In this world there is not one designer who designs things without a purpose. In the same way, in the creation of man God also had an intention, a motive, and a purpose. According to this intention, motive, and purpose, He designed what He desired. This shows us that there is real meaning behind our human life and a reason for our existence. Since human beings were created according to God’s design, what they are and the reason for their existence lie in the God who created them.
There are countless volumes of books, whether philosophical, literary, scientific, or religious, that have something to say about human existence. However, these discussions are incomplete, just like the proverbial blind man who tried to discern an elephant by feeling only one part of it. But in this vast sea of books, there is a book called the Bible. It begins with, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Gen. 1:1). It also says that God made man in His image and according to His likeness (v. 26). Even though these words are easily understood, their implications are deep and profound. In short, man was created for and according to God’s desire. God’s creation is the basis of human existence. In other words, human existence came out of God’s creation and also lies in God’s creation, and it is entirely for the purpose of God’s creation.
God did not create man without a basis; God made man in His image and according to His likeness. Although it is very difficult for us to describe God’s image and likeness, the Bible portrays who God is in various ways. One of the portraits of God is the law in the Old Testament. In the Old Testament, the law is also called the testimony of God, that is, the “biography” of God. Apparently, the law is the Ten Commandments with many statutes plus many ordinances. However, after you read these commandments, statutes, and ordinances, you will come to a conclusion that the general principles of the law are love, light, holiness, and righteousness. Why do we say the law is the testimony of God? It is because the law that a person establishes is determined by the kind of person he is. God’s law expresses the God who enacted this law.
In the New Testament, God says that He is love (1 John 4:8). He also says, “You shall be holy because I am holy” (1 Pet. 1:16). The teachings of the New Testament convey the spirit of the law; this is also the description of what God is. Therefore, the image of the unique God whom we worship is love, light, holiness, and righteousness. Man was created according to this image of God. Therefore, throughout history and over the whole earth, regardless of race or color, every human being has love within him. Even when he grows old, this essence of love still remains.
Furthermore, we all have light within; we like to be bright. We also have holiness within and like to be blameless and transcendent. We have righteousness within as well; we approve of fairness and justice. Even though we are fallen, we still retain the qualities of love, light, holiness, and righteousness, because God created us with these qualities. They are not obtained through education; as long as we are human beings, we have them. Love, light, holiness, and righteousness are the real and original inner content of all human beings. When a man expresses this inner content, he expresses his true nature.
Why did God create man according to His image? God’s intention was that one day man might receive Him into him. When God created man, He created only a “framework”; man did not have God’s divine life within him to live out the reality of love, light, holiness, and righteousness. It is when man receives God into him, when he prays to the Lord Jesus, calling His name, that man feels he is satisfied and that he has reality. He is at ease inwardly, and he can sleep well and eat well. Furthermore, now man has the power to live out God’s substance of love, light, holiness, and righteousness.
Before we were saved, when we did not have the Lord, we were empty within. After we receive the Lord Jesus into us, we are filled inwardly. This is the meaning of human existence. Therefore, the existence of human beings is not for making money, obtaining a higher position, or having a golden future. The meaning of human existence lies in receiving our Creator, who is the real meaning of our life. This is human life. This God who is inside of us is our real blessing and our real joy. As a result, we become a blessed human being, and our existence becomes a blessed human life.
Today many have made a fortune in business, and many more have earned a college degree. Furthermore, more than a few have obtained a high position, success, and fame. However, the more successful a person is, the less God he may have and the emptier he will feel within. Young people have just begun the first stage of human life; they do not sense much emptiness. One day, when they have earned a degree, obtained a position, and gained material riches, psychological pleasure, fame, and success, they will feel that all is empty, as the Bible says, “Vanity of vanities” (Eccl. 1:2), and “There is nothing new under the sun” (v. 9). These words were spoken by King Solomon, who had a high position and great wisdom. Today as young people you might not have high positions, but all of you at least have graduated from college. This is the time that you feel the need for something. Please remember, what you need the most is not honor and wealth but to gain the Lord Himself. Only by letting Him in can you be a blessed person who lives a blessed human life.
Now we can understand Hebrews 11:24-26. After Moses was born, his mother tried to send him away to prevent him from being killed by the Egyptians. Later, having been adopted by the daughter of Pharaoh, he grew up and received his education in the Egyptian royal palace. But when he had grown up, gradually he came to understand the actual situation, and he no longer wanted to stay in the Egyptian royal palace as the adopted son of the princess. He would rather give up the enjoyment of Egypt and choose God; he considered the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt. Although in the Old Testament it was not yet the time of Christ, in the eyes of God what Moses did was for Christ. Moses chose Christ and followed Christ.
In the New Testament, we see that the apostle Paul, even though he was a Jew, received a Jewish education and graduated from a Greek university in Tarsus, exhausting all that he could learn of the Greek knowledge, yet like Moses, he forsook everything and chose Christ. Because of Christ he counted everything as refuse. To him, Christ was not only an object of his belief, but Christ was his life, his living, and even the motive, the motivation, and the purpose of his living. Therefore, Christ became his human life, and Christ was his existence. That was why he could say, “For to me, to live is Christ” (Phil. 1:21a).
Each one of us has our own tastes. If someone says, “For to me, to live is an academic degree,” “For to me, to live is wealth,” “For to me, to live is success and fame,” or “For to me, to live is a happy family,” he will not be happy; the more he says these things, the more he loses his taste for them. However, the more we say, “For to me, to live is Christ,” the more we have the taste. The more we say it, the more we feel blessed and joyful.