# From a Christian Perspective and From a Biblical Perspective



## PhotonGuy (Dec 16, 2013)

From a Christian perspective and from a Biblical perspective I would like to say that this life isn't important.


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## donald1 (Dec 16, 2013)

I'm a Christian since was young and,  we'll i never really learned much about different lives.  Are you comparing this to the afterlife or anything of the sort?  There may not be much significant meaning.  But a good answer to your question would be another question and that could be "why isn't this life important" there's always something important about life whether it's friends,  family, or if you don't have those you still have your beliefs so there's ALWAYS SOMETHING important


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## K-man (Dec 16, 2013)

PhotonGuy said:


> From a Christian perspective and from a Biblical perspective I would like to say that this life isn't important.


And from every other perspective it is ... so make the most of it.


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## Touch Of Death (Dec 16, 2013)

PhotonGuy said:


> From a Christian perspective and from a Biblical perspective I would like to say that this life isn't important.


Then you have misunderstood.


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## ballen0351 (Dec 16, 2013)

PhotonGuy said:


> From a Christian perspective and from a Biblical perspective I would like to say that this life isn't important.



I'm not sure what this means but its sounds borderline like a call for help here or something.  From the Christian, Biblical,  and practical perspective life is a gift and very important.


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## K-man (Dec 16, 2013)

If you are Christian perhaps you should remember the parable of the talents. If you were given life and you use it to the best of your ability, you will be rewarded according to your efforts. If you were given life and didn't recognise its usefulness and value, it will be taken from you.


http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+19:11-27&version=GNT 

:asian:


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## donald1 (Dec 16, 2013)

There's a lot of good answers,  perspective...  Is kinda like color blind there's some things you can clearly see well its black and white but misinterpreted messages or lack of understanding is like the colors 

To truly see the importance that's something you gotta do with an open mind because everybody has a different answer (that's what makes everyone an INDIVIDUAL)  

Best of luck


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## Blindside (Dec 17, 2013)

PhotonGuy said:


> From a Christian perspective and from a Biblical perspective I would like to say that this life isn't important.



As a borderline atheist, I must say I think you missed something in your studies of the Bible.


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## Forever Training (Dec 17, 2013)

From another Christian's perspective, God would not have put us here for nothing. You need to rephrase your OP to reflect what you truly mean.


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## Touch Of Death (Dec 17, 2013)

Blindside said:


> As a borderline atheist, I must say I think you missed something in your studies of the Bible.


Nihilism, even.


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## punisher73 (Dec 17, 2013)

PhotonGuy said:


> From a Christian perspective and from a Biblical perspective I would like to say that this life isn't important.



If this life isn't important, then why did God send his son, Jesus, to atone for our sins so that we may spend eternity with God?  If this life isn't important, then why did God reveal himself to man through the ages so that we may know him?  

If this life isn't important then it really doesn't matter AT ALL how we live it, what we do, or how we spend our time.  This is not a Christian/Biblical viewpoint at all.  In fact, one could argue that it is the start towards Hedomism (among others), in that, because nothing matters the only thing that matters is the pleasure we seek and give to ourselves in all things (food, drink, sex etc).


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## DennisBreene (Dec 17, 2013)

punisher73 said:


> If this life isn't important, then why did God send his son, Jesus, to atone for our sins so that we may spend eternity with God?  If this life isn't important, then why did God reveal himself to man through the ages so that we may know him?
> 
> If this life isn't important then it really doesn't matter AT ALL how we live it, what we do, or how we spend our time.  This is not a Christian/Biblical viewpoint at all.  In fact, one could argue that it is the start towards Hedomism (among others), in that, because nothing matters the only thing that matters is the pleasure we seek and give to ourselves in all things (food, drink, sex etc).



I have heard some Christians argue that the only path to heaven is through belief in Christ as the savior.  The argument can be reduced to; regardless of one's behavior, if one believes in that sole element (Christ is savior) then one goes to heaven. Even in that minimalist reduction, you have to have this life to achieve that singular belief.  That seems to lead to the conclusion that having this life, in order to have the belief in Christ, becomes extraordinarily important if you aspire to getting to heaven.


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## seasoned (Dec 17, 2013)

For the most part and if we let it, life in general can take it's toll. But, I do feel that the most simplest of things can have the most profound impact, if, we let *it*. 
While talking to a 90 year old woman last week who was friends with my mom, our conversation turned toward life and meaning. What she told me, was one of the most important things in life, was how we treated people. 
She went on to say that we have within us a gift that costs nothing to give with minimal effort on our part. That gift is a "smile" and it crosses all social economical and ethnic barriers. 

So, to answer the OP, whether Christian perspective or Biblical perspective or just our perspective, life is what we choose to make of it from the moment we step out the door each and every morning........


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## K-man (Dec 17, 2013)

seasoned said:


> For the most part and if we let it, life in general can take it's toll. But, I do feel that the most simplest of things can have the most profound impact, if, we let *it*.
> While talking to a 90 year old woman last week who was friends with my mom, our conversation turned toward life and meaning. What she told me, was one of the most important things in life, was how we treated people.
> She went on to say that we have within us a gift that costs nothing to give with minimal effort on our part. That gift is a "smile" and it crosses all social economical and ethnic barriers.
> 
> So, to answer the OP, whether Christian perspective or Biblical perspective or just our perspective, life is what we choose to make of it from the moment we step out the door each and every morning........


Amen Brother!
:asian:


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## crushing (Dec 17, 2013)

PhotonGuy said:


> From a Christian perspective and from a Biblical perspective I would like to say that this life isn't important.



As a naturalist, I say that this life is both the most and least important.


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## PhotonGuy (Dec 18, 2013)

Well the Bible makes it very clear that you don't get to Heaven by living a good life or by living a certain lifestyle. You get to Heaven by trusting Jesus Christ as your savior. As far as being good enough to get to Heaven, according to the Bible we've already failed at that. We're all sinners. The only way to get to Heaven is through Jesus Christ. So living a good life won't get you to Heaven. The most successful life in the world won't get you to Heaven.


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## ballen0351 (Dec 18, 2013)

If you don't believe in Jesus then you don't believe in Heaven so why do you care?


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## PhotonGuy (Dec 18, 2013)

ballen0351 said:


> If you don't believe in Jesus then you don't believe in Heaven so why do you care?



   If you don't believe in that stuff than you probably wouldn't care, and that's your choice. Not everybody believes the Bible and for those who don't I respect that. However, this thread is aimed towards believing in the Bible. If you don't believe the Bible than this thread probably isn't for you.


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## ballen0351 (Dec 18, 2013)

PhotonGuy said:


> If you don't believe in that stuff than you probably wouldn't care, and that's your choice. Not everybody believes the Bible and for those who don't I respect that. However, this thread is aimed towards believing in the Bible. If you don't believe the Bible than this thread probably isn't for you.


If you believe in the Bible then you believe in Jesus so your point is well pointless


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## PhotonGuy (Dec 18, 2013)

ballen0351 said:


> If you believe in the Bible then you believe in Jesus so your point is well pointless



Why is it pointless?


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## Forever Training (Dec 18, 2013)

ballen0351 said:


> If you don't believe in Jesus then you don't believe in Heaven so why do you care?



Well, actually you don't have to believe in Jesus to believe in Heaven.


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## Forever Training (Dec 18, 2013)

PhotonGuy said:


> Well the Bible makes it very clear that you don't get to Heaven by living a good life or by living a certain lifestyle. You get to Heaven by trusting Jesus Christ as your savior. As far as being good enough to get to Heaven, according to the Bible we've already failed at that. We're all sinners. The only way to get to Heaven is through Jesus Christ. So living a good life won't get you to Heaven. The most successful life in the world won't get you to Heaven.



Photonguy,

This is how I understand it:

As a baptized Christian who believes that Christ died for our sins, you are already saved. What I believe you are missing is that, without the pressure of feeling you have to do go works to get into Heaven, you should want to do good works as a way of thanking Him for his ultimate sacrifice. It is how Christians honor Him, to follow in his footsteps and help those in need. How can you call yourself a true Christian and not want to spread His word by doing good works?


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## ballen0351 (Dec 18, 2013)

PhotonGuy said:


> Why is it pointless?



Because you said if you don't believe in Jesus you can't go to heaven.  Well if you believe in heaven you believe in Jesus.  You can't have one without the other.  So the pointof lliving a good life and not going to heaven isn't valid since if you believe in the bible and you believe in heaven then you believe in Jesus.  If you don't believe in Jesus then you don't believe in heaven.


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## ballen0351 (Dec 18, 2013)

Forever Training said:


> Well, actually you don't have to believe in Jesus to believe in Heaven.



Well since this topic was from a Christian andBiblical Perspective then yes you do


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## PhotonGuy (Dec 18, 2013)

Forever Training said:


> Photonguy,
> 
> This is how I understand it:
> 
> As a baptized Christian who believes that Christ died for our sins, you are already saved. What I believe you are missing is that, without the pressure of feeling you have to do go works to get into Heaven, you should want to do good works as a way of thanking Him for his ultimate sacrifice. It is how Christians honor Him, to follow in his footsteps and help those in need. How can you call yourself a true Christian and not want to spread His word by doing good works?



Yes you're right, however, the good works are a result of salvation, not a requirement for salvation. However, Christians grow at different speeds and some Christians never really grow up and spend the rest of their lives as baby Christians. For instance, one of the best good works that a Christian can do is to tell other people about Jesus and about how He provides salvation. As it is, though, lots of Christians don't do that even though they should. At the very least, you should tell your friends, family, and loved ones about Jesus and salvation although I think a Christian should go way beyond that. Furthermore, when you mention a baptized Christian, no, you don't have to be physically baptized to be saved and to claim that would be adding works to salvation. A Christian should be physically baptized but its purpose is to serve as a public display of your faith, not to fulfill your salvation. Jesus already fulfilled our salvation on the cross, so no, physical baptism is not a requirement for salvation.


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## PhotonGuy (Dec 18, 2013)

ballen0351 said:


> Because you said if you don't believe in Jesus you can't go to heaven.  Well if you believe in heaven you believe in Jesus.  You can't have one without the other.  So the pointof lliving a good life and not going to heaven isn't valid since if you believe in the bible and you believe in heaven then you believe in Jesus.  If you don't believe in Jesus then you don't believe in heaven.



Yes the Bible does say you need to believe in Jesus to get to Heaven, however, by belief, it isn't so much an intellectual belief in God and Jesus but belief as a reliance on Jesus to get to Heaven. You got to believe that Jesus is your savior, that He died for your sins and thus provides the means to get to Heaven. Just intellectually believing in Jesus won't get you to Heaven.


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## ballen0351 (Dec 18, 2013)

PhotonGuy said:


> Yes the Bible does say you need to believe in Jesus to get to Heaven, however, by belief, it isn't so much an intellectual belief in God and Jesus but belief as a reliance on Jesus to get to Heaven. You got to believe that Jesus is your savior, that He died for your sins and thus provides the means to get to Heaven. Just intellectually believing in Jesus won't get you to Heaven.


Again of you believe in heaven then you believe in Jesus.  Not just that he was a person that lived but you really BELIEVE in him.  If you don't really believe in him then you don't really believe in  Heaven.


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## PhotonGuy (Dec 18, 2013)

ballen0351 said:


> Again of you believe in heaven then you believe in Jesus.  Not just that he was a person that lived but you really BELIEVE in him.  If you don't really believe in him then you don't really believe in  Heaven.



Not necessarily. The Pharisees believed in Heaven but they didn't believe in Jesus. At least they didn't believe that He was their savior. They did believe that Jesus was a real person obviously since they met Him face to face, but they didn't believe that He was the Messiah. The Pharisees thought they could get into Heaven with good works, and they were wrong.


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## ballen0351 (Dec 18, 2013)

PhotonGuy said:


> Not necessarily. The Pharisees believed in Heaven but they didn't believe in Jesus. At least they didn't believe that He was their savior. They did believe that Jesus was a real person obviously since they met Him face to face, but they didn't believe that He was the Messiah. The Pharisees thought they could get into Heaven with good works, and they were wrong.


Your post was from a Christian perspective.  There are lots of religions that believe in heaven but thats not the topic you posted youasked in a Christain view.  In a Christian view only a true belief in Jesus is the way to heaven.


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## PhotonGuy (Dec 18, 2013)

ballen0351 said:


> Your post was from a Christian perspective.  There are lots of religions that believe in heaven but thats not the topic you posted youasked in a Christain view.  In a Christian view only a true belief in Jesus is the way to heaven.



Yes that's right, however, a person can believe that Heaven is real and not believe in salvation through Jesus Christ alone. Believing that Heaven is real is one thing, getting there is something else.


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## ballen0351 (Dec 18, 2013)

PhotonGuy said:


> Yes that's right, however, a person can believe that Heaven is real and not believe in salvation through Jesus Christ alone. Believing that Heaven is real is one thing, getting there is something else.


You cant believe in the Christian version of Heaven and not believen in Jesus.


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## PhotonGuy (Dec 18, 2013)

Right, well the fact of the matter is that we become all too obsessed with being "worldly" successful. We want to be "successful" in life, what the world sees as successful. Working a good prestigious job that's productive and pays well, having a good family, ect. The fact of the matter is such stuff will not get you an inch closer to Heaven. There is certainly nothing wrong with doing those things, but in the long run it probably doesn't matter.


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## Yondanchris (Dec 19, 2013)

Okay, I don't have time to reply in depth now....but I'll be back soon with a mickle or so of my opinion!


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## Forever Training (Dec 19, 2013)

Yondanchris said:


> Okay, I don't have time to reply in depth now....but I'll be back soon with a mickle or so of my opinion!



YondanChris,

I was wondering when you were going to chime in. You have shown great restraint!


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## oftheherd1 (Dec 21, 2013)

PhotonGuy said:


> From a Christian perspective and from a   Biblical perspective I would like to say that this life isn't   important.



I was also hoping to wait for Yondanchris, having a lot of respect for his  views.  But he is apparently still tied up, which is understandable.

First, for those who may not have seen my posts previously on the  subject, I accept the King James Bible as God's inspired word.  I  believe it is to be used in all matters of faith and doctrine.  That is  my belief, but no one else is required to hold that belief. 

  With that said, my first disagreement is with the title of this thread.   To me, Christianity and the Bible must have the same perspective.  At  best, the title is redundant.  At worst, which may be how it is accepted  by some who read it, is that there is room for divergence between the  Christian and Biblical perspectives.  I do not accept that.

To the OP, when you say this life isn't important, I don't know what you  are trying to say.  I wonder if you left something unsaid that you wish  to discuss at a later point in your thread.  I believe life is God  given.  I don't think I am qualified to say this life isn't important,  given that I believe God gave it; he must have had a reason. 

Several  of the posts in this thread talk about whether or not there is a  heaven, and how to get there.  These are matters of faith.  My belief is  that there is indeed a heaven and I will go there when I die.  So then  the question becomes why do I believe that and how do I know I will get  there.  

I believe the Bible tells us there is a heaven.  Jesus  told the disciples His Father's house (heaven) had many mansions and  that he was going there to prepare a place for them.  Jesus also told  the thief on the cross that the thief would be with Jesus in paradise  (heaven) that day.  Paul and John both write about having been given  visions of heaven.  I believe in heaven.

How does one get there?   In the Bible, we are told that Jesus is the Son of God, and very God.   Jesus said he is the way, the truth, and the life, and that no man can  come to the Father except through Him.  In Romans 3:10, Paul tells us  "As it is written, there is none righteous, no not one;" we are not  right with God.  

In Romans 3:23, Paul tells us "For all have  sinned and come short of the glory of God."  You may sometimes hear  people say they don't believe they could be saved because of all the bad  things (sins) they have done.  But we all start out in the same boat,  condemned by one man's (Adam) sin.  We cannot enter heaven as unsaved  sinners.  We are no longer under the law to be able to sacrifice animals  for our sins.  What can save us?

In Romans 5:8, Paul says "But  God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners,  Christ died for us."  Then in Romans 6:23, Paul says "For the wages of  sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ  our Lord."

So we have learned that we are all sinners, but now we  see that God loved us no matter, and that Christ died and shed his  blood for us.  And that unsaved, we will suffer death, which is the  eternal death from which there is no reprieve, but that God has given us  the gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ.  The latter is important  to me in that I believe I cannot earn salvation; it is a gift, and one  does not pay for a gift.

The following verses, also from Romans,  tell us that we only have to call on the name of the Lord (obviously  that implies that we do so sincerely, with faith and belief) to be able  to claim that salvation and go to heaven when we die.


Romans 10:9 &#8211; That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the LORD Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
Romans 10:10 - For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 

Romans 10:11 - For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.  
Romans 10:12 - For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. 
Romans 10:13 - For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.  

If anyone believes those Bible verses, and wishes  to be saved, I would suggest you sincerely pray to God something like  this:  "God, I know I am a sinner and deserve to go to hell when I die.   I believe that Jesus died and shed his blood for my sins.  I ask  forgiveness for my sins, and that Jesus come into my heart.  Please take  me to heaven when I die."

That is what I believe.  I understand  some choose not to believe there is a God, or choose to have another  belief system than Christianity.  Each person has choices to make.  I  believe in the choices I have made.  Others may not.

But because I  believe we are born in sin, unsaved, and must make a conscious decision  to be saved, this life cannot be unimportant or without meaning.

YMMV

Yondanchris - I hope you will still find time to come in and comment.  I always find your comments worth reading and thinking on.  I am particularly curious as to how much of what I have written above you agree or disagree with.


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## PhotonGuy (Dec 26, 2013)

oftheherd1 said:


> I was also hoping to wait for Yondanchris, having a lot of respect for his  views.  But he is apparently still tied up, which is understandable.
> 
> First, for those who may not have seen my posts previously on the  subject, I accept the King James Bible as God's inspired word.  I  believe it is to be used in all matters of faith and doctrine.  That is  my belief, but no one else is required to hold that belief.
> 
> ...



I believe you're right about how to get saved. I also agree about using the King James Bible. If my title is redundant its because I want to make the point that Christianity is based on the Bible and it comes from the Bible. I agree with you that we are born into sin and to be saved we have to make the conscious decision to trust Jesus Christ alone to save us. Jesus already paid for all our sins by dying on the cross and when He rose all our sins had been paid for. When I say this life isn't important what I mean is that most people are obsessed with living a good life, working a dream job, making lots of money, having a nice family, ect. We get wrapped up in all the hopes, dreams, and ambitions of this life. That stuff might be all fine and good but I don't think its all that important in the long run because it doesn't get us to Heaven. The only thing that's really important is for a person's soul to be saved, its much more important than living a good life, and the only way for a person's soul to be saved is for then to accept Jesus Christ as their savior. Salvation is permanent so once a person does accept Jesus Christ as their savior they are going to Heaven no matter what, so after that I don't see how this life is important.


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## Hyoho (Dec 26, 2013)

You are sounding almost Buddhist. What happened to the repent or end up burning for eternity in the all encompassing hell Christianity created to justify itself? Also the, "If your not one of us your going there anyway".

I think perhaps you should try and explain your theory to the people living around me and down at the bottom of the island in Tacloban and Ormoc, Leyte.


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## PhotonGuy (Dec 27, 2013)

Hyoho said:


> You are sounding almost Buddhist. What happened to the repent or end up burning for eternity in the all encompassing hell Christianity created to justify itself? Also the, "If your not one of us your going there anyway".
> 
> I think perhaps you should try and explain your theory to the people living around me and down at the bottom of the island in Tacloban and Ormoc, Leyte.



It's not my theory its what the Bible says.


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## yakuzanobi (Dec 27, 2013)

This life is important for the fact that salvation happens here while we are living. It can't happen once you've died. This life is not so important because we don't want to become of this world, meaning not letting the things of this world become more important that the One who made it all because it's a temporary stay anyway.


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## Yondanchris (Jan 19, 2014)

oftheherd1 said:


> I was also hoping to wait for Yondanchris, having a lot of respect for his  views.  But he is apparently still tied up, which is understandable.
> 
> First, for those who may not have seen my posts previously on the  subject, I accept the King James Bible as God's inspired word.  I  believe it is to be used in all matters of faith and doctrine.  That is  my belief, but no one else is required to hold that belief.
> 
> ...



I apologize for the delay, this thread has been on my mind and I now finally have enough free time to truly focus my attention to this! 

oftheheard1 I think you did a great job trying to analyze the OP and asking crucial questions of intent and the ponderings of the OP. 

Some observations about the discussion at hand: 
Pre-amble: This explanation is intended for those who are Christians or who believe that the Bible is a letter/message from God and useful for teaching 
(2 Timothy 3:16-17) If you are not a Christian and reading this...it may be confusing because of many presuppositions taken on my part in writing this reply. 

1) I think that the OP is feeling much like the author of Ecclesiastes when he wrote
    &#8220;Meaningless! Meaningless! ...Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless&#8221;   (Ecclesiastes 1:2). The author was expressing the aggravation of life and the seemingly monotony of life. The same author later said &#8220;He has also set eternity in the hearts of men...&#8221; (Ecclesiastes 3:11)

so we as humans are conflicted within ourselves not being able to understand the "meaning of life" and yet have a "yearning for eternity". 

Can we say that man is an oxy-moron? I think so... 

but only if we look at life from the shallow end of the pool..sort to speak! 
We see humanity at its worst: war, greed, slothfulness, lust, idolatry...ect 
no wonder the author of Ecclesiastes was aggrivated (TBH I am too) 

2) The real meaning of life is EASY! 
    The meaning of life is not a mystery, it's not "hidden", it's not mystical 
    The meaning of life has been apparent from the "Beginning" (Genesis) 

    Genesis tells us: 
    "Then God said, &#8220;Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness" 
     (Gen 1:26)

    The intrinsic value of man and our meaning comes from our image....
    the very image, nature (eternality, characteristics), value...is from GOD. 

    God made man a special creature ABOVE all of the rest of creation
    (Gen 2:18-25) 

   God had a relationship with man from the Beginning (Gen 3:8) 

   But as we know Man broke that relationship, position, authority when he/she sinned in the garden separating (physically and spiritually) them from God. (Genesis 3) 

Jesus came to restore that relationship and to bring us a new value/purpose/goal. 
Before Jesus (the Christ/Messiah) we lost our way because of sin and religion (man's attempt to reach to God through "good" works...Eph 2:8-9, Romans 10:1-3) 

Jesus restored our relationship with God and with that restoration we became Children/heirs/servants of God (John 1:12, John 10:10, John 14:6) 

Jesus before he left us gave many parables and illustrations to live our lives by, but he reduced our goal/mission/meaning of life into (I believe) 3 specific teachings: 

     A) Love God - Love Others (Matthew 22:36-40) 
    Jesus demonstrated his love towards us...we should then love others 
   (Rom 5:8, Luke 7:47) 

     B) Show others this love through the Gospel (Matthew 28:18-20) 
           Death, Burrial, Ressurection, Return (1 Corinthians 15:1-8) 
           The Gospel in a nut-shell

      C) Adopt the mission of Jesus: To seek and to save the lost (Luke 19:10) 

 It is really that easy.... the rest of "religion" the rest of "Christianity" 
(doctrine, sacraments...ect) Is what messes Christians up. 

I believe that once we realize that we have been given a singular mission, we have one of 3 choices: 

    1) Adopt the Mission
         Make our lives around the sharing, teaching, and preaching of the Gospel. 

    2) Dismiss the Mission 
          Rationalizing Jesus' commands and example through deflection or apathy
        "that's the pastor's job", "God doesn't expect that from me", 

    3) Reject the Mission
         "God doesn't need me", "Good works will get anyone there", 
           "that's not really what God said"

So what will it be boys and girls? 

We have come to the cross-roads of your Christian walk? 

You have a three pronged fork in the road...will it be road 1,2, or 3? 

&#8220;Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." (Matthew 7:13-14 NIV) 


Sorry for the long post...if you got through all of it (I would be suprised). 
I will also post a bit from a book I am working on about martial arts and faith. 
The section will be on adopting the Mission of Jesus (Luke 19:10)


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## Yondanchris (Jan 19, 2014)

My mini article on Adopting the Mission (Luke 19:10) 
Trying not to hijack the thread but I believe it answers the 
OP primary question: "why am I here"

*Mission*
*taken, with permission from: 
&#8220;Starting and Running Your Own Martial Arts Ministry&#8221; By Chris Stewart*

Having  a Mission is concept in which we all can identify and adopt in life and  ministry, it is crucial that we adopt a Biblical missionology that  should influence everything we do. The original word came from the Latin  &#8220;missio&#8221; which meant to &#8220;Act of Sending&#8221; . As Christians we have been  sent, Acts 1:8 NKJV:

_But  you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you  shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria,  and to the end of the earth._

]Jesus  made it clear the mission, mode, and authority in which His disciples  where sent. The mission was to be His witnesses; of His resurrection and  Gospel. The mode was by being sent out, and the authority is by the  power and gift of the Holy Spirit. If you are a believer in Jesus the  Messiah you have already been given this mission. Is this the only  example of being sent or given a mission in the New Testament, not by a  long shot! In Matthew 28:18-20, Jesus commands and sends His disciples: 

_And  Jesus came and spoke to them, saying,  &#8220;All authority has been given to  Me in heaven and on earth.  Go therefore and make disciples of all the  nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of  the Holy Spirit,  teaching them to observe all things that I have  commanded you; and lo, I am  with you always, even to the end of the  age.&#8221; Amen_

Once  again we see a clear and definitive call and act of sending. The  authority by the Son, to made disciples, to baptize them, and to train  them in &#8220;the way&#8221;. Now that we have recognized our commission to adopt  the mission, how are we focused  to do it? 

Perhaps  we should look a little deeper into the life and mission of Christ and  draw our conclusions there. Within the context of scripture we see the  precedence and emphasis on mission. Jesus at from the beginning stated  his mission in Luke chapter 4:16-19 (NKJV):

_So  He came to  Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom  was,  He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to  read. And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had  opened the book, He found the place where it was written: _

_&#8220;The  Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, _
_Because He has anointed Me _
_To preach the gospel to the poor; _
_He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, _
_ And recovery of sight to the blind, _
_To set at liberty those who are oppressed; _
_To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD_

]Jesus  plainly declared his mission and goals through scripture and public  pronouncement. He did not want any miscommunication about his mission or  intentions. It was made abundantly clear what He was going to do! Let  us look at another scripture on the mission of Jesus where he clarifies  again his mission while on earth. 

Luke 19:10 NKJV:
_for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost._

Jesus  again makes clear his mission and goals without skipping a beat. Making  sure to remove all doubt and potential intentional or accidental  misconstruing of His words, He made his mission known. 

If  we are truly sent by God on a mission to proclaim the Gospel, make  disciples, and to seek and to save the lost, how in the world are we  going to accomplish it in our community? 

I answer my own question and challenge in the martial arts community through the Christian Kenpo Fellowship:

*Vision*
The  Christian Kenpo Fellowship is a group of Christian Martial Artists  looking to fulfill their role as leaders within the Kenpo community.  They accomplish this task through the embodiment of Godly values:  integrity, respect, trustworthy, and of good reputation. With these  character values at the front of their ministry, Christian Kenpo  Fellowship Members will harness respect and integrity into studios,  seminars, tournaments, and gatherings within the community to fulfill  their mission: 
&#8220;&#8230;to seek and to save what was lost&#8221; Luke 19:10 NIV.


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## Yondanchris (Jan 21, 2014)

And I chime in and all of a sudden the crickets appear and begin their serenade!


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## granfire (Jan 21, 2014)

No, Honey, the crickets had already warmed up for their concert.


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## oftheherd1 (Jan 22, 2014)

Yondanchris,

Thanks for you very insightful answers.  It was a long time coming, but worth the wait.  I always enjoy reading your posts.  

You mentioned that your answers here were for Christians.  They certainly were best for those that already accept Jesus as their God and Savior.  But hopefully, they will also provide insight to those who are not, and have not understood before, why Christians believe what they do.  Being a Christian myself, I would also hope that some may also be led to be saved by you explanations.  Even if not, as I said, they will have gained another insight into Christian thought.

Thanks again.


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