Wednesday, September 09, 2009

How Jesus is the Solution: Installment #3

Meaning

(Eccl 3:11 NIV) He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.

Famed psychiatrist, Viktor Frankl, who gained and shared much from his experience as a prisoner at Auschwitz wrote, "There is, in fact, a religious sense deeply rooted in each and every man's unconscious depths." (The Unconscious God, 10) Frankl learned through experience and observation what God revealed long ago through the mind of Solomon. God put that "religious sense" there. That "sense" or "eternity" gnaws at our hearts and begs the question, "What is the meaning of life?" So people - individuals, groups, families, nations - continue the quest for meaning.

Frankl added, "...man is not he who poses the question, What is the meaning of life? but he who is asked this question; for it is life itself that poses it to him." (23, 24) Only human beings, when confronted with life are innately asked the question.

This meaning, the answer to the longing, the diagnosis of the nagging sense that something is not right in the world, this common human inkling that there must be meaning outside our temporary faulted milieu - is found in Jesus.

The Apostle Paul wrote, "I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead." (Phil 3:10-11 NIV)

Our meaning and purpose through suffering, and in joy is the same; to fellowship with our creator - to have relationship with God. That relationship is found in Christ Jesus.

"For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus." (1 Tim 2:5 NIV)

So, for now we need him as our go-between, "Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known." (1 Cor 13:12 NIV)

In Christ we find resurrection. We find eternity. We find relationship with God. In Christ and only through him do we find meaning.

Man's constant quest for meaning is part of the problem.
Finding ultimate meaning is part of the solution.

Please find him.

Wednesday, September 02, 2009

How Jesus is the Solution: Installment #2

Forgiveness.

"Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you." (Col 3:13 NIV)

Grudges, hatred and anger sever relationships. Our families, communities and nation are built on relationships and without relationships success alludes us. In a time when radical individualism grips our culture, there is a fierce need for forgiveness to heal hearts. We are not an island. No one succeeds alone.

Jesus Christ's example is the paragon of forgivness. Nailed to a wooden cross to suffocate and bleed to death, Jesus prayed a powerful prayer, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." (Luke 23:34 NIV)

Can you imagine a world with that attitude? Our country needs a healthy dose of forgiveness. Forgiveness is found in Jesus Christ, not only in the eternal sense that Christians often emphasize, but in the everyday relationships of life.

Please choose to follow Jesus.
Please choose to forgive.

Forgiveness is part of the solution.