What Is My Life?

I just finished listening to a series of messages by Alistair Begg through Truth For Life titled, "Seven Questions God Asks". The final question was taken from James 4:13-17, "What is your life?".

Something I appreciate about Alistair's teaching is that he finds and even makes every opportunity to present the gospel to his listeners. The text is a warning against boasting about worldly plans. And I would probably have just stopped with teaching about that. And perhaps I would have stopped at teaching that life is brief and that we should take every opportunity to live for God.

But Alistair sneaks in the Gospel message. Because without God's enabling power, we cannot stop boasting about tomorrow and we really cannot live for God. (what is below this is as close as I could transcribe the audio)

Tonight you may be thinking your life is worthless. The Bible is full of good news to those that think themselves as worthless. The Bible says that man, men and women, are the very pinnacle of God's creation. That God has made us in His image. That we are precious in His site. That we possess a dignity that is even unknown by the angels. And that image is marred because of man's sin. And that's why you feel the way you feel, and that's why people treat you as they treat you, that's why you treat people as you do.

But the good news is this. That the same God that made you has done something for you in Jesus and He has done something in Jesus so as to put the pieces of your picture back together again.

You may have been trying to fix it on the horizontal level. "If I can bridge the gap with her, if I can re-engage with him, if I can do this." And those are useful ventures. But the Bible says that first we must deal with it on the vertical axis, between ourselves and the God that has made us, coming and meeting him. "Well how can I meet Him? He seems so far away. It's as if His phone is off the hook." Well the good news is that we don't have to go and find Him. He is the one who will come and find us. And He has reached down to us in Jesus and offers to us forgiveness, died to bear our punishment, died to wipe clean our stain. Offers us a whole new family. Offers us a whole new future.

So that then we can ask the question, "What is my life?" We can then say my life is passing, that is without doubt. But my life is purchased. He purchased it. And my life is powerful, impact of a solitary life, lived for good and lived for God.

There's only one life and it will soon be past. And only what's done for Jesus will last.

Let us all, clergy and lay, take every opportunity to share this good news with each other and with others.