Our Purpose
Our Purpose
“Jesus said, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.’” John 14:6 NIV
We are alive. Yet, we suffer from the pervasive suspicion that there is more. The events that fill our hours seem somehow insufficient to fill our souls. When we reach the pinnacle of human experience we cry, “This is truly living! I feel so alive!” But the feeling fades. We chase after love, acceptance and power – whatever we believe will serve as a foundation for life. But we are deceived. They all lead to death.
Jesus said, “I am the Life.” Consider this claim: Jesus is not merely the means of salvation, but the end. What we long for is a person. To have life means to have the Son of God. This puts all our daily tasks into perspective. This teaches us to look outside of our common experience for fulfillment. Life without Jesus may consist of many good things, but in the end it is a counterfeit. Only with Christ will we receive eternal life. Only with Christ may we taste that life now.
Too often we are overwhelmed by the tyranny of the urgent. Details, meetings (even church meetings), activities, things and people rise up until they fill our vision and become our purpose. We forget what we are alive for. We forget what our life consists of – not things, but Jesus Christ.
I live in China, a place where it is not uncommon for the size of a church to double every few years. The demands on those called into leadership are intense. Yet the focus of life must remain the same. Jesus is our purpose. Not only do we do all things for Him, but He is the fulfillment of all things for us.
Jesus said, “I am the Way.” As He is the end, so He is the means. We cannot create life. We cannot make ourselves righteous. We cannot save ourselves. In this, Christianity is unlike every other religion. We are saved not by what we give God, but by what He gives us.
For those who understand, this is freedom. Are you weak? Poor? Unpopular? Sinful? Jesus is all you need. He is the way. You are not. Rest in Him. Depend upon Him. Your frailties and failures are no hindrance to life in Christ. We can serve God for His sake, not to earn our standing. We can have confidence to come before Him in praise. We can love others for their sake, not for what we gain from the relationship.
Many in China today are calling for a “civil religion” which would combine and replace all religions. That is impossible for me, because Jesus is the only way. Nobody else has died for my sin. Nobody else could. I will not leave the way.
Jesus said, “I am the Truth.” Humans have an innate desire to understand. We long for truth. But we question if we can really know what is true. We can – His name is Jesus. At the end of our quest we discover not a body of facts, but God Himself – the God-Man Jesus Christ.
This means we will never know the truth through philosophy. Gathering and processing all the information in the world would not be sufficient. Truth is not some abstract social construct. It is alive. Truth is embodied in a person.
Our philosophies change. Every generation looks back upon the ones before it with an attitude of smug amusement, as if we are looking at a child still confused about the world. Ours will be no different. But God is constant. He does not change. When we are unsure, we look to Him and know that He is sure. When we want to learn, we look to the One who possesses all knowledge.
Philosophy is very different in China than in the West. Our views of the world are not the same. Yet our Jesus is the same. All His children know the Truth and one day will see Him face to face. At Advent we celebrate Jesus, “the Way and the Truth and the Life” who entered time and space over 2,000 years ago.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Lu Chen, born in China, is currently engaged in mission studies in Oxford, England. He plans to return to China to bring the above message to his people.
NOTE: This article is reprinted by permission from “Hope For A Despairing World,” CISF (Christian International Scholarship Foundation), Lake Forest, Illinois, 2003.