Making Life Meaningful

Question: “I feel like I lack meaning and purpose in my life. How can I feel like God can use me? I feel like I am just living—waiting to die. Could you help me with some practical ways to feel needed? Thank you.”

    What a wonderful and though-provoking question; one that all need to ask. The most miserable people on earth are those who do not have a clear purpose in life or whose purpose is focused totally on self. Life is meaningful only when focused on God and others. Jesus gave a summary of our purpose in life when He said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37). He said the second greatest command was, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:39). Our purpose in life is to love God and serve others.

    Peter gave a good summary of our purpose in life when he wrote: “To sum up, all of you be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kindhearted, and humble in spirit; not returning evil for evil or insult for insult, but giving a blessing instead; for you were called for the very purpose that you might inherit a blessing. For, The one who desires life, to love and see good days, must keep his tongue from evil, and his lips from speaking deceit. He must turn away from evil, and do good; He must seek peace and pursue it” (I Peter 3:8-11).

    Paul summed up his purpose in life in these words: “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me” (Galatians 2:20). Our purpose in life is to die to self and to let Christ shine through us! That is a great challenge; the greatest purpose one can have on earth.

How Does One Accomplish That Purpose? 

    Show Your Love for God.

Jesus said, “If you love Me you will keep My Commandments” (John 14:15). One of those commandments is to assemble on the first day of the week to eat some of the unleavened bread and to drink some of the fruit of the vine. Jesus said, “Do this in remembrance of Me” (Luke 22:19). As we eat the bread, we are reminded of His body which suffered for us. As we drink the fruit of the vine, we are reminded of the blood that He shed so that we can be forgiven of our sins. Not only does assembling with other Christians enable us to show our love to God, it also helps us stay focused on our purpose in life. As we live our daily lives, it is easy to let the physical become our focus, when our real purpose is the spiritual. We need to keep in mind to separate between the urgent from the important. There are many other ways one can show love to God, particularly, as we live our daily lives in the world, but gathering with the saints as often as possible, even on days other than the first day of the week, will keep us focused on our purpose.

    Put Others Before Self.

Paul instructed, “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves” (Philippians 2:3-4). Jesus demonstrated how to do that when He said, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve” (Mark 10:45). Be ready and willing to serve those in the church and those in the world. There are two groups of people in the world: (1) Givers, and (2) Takers. Be a giver. Some only take, but never serve.

    Find Your Place of Service in the Church.

Paul described the church as a body with Christ being the head and each member of the church as a member serving under that Head. “For the body is not one member, but many. If the foot says, ‘Because I am not a hand, I am not a part of the body,’ it is not for this reason any the less a part of the body” (I Corinthians 12:14-15). He went on the mention several other parts which make up a physical body. The point is, all parts are needed for the physical body to function properly. The same is true spiritually – all parts of the body are needed to make the spiritual body function. Each is as important a any other member. Don’t compare yourself with any other member. All are needed. Paul made an interesting statement, “But now God has placed the members, each one of them, in the body, just as he desired” (I Corinthians 12:18). The body needs you and God has placed you in the body to meet that need.

Finding Your Place 

    Every person on earth has some God-given ability. In the parable of the talents, even the one-talent man had been given something and was expected to us it (Matthew 25:14-30). Whatever your God-given talent is, it is needed in the body (church). You may not be a teacher or one who can talk to strangers, but there is something that God ha given you that the church needs. You may be especially good at something no one else in the church is good at – use it. You may need to get out of your comfort zone and try something you have not done before. You may find it is your strength. Your talent may be in reaching out to those who are not Christians. Your talent may be encouraging those who are struggling. Your talent may be furnishing funds for the church to function. Your talent may be to be a great Bible student and help others grow in their knowledge of God’s Word. You have at least one talent, and maybe more. Use it to the glory of God and you will find your life meaningful!

— Wayne Burger

Measures of the Holy Spirit

    The Holy Spirit was an active person at the beginning of the Christian age. His activity is seen in three measures of power: (1) Baptismal, (2) Laying on of hands, and (3) The indwelling. Jesus promised the apostles, “for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now” (Acts 1:5). In Luke’s Gospel he describes this event by saying, “You are clothed with power from on high” (24:49). Acts 2:1-4 records their baptism with the Holy Spirit in Jerusalem. The only other time the baptismal of the Holy Spirit occurred is recorded in Acts 10 and 11 where Luke tells about the household of Cornelius, a Gentile, being baptized with the Spirit. When that happened Peter said, “As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them just as He did upon us at the beginning. And I remembered the word of the Lord, how He used to say, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit’” (Acts 11:15-16). The baptism of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles was to empower them; the baptism of the Spirit on the household of Cornelius was to let the Jews know that the Gentiles could be baptized in water and become part of the church. When Peter explained what happened, those who had challenged him then said, “Well then, God has granted to the Gentiles also the repentance that leads to life” (Acts 11:18).

Laying on of Hands Measure 

    One of the abilities the apostles had because they were baptized with the Holy Spirit was to give individuals one of the manifestations of the Spirit’s power, such as the gift of performing miracles (I Corinthians 12:4-11). Luke notes this when he wrote, “Simon saw that the Spirit was bestowed through the laying on of the apostles’ hands” (Acts 8:18). “The Spirit bestowed” means that a manifestation of the Holy Spirit’s power was given to an individual. There were nine of these manifestations of the Spirit’s power (I Corinthians 12:4-11). The Bible records five examples where this power was used by the apostles to given another person miraculous power: (1) Acts 6:6; (2) Acts 8:18; (3) Acts 19:5-6; (4) Romans 1:11, (implied); (5) 2 Timothy 1:6. In Acts 6, when seven men were chosen to meet the needs of the Hellenistic widows, the apostles laid hands on them (Acts 6:6). Stephen, one of the seven, began “performing great wonders and signs” (miracles, Mark 16:17-20; Acts 6:8). From the time when the Spirit had been poured out on the apostles, this is the first person, other than the apostles, to perform miracles. The purpose for those who had received the power to perform miracles was to confirm that the word which was preached was from God (Mark 16:20).

Indwelling of the Spirit

    The third measure of the Spirit’s power is when the Holy Spirit is given to one who is baptized. When the people on the day of Pentecost asked what they had to do to be saved, Peter gave them two commands and two promises. He said, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38). The two commands were: (1) Repent, (2) Be baptized. The two promises were: (1) Forgiveness of sins, (2) Receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Later Paul refers to one having the Spirit by saying that our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit (I Corinthians 6:19). This measure of the Spirit’s power is non-miraculous while the other two measures of the Spirit’s power were miraculous.

    Ephesians 1:13-14 give the primary reason Christians have the Spirit. “You were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession.” The two reasons Paul says we have the Spirit is to be a “seal” which is a sign that something is authentic. There is a seal on one’s marriage certificate to prove that it is authentic. He also says that the Spirit is a “pledge.” The King James Version has the word, “earnest” which is like “earnest money” one puts down when purchasing a house. It shows that one is “in earnest” about the purchase and will give the rest of the money later. God gives us the Holy Spirit as a “down-payment” – as our “earnest” to show He will give us the rest of the payment later – heaven.

    One of the works that the Spirit does for us is to help our prayers when we do not know how or for what to pray. “In the same way the Sprit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words” (Romans 8:26).

Applications of the Information 

    The primary work of the Holy Spirit in the early days of the church’s history was to guide the apostles and prophets as they preached and wrote. Jesus explained this to the apostles before He ascended back to the Father’s right hand. “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you” (John 14:26). This cannot apply to Christians today because we did not hear Christ teach in person. This is a promise to the apostles.

    The Spirit also guided the apostles and prophets when God would give them more information. Jesus said, “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth” (John 16:13). He guided them as they wrote those revelations down.  Paul explained, “Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words” (I Corinthians 2:12-13). The “we” does not apply to all Christians, but to the apostles and prophets of the first century. They were the ones who received the baptism of the Spirit or who had hands laid on them. Even the first part of I Corinthians 2 shows this as Paul is talking about his experience.

Application: Miracles Ceased 

    A miracle is a supernatural event, something beyond natural power. God used miracles to be a testimony that those who were speaking were speaking the word of God. Mark explained this when he wrote, “They went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them, and confirmed the word by the signs that followed” (16:20, see also Hebrews 2:1-4). The only people who could perform the miracles in the first century were the apostles and those on whom they laid their hands to give them a miraculous gift. Thus, when the apostles died and they on whom they laid their hands, died, miracles ceased to be performed.

    The second reason that we do not have miracles today is that they are not needed. Miracles were performed to confirm the word. Once that word (the New Testament) had been confirmed, miracles were no longer needed. The written word of God can do the same thing that the miracles could do – cause people to believe. The apostle John explained, “Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name” (20:30-31).

— Wayne Burger