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Is There More to (Your) Life?

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Do you agree that every person is on a never-ending quest for satisfaction? It starts at the moment of one’s birth, crying for milk and comfort. As we become older, that quest takes on a different form. While food is still a necessary reality to daily satisfy our stomach, nourishing our body, we move on from a pacifier to other instant and long-term pursuits to satisfy our heart’s desires.

Without question, the quest for satisfaction is endless, whether in relation to our physical bodies, mental health, emotional well-being, or interpersonal relationships. Maslow’s famous Hierarchy of Needs has the following order:

  • Physiological needs (food, water, warmth, rest)
  • Safety needs (security, safety)
  • Love/Belonging (intimate relationships, friends)
  • Esteem (prestige and feeling of accomplishment)
  • Self-actualization (achieving one’s full potential)

While this order may not necessarily pinpoint everyone perfectly, they are general truths that, in some form or another, are the reality of everyone’s life, especially the basic and psychological needs. Simply put: you and I want to be deeply satisfied, however that pursuit is expressed.

The Hamster Wheel and Rat Race

For many, though, the pursuit for deep, genuine, and lasting satisfaction is like a never-ending hamster wheel or a competitive rat race. We fiercely pursue the latest “cheese,” only to find out we’ve lost the race or need more “cheese.” More, more, more is often not only a driving force but also a taskmaster. Contentment seems to be an archaic word.

Obviously, there are times when we do feel satisfied, having captured the latest “cheese” or embarking on a new season in life, in contrast to the routinely mundane. That satisfaction, though, gradually wears off until the “new” becomes the “normal.”

Most of these pursuits are part of everyday life and are, what we consider, common. Yet, there are also millions who abuse, extort, steal, and even kill in order to satisfy their lust for control, power, possessions, and revenge. What about life-controlling addictions? Often, it goes from worse to far worse.

A Void and a Filler

God’s word addresses our need for deep, and genuine satisfaction. It has been stated that God has created us with a void that only He can fulfill. Whatever your perception of God, consider these verses:

Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live; and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David (Isaiah 55:1-3).

God is entirely pro-satisfaction! When we think of sin, we often only think of major ones like lying, stealing, cursing, adultery, murder, etc. The literal meaning of sin, though, means “to miss the mark,” to miss the goal for why we exist. In these three verses, God offers deep, genuine, and lasting satisfaction to “everyone who thirsts,” to everyone who wants to be genuinely satisfied but seeks it in all the wrong places.

He offers such satisfaction as a free gift. It’s “without money and without price.” You simply have to come to Him and “listen diligently” to who and what He has graciously given to you. Obviously, a gift must be received in order to enjoy the benefits.

Living Water

About 700 years after God’s words through Isaiah, we read about Jesus who said to someone, who had gone from one relationship, to another relationship, to another relationship, to another relationship, to another relationship, and to another relationship in order to find satisfaction: “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water” (John 4:10, 16-18).

A few verses later, while referring to the well where He was resting, He said: “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (John 4:13-14).

Jesus used the most basic, physical necessity of life—water—in relation to our most basic desire as a human being: to be deeply, genuinely, lastingly satisfied. He’s able and more than willing to freely give you such “living water,” which far supersedes anyone and anything in this world, to say the least.

Knowing God

Later on, Jesus would define this kind of life, this “living water,” as follows: “And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent” (John 17:3). If God truly exists, would you not agree that, apart from Him, everything is a missing-of-the-true-goal in life?

While we can define life as “physical entities that have biological processes” (Wikipedia), I assume you agree that life is much more than just the temporal reality of such impersonal, random, without design and purpose, biological processes. Your very soul has eternity stamped on it: “He has put eternity into man’s heart” (Ecclesiastes 3:11). You’ve been created for so much more than a never-ending hamster wheel or a competitive rat race.

If God is truly infinite, which He is, you will never come to the end of finding a deep, genuine, and lasting satisfaction in Him, not just in this world but throughout endless ages: “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore” (Psalm 16:11). That verse is in sharp contrast to: “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death” (Proverbs 14:12), which refers to a life and an eternity without God, your creator.  

That’s why God’s word refers to sin as “deceitful desires” (Ephesians 4:22), for it promises satisfaction but, sooner or later, will leave you empty, disillusioned, and full of regret. On the other hand, when you have Jesus, you have everything, including when weakness and weariness will set in: “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” (Psalm 73:26). Is He also your eternal portion, or will you end up empty-handed?

His Open Invitation

While God’s word has much to say about the reality of sin and the inevitable consequences, it has much more to say about the reality of His good news about redemption, reconciliation, and restoration, no matter who you are. For example, we read: “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds” (Psalm 147:3).

Centuries later, Jesus basically echoed those words when He said: “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:28-29) Will you accept His invitation and receive His free gift?

For more information about Jesus and God’s Inexpressible Gift to You, click this link for YOUR FREE BOOK.

Mr. Jan Blonk
www.thecauseofchrist.com

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John 1:38

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It has been a little while since I’ve written a blog post. The Lord willing, I plan to do so on a more regular basis, using the “red-letter edition” of God’s word. Here is one from John 1:38.

What are you seeking?

John the Baptist “came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light” (1:7-8). When he saw Jesus, he said: “Behold, the Lamb of God!” Two of John’s disciples “heard him say this, and they followed Jesus” (1:36-37).

When Jesus “turned and saw them following,” He said to them: “What are you seeking?” Was Jesus unaware of their reason, their motivation? None whatsoever! This question was like the one God had posed to Adam: “Where are you” (Gen. 3:9)? Just like God wasn’t oblivious to where Adam was, even so Jesus wasn’t oblivious to the reason they followed Him.

His “what are you seeking” was a personal, probing question. What are you seeking from Jesus? What motivates you to follow Him? As we know from this gospel, many followed Jesus for what He could do for and give to them.

When He expressed “a hard saying . . . many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him” (6:60, 66). Why are you following Jesus? Will you still do so when He expresses some hard sayings? Will you embrace or reject those sayings?

Later on, we read: “Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man” (2:24-25). Jesus’ question was not a question for Him to become aware of our motivation, but for us to become more aware of our motivation.

What are you really seeking? Paul spoke of those who “proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition” (Phil. 1:17). We also read of one who just wanted the ability to have divine power (Acts 8:19). In the end, “what are you seeking” isn’t a polite, small-talk question. Rather, it goes to the heart of the matter, the very motivation of our hearts in wanting to follow Jesus, which may or may not be as divinely clear to us yet.

Mr. Jan Blonk
www.thecauseofchrist.com

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Fixing Our Eyes on “The Man of Heaven”

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Oh that my ways may be steadfast in keeping your statutes! Then I shall not be put to shame having my eyes fixed on all your commandments.

Psalm 119:5-6

In this fallen world, there is the continuation of “and there was evening and there was morning” (Gen. 1:5), which is the continuation of darkness and light. In glory, there will only be light; in condemnation, there will only be darkness.

The same is true in relation to the believer in this fallen world. On the one hand, there will be the “delight in the law of God, in my inner being” (through the Spirit of Christ), while there is also “another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members” (Rom. 7:22-23).

We see that same struggle in the psalms. One the one hand, we have the (imperfect) delight in God’s law, while on their other hand, there is a definite discrepancy between what ought to be (a perfect delight in God’s law) and what is (the struggle with man’s fallen nature, with inward corruptions).

As such, the psalmist cries out: Oh that my ways may be steadfast in keeping your statutes! This is more so a prayer (and desire) than a determination of the will. It is the acknowledgement of falling short, while asking God to make him more steadfast in keeping your statutes. The word steadfast means “to make firm, to establish” (The Complete Word Study Dictionary: Old Testament). Only God can do so. In glory, our ways will be perfectly steadfast, bearing the image of the man of heaven.

The Bible makes it plain that all sin causes shame, including for the one who has no “shame” for their sins, which they will have in the final judgment and throughout eternity. Thus, the only way to be saved from the shame of sin is to have a flawless righteousness (Isa. 45:23-25), which is the righteousness of Jesus Christ. In saving us, God not only deals conclusively with our sins; He also does so with any and all shame, covering us with “the robe of righteousness” (Isa. 61:10).

We can read the Bible in relation to the righteousness “that comes from the law” and the one which “comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith” (Phil. 3:9). As such, we are to see Jesus and His steadfast ways in keeping your statutes. We are to fix our eyes on the one who has kept all your commandments. In doing so, we will go “from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit” (2 Cor. 3:18).

If you’ve been blessed by this small excerpt from the upcoming The Man of Heaven: A Christ-Centered Commentary Series (Reading the Scriptures in Light of the Person and Work of Jesus Christ), you can join for more encouraging samples…

For more information, you can read the Introduction to the series.

The Smallness of Grace and the Father’s Infinite Delight

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Thoughts are mostly triggered by what we’ve heard or read. The twentieth floor of a building can never boast against the first nineteen floors because it solely exists because of them. The following article has been triggered by things I’ve heard and read. As such, there’s no originality, but, perhaps, a larger view of the surroundings of God’s grace.

The last view months have been very difficult for me, including a small reality of the goodness, greatness, and glory of God. When the dark clouds cover the sun, we have no problem believing that the sun still exists in all its glory; yet, the actual experience of the sun with its light and warmth is far better.

One of the thoughts that was an enormous encouragement to me is the fact that the smallness of God’s grace in our lives solicits the same infinite delight of the Father than the greatness of His grace in our lives.

God didn’t create the universe in one split second; He did so over six days. Yet, almost each part was met with: “And God saw that it was good” (Gen. 1:4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25). Each part was good and the whole of it “very good” (Gen. 1:31).

The same is true with His work of grace in our lives. While that work may be small and seemingly insignificant, each particle of grace has the name Jesus engraved on it. Just like a small seed can grow into a large, strong, beautiful tree, even so the smallest work of God’s grace in our lives has the inevitable reality of eternal ages of matchless glory within itself.

As such, the Father has the same infinite delight in the smallness of His grace as He does in the greatness of His grace. Ultimately, the greatness of His grace sprung forth from any “smallness” of His grace. The slightest measure of grace within our lives solicits the same infinite delight of the Father as if we were already glorified.

The slightest measure of grace within our lives solicits the same infinite delight of the Father as if we were already glorified. Click To Tweet

Why? Because any measure of grace, no matter how small, comes entirely from Jesus. It is, so to speak, a small reflection of who He is and what He will do. Since He began a “small” work of grace within you, you are as loved by the Father as He loves His Son, for He sees His trace within you.

What may seem small to us, just like the stars in the sky, is actually infinitely great. The smallest particle of grace contains the absolute certainty that He will grow what He has planted.

Through Jesus

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Who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

1 Peter 1:21

What does it mean that Jesus is our mediator? The biblical definition means a complete reconciliation between God and a sinner. That indicates that there must be perfect harmony between a holy God and a sinful human being. Such harmony can only be based on the complete forgiveness of sin and a perfect righteous life. Anything less than that is unacceptable to God.

As such, we also need a perfect trust in God in order to be justified. Any trust that falls short of such perfection is unacceptable to God. Therefore, Jesus’ perfect trust in the Father as the Son of Man is also an essential part in our justification.

Not only is His flawless faith accounted to us, in today’s verse we read that all our believing is also through Him. When Jesus said, “apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5), He also meant being a believer in God.

Faith is never self-induced; it always comes through Jesus Christ. That applies to everyone at all times. Luke expressed this truth with these words: “When he arrived, he greatly helped those who through grace had believed” (Acts 18:27). “Through grace” and “through him” are synonymous.

When we don’t ascribe our believing in God to Jesus as an essential part of His saving work, we attribute to man what must be wholly attributed to Jesus. Whenever you see any authentic believing throughout the Bible or history, you can be sure that it’s always “through him.”