In this part of this section, we shall look at each of the three vital issues we mentioned in the overview. Under
various headings we shall show that the Bible gives one consistent message. Under each heading we
shall give three passages from different parts of the Bible to show the consistent message. We shall
only give the relevant phrases, but we recommend that you look up the verses and let us know if you
disagree with our conclusions.
5.1 Where did we come from?
a) We were put here by a power
greater than ourselves
The Bible tells us many times of the power, greater than
ourselves, that created our world and keeps it going. We
are not expected to have blind faith, there is other
evidence apart from the statements in the Bible that there
is a power greater than ourselves. (The other booklets in
this series look at some of this evidence.)
Here are some examples of what the Bible tells us:
The Earth – created
to support life
The first book of the Bible
makes these simple
statements:
The prophet Jeremiah tells of the
power of our creator:
The Apostle Paul gave the
Greeks at Athens the same
message:
In the beginning God created
the heavens and the earth.
And the Lord God formed man
of the dust of the ground, and
breathed into his nostrils the
breath of life; and man became
a living being.
Genesis 1 v 1 and 2 v 7
Ah, Lord God! Behold, You have
made the heavens and the earth by
Your great power and outstretched
arm. There is nothing too hard for
You.
Jeremiah 32 v 17
God … made the world and
everything in it, …
He gives to all life, breath, and
all things.
Acts 17 v 24 and 25
b) Our Creator does not change
The God who created our world does not
change. We can see this because the
natural laws which govern our world do not
change. The same laws apply outside of our
earth. This indicates that the same power is
in control throughout the universe. Here are
three Bible verses:
The Psalmist says of God:
God speaking through the
prophet Malachi makes a similar
statement:
The Apostle James describes
God as:
But You are the same,
And Your years will have no end.
Psalm 102 v 27
For I am the Lord, I do not change.
Malachi 3 v 6
… the Father of lights, with
whom there is no variation or
shadow of turning.
James 1 v 17
c) Our Creator’s Words are true and so can be relied on
Because our Creator does not change, His message does not change either. This is an important
issue to consider. When we are thinking of the vital issues we mentioned on page 3, we need a
message that is totally reliable so that we can put our trust in it:
Moses refers to God as:
The sentiment is echoed in the
Psalms:
Jesus also gave the same
message:
A God of truth.
Deuteronomy 32 v 4
The entirety of Your word is truth.
Psalm 119 v 160
Your word is truth.
John 17 v 17
d) Our Creator asks for respect for what He says
Because His message is true, the God of the Bible asks us to
respect and obey what He says:
We should respect our Creator’s message
Right at the start God gave our
first parents a simple command:
In the Psalms, God asks
people to listen to Him:
Again, Jesus gave the same
message:
And the Lord God commanded the
man, saying, ‘Of every tree of the
garden you may freely eat;
but of the tree of the knowledge of
good and evil you shall not eat…’
Genesis 2 v 16 and 17
Oh, that My people would listen
to Me.
Psalm 81 v 13
But He said, ‘… blessed are
those who hear the word of God
and keep it!’
Luke 11 v 28
e) Our Creator approves of people who respect His requests
Throughout the Bible we can see that God approves of those people who do what He wants:
At the start of the Bible, Abraham
was approved by God because
he accepted what He said:
The Jews were promised a
blessing if they obeyed God:
Jesus regarded those who
respected God’s purpose
as his close family:
And he [Abraham] believed in the
Lord, and He accounted it to him
for righteousness.
Genesis 15 v 6
Behold, I set before you today a
blessing and a curse:
the blessing, if you obey the
commandments of the Lord your
God which I command you today…
Deuteronomy 11 v 26 and 27
For whoever does the will of
God is My brother and My
sister and mother.
Mark 3 v 35
f) Because we have the choice we can reject
God’s message
We can easily be asleep
to God’s message
The Bible has many examples of those who reject God’s requests:
Right at the start our first parents
chose to disobey God:
One period of Jewish
history is summarised like
this:
The apostles in the first century
encountered those who rejected
God’s Word:
So when the woman saw that the tree
was good for food, that it was pleasant
to the eyes, and a tree desirable to
make one wise, she took of its fruit and
ate. She also gave to her husband with
her, and he ate.
Genesis 3 v 6
Nevertheless they were
disobedient
And rebelled against You,
Cast Your law behind their
backs …
Nehemiah 9 v 26
It was necessary that the word of God
should be spoken to you first; but
since you reject it …
Acts 13 v 46
We were created by a power greater than ourselves
Our Creator does not change
Our Creator:
Has given us a message that we can rely on
Asks for respect for the message
Approves of those who respect the message
Allows people to reject the message
5.2 What is the meaning of life?
a) The Bible shows that our Creator is
concerned about people
Our Creator’s care for us is seen all through the Bible:
The Bible shows our Creator’s concern for us
Our Creator has promised that
the natural cycles which support
our lives will continue:
The prophet Jeremiah told the Jews
what their attitude should be :
Jesus tells us that God’s
care is shown to all
regardless of their attitude
to Him:
While the earth remains, seedtime
and harvest, cold and heat, winter
and summer, and day and night
shall not cease.
Genesis 8 v 22
Let us now fear the Lord our God,
Who gives rain, both the former and
the latter, in its season.
He reserves for us the appointed
weeks of the harvest.
Jeremiah 5 v 24
… for He makes His sun rise
on the evil and on the good,
and sends rain on the just and
on the unjust.
Matthew 5 v 45
b) God sent His Son to show us how we should reflect His care
The Jews were promised a
special prophet who would
speak for God:
Jesus came to show us what
God is like:
By following Christ’s example of
showing love, we are imitating
God:
I will raise up for them a
Prophet like you from among
their brethren, and will put My
words in His mouth, and He
shall speak to them all that I
command Him.
Deuteronomy 18 v 18
No one has seen God at any time.
The only begotten Son, who is in
the bosom of the Father, He has
declared Him.
John 1 v 18
Therefore be imitators of God as
dear children. And walk in love, as
Christ also has loved us and given
Himself for us…
Ephesians 5 v 1 and 2
c) God’s care for people involves a plan to enable them to have life after
death
The writer of Psalm 49
was confident in God’s
plan:
The plan involves the work of
God’s Son, Jesus Christ:
The letter to the Romans tells us
that the death of Christ was
involved in this plan:
God will redeem my soul
from the power of the
grave.
Psalm 49 v 15
For God so loved the world that He
gave His only begotten Son, that
whoever believes in Him should not
perish but have everlasting life.
John 3 v 16
But God demonstrates His own love
toward us, in that while we were still
sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5 v 8
We shall look at more aspects of this plan of God in section 5.3
d) Knowing that we have a caring Creator gives us
confidence for the future
We have seen that our Creator cares about us and has arranged a
plan to enable us to have life after death. This must give us a real
hope for the future, despite our present problems:
Having a caring Creator gives us
confidence for the future
King David showed his
confidence in God:
Psalm 18 tells us that it is better
to trust in God, rather than
national rulers:
The apostle Paul tells us to trust
in the One who has power over
death:
The God of my strength, in
whom I will trust;
My shield and the horn of my
salvation,
My stronghold and my refuge;
2 Samuel 22 v 3
The Lord is on my side;
I will not fear.
What can man do to me? ...
It is better to trust in the Lord
Than to put confidence in princes.
Psalm 118 v 6 and 9
… we should not trust in ourselves
but in God who raises the dead,
2 Corinthians 1 v 9
e) Those who are not interested in God’s plan must
take the consequences
If we ignore God’s message, we shall eventually be destroyed:
The grave will be the end for
those who reject God’s message
The people in Noah’s day
rejected God’s message and
were destroyed:
The book of Proverbs tells
us the consequences of
ignoring God and going our
own way:
Jesus likened rejection of his
words to building a house without
foundations:
Then the Lord saw that the
wickedness of man was great in the
earth, and that every intent of the
thoughts of his heart was only evil
continually. …
So the Lord said, ‘I will destroy
man whom I have created from the
face of the earth …’
Genesis 6 v 5 and 7
There is a way that seems
right to a man,
But its end is the way of death.
Proverbs 14 v 12
But everyone who hears these
sayings of Mine, and does not do
them, will be like a foolish man who
built his house on the sand:
and the rain descended, the floods
came, and the winds blew and beat
on that house; and it fell. And great
was its fall.
Matthew 7 v 26 and 27
Our Creator is concerned about people
God sent His Son to show us how to reflect that care in our own lives
God’s care for people involves a plan to enable them to have life after
death
Knowing that we have a caring God gives us confidence in his promise of
a future life after death
There is no life after death for those who are not interested in God’s plan
5.3 Where are we going?
a) God’s plan involves people being
raised from the dead
Those who respect God’s message
have a bright future
The Bible assures us that some people will be raised from the grave and given endless life. The New
Testament reference tells us two important facts. Firstly, it tells us that the resurrection will take place
when the Lord Jesus returns to the earth. Secondly, it tells us that it will be those who have a
relationship with Christ who will be raised.
Your dead shall live;
Together with my dead body they
shall arise.
Isaiah 26 v 19
And many of those who sleep in
the dust of the earth shall awake,
Some to everlasting life,
Some to shame and everlasting
contempt.
Daniel 12 v 2
For the Lord Himself will descend
from heaven with a shout ... And
the dead in Christ will rise first.
1 Thessalonians 4 v 16
b) A worldwide peaceful kingdom is another part of His plan
Throughout the Bible, many verses talk of a future world order different from today’s.
Now it shall come to pass in the latter days
That the mountain of the Lord's house
Shall be established on the top of the
mountains,
And shall be exalted above the hills;
And all nations shall flow to it …
Nation shall not lift up sword against
nation,
Neither shall they learn war anymore.
Isaiah 2 v 2 to 4
And in the days of these kings
the God of heaven will set up a
kingdom which shall never be
destroyed; and the kingdom
shall not be left to other people;
it shall break in pieces and
consume all these kingdoms,
and it shall stand forever.
Daniel 2 v 44
Then the seventh angel
sounded: And there were
loud voices in heaven,
saying, ‘The kingdoms of
this world have become
the kingdoms of our Lord
and of His Christ, and He
shall reign forever and
ever!’
Revelation 11 v 15
c) God plans to fill the earth with people
who respect Him
We can have the wonderful hope of being involved in this
peaceful worldwide kingdom on earth:
Those who are raised from the dead will
be involved in transforming our earth
But the meek shall inherit the
earth,
And shall delight themselves in
the abundance of peace.
Psalm 37 v 11
Then the kingdom and dominion,
And the greatness of the
kingdoms under the whole
heaven,
Shall be given to the people, the
saints of the Most High.
Daniel 7 v 27
Blessed and holy is he who has part
in the first resurrection … they shall
be priests of God and of Christ, and
shall reign with Him a thousand
years.
Revelation 20 v 6
Those who die “in Christ” will be raised from the dead when Jesus
Christ returns to the earth
They will then be involved in a peaceful worldwide kingdom on
earth
