As an example of reasoning unsoundly, our author says the
ungodly reason, “For we were born by mere chance…” That is the spirit of our age. In philosophy and science today anything like
teleology, that anything has a “purpose” is ruled out and studied only for its
existence. The world doesn’t have a
purpose, it just is, you don’t have a purpose, you simply are. If we rule out the idea that we have a
purpose and that the cosmos has a purpose, we fail to live in wonder and
expectation. Meaning is individually
constructed but can be changed at any time.
The Bible tells a different story, doesn’t it? It tells us that we were created purposefully
and lovingly and for a purpose. It tells
us in the incarnation that we have meaning.
The Westminster Shorter Catechism says that the chief end of man is to
glorify God and enjoy Him forever. This
author says, “God created us for incorruption, and made us in the image of his
own eternity, but through the devil’s envy death entered the world, and those
who belong to his company experience it.”
Take your pick.
Jesus teaches regarding the Sabbath in both scenes in our
Gospel reading. In the first, His
disciples are simply reaching out, taking grain from the heads of the stalks
and rubbing it in their hands to extract the edible portion. This, however, is defined as work, grinding
grain, however it is done. The Pharisees
confront Jesus and His first offense is to compare this to David and his men on
the run from Saul and eating the bread from the temple, which was only to be
eaten by the priests. The second was to
say that the Son of Man was lord of the Sabbath. Lord of the Sabbath would indicate that He
predated the Sabbath. There was only one
lord of the Sabbath and it was the Father.
The second statement regarding the Sabbath was in the healing of the man
with the withered hand. It was indeed
allowable to do good on Sabbath to beasts of burden and other animals. Jesus makes the obvious statement that if you
can help these, how much more a man?
There was no doubt these things would infuriate the legalists.
Paul prays that the Colossians “may be filled with the
knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk
in a manner worthy of the Lord.” Meaning
and purpose are bound up in the knowledge of God’s will. If we know this, we know something of how to
get there, how to walk worthy. His will
is for us to be like His Son, to think like Him and to live like Him. There is great freedom in the Son, the
freedom from legalism Jesus demonstrated in the Gospels. The way is narrow but it isn’t restrictive in
the sense that we are walking a tightrope through life. What seems narrow to those who take the broad
path becomes remarkable in its freedom when you understand the boundaries. Our purpose doesn’t change but we have great
liberty in expression.
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