In 2017, 47,173 suicides occurred in the United
States which was twice as many as murders
(19,510). Sadly, suicide is also the 2nd leading
cause of death for those aged 15-24 years.1 A tragic and terrible statistic of life.
Where is the meaning of life for these
people? I discovered there is a two-sided coin to the meaning of life. We all
experienced the duality in life; light versus darkness, goodness versus evil,
love versus hatred, and truth versus falsehood.
Today’s reading in the Book of
Revelation becomes insightful to the meaning of life, for a part of it reads;
Worthy are
You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased
for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and
nation….Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and
wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing….And every created thing
which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all
things in them, I heard saying, To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb,
be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever.
Rev 5:8-13
Like all things with a dual nature,
one cannot appreciate the light until we observe the darkness; or the absence
of light. Take for example Adolf Hitler. After suffering the defeat of WWI and its
economic collapse, Hitler offered a new hope for the country sold under a great
lie. The people bought the lie and suffered an horrific outcome.
There was Jim Jones the cult leader
who took his Christian congregation from San Francisco to South America. He too fed a false hope to his people. Sadly,
the entire congregation drank the poison and perished.
Today we are taught a worse lie whereby 60
million Americans were murdered or aborted in the name of women’s health.
St.
Thomas Aquinas once wrote, “justice without mercy is cruel, and mercy without
justice is dissolution.” We all know in our hearts none of us are righteous nor
good compared to the standards of God. No matter how hard we try to be
good we can never measure up. In our hearts we desire mercy,
but we deserve justice. We know a false hope brings destruction, darkness brings death, and unrighteousness separates us from God. How do we reconcile the purpose in our lives when life appears so dark? Are we doomed?
Thank
God we are saved! For worthy is the lamb that saved us, for no one else could do
it. In this Revelation passage all the angels, saints, heavenly hosts, and living creatures acknowledged Jesus as the worthy lamb who could break the seven seals while being blessed seven times in recognition of his divine nature. There is no greater love than a sacrificial love which purchased our freedom from sin with a price. No longer are we doomed by the darkness, but saved by the light. When we accept Jesus, all of life, goodness, power, wisdom, honor, glory, and blessings become
our inheritance. The creator of all life
enters our heart, mind, and spirit where we live in life-union with Jesus. Through this life-union pours the streaming
rivers of life thus making us partners to save others in the world and to
co-labor in his mission. We have joined
the family business of God. The truth
has set us free and blessed us with a mighty and purposeful meaning of life.
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