The Meaning of life

The 12-minute version of this long sermon can be seen at YouTube.com/user/berthaerika.

Today’s reading is in Genesis 1:26a: “God said, Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness.”

Artists create their works of art simply for the joy that art brings, but many of the world’s greatest artworks have been commissioned. In a similar way, God created mankind for His pleasure and glory, just read 1^st Corinthians 11:7. However, the words of Genesis 1:26 are also the product of purposeful decision, or a plan, that resulted from something that took place in the far and unknown corridors of the cosmos and time, where the Great King has His Reign.

There is history behind the words “Let us make mankind,” and the Great King has made many efforts to convey this information to us, just read Hebrews 1:1. Despite this, there are still many of us asking the questions, “What is the meaning of life? Why are we here? What is our purpose?” We may also ask, “If God is so good, why do I suffer so much? If God is the Almighty, why doesn’t He just destroy the enemy right now? If God is so intelligent, why not just have us born in Heaven where we would never have sinned (although we know that sin has existed in Heaven)?” and many others. The purpose of this sermon is to answer all of these questions.

A good place to begin understanding God’s plan for us is through the words of the author and finisher of our faith, the one and only Jesus Christ. Jesus sent out 72 of His followers to preach, and they returned full of excitement, talking about how they had used the great power of His name to bring demons into submission. In reply, Jesus mentioned another creature that has a submission problem; in Luke 10:18, He said “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.”

Lightning is one of the fastest things under the sun; thus, if someone is sent away like “lightning,” there is no time for a farewell party. For instance, I have seen many people lose their jobs, though never at the speed of lightning. Many of them, however, have been fired for insubordination, and one thing that I have noticed is that their dismissal is only hurried when something has gone terribly wrong.

Therefore, there had to be a reason for Satan’s sudden discharge, and the reason is found in Isaiah 14:12-14, which reads, “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.”

This reading speaks of Satan’s rebellion, but the revolt didn’t end with Satan. Rebels have the tendency to hate being the only ones causing problems; so, they look for supporters to back up their cause. For example, Revelation 12:9 reads, “The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.” Furthermore, Jude 1:6 reads, “The angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their proper dwelling—these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day.”

Finally, a quick side note; many husbands are also guilty of not keeping their positions of authority regarding their wives and abandoning their proper dwelling of holy matrimony. Many wives also leave their proper dwelling, but they are not in the position of authority; 1^st Corinthians 11:3 is proof. However, I will leave this for another study.

The Meaning of life, page two.

Note that some people believe that Satan’s fall came after the creation of Man, but either way is irrelevant for a God that cannot be taken by surprise. Keep in mind that in Genesis 3:1, we find that Satan was evil from the get go. You see, God was not taken by surprise when Adam sinned. The Tree of Knowledge was not left in the Garden of Eden by accident. If that was true, then our omniscient God would’ve made a mistake. The Tree of Knowledge was placed in the Garden of Eden on purpose, for it was a part of God’s divine plan. It was meant to be seen by all. This is why the Tree was placed “in the middle of the garden” and not in one of the far ends. (Genesis 2:9)

God was accused of unrighteousness, and because of His love, He needed to develop a reasonable plan that would clearly prove to all the beings that He had created, including the fallen ones, that He is just and righteous. To do this, God needed an entity with the following qualities…

·         This entity would need to start life in innocence, not knowing good or evil; thus, the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.

·         This entity would also need to live life without seeing or hearing God or any of His heavenly wonders. This is not easy, since He is the creator of all life. This is also known as His likeness. In other words, just as God has never seen anyone greater than Himself, in like manner, man physically doesn’t see anyone greater than himself.

·         This entity would also need to have power similar to God’s power, i.e. the power of choice, or to make decisions, the power to reproduce, the power of lordship over the world, etc. This is also known as His image.

·         This entity would need to go through all of the hurdles, hardships and tests of life and ultimately take a step of faith and say “there is a Creator,” thus declaring God’s righteousness.

Only a being like this could settle the matter of His righteousness once and for all, but no creature in all of His creation fit this profile. So, our omniscient God had an idea and said “let us make mankind.”

This is one reason as to why God made us and gave us authority on Earth. We are not just beings that came to life without a reason or a purpose. God made us “a little lower than the angels [Elohim] and crowned us with glory and honor.” (Psalm 8:5) Note that the Hebrew translation of Elohim is God. However, Jewish tradition translates this word as angels. This tradition is due to respect for His name, as is said in Exodus 20:7.

The Meaning of life, page three.

Have you ever thought of the profound meaning in the words of 1st Corinthians 6:3a, which reads, “Do you not know that we will judge angels?” The fallen angels have accused God of unrighteousness; unfortunately, God’s angels cannot judge the fallen angels without creating a conflict of interest, because we tend to protect our kind. Also, God’s angels absolutely cannot say that they have suffered for believing, or having faith, in a God that they have never seen. Nor can God’s angels communicate the gospel to us without destroying our faith, which is necessary for the judgment of the fallen angels. In other words, if we accept God because we’ve seen and heard His angels, then it is no longer a matter of faith. And without faith, we would lose our strategic value regarding the Judgment of fallen angels.

This is one of the reasons why Hebrews 11:6 says, “Without faith it is impossible to please God.” Of course, there are many biblical examples of heavenly beings acting in our favor. The key to understanding whether God’s heavenly beings can have physical interaction with humans or not is based on whether it is strategically justifiable for the purpose of righteousness for which we were created. In other words, how will that interaction be perceived in the Day of Judgment? Will it help the cause? Is it truly necessary and fair to all parties involved?

Look at it this way; the insubordinate angels have accused God of unrighteousness and created a disturbance of universal proportions that has gone on, from a human perspective, for eons. Behold, onto the judgment arena comes mankind, an entity that has never seen God’s face nor heard His voice, yet can lay to rest any doubts of God’s faithfulness, because although man has free will, he deliberately surrendered it and accepted God’s way by mere faith.

In case you haven’t realized, that’s us! You and I will stand up in judgment against the fallen angels and say something along the lines of this. “God is just, for I never saw nor heard of the wonders that you insubordinate angels have enjoyed, yet without a doubt, I knew there must be a God and I believed in Him. I suffered pain and hardship for my faith in God. At times I even risked losing my salvation, but in the end, I kept the faith, and here I am. Therefore, there is no excuse for your betrayal.” Then God will say to them, “Away with you, ‘into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.’” (Matthew 25:41b) This is one of the major reasons why we are in the middle of this huge spiritual war, because we are to judge angels.

Have you ever wondered what’s up with Satan? In other words, what’s the big deal? What does he have to gain or lose if everyday people like us are saved or not? It is true, as many preachers have said, that Satan acts this way because he wants to have company where he’s going. But moreover, he needs to make sure that simple believers like us don’t remain in the faith, because it is these people that are going to expose the lies that he has told and seal the fate of countless fallen angels. Through Jesus, we have become the living proof of God’s righteousness. You can see it in 2nd Thessalonians 1:5, which reads, “all this is evidence that God’s judgment is right, and as a result you will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering.” This is why we have to follow the teaching found in 1st Peter 5:8, which reads, “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”

The Meaning of life, page four.

As a result of judging the angels, and for other reasons as well, we have different functions in Christ and in our personal lives. There are different ranks within the heavenly beings, with God being the leader of it all. So, it stands to reason that someone like Moses would be inadequate to judge a subordinate fallen angel whom has never been in command of anything, but did agree with Satan’s plan to oust God’s rule. An angel of this level would simply point back at Moses and say something like, “That’s easy for you to say because you had thousands of people at your command, but I never enjoyed that privilege!” In all probability, Moses will be judging high-ranking heavenly entities.

 Consequently, “to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it.” (Ephesians 4:7) This Scripture does not mean that pastors and preachers are better than others in the eyes of God. This means that the quiet believers who have never enjoyed the Christian glories of this world (gospel singers, evangelists, choir directors, etc.) will have a greater importance regarding the end time judgment than those who are in leadership. Due to their subordinate way of life, these simple Christians will be strategic for God’s judgment. In this life we, unfortunately, tend to look down on subordinate people. For example, a factory worker, back office clerk, or tradesman is not always thought of proudly. People don’t say “my father was a stock clerk” with the same pride as those that say “my father was the store manager for so many years.” Nevertheless, in the next life, these subordinate folks will find that they are in line with God’s will and plan.

 But don’t take my word for it; here it is, straight from God’s Word. Ephesians 4:8 reads, “This is why it says: When he ascended on high, he took many captives and gave gifts to his people.” The captives are the pastors, preachers, and teachers of His Word, and His people that are receiving these captive gifts are the lay members of His church. Therefore, according to this verse, the earthly leaders of the church are prisoners, and the subordinate members are God’s people! This was a common practice after winning a war. The winner took captives and gave them away as gifts to his friends, family, etc. This is why ministers are known as servants of the Lord. We ministers/servants prepare the spiritual food, like this sermon, that nourishes your soul. The intended purpose is for your faith, and mine as well, to continue to grow, regardless of all the turmoil in your life. This, in turn, is to prepare you for the final judgment of God.

 This is all part of God’s strategic war plan. This is why Pastors, like myself, “must give an account” for our actions in regards to the lay members, or submissive members, of God’s Church. Here it is in Hebrews 13:17a, which reads, “Have confidence in your leaders and submit to their authority, because they keep watch over you as those who must give an account.” You see, subordinate members of the Body of Christ only give an account for themselves, but pastors must give an account for themselves and for the other members of the Body of Christ as well.

The Meaning of life, page five.

Regarding member submission, let me interject this: part of the problem we face regarding lay member submission has to do with the pastoral misinterpretation of what a spiritual leader is. I knew a pastor that arrogantly called himself the “boss” of his church. This assumption is, without a doubt, obtuse, because a “boss” is someone that pays cold hard cash for services rendered, even in the trickle-down arrangement of managers. Yet for the most part, these members are being forced through the use of sophistry to give the so called “boss” their hard-earned money. I also knew of another pastor that disrespectfully referred to members that leave his church as “runaway slaves.” This is completely opposed to God’s Word, which in John 8:32 reads, “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” With that kind of demeanor, why would anyone want to stay in his church?

I mention these examples because they demonstrate a different and much needed reason for the pastoral account on the Day of Judgment. This perspective of pastoral accountability is often not preached or mentioned from our pulpits, yet it upholds God’s plan regarding the judgment of angels. Pastors have the responsibility of preparing the church for this purpose. This is why it says in Luke 12:48b, “from everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.”

Now comes the amazing part. This is where your life is pricelessly precious. Now the purpose of all of your tears and all of the unjust things you’ve suffered through comes into focus. On judgment day, the Great One will look at you as the lamb that He has chosen from His flock. You will stand up and tell that fallen angel the words that many ministers cannot say. They go something like this; “I never felt God’s Spirit move in me while preaching His Word. I was one of those with the ‘ambition to lead a quiet life’ (1^st Thessalonians 4:11). I suffered many afflictions, including the immense pain of seeing my dear ones pass away. And in all this, I knew that there is a God, and I accepted His reign over me. Therefore, you have no excuse, fallen angel!”

This makes a huge difference from someone that has a life-transforming vision, or a testimony about drug and/or alcohol abuse, and someone that has never experienced any of those things. It’s true that those life changing testimonies are of great value, for they bring hope to us all, for if God can transform a life like this, He can surely help us all. But don’t sell yourself short, because God has a strategic purpose for those Christians that live the “quiet life.” A life transforming testimony is also an open door for a hostile angel to claim that God is unjust, since he was never given such an opportunity for restoration, also known as a second chance. On the other hand, we all have inherited the original sin, and because of that, all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, like how it reads in Romans 3:23. Therefore, everyone that decides to turn around after living in sin and gives their back to sin and repents becomes of great value to the Lord, regardless of the degree or amount of sin committed, whether great or small.

The Meaning of life, page six.

You might think that what I am about to say is odd, or you might think that it’s fascinating. In any event, you should brace yourself, because now I’m going to show you another part of Scripture where the “heavenly chain of command” is deeply involved in human activity. This part of Scripture shows that our ordained position here in this life will be strategic in determining which angels we will judge in Heaven. (Ordained means things that God orders in His will and are out of our control. For example, none of us ever asked to be born male or female, white or black, rich or poor.)

In 1st Corinthians 11:3, the Apostle Paul says, “the head of the woman is man” and for the most part we see this as a husband having authority over his wife, and rightly so. However, in the middle of this husband and wife chain of command, the Apostle Paul says that the wife should have a sign to indicate that her husband has the authority; he then says “because of the angels” in 1st Corinthians 11:10. Have you ever wondered, due to the fact that in Heaven there is no getting married (Matthew 22:30 and Mark 12:25), why on earth would angels have anything to do with marital relationships?

In the end time judgment, these women that have lived their lives under the “head” rule and authority of their husbands will take the stand and judge insubordinate angels. As you can see, these insubordinate angels have rejected the authority that God placed over them. They lifted their voices, claiming that they had the right to do as they pleased, but there will be no angel in heaven that will be able to lift his voice when these women say to them, “You rejected the authority that God placed over you, claiming He is unjust. We however, are the living proof of the benefits of submission; we did not have our will executed, yet we accepted God’s ways and found Him to be true.” This will more than double when it comes time for those wives that, for many years, have suffered in the shadows of abusive brutes and insensitive husbands, yet have maintained their faith in God. No angel in heaven will be able to stand against these women when they testify about what it’s like to submit to a truly unjust authority.

Allow me to take a moment and interject a very interesting reality that I have learned in my years as a minister. I have noticed that some husbands feel that they must constantly point out the biblical doctrine of a wife’s submission; however, these same Christians can’t stand having others, usually their bosses, telling them what to do. Therefore, they become insubordinate, much like the fallen angels. Many of these men can’t hold down a job for more than two or three years. They either stop working altogether, usually due to a psychosomatic (self-inflicted) disability, or end up struggling with one of those pridefully boasting but dead end “I’m my own boss” kind of jobs. I’ve seen them defiantly refuse to pay taxes, which is a form of insubordination, not to mention criminal. I’ve also watched them as they leave their families without medical coverage and struggle with past due bills, all because they can’t stand their bosses telling them to come in to work on time. For these men, I’m about to tell you what submission is all about. With the exception of God Almighty, everyone in Heaven and Earth has someone to submit to. Again, the only being in existence that is free from having to submit to anyone is God. All other entities have someone to submit to. This is one of the reasons we obey Luke 6:31, which tells us to “do to others as we would have them do to us.” Not following this Golden Rule means that you think of others, including your wife, who is the one and only human being that you vowed to cherish, as being less than you are. You see yourself as greater than others and, in doing so, you are siding with Satan.

The Meaning of life, page seven.

Now back to the sermon…

Can you understand, dear ones? All of your tears, pain, belittlement, sufferings, etc., are being kept as valuable treasures to be used for the purpose of righteousness. This is why Psalm 56:8 reads “Record my misery; list my tears on your scroll: are they not in your record?” Why would God keep a record of your sufferings unless He plans to use said information? And what better use could there be for this information than to prove Satan’s folly and end the war? God hasn’t forgotten you! If God did everything we wanted Him to, if He made right all that is wrong, He would not be able to justifiably show proof to the heavenly entities for sending Satan and his angels to the Lake of Fire where they belong. Because of this, mere words cannot express how valuable you are to Him.

Nevertheless, God has expressed this value by sending His only begotten Son to prove to you how much He loves you! Because of this, the power of prayer should never be underestimated. Take a look at it this way; this is where the power of prayer comes into play with regard to God’s righteousness. If God is constantly executing His will in our favor, His enemies will cry out “Unfair!” But if we unite our will with His through prayer, when God answers our prayers, His enemies cannot claim that He did as He pleased without regard to justice and/or the desires of others. In other words, Satan cannot say to his followers “See? He’s always doing things His way!” This is because there is now a human being that, through prayer, has requested God’s favor.

Let’s think back to Moses again. Most preachers focus on the great wonders and miracles that God brought about through the hands of Moses, and rightly so. But before Moses parted the Red Sea, these miracles were preceded by four hundred years of slavery. Once again, we tend to pridefully focus on the leaders and ignore the subordinates. And, in this case, the Israelites were subordinates to the point of slavery. What about all of these generations of people that never saw God’s miracles at the hands of Moses? These people lived generation after generation as slaves. Imagine being born a slave and learning from your grandparents that they lived their lives as slaves and raised your parents as slaves and that you later marry a slave and have children that are slaves, and in your old age, you see your precious grandchildren live their lives as slaves too! Do you think for a moment that these hundreds of thousands of people have lived their lives in vain?

God forbid. These folks will take the stand on the Day of Judgment and say the words that Moses will never be able to say against the low ranking fallen angels. They go something like this: “We never saw the burning bush or heard His voice; our lives were made bitter with slavery for countless generations, yet we never lost hope in God’s deliverance, even when we died without seeing it.” There will not be an insubordinate angel left standing in Heaven when these believers begin to speak.

Long ago, many of Heaven’s angels thought that God was unjustified in creating Heaven His way. And they asked, “Is it justifiable for God to create heavenly beings, knowing that they will be subject to His authority and will not be allowed to run freely, doing whatever comes to mind? Is it justifiable, knowing that their freedom would be within the limits of His Law?” God responded by creating mankind to prove His righteousness.

Today, some of us have asked, “Was it justifiable for God to create human life, knowing that humans will experience pain, trauma and all kinds of malice simply because the human being has been given the freedom to do whatever comes to mind? Was it justifiable for the Tree of Knowledge to be purposefully placed in the Garden of Eden, resulting in the guaranteed contamination of sin?” God responded by becoming one of us to lift our pain on His shoulders.

The Meaning of life, page eight.

In order to demonstrate the need for His just laws, God created mankind. He then selected a chosen people and started His earthly theocracy as proof of the benefits of His laws upon all beings. The earthly theocracy did not last long, but the benefits derived from the application of His heavenly laws, upon humans that possess free will, are evident to us all here and now on Earth as in Heaven. One can even say that every time a human governmental authority creates a new law which will limit the freedom of its citizens, said government upholds the divine plan regarding laws and limitations and does so because God’s image is a part of mankind. This is why it says in Romans 13:1; “Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.”

Humans are also the evidence, or living proof, of what occurs when there is no law, or the existing laws are unjust. The horrendous atrocities that have taken place in closed and remote societies due to their lack of just laws in government are evidence of what happens without God’s righteousness. Even in cases of child abuse, there is proof of the results of acting outside the limits of law, and this evidence will be presented to the fallen angels on the Day of Judgment. This is why it says in Matthew 12:36-37; “But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.” Therefore, if our “empty” words will be used to acquit or condemn us, then there should be no doubt that our actions will weigh heavily in God’s Court. Our lives are not just meant for us to simply live and then disappear from existence as if this physical body is all there is.

I leave you with this; do you ever wonder how it is that we are to exalt and praise God “forever and ever?” (Psalm 145:1-2). You might ask, “Isn’t this a little excessive? Does the Almighty really need to be reassured (by our continual worship of Him) of His greatness every day for all eternity?” The answer is no, because this is not so much for His good, but moreover for our own good. Just as the American Pledge of Allegiance was meant to prevent another civil war, this eternal worship is meant to prevent another heavenly uprising. Eternal praise is meant to produce a constant awareness of God’s authority over us and serves as a reminder that the saved members of humanity willingly pledged allegiance to the Almighty because they found Him to be righteous and worthy of His position.

This is why some so-called “good” people will not be allowed into Heaven. Many people think that a good God will never allow “good” people to spend eternity in the Lake of Fire. Some folks think that if they’ve never broken any laws or harmed anyone in any way, no matter how unbelievable that sounds (see Mark 10:18 and Luke 18:19), they have earned the right to Heaven, and there should be no reason to deny them access. However, they are sorely wrong, because unless they accept God’s plan now (in this life), they will not be allowed into Heaven, because if these “good” folks are allowed into Heaven on their own merit, it will only be a matter of time before they start trouble. Before anyone knows it, they will start complaining about God’s rule over them, and before long, there will be another uprising in Heaven. Except this time, it will have been started by “good” people. This is why entrance into Heaven will be denied. This is also why it is written in Acts 4:12 that “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”

In conclusion, would you like to make Heaven tremble? If so, then proclaim God’s sovereignty in your darkest hour. Declare your faith no matter how bad things get. Your faith is a testimony, being preached to the world. It also attracts other potential Christians into the ranks of those that will one day judge the angels. And that makes the insubordinate angels tremble. This is why is says in 1st Peter 1:12b, “Even angels long to look into these things.”

Sermon by Rev. Amós Ortiz, founder of The Evangelical Reform Church of Honesty, Respect & Love in Christ Jesus, Inc.,

910 East 28^th Street (near Gov. Printz Blvd.)

Wilmington, DE 19802

www.YouTube.com/user/berthaerika