The Purpose of Man (Pieces to a Puzzle)

The Purpose of Man (Pieces to a Puzzle)

     Man was made to have a relationship with God. That is why Christ died in order to reconcile man and God's relationship as He ushered in His Kingdom. That is why our Messiah said that the greatest command is to love the Lord with our whole selves (Mark 12:29-30). We are, essentially, an avenue for God's attributes to be greatened. Through His relationship with man, God's love, mercy, justice, power, and glory are magnified. This is the purpose of man. 

     I've written previously on how our innate desire is to become our own god. So many religions and even naturalism aspire to this standing for man. That was Satan's fall, wanting to be like the Most High (Isaiah 14:13-14). That was man's fall, desiring to be like God (Genesis 3:5). We aspire for our own greatness and our own downfall is all that ensues. So, when I first started to understand my purpose I felt trapped. I felt like I was forced to submit to an authority when I desired to be the authority. However, setting aside my pride and my ego I was able to see how beautifully I was created and the fulfillment I found in submitting to God. Two images came to my mind in this moment. The first is of a light bulb. The lightbulb's purpose is to illuminate, however in and of itself the lightbulb cannot do so. It must first be plugged in to a current. I imagine ourselves to be like the lightbulb and God to be the battery with His love being the wires. God loves us, and we in turn love Him back. We love because He first loved us (1 John 4:19). The second illustration is that of a puzzle piece. The puzzle piece as it stands alone is incomplete and incapable of being of any real significance. However, a part of the puzzle it plays a vital role in the completing of the puzzle. I akin man to the puzzle piece and the puzzle as God's plan. See, both the lightbulb and the puzzle piece are worthless on their own and cannot stand, however by being a part of the system they were designed for, that is where they find purpose. That is where they find fulfillment. Just like man. What a beautiful thing. What a beautiful plan to be apart of. Thank God that He chose us to play a role in His grand masterpiece. 

Are They the Same God?

Are They the Same God?

I had an interesting discussion with a group of Muslims and Christians. They claimed the Christian and Muslim gods are the same. Their rationale was that "Allah" is the Arabic word for "God." While this is true, that doesn't equate the Muslim god to the Christian god. Just like the Deist god, the Jewish god, and the Christian god are not the same though they all claim the name "God." This is where I'm sure I've lost your support by now, so allow for me to explain. In this discussion, I claimed that the Christian and Muslim gods cannot be the same for they have separate characteristics (all loving, not all loving, triune, single-personed, etc.). Similarly, the Jewish god and the Deist god are single-personed, making them fundamentally different than the Christian god, philosophically speaking. Allow me to draw an illustration. Let's say that I am talking of my friend Stephen and I say Stephen is 6'2" tall, while you maintain that he is in fact 5'10" tall. I say that I know for a fact that Stephen is so tall while you say that you know for a fact that he is so tall. Philosophically speaking, we are talking about 2 separate Stephens; for a single Stephen cannot possess the characteristics of being both 5'10" and 6'2", this is simply incoherent. However, it is quite plausible that one (or both) of us has (have) a misrepresentation of the true Stephen. Similarly, the gods of the monotheistic faiths (Deism, Islam, Judaism, and Christianity) from a philosophical standpoint cannot be the same entity; however, it is entirely possible that 3 (or 4) of the views of God are misrepresentations of the one true God. This is the position that I hold. So I'll leave you by asking, are they the same God?