II. Developing a View of Life
Understanding Where Life Comes From and Why We Are Here
A worldview helps us understand the world we live in. A view of life takes the question further: Why does my life exist, and how should I live it? Our occupations, roles, and stages of life all change. We need to understand these changes in light of life’s deeper foundation.
Scripture teaches us that we receive life from God and are accountable to our Creator. It also shows us that sinners must be reconciled to God through Christ to receive a new belonging and eternal hope through salvation. Our identity as created beings and our new identity in Christ are related, but they must not be confused.
1. Life Is Given by God
Genesis 2:7 records that God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils, and the man became a living being. Acts 17:25 also explains that God gives people life, breath, and all things. We did not obtain our lives through our own efforts; we received them from our Creator.
Human dignity therefore does not depend on achievement. An infant has accomplished nothing, yet possesses full dignity as a created being. Older people do not lose their worth when they lose the ability to work. Disability, failure, illness, and poverty cannot make one person’s basic human dignity less than another’s.
This also changes what we require of ourselves. It is necessary to pursue growth earnestly and take responsibility, but we do not need to keep achieving things to prove that we deserve to exist. Working wholeheartedly when we are able, and accepting help when our abilities are limited, can both express respect for life.
Respecting life also means respecting the limitations of our bodies. Even when illness requires us to rest and receive care, our lives still have meaning.
Having received life, we also need to learn to care for it in our own circumstances, rather than treating our bodies merely as tools for carrying out our plans.
Receiving life also teaches us gratitude. Daily food, someone willing to listen, or a period of time in which we can rest may all go unnoticed when we are busy. Gratitude does not require us to call difficulties good. It helps us recognise the kindness we have received in our actual circumstances and acknowledge that our lives are not sustained entirely by our own efforts.
2. The Heart of Life Is Our Relationship with God Rather Than Achievement
Jesus prayed, “This is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and him whom you sent, Jesus Christ” (John 17:3). Knowing God here means more than having information about Him. It also involves entering a real relationship with Him through Christ.
We easily expect that the right career, sufficient wealth, ideal relationships, or the fulfilment of our goals will finally make life complete. These can bring real joy, but they cannot replace our need for forgiveness of sins and reconciliation with God. Our deepest sense of belonging cannot be supplied by another finite person or by any achievement.
Ecclesiastes examines toil, wisdom, pleasure, and wealth to show the brevity of life and the circumstances beyond human control. It does not reject all work and joy; it also encourages people to receive the everyday gifts God gives them (Ecclesiastes 3:12–13). At its conclusion, the book brings us back to our responsibility to fear God, keep His commandments, and face His judgement (Ecclesiastes 12:13–14).
The meaning of life therefore concerns more than whether we have enough. It also concerns how we live before God. Reconciled to Him through faith in Christ, we learn to receive, give thanks, and obey, allowing work and relationships to find their proper place on this foundation.
Reconciliation with God is founded on the redemption Christ has accomplished. A feeling of closeness to God is not sufficient grounds for assuming that the problem of sin has been resolved. God grants forgiveness and reconciliation in Christ and calls us to repent and believe. Those who receive His grace can therefore draw near to Him and continue to know Him through His word. This foundation takes faith beyond passing feelings and enables us to return to the Lord even when we feel weak.
This relationship is not an isolated personal experience. God makes believers members of His household and builds them together in Christ (Ephesians 2:19–22). Those who know God also worship with other believers, share one another’s burdens, and learn to love one another.
3. Life Is Not Only for Ourselves
When God called Abraham, He promised to bless him, make him a blessing to others, and bless all the families of the earth through him (Genesis 12:2–3). This promise has a unique place in the history of redemption and extends to all nations in Christ (Galatians 3:8, 16). We cannot turn every particular promise to Abraham directly into a guarantee for ourselves. This promise first shows us God’s redemptive purpose of blessing all nations through Christ. The New Testament also gives clear teaching on how those who receive grace can be a blessing to others in daily life: believers should serve one another according to the gifts they have received (1 Peter 4:10). Knowledge, experience, resources, and opportunities are therefore more than means of personal development. They can also be used to care for others, build up communities, and fulfil responsibilities.
This gradually changes the questions we ask. Alongside asking, “What can I gain from life?” we begin to ask, “Whom can I love and help in my circumstances today? How can what I have received benefit others?”
Loving our neighbours as ourselves also includes appropriate care for our own lives. Serving others does not mean giving up rest, taking on every need without regard to our responsibilities, or using others’ need for us to prove our worth. In a community where people serve one another, we sometimes give and sometimes receive help.
Such service can begin with the people already around us. We may not have abundant resources, but we can keep our promises, listen attentively to others’ difficulties, share the knowledge we already have, or offer help when someone has more to do than they can manage. Living with concern for others does not require a prominent position. It requires a willingness to see particular people and their actual needs.
4. Life Has an Eternal Direction
Death reveals the limits of our roles, plans, and labour in this life. Yet this does not mean that our finite lives are meaningless. Scripture takes human hope further, towards Christ’s resurrection. Peter explains that through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, God has caused believers to be born again into a living hope (1 Peter 1:3).
This eternal hope is grace received in Christ. It does not belong to us automatically simply because we are created beings. Scripture also brings us face to face with the realities of death, judgement, and accountability to God. Acknowledging that life comes from God therefore also requires us to ask whether we have been reconciled to Him through faith in Christ.
The hope of bodily resurrection and of being with God forever enables us to take life seriously while acknowledging that its stages come to an end. Retirement need not end our opportunities to love and serve others, and illness cannot erase human dignity. Our dignity as created beings does not diminish as our abilities weaken. Nor does belonging to Christ depend on believers retaining a particular capacity for work.
Eternal hope does not require us to deny the pain of death. We still grieve our losses, yet in Christ we can hope for the fulfilment of God’s promises. After discussing the resurrection, Paul urges believers to abound in the Lord’s work, because their labour in the Lord is not in vain (1 Corinthians 15:58). This gives weight to faithfulness today and hope that reaches beyond immediate results.
Hope for eternity also teaches us to make good use of the limited time we have today. The psalmist asks God to teach us to number our days so that we may gain a heart of wisdom (Psalm 90:12). This wisdom helps us take time seriously: some relationships need to be restored, some responsibilities need to be undertaken, and some pursuits need to be laid aside. We cannot determine the length of our lives, but we can ask God to help us live today well.