Noah wrote a very honest post about his own personal convictions in life. He gave 7 answers to the question--"Why are you here." Thanks for your response Noah!
Here is my personal manifesto:
I exist because of and for Jesus Christ.
I exist to depict and declare the good news of Jesus Christ. I am here on earth to show the greatness of God by knowing, enjoying, and being loved by Jesus Christ. I am a member of the community of world-wide Christians who are seeking to present to the world a Hi-Definition picture of who and what Jesus is like. This picture of Jesus is best seen through a life of self-giving love lived in Christian community for the sake of the whole world.
As a human being, I have dignity and honor because I am made in the image of God. I am loved by God and valued by God because He designed me for His purposes. At the same time, as a human being I am broken at the deepest part of who I am. I am in revolt against the God who created me and loves me. Instead of following His good authority I have chosen to rule myself. My greatest value as a human being is the fact that Jesus Christ loves me and has given me a new identity as a Christian. Instead of punishing me forever in hell because of my revolt against God he has chosen to welcome me into God's family as a beloved child. I will live forever with Jesus.
I know Jesus Christ through the story of the Bible, which I believe to be
fully trustworthy, historical, dependable and reliable. The Bible is God's Word where He tells the world the true story of why the world exists and what human beings are to be and do in the world He has made. It is not private truth for some, but public truth that calls all people to listen and respond. I believe that the Bible is the only true Story that truthfully and honestly portrays WHY we are here. WHAT went wrong with the world and humanity. HOW and WHAT God did to put right what went wrong. And WHERE this world is heading in the future.
Moreover, the Bible tells me that I exist in order to demonstrate to the world that Jesus Christ is the one true God, that His death and resurrection are true and real historical events with present significance, and that He is worthy of worship as God. Additionally, I believe that I must live life according to His definition and authority, not my own. (For example, if a football player decided to rebel against his coaches playbook and the rule of football, everything would get messed up and he would get injured or sidelined, unable to play the rest of the game. Similarly, Jesus gives me the best way to play the game--life-- in a way that makes sense to who I am as a player--person-- and how the game--life--was meant to be played.) I further believe his death and resurrection have actual power to turn humans from revolt against God into children who love and obey Him. This transformation does not happen through human effort, but by God's generous mercy.
Jesus' design for existence is summarized in this way: "Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find true life." "I did not come to be served but to serve and give my life up as a sacrifice for many."
Furthermore, I believe that the life of Jesus is best lived in the community of Jesus followers called the church. I do not exist as a single cell all by myself. I exist within a complex system of cells (Bible-believing Christians) that make up the body of Christ. Sadly, many people have been harmed and harassed by the church. Or they have seen hypocrisy and insanity in the church. Yet it is still God's chosen community to demonstrate to the world His holiness, truth, beauty, and love. It is as a member of this church, for whom Christ died, that I am called to partner with others to follow Jesus' call to exist for others and not for ourselves. When we live according to Jesus' way of life, this gives the world an HD picture of how life was created to be lived with God at the center of our existence.
Therefore, My fundamental conviction about life is that the way to be human is by being part of a community of people who are turning away from the self-centered revolt against God and choosing to love Jesus and love others. Instead of deciding what we get to however and whenever we want, we are choosing to follow Jesus and His way of life. As many can observe, the church struggles to be holy, act lovingly to its neighbors, and live how Jesus wants it to live. Yet that is why we are saved by grace, and not by our good works. So we depend on Jesus to give us the strength to love people better and present to the world a better picture of what Jesus is all about.
Jesus is the perfect picture of what a human being should be like. He was and is the only perfect human being who loved God perfectly and loved others without any selfishness. And Jesus took upon himself the penalty for MY choosing to live life by my rules and loving myself more than others. Jesus loved me and gave His own life to rescue me from ME.
And I believe true life for every human is only found in turning away from our revolt against God and surrendering our lives to Jesus Christ. Because I believe Jesus Christ rose from the dead, I can now have the power and ability to live the human life it was intended to be lived.
This does not mean that we become better people or that God wants us to live good lives of morality and niceness. No.
Jesus wants to make us NEW people, not nice people (C.S. Lewis). Jesus did not rise from the dead to make Wade a nice, good little boy. Jesus rose from the dead to make Wade a new type of person. And only He has the power to do so.
Therefore, my greatest need, and God's most loving provision for that need, is to be transformed from my self-centered attempts to live life--whether that is though working harder, getting more money, appearing sexy, performing perfectly at my job, or living a 'good life' of morality. And I need to be transformed into a way of living a human life according to WHO Jesus is.
In summary: I believe in and live according to the gospel ("good news") of Jesus Christ that is revealed to us in the Bible. (Jerram Barrs, my professor of Christianity, summarizes the Gospel this way. I added brackets to my own additions:
To every human person the message that must be communicated is that there is good news from God for us. The good news of the Gospel is, indeed, that Jesus is the Messiah promised by God in the writings of the Old Testament. [The good news is that Jesus is God's Son who died for our sins and who rose again from the dead so that I can be put right with God and forgiven of my sin. The good news is that I am saved not because I am a good person, but because God delights in rescuing people who are sinful. The good news is that my whole life is a gift of love from God. The good news is that Jesus loves saving undeserving rebels]. The Good news is that there is a personal and infinite God who made heaven and earth and everything in them. The good news is that there is a God who is holy and just and whose character provides a moral order to this universe so that there is a distinction between good and evil. The good news is that human persons are special, for we are made in the image of the Trinitarian God who loves, who is good and kind, who thinks wise thoughts, who rules His creation, who creatively designed the universe to display his beauty, and who has a marvelous imagination. The good news is that there will be a resolution to the problem of suffering, that ever tear will be wiped away, that death will someday itself die and be no more for those who know Jesus, and that perfect justice and peace will fill the earth. ... The Gospel fulfills every right longing of the human heart. It answers every honest question of the searching mind. It delights and surpasses every good impulse of the creative imagination. It meets and transcends the ache in every soul to come to know the living God. [Jesus offers every person the joy] that comes when the hopes and desires of their inner being are completely satisfied as they are humbled before God and put their trust in God's Son, Jesus Christ.
That is why I exist.
Wade
