning in life is found in knowing God. And fulfilling God's purposes for you.
Listen to Jesus, to this woman of Samaria in John 4, verse 13. Jesus answered and said to her, Everyone who drinks of this water shall thirst again. That's true. You try to find Yeah. Meaning in your pleasures, you'll thirst again.
You're trying to find meaning in And making a million dollars, you'll thirst again. You are trying to find Meaning in your relationships, you'll thirst again. But Jesus says, But whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him. shall never thirst But the water that I shall give him shall become in him a well of water, a fountain of water, springing up to life eternal. That when we encounter Jesus Christ in this wonderful act of conversion, when we trust in Christ as the Savior of our sins, Christ not only forgives our sins, He indwells us.
He gives us this fountain of water which springs up within us. Not outside of us. But within us Because we have his life in our soul, and we will never ever thirst again. Everything else in life is too small to satisfy you. Without exception, all of them fail.
Only lasting things give lasting pleasure.
So Jesus says, I'm the bread of life. He who comes to me shall never hunger. He who believes in me shall never thirst. Are you hungry spiritually? You thirsting?
Come to Christ. meaning and purpose in life. are not found in living independently of God. That leads to chaos, to disaster. Meaning in life is found in knowing God, in loving God, in surrendering God.
And Jesus Christ has entered into human history in order to fill this void within us. And so The deepest desires of our heart are fulfilled and satisfied when we know our Creator God personally through Jesus Christ. Christ. You see, Jesus Christ not only was human, he was God. Dorothy Sayre writes, If Christ was only a man, then he's entirely irrelevant to any thought about God.
If He's only God, then He's entirely irrelevant to any experience of human life. But Paul puts it this way, for there is one God. And one mediator between God and man. The man Christ Jesus. He's perfect God.
Perfect Man. And he will satisfy.
Okay. And he will give you great joy. When you surrender your life to him. You feeling lost? Come to Jesus, he says he's the way.
Feeling confused in this dark world, Jesus says, I'm the light of the world. He who follows me shall not walk in the darkness, but shall have the light of life. Burdened with guilt and shame, Jesus says, I'm the Saviour of the world. Experiencing a spiritual hunger, Jesus says, Come to me, I'm the bread of life. Spiritually dead, Jesus says, I'm the resurrection and the life.
Only Jesus Christ. will give you purpose and meaning. In life. He's your creator. And he's the only one.
Who can satisfy? He's the only one who will fully Fill the deep desires of the human heart. Jesus said, This is eternal life, that they may know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ. Whom you have sent. And as you come to Christ.
He'll forgive your sins. And he will guide you. And he will bless you. And he'll give you wisdom and strength in the tough times of life and in the good ones. Because God has perfect plans for you.
Listen to this translation, this paraphrase rather, of Ephesians 1, verse 11, from the message: quote: It's in Christ. That we find out who we are. And what we're living for. I like that. long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, He had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose he's working out in everything and everyone.
This god Love you so much. that he's got a beautiful purpose and plan For your life, and when you do God's plan. When you live life God's way, it's going to save you from a lot of heartache. And you're going to experience his Pleasure. This is a life of meaning, a life of fulfillment, a life of joy.
Without God in your life, Your life ultimately is meaningless. It is chaotic. Evolution and Darwinism and practical atheism leave us without value, without purpose, without meaning.
So I asked the question I began with, Does your life have meaning? The answer is not found in the world. But in our Lord Jesus Christ. who will give you meaning fulfilment, truth, and purpose. This God who created you loves you.
cares for you. As you surrender your life to him. He will guide you. and you will fulfil the divine purpose that God Pause. For you.
It begins by receiving Christ as your Saviour. Will you invite the living Christ into your life, the one who died and who rose again? You may feel you're trapped in a deep hole from which it is impossible to get out, but God is on a rescue mission. He comes right down where you are. You say, Well, John, I have received Christ, but I've turned away.
I can understand that. Today is a time to get right Today is a time afresh to surrender to your Lord Jesus Christ. He is Lord.
So surrender everything you have, everything You plan, your plans, your agenda, your business. everything you have comes under the lordship of our Lord Jesus Christ. And the Lord will do a miracle in your life. He will transform you. He will empower you.
He will grant you his wisdom. And he will lead you in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. E. Stanley Jones says: if you don't surrender to Christ, You surrender to chaos. Don't surrender to chaos.
What's it to be for you, divine purpose? Or chance existence, may you surrender today to Christ and know the joy of fulfilling your. Divine. Purpose. This is the verdict featuring the Bible teaching of Pastor John Monroe.
There's still more to hear when John returns in just a moment, so stay with us. From matters of truth and identity, to the subjects of love and grace, our world seems more confused than ever. but to find truth and certainty about who we are and find peace, we must turn our attention away from the world and look to the Word of God. To help you do that, John wrote a booklet titled Eternal Security, Finding Certainty in a Chaotic World. Through this special resource, John shares his personal testimony, along with a careful examination of Scripture, to offer us clarity on matters of eternity.
Get your copy today by visiting our website at theverdict.org. While you're there, consider making an investment in this Bible teaching ministry. Whether it's $5, $50, or more, your gift today helps cover the cost of sharing these gospel messages to listeners around the world. And if you haven't already, be sure to subscribe to the Verdict Podcast, featuring John's weekly podcast exclusive called Avizandam. It's available wherever you get your podcasts, or simply go to our website.
Again, that's theverdict.org. The verdict is a ministry of Calvary Church in South Charlotte. We're located on the corner of Highway 51 and Ray Road. If you've been looking for a church home or a community to help you grow in your walk with Christ, We invite you to join us for our Sunday services. For more details about Calvary and our service times, visit theverdict.org.
Now, here's Pastor John Monroe. Uh Well, what's your verdict? Are we just the results of the evolutionary process? Is there no ultimate meaning in life? Not only are you created by God, but you're made in the image of God, created For a purpose.
God as your Creator knows you and loves you. And true meaning and purpose in life are found in knowing God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Surrender your life to Jesus Christ and know true purpose.
Next time we'll begin to consider a difficult question. If there is a God, Why is there evil? Thanks for joining us today on The Verdict. I'm Michelle Davies. Today's program with Pastor John Monroe was produced and sponsored by Calvary Church in Charlotte, North Carolina.
