The Minister's Sermons
|
"The Purpose of Life" by Revd Bruce Waldron - 30th October 2005 Reading:
|
 |
|
| Ever since a meeting with a bereaved family a few days
ago, I had been reflecting about the deceased's life, and how he always
seemed to have a clear vision in his mind as to what his life was for. It
gave rise to this address "The PurposeOf Life" |
||
| In the scriptures, we are told that we are made in the image
of God. But what does that mean? In the west, after the the fifth century, Augustine convinced the church that it meant that people had been created in the image of God but that when Adam sinned, all of humanity was plunged into a sort of genetically modified state where his sin infected us all. We had fallen from grace because of what he called "original sin." And we could only be saved from this fall by the sacrificial death of Christ. In the east, this doctrine of "original sin" never really took hold. For the Eastern church, there was a deep awareness of the power of sin, and the need to battle against it because it had death dealing capacities, but it was part of human choice. We could choose to live God's way or choose to live another way. To choose to live God's way was life. This was known as life in the Spirit. To choose to not live God's way was life in the flesh, but this didn't mean that the body was evil. That was a particularly western concept associated with Augustine's teaching. In the East, to live in the flesh could also be to do with the mind and the heart not being given to God's way, not being subject to the Spirit of Christ. It didn't imply a sense of all matter being evil. It was simply the antithesis of living in the Spirit. So what does it mean then to be created in the image of God? And what does it mean to live a Spiritual life as opposed to a life in the flesh. St Paul understood that we are created in the image of God but that this image is marred by sin. What he understands is clearly described in his third letter to the people of Corinth. Paul talks about being changed from glory to glory. 2 cor 3:12. "Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit." Life in the Spirit is a process of growth towards Godlikeness, from one degree to another. A wise old man was once asked what the purpose of life was. What he did was to walk down into the market place to where a man was standing with his wife and infant son. This man was a good man, respected and trusted by all the villagers. The old man took the baby from the young man and asked the people if the baby was like his father. The people looked at the little tot, with his fair hair, his blue eyes, his chubby little body, and at the tall dark haired slim man with his brown eyes and said "No! He is nothing like him." Then the old man turned to the man who had asked him the question and he said. "The purpose of this child's life, is to grow to be like his father. This too, is your purpose." To be made in the image of God is a lifetime work. We are made with all the capacity there, but it is our task to enable that image to grow to maturity. The apostle Paul wrote to the Christians in Rome, "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God-what is good and acceptable and perfect." The task is before us. It is a process, and it is possible. To do this, our eyes, our heart, our mind, our will are to focussed not on others and their strengths and weaknesses, but on Christ. Our spirit is to be filled by him. Our goal is to be transformed to become like Him. The writer of the letter to the Hebrews advises us like this. "Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him." May we, in faith, do as he advises, so that one day we will have grown to become like our Heavenly Father, and made in His image. |
||