My newfound meaning for life(on earth).1

For a few Sunday’s now the sermon series has been about the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt. Today was more specific to the idea that the Israelites constantly lost their faith in God. Going so much as to say they would rather die as slaves in Egypt rather than as a free people in the desert. So the pastor asked “Why would God take what could have been an eleven day trip and instead let them wander in the wilderness for 40 years?” He had us look at Deuteronomy 8:2-5 (I am going to quote 8:2-9):

Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. ³ He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD. ⁴ Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years. ⁵ Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the LORD your God disciplines you.

⁶ Observe the commands of the LORD your God, walking in obedience to him and revering him. ⁷ For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land—a land with brooks, streams, and deep springs gushing out into the valleys and hills; ⁸ a land with wheat and barley, vines and fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil and honey; ⁹ a land where bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing; a land where the rocks are iron and you can dig copper out of the hills. (Copied from NIV biblegateway.com)

I went on to quote 6-9 because I found that this reflected one of my favorite passages out of James. James 1:2:

² Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,^[a] whenever you face trials of many kinds, ³ because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. ⁴ Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. (Copied from NIV biblegateway.com)

Notice the similar themes; God will allow us to go through trials but we should rejoice in the fact that God will use the trial so that we will “not lack anything”.

Well the pastor proposed another question at the same time he asked the prior, the corresponding question was “Why does God not take up his believers to heaven at the point of salvation?” It was this question that got me thinking.

Well after looking at those passages we learn that God needs us to go through trials and tests so that we can be conformed to his rules. So could this be the reason we live on earth? So many times I hear people say that when we go to heaven we will no longer sin or have evil temptations. Yet when asked how will we go from sinful creatures to obeying creatures. I hear many answers that revolve around the same idea, and that idea is that when we are in the Lord’s presence we will not want to sin because we will be fully engulfed in His holiness. This does not make sense to me. This doesn’t account for the fall of Satan from heaven, the fall of Adam and eve who walked with Him in the garden, the doubt in the minds of the Israelites in the exodus though accompanied by the Lord, or even all the people that where in Jesus’ presence during his lifetime.

We, as believers, have a saving grace yet this is not an instant change of becoming submissive. This is even displayed in Peter who denied Christ three times. No one questions whether Peter was saved yet even when given the chance to stand up in the name of Jesus he fell short.

I propose that our lives on earth are a series of trials so that God may produce maturity in our Faith. We have to spend time away from Him so that we can understand how much we NEED Him. When I say “away from Him” I am not talking that we don’t have a connection to Him. We do have a connection to Him, that is where Jesus and the Holy Spirit come in. Yet we still are not face-to-face with Him, not like Adam was in the beginning. What good would it do for us to be brought into His presence at the time of salvation if we would turn around and start doubting His sovereignty at the first chance as the Israelites did three days into the wilderness when they had no water?

James 1:12
Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.

Wouldn’t we want to strive for the crown of life? We have to live life to achieve this.

God has to test our hearts to see if we can obey His commands (Deut 8:2) which the inability to obey led to the fall of man. God also needs to humble us (Deut 8:3) to show us that we need Him to provide for us, the failure to recognize this is what lead to the fall of “morning star” (satan) from heaven (Isaiah 14:12-14). When we can reconcile the fact that God is worthy of all obedience and faith and act upon this we are then humble enough to be welcome back into the presence of the Godhead.