A Blessed Human Life

A BLESSED HUMAN LIFE

Concerning a blessed human life, the emphasis is not just on being blessed; rather, the emphasis is on human life. Human life is our subject. What is human life? We all know that the phrase human life is composed of human and life. What is human? It is a mystery. As for life, its meaning is somewhat obscure. Does it refer to the intrinsic life or to the outward living? It seems to refer to both aspects and to also include both. Actually, this life is neither the intrinsic life nor the outward living; it lies between life and living and refers to human existence. Human life refers to the existence of man, and the existence of man is what man is. What we are is our real human life. In other words, our human life shows the secret of our being human.

A person begins to exist as soon as he is born. During the first two to three years, he knows only to eat, drink, and play; he does not understand anything else. As he grows up little by little, on the one hand, his taste for pleasure increases, but on the other hand, his gratification from pleasure decreases gradually. Today, especially in our place, starting from kindergarten the human life seems to be a suffering life instead of a blessed life. The reason for this is that from the time of kindergarten, demands from teachers, expectations from parents, and the pressures of schoolwork all come one after another.

We who have children are well aware of this matter. After a child goes to kindergarten, teachers do everything they can to coax him to study diligently. After he passes through elementary school, he enters junior high, and in order to get a good education not only does the child suffer hardships in the school, but the parents also go to much trouble with the view that he would pass his examinations and enter into the best high school. The parents toil day and night and even provide him with the best tutor. Therefore, not only is the school strict in supervision, but the tutor also is not at all lax, and even the parents keep a close watch. At last he passes the test, but he is still not satisfied, for his scores may not be high enough to get him admitted to a first rate school; rather, he may be admitted to a second rate school. After entering into high school, he suffers even more because college is still ahead. After he enters college, there are still a few more years of suffering.

Just before graduating from college, or maybe even earlier, some may have heard the gospel, believed in Jesus, and received salvation, acquiring a priceless blessing. However, they may not understand why they believed. The reason they believed is that now they have a stronger will and a broader view, and as to human life and man’s existence they have a deeper understanding. In other words, it is at this point in life that they begin to sense the need of a human being and the need of human life. Therefore, under the Lord’s sovereignty and arrangement, they heard the gospel and received the Lord.

I believed in Jesus when I was nineteen years old. At that time I was still studying in a junior college. To tell you the truth, I had had my fill of fun and pleasure. My mother was a third generation Christian, so I was born and grew up in Christianity, and the school I attended was a Christian school. After I gradually became more mature, I constantly felt that I should make a stand for the Lord, since the Christian religion in China at that time was commonly referred to as a “foreign religion” in a derogatory way. Nevertheless, even at nineteen years of age, I had not yet received Christ. That was when my human life had come to the point where I was empty within and without. Even though I knew some principles of dealing with things and understood a little about human life, I was empty inside.

One afternoon, a young lady from the Kiangsu-Chekiang area of the South came into our city to preach the gospel. I grew up listening to sermons given by old pastors and old preachers, so I was weary of listening to them. Now there was a preacher who was not only a young person, but also a female, coming to our city to preach the gospel. Naturally I was driven by curiosity to go listen to her. That afternoon I went and heard her preaching. Right away, there was a response within me, and my heart felt that this was what I wanted. At that moment, I believed in the Lord. I remember that after the meeting that day, on my way back home, I stopped and looked up to the heavens and said, “O God, even if you give me the entire world today, I will not accept it. I only want You.” It was not a so-called supplication but an aspiration. That year I had just entered junior college.

Apparently, we just hear the gospel and believe in Jesus, but actually it is not that simple; it is very deep. It is deep in the sense that it concerns our very being. Our existence comes to a point, a critical moment, when our state of mind is prepared to receive something; so when the gospel comes, we receive Jesus. This shows that our human existence is certainly for a purpose. Everything in the universe is for our existence. If all the beasts, birds, and cattle were taken away, human life would lose its color. All the lovely animals are part of our human life and they are for our existence. Therefore, we must consider what human life is exactly, what the meaning of human life is, and what the purpose of man’s existence is.

THE WONDER OF THE CREATION OF MAN

If we were to stand in front of the mirror and look at ourselves—at our eyes, nose, and ears—we would find them fascinating. It is truly the wonderful design of the Creator that we human beings are such. No wonder someone once praised in admiration, saying, “Throughout history and over the whole earth, there is not one great designer who can improve the human appearance.” Today the things in the world are wide in variety, diverse in style, and always being modified. Some are modified to improve their function; some are modified for fashion, to follow the tide of the age. Only we human beings cannot be improved either in appearance or in function. For example, if the eyebrows above our eyes were modified to line up vertically, they would be not only ugly but also impractical. In Taiwan, nine out of ten people wear glasses. If the nose God created for man was wide on the top and narrow on the bottom, not only would it not hold a pair of glasses, but it would also be ugly. If our nostrils were pointed upward, then all the dust and rain would fall into them. These illustrate that the creation of man is truly a wonder.

To illustrate further, the hairs on our body all grow downward, and only the hairs in the trachea grow upward. In this way the phlegm in the throat can be kept from flowing downward. A brother who is a medical doctor told me that the earwax in our ears is very useful medically; it instantly kills intruding bacteria, preventing them from doing any harm to us. Based on these things, we can conclude that human beings did not come through evolution as Darwin said. They were created by the sovereign Lord of the universe. Before creation there had to be a design; we were created according to the design of the wisdom of God. God’s design is mysterious yet exquisite and cannot be further improved. We little human beings express God’s great design to the uttermost.

THE MEANING OF HUMAN EXISTENCE

In this world there is not one designer who designs things without a purpose. In the same way, in the creation of man God also had an intention, a motive, and a purpose. According to this intention, motive, and purpose, He designed what He desired. This shows us that there is real meaning behind our human life and a reason for our existence. Since human beings were created according to God’s design, what they are and the reason for their existence lie in the God who created them.

There are countless volumes of books, whether philosophical, literary, scientific, or religious, that have something to say about human existence. However, these discussions are incomplete, just like the proverbial blind man who tried to discern an elephant by feeling only one part of it. But in this vast sea of books, there is a book called the Bible. It begins with, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Gen. 1:1). It also says that God made man in His image and according to His likeness (v. 26). Even though these words are easily understood, their implications are deep and profound. In short, man was created for and according to God’s desire. God’s creation is the basis of human existence. In other words, human existence came out of God’s creation and also lies in God’s creation, and it is entirely for the purpose of God’s creation.

God did not create man without a basis; God made man in His image and according to His likeness. Although it is very difficult for us to describe God’s image and likeness, the Bible portrays who God is in various ways. One of the portraits of God is the law in the Old Testament. In the Old Testament, the law is also called the testimony of God, that is, the “biography” of God. Apparently, the law is the Ten Commandments with many statutes plus many ordinances. However, after you read these commandments, statutes, and ordinances, you will come to a conclusion that the general principles of the law are love, light, holiness, and righteousness. Why do we say the law is the testimony of God? It is because the law that a person establishes is determined by the kind of person he is. God’s law expresses the God who enacted this law.

In the New Testament, God says that He is love (1 John 4:8). He also says, “You shall be holy because I am holy” (1 Pet. 1:16). The teachings of the New Testament convey the spirit of the law; this is also the description of what God is. Therefore, the image of the unique God whom we worship is love, light, holiness, and righteousness. Man was created according to this image of God. Therefore, throughout history and over the whole earth, regardless of race or color, every human being has love within him. Even when he grows old, this essence of love still remains.

Furthermore, we all have light within; we like to be bright. We also have holiness within and like to be blameless and transcendent. We have righteousness within as well; we approve of fairness and justice. Even though we are fallen, we still retain the qualities of love, light, holiness, and righteousness, because God created us with these qualities. They are not obtained through education; as long as we are human beings, we have them. Love, light, holiness, and righteousness are the real and original inner content of all human beings. When a man expresses this inner content, he expresses his true nature.
Why did God create man according to His image? God’s intention was that one day man might receive Him into him. When God created man, He created only a “framework”; man did not have God’s divine life within him to live out the reality of love, light, holiness, and righteousness. It is when man receives God into him, when he prays to the Lord Jesus, calling His name, that man feels he is satisfied and that he has reality. He is at ease inwardly, and he can sleep well and eat well. Furthermore, now man has the power to live out God’s substance of love, light, holiness, and righteousness.

Before we were saved, when we did not have the Lord, we were empty within. After we receive the Lord Jesus into us, we are filled inwardly. This is the meaning of human existence. Therefore, the existence of human beings is not for making money, obtaining a higher position, or having a golden future. The meaning of human existence lies in receiving our Creator, who is the real meaning of our life. This is human life. This God who is inside of us is our real blessing and our real joy. As a result, we become a blessed human being, and our existence becomes a blessed human life.

Today many have made a fortune in business, and many more have earned a college degree. Furthermore, more than a few have obtained a high position, success, and fame. However, the more successful a person is, the less God he may have and the emptier he will feel within. Young people have just begun the first stage of human life; they do not sense much emptiness. One day, when they have earned a degree, obtained a position, and gained material riches, psychological pleasure, fame, and success, they will feel that all is empty, as the Bible says, “Vanity of vanities” (Eccl. 1:2), and “There is nothing new under the sun” (v. 9). These words were spoken by King Solomon, who had a high position and great wisdom. Today as young people you might not have high positions, but all of you at least have graduated from college. This is the time that you feel the need for something. Please remember, what you need the most is not honor and wealth but to gain the Lord Himself. Only by letting Him in can you be a blessed person who lives a blessed human life.

Now we can understand Hebrews 11:24-26. After Moses was born, his mother tried to send him away to prevent him from being killed by the Egyptians. Later, having been adopted by the daughter of Pharaoh, he grew up and received his education in the Egyptian royal palace. But when he had grown up, gradually he came to understand the actual situation, and he no longer wanted to stay in the Egyptian royal palace as the adopted son of the princess. He would rather give up the enjoyment of Egypt and choose God; he considered the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt. Although in the Old Testament it was not yet the time of Christ, in the eyes of God what Moses did was for Christ. Moses chose Christ and followed Christ.

In the New Testament, we see that the apostle Paul, even though he was a Jew, received a Jewish education and graduated from a Greek university in Tarsus, exhausting all that he could learn of the Greek knowledge, yet like Moses, he forsook everything and chose Christ. Because of Christ he counted everything as refuse. To him, Christ was not only an object of his belief, but Christ was his life, his living, and even the motive, the motivation, and the purpose of his living. Therefore, Christ became his human life, and Christ was his existence. That was why he could say, “For to me, to live is Christ” (Phil. 1:21a).
Each one of us has our own tastes. If someone says, “For to me, to live is an academic degree,” “For to me, to live is wealth,” “For to me, to live is success and fame,” or “For to me, to live is a happy family,” he will not be happy; the more he says these things, the more he loses his taste for them. However, the more we say, “For to me, to live is Christ,” the more we have the taste. The more we say it, the more we feel blessed and joyful.