Who Am I and why Am I Here

Christian book of the 34 it's the question that has burned in the hearts of humanity from the beginning of time. What is the meaning of life that I go through Jeremiah begins the series God, I need some nonsense in response to the age-old question with insights from God's word. Sometimes struggle to find meaning in this life. Listen as is his message. My why am I here we know there's a Lotta questions that plague us there are questions that are written in the book someplace there just the things that come into our hearts and minds along the way as we as we grow in life and those questions seem to be clustered in groups this questions is this one. Who am I and why am I here without a sense of self identity. We often flounder in life I've seen over and over again in my years as a pastor, so this is a worthwhile question to ask much more worthwhile to answer were getting some answers from Psalm eight and I hope you will turn their new Bibles and join me as we begin this day together. They want to tell you about our resource for the month of September. It needs a little explaining because it it's almost counterintuitive. If you want to know the truth, who offers a calendar in the month of September. What we do. After many years of making this calendar available in November, we discovered that our patrons the people that support us and help us and listen to us and watches they wanted earlier because often times what happens when you make an offer.

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Well it's time for us to begin this new series let's talk about this question today. Who am I and why am I here the question is why and why am I here in the psalmist asks the question this way in the fourth verse of Psalm eight he says is man that thou art mindful of him, and the Son of Man that thou dost care for him. There's a sense of frustration and meaninglessness, skyrocketing suicide, dark despair, spreading like a blanket the world because men have asked the question why am I here and they haven't come up with any meaningful answers. And so they become existentialist, which means they just live for the moment and they squeeze every drop of meaning out of the moment. They have because after that's over. There is no more so when I read David's question.

I really want to know not only what the question is about what the answer means what is man that thou art mindful of him, I like to suggest you live from the eighth Psalm and from Hebrews chapter 2, there are three important trailers that we need to write down on the table of our heart. If were going to come to grips with that answer number one you cannot understand who you are and why you are here until you understand the creator. The theme of Psalm eight blazes across the first and last verse of this hymn, the writer says the Lord, our Lord, how majestic is thy name in all the earth and the psalmist wants us to understand that the meaning to man starts and ends with the glory of God and who we think about it with me for just a moment.

What makes man different than every other being every other creative work on the earth. You know the evolutionist towers were just a little better animal than the others were just a little higher form all of the other animal beings which you see God has said something about man that is very special and this is what he said.

He said God created man in his own image. I don't know if you understand what that means. I'm sure I don't understand it completely, but what it means more than anything else, is that when God created man, he created man to respond back to God is created man with intellect, emotion and will, so that God could walk in the garden with the first man and talk with them and commune with them and so that you and I today know God through his son Jesus Christ and in a moment of time. No fellowship that we have with our Creator. There is no other animal.

There is no other creature that knows that kind of an intimate personal fellowship relationship with God in heaven. And so it is true to say that man is only man in relationship to God. The only thing that sets us apart from the rest of the creatures on this earth but the only thing that makes us unique, the honor and glory which is crowned upon our head. The fact that we created a little bit lower than the angels, the only thing that's involved in that friends is this that when God created man he created in man, the capacity to respond to God and man is only man in his relationship with the creator.

No wonder the world is such a mess because people have determined to just totally deny the fundamental fact about who man is and when they deny the fundamental fact about humanity. They have destroyed any kind of meaning and purpose in life itself. Now psalmist tells us that we can know our Creator.

Certainly, through his creative works. It's a beautiful thing that he writes when he speaks of the finger work of God putting the stars in the sky. Hanging the moon and the sun. Who of us have not looked up into the sky thought thoughts of grandeur about our God thoughts of Majesty is known to us in his transcendent creation, but I don't know if you noticed in the eighth Psalm. He is also known to us.

Now watch this impersonal communication. I'm overwhelmed. In fact, I couldn't figure out what this was all about. When I first read it and the more I studied it, the more excited I got about it because it is truly the magnificence of a God who cannot be fathomed by human thinking for the second verse says this out of the mouths of babes and nursing infants you have ordained strength because of your enemies that you may silence the enemy and the avenger. I listen up friends we know God through his transcendent creation, but we also know God through his personal communication. What had impressed the psalmist was that Ms. transcendent glory of God.

This greatness, which was far above all the heavens could still be grasped and expressed by a child. Evidently he had often struggled to put his words and thoughts and ideas and he found that his intelligence and his rationality is the psalmist was challenged by such an attempt yet here was a God who could reveal himself in such a marvelous way and overwhelm us as we sit out in the starter started heavens looking up into the glory of God were overwhelmed and yet this great transcendent God can be known in the heart of a little child Jesus all he nailed this truth force in the New Testament.

Do you remember the story. The chief priests and the scribes.

Matthew tells us were just really upset. One day because the blind and the lame came to Jesus in the temple, and he healed them. And when the chief priest and the scribes saw the wonderful things they did and they saw the children crying out in the temple. Hosanna to the son of David. They were so indignant. This wasn't a train temple children's choir. These were the ragamuffins of the street.

These are the children who come in and when they saw what Jesus did, they just began to say hosanna to the son of God, and the chief priests and scribes thought that Jesus should be offended by the fact that these street urchins were crying out.

Hosanna to the son of David, and they told Jesus about it and Jesus reminded them of this particular passage of Scripture, and he asked them if they had not heard that in the Psalms.

It said out of the mouths of babes and sucklings will his truth be known, while he is so wonderful that he's created the world and hung the stars and so transcendent and magnificent. And yet the simplest child can comprehend them. In fact, simple children understand them better than we do.

Once we get our minds messed up with the intricacies of life noticed in the eighth Psalm it says when I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have ordained, what is man that you are mindful of him and all throughout that passage of Scripture. You will find that the you referring to God is prominent.

He was the one who is central in all of this. In fact, verse one and verse nine set the score straight, our Lord, our Lord, how excellent is your name in all the earth and the Lord our Lord, how excellent is your name in all the earth. I want you to notice. Secondly, and here we come to the book of Hebrews and it's so very helpful to us that you cannot know who you are and why you are here until you understand creation for you see in the book of Hebrews, one of the questions that seems unanswered in the eighth Psalm is illuminated for us, for in the second chapter of Hebrews as the writer repeats the eighth Psalm here is what he says at the end of his quotation of the Psalm in verse eight he says you have put all things in subjection under his feet. Remember, the question is, who am I and why am I here if you read Psalm eight the answer to the second part of the question is you are here to subdue the earth for the eighth Psalm says God has put us in charge of all creation with the writer of Hebrews says, for in that he put all in subjection under him. He left nothing that is not put under him, but now we do not yet see all things put under man. Psalm eight is a commentary on Genesis 1 and two, but it is not a commentary on Genesis 3. Because Genesis 3 is the record of the fall and the interesting thing about Psalm eight is that it tells us what God intended man to be and Hebrews 2 tells us what happened to God's original intention God wanted man to live in the Garden of Eden in control over all of the animal kingdom as he was king of the earth. God's sovereign creation, rolling and sovereign control over all creation with them and decided that that wasn't enough, he wanted more. The only thing God withheld from him was withheld from him in order that man might remember who God was and that he was not God but man was not satisfied and who of us cannot comprehend it.

It's the one piece of candy that you are told not to eat that become so so attractive to you and Adam and Eve became attracted to the one from anything and you know the story is the darkest day in the history of mankind.

They decided that they would take to themselves the prerogative that belong to God alone and we call it the fall and man was divested of all of his opportunity to rule over the animal kingdom. He lost his sovereignty, and unless you think he still has it. Let's just remember that our relationship to the creation and these days is really turned sour has an think of how much worse things are today. Since we in our fallen condition have been trying to rule and reign over the universe, we build factories to provide jobs for our people and goods for our nation but the factories pollute the waters of our streams in our lakes. We take the money that we make it the factories and by automobiles to make it easier to get to work and the automobiles filled the air with poisonous gases and our eyes burn in our lungs are clogged with smog and trying to do right we do wrong because we have lost our sovereignty in creation and you will never understand who you are and why you were here until you understand why is this world the mess that it is goes back to an event that happened is recorded in Genesis 3 when man took the one thing God said he shouldn't have been in his federal head Adam rebelled against Almighty God. That's why if you love God and you want to serve him with all of your heart. You want to give yourself with all that you have to make a difference in this world you discover along the way there bumps in the road. That's why the Scripture says the whole creation groans until the day of redemption.

What is that me it means we live in a fallen world. You will never understand who you are and why you were here until you accept that truth. That man who was created to be sovereign over all creation has now been placed in the parentheses where he lives in a fallen world. I'll tell you what I'm sure glad the Hebrews writer doesn't stop there because it would be very discouraging. He takes us one step further.

He helps us understand that we will never know who we are and why we are here until we know who the creator is and we will never know who we are and why we are here until we understand the process of creation and the fall but then he tells us that we will never know who we are and why we are here until we understand Christ. Notice what he says in the ninth verse, but he says we see Jesus, who was made a little longer than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor that he by the grace of God might taste death for everyone.

If you take the ninth verse and lay it down alongside of the eighth Psalm you will discover that what the writer of Hebrews has done is describe Jesus Christ in the exact same terms that he describes man and he says to us that what was lost through the first man Adam has now been recovered through the last man Jesus Christ that Jesus Christ walked back into this world and took back the control that was lost when Adam sinned, I don't know if you know what that means but that's an incredible thought. That means that Jesus Christ has started.

Listen to me now, a new humanity. He started a whole new race of men, men called redeemed men who've been caught up out of the brokenness of this broken world and set up on a new level that makes the world makes sense and makes life makes sense and puts meaning into every day and gives you a sense of adventure. But you're here and God has a plan for your life.

He has recovered everything that was lost in the garden for those who put their trust in him.

What was lost in the garden friends. What was lost was man's innocence and his eternal life in Jesus came back as a baby was born as a man in this world and he came back to recover the things that were lost in the sin of garden.

He went to the cross hanging there between two thieves. He let all of the sin of the world come down on him and the wrath of God was poured out on him as the sinless son of God, and he took away all the penalty of our sin when we put our trust in him, so that we can recover the sense of purity and at least relative innocence in Jesus Christ and the Scripture says that when he died, he took the sting out of death.

He took all the poison away. He emptied death of its thing.

In fact the Scripture says it this way. If you have the sun you have life. What Jesus did when he reentered the human race.

When he came into the human race as a baby and grew up on this earth, he demonstrated everything that man could be in Christ.

In fact, even in the physical realm. Think about this for a moment. You know the first thing Jesus did that we would call miraculous. He turned water into wine. One day he was in the boat with his disciples and the wind came up and the storm began to roll across the lake and Jesus just reached out and said piece he still when stopped storm was gone, follow the miracles of the Lord Jesus on this earth and please hear me correctly. He did those as a man. He was the son of man doing the miracles that showed his control over nature not listen to me he was demonstrating again for us. Everything that God had originally wanted us to have that was lost in the garden through man's sin and reminding us that, while not in the physical realm in this life, but someday in the kingdom we know as the millennium, the lion will lay down with the lamb, and there will be peace between man and the animal kingdom. Amanda once again became a beer but what God wants us to know was that through Jesus Christ. We can recover the sense of who we are and why we are here like we could never understand or recovered in any other way so that when we put our faith in Jesus Christ and we trust him and we allow him to be our representative even as Adam was in the Old Testament is gone to the cross and paid the penalty for our sin and set us free from the prison house of our own human desires and offers to us the opportunity to really understand what life is all about. I been a Christian for a lot of years. I have once again been overwhelmed and how incredible it is to know God and to get the insight from him about who I am what I am here that's not available any place else friends that's only found in the creator because you were created for him.

The missing piece in your life is not more education better therapy. The missing piece in your life if you don't know Christ is to put them at the center where you belong. God created you uniquely for himself. He put a vacuum within you that cannot be filled with anything else except him. And when you stuff all the pleasure and all of the madness of this age trying to find meaning to life. You will never discover it. Something happens and there are 100,000 testimonies and many here today something happens in that moment of time. When you say that simple prayer and you give in to God and you say Lord I do understand who you are and I do receive you into my life would have been incomplete without you.

Now I want to know God through Christ Jesus comes to live within you and all of a sudden you don't dispel all your problems, but you have a new understanding into perspective a new sense of purpose a new sense of meaning in life starts to make sense of the rest of your life as a believer is the gradual awareness day in and day out, of who you are in Christ and what God intends for your life. Some of you here today have tried everything there is to try to make meaning out of life. Why don't you try the directions wanted to read the handbook wanted to come back to square one and start over with God. He loves you. He knows you he is a plan for your life.

He wants you to know who you are and why you are here and if you will put your trust in him, he will give to you that perspective in your life, and he is no respecter of people has nothing to do with age or sex has nothing to do with race or previous creed. You are man only in relationship to God. And when you let God take control of your life through his son life begins to have some meaning. That's a good thing to remember.

When were being assaulted by so many things concerning who we are and what we do.

The Bible gives us the answer for those of us were Christ followers tomorrow morning to talk about a very contemporary question. I suppose we been hearing this. Most of our lives. At least I know I have all about self worth hundreds and thousands of books have been written about it.

Seminars have been conducted concerning it. What in the world is self-worth and how do you know what your self is worth to find out tomorrow right here on Turning Point and I hope you'll join us. Then there's a study guide for the series.

You know I'm always excited when we can put some of these things together for you because we know they fit together and you want to study them together so these 10 lessons on the God I need some answers will make a very great Bible study for you.

These are questions people have and this is a platform that you can use to interview people and talk to them and discuss this in small groups and learn from the Scripture and would love to make this available to you. You can find out about it that David Jeremiah.org will be back tomorrow.

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