CT04-BA03 | The Big 3 Questions
Minute of Transparency: Why so spiritual? (Why so serious?!) Joker (Heath Ledger) Batman: The Dark Knight
Intro: So over the last few episodes we’ve discussed where CT came from, what the controversy is, and that one exists. We talked about absolute and essential truth. We talked about our participation in the controversy being both voluntary and involuntary. And we talked about how important our vote is in the Eternal Election.
Today we’re going to talk about three questions that each and every one of us must answer in order to stand on a firm foundation in the controversy.
Today’s Basic Assumption: The Big 3 Questions
Where did we come from? (A question of Origin)
Why are we here? (A question of Purpose)
Where are we going? (A question of Destiny or Destination)
// 1. WHERE DID WE COME FROM?
Christian, Jewish or Islamic: Tend to believe in the creation account in the book of Genesis in the Bible
Hindu: The current belief is that the gods, Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva are involved in a process of creating and destroying the Earth
Japanese heritage: Belief in multiple gods, and a story about the siblings Izanagi and Izanami - who had a hand in creating the first island on Earth
Chinese: Story about a cosmic egg which contained the forces of yin and yang - and produced the first being
Aztecs: Believed in the earth mother Coatlicue
Egyptians: Talk about a being named Atum who willed himself into existence and created Shu and Tefnut which kicked things off
Agnostic/Atheist: Evolution tends to be the explanation most people latch onto
Of course evolution isn’t just for atheists, it has been so incorporated into our culture (through the public education system) that there are even Christians who have incorporated it into their origin story
Obviously, CT believes in the Christian view of creation - so that will be our frame of reference today. And the most important concept to take from this section:
“What you believe about your origin will have a HUGE impact on the way you look at yourself, and the choices you make throughout your life.”
CT suggests understanding that we were created by a loving God will have the following impact on us:
It helps us understand our intrinsic worth and value:
We were created in the image of an extremely powerful being:
Omniscient: “Having complete or unlimited knowledge, awareness or understanding; perceiving all things"
Omnipresent: “Present everywhere at the same time"
Omnipotent: “Almighty or infinite in power"
Because of this, it doesn’t appear that we were an afterthought - in fact, it suggests we were His crowning achievement - beings created to be like Him and enjoy the amazing world He created for us
However, this value and worth got lost along the way
Obviously, when we chose Satan in the Garden of Eden that changed everything. The Sin Virus was allowed in, and it has had two very powerful effects on our worth and value:
First, it tainted us as individuals. We are no longer perfect, no longer pure and no longer able to walk and talk with our Creator. And because of this, it is now harder to see our value, our worth. It’s hard to understand how God can look at us as His kids - in the same way we love our kids
And second, it tainted the way we view others. Instead of viewing people as created beings just like us, we introduced hierarchical concepts like class and status into society. Suggesting some people are better that others. Suggesting those who have more than others and actually better than others. And beginning to separate out into people groups based on color, language, affinity or belief systems. Ultimately this just set up more division, and eventually hatred, war, slavery, and violence between us
So is God ok with this new behavior? Does He look down and say, “Well, kids will be kids. There’s not much I can do about it. They just need to get it out of their system."
No! Of course not!
Would you as a parent, allow this to happen in your own home? Would you let your kids set up a hierarchy, fight for supremacy, do horrible things to the youngest because he or she couldn’t stand up for him or herself?
Of course not!
And God is no different. So He sent His Son, Jesus down to Earth to do two things:
First, to save us, and make a way for us to beat the Sin Virus
But second, to remind us of our intrinsic worth and value:
Jesus spent His entire life teaching this, but more importantly He lived His whole life showing us that the following is true:
Gender is not an excuse for inequality - God views men and women as equals
Knowledge is not an excuse for inequality - God views the smartest, and most religious people as equal to the simplest person on Earth
Wealth is not an excuse for inequality - God views us as equal no matter what we have or what our earning potential is
Differences are not an excuse for inequality - God views us as equal no matter the color of our skin, the gender we identify with, where we live, how we dress, etc.
Jesus spent His time on Earth showing this to be true, by spending time with all varieties of people, treating them the same and offering them the same thing - a life free from the Sin Virus
It suggests our thinking and behaving matter:
In many of the origin stories, humans weren’t created by a loving god who wanted what was best for them
In many cases we were an afterthought, or in some way a side effect of an event of some sort
So there is nothing to suggest how we should think or behave
The smartest thing to do in these scenarios is to survive, be smarter, learn more and outlive others
But the creation story suggests something more
We were created by a Loving, Creative and Social Being
And since we were created in His image, it suggests we should be loving, creative and social
In order to do that - there must be a set of morals or values to help get us there, right?
CT suggests this is true - that if we believe this to be our origin story - we would understand the following:
If God created us - He would know what’s best for us
And He would probably have something to say about our thinking and behaving
To illustrate: When Ferrari produces a new car - let’s say the Ferrari Portofino (https://portofino.ferrari.com/us) Starting around $215,000.00 (Just saying…)
Who knows the car the best?
Who knows what it can do?
Who knows what fuel is best for performance?
Who knows what not to do to the car?
Who knows how to fix it if it were to stop working correctly?
etc. etc. etc.
Ferrari of course! The people who created the car!
It’s not the car who knows best. It’s not the new owner who knows best. No - it’s the creator who knows best
Pretty powerful right? I mean knowing the creation story helps us understand that there is someone who understands everything about us. Just like Ferrari and their understanding of the Portofino. So too, God knows everything about us. And if we’re willing to tap into that knowledge - our lives will be 100% better
// 2. WHY ARE WE HERE?
Next up is the question about purpose. We just learned how important it is for us to understand where we came from. That it will impact how we view ourselves, how we view others, and how we think and behave.
But an understanding about why we’re here should help us do the following:
Understand your situation:
The first thing for many of us is to come to an understanding about the Human Condition:
That we were created by God
That a controversy exists
That the Sin Virus is real
That we have the freedom of choice
That we can Transcend Human
Get things straight with your Creator:
Make the single most important decision each of us can make in life
Cast your vote in the Eternal Election
Live your best life:
Not the, “living my best life” images and posts we see on social media:
One where a person is laying in front of a fireplace, reading a book and holding a glass of wine...
Or sitting in a Ferrari Portofino at the dealership and pretending to be driving it...
All good stuff - just not what we’re referring to when we talk about living your best life...
What we’re really talking about is Transcending Human - which includes things like:
Thinking “eternal” vs. “temporal” - focusing on the long game vs. simple worldly distractions
Becoming a “contributor” vs. “consumer” - using your talents and skills - your uniquely gifted self to give back to the world
Becoming a “Lifelong Learner.” Choose not to stagnate. Always be looking for something new - keeping your eyes open for the next opportunity. A new skill, a new book to read, a new book to write, a new concept to understand, a new hobby you can share with a new group of people, etc.
Tipping the scales in favor of the good:
This is an interesting concept - loosely based on the idea of Karma
In that there is good and evil in the world - and it is up to us to put more good into the world so there won’t be as much room left for the evil
And while this is a good thing to work toward - we know that ultimately evil will have it’s day
Evil will continue to grow just as it did in Heaven with Lucifer. And at the end of time, it will need to be addressed once and for all
But until then - keep doing good!
Find your SHAPE and use it!
The concept of SHAPE was offered by Rick Warren in The Purpose Driven Life
It is used in many churches today - and walks people through an exercise to figure out their SHAPE:
SPIRITUAL GIFTS
HEART
ABILITIES
PERSONALITY
EXPERIENCES
But this is just one of many exercises you could walk through to learn more about yourself
Personality inventories are all the rage these days. The Enneagram is a big one as are: Strengths Finder, DISC, Insights, Myers-Briggs, etc.
The important thing here is to learn more about yourself
And once you do - focus on the things you are uniquely SHAPEd to do. Make use of your strengths and do something great with them!
Pay it forward:
So now that you’ve voted in the Eternal Election, you can tuck that away in a little box in the attic, and go back to living your life for you - right?
Wrong!
the Bible is very clear on this. We are not to hide our faith. We are to share it
There’s this little thing called The Great Commission:
Jesus’ final words on Earth: Matthew 28:19-20
“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
So to summarize: Share your faith
Now obviously sharing your faith comes in many different shapes and sizes - so don’t let someone tell you that the only way to share your faith is to become a missionary to some jungle tribe in the Amazon
Again, back to the whole SHAPE thing - we are each SHAPEd differently - so sharing our faith will come out differently:
Missionaries (already covered that…)
Pastors
Teachers
Evangelists
Writers/Podcasters
TV/Movie producers
Individual relationships
Parents teaching their children
Etc.
The important thing is to NOT hide your faith. Always be ready to give an explanation as to why you believe and how it has impacted your life
// 3. WHERE ARE WE GOING
And finally, we have the question related to our destiny, or destination.
This is HUGE for so many people!
We all understand that death is inevitable - that in terms of impact, it’s hovering right around 100%
And because of this - people do some interesting things to deal with that Absolute Truth:
Some research, study and try to prove what happens when you die
Some choose to look the other way and pretend it isn’t there
Some live in fear - that death is always coming for them
Some live angrily, and put others in danger with their reckless behavior
Some self-medicate with drugs or alcohol
Some legit-medicate by getting a doctor to prescribe drugs
And then there are those that don’t seemed phased by death
So how do those in the last group cope? How is it that they can live without constantly worrying about aging and the certainty of death?
Well, CT would suggest it’s due to an understanding of the following:
Death doesn’t have to be the end:
Satan wants nothing more than to confuse us about this:
At the beginning, he lied to Eve about the fruit from the tree - saying, “You will not surely die!"
And while it was true right then and there (she didn’t die the minute she ate the fruit) it was a lie because the Sin Virus ensured she would eventually die
Another one of Satan’s approaches is to lie, and convince people there is no God - that death IS the end
So if there is nothing beyond death - that makes this life the main focus
So do everything, try everything, experience everything, focus on the temporal, and make temporary happiness the ultimate goal
After all, you only live once
Make sure you get what you deserve
And everything related to that line of thought
But, if we understand that death doesn’t have to be the end - it opens up a whole new line of thought
Think of the possibilities that exist if that is true!
Instead of living for the here and now, we can live for the then and there
We are able to view life on Earth in the following way:
A blessing - a gift we’ve been given
A beautiful world with amazing things to experience
A life that will offer happiness from time to time
A life that will include pain and suffering at times - but only temporary
A life where we have the privilege of voting in the Eternal Election and encouraging others as they think through their decisions
It also suggests that it is important to Transcend Human, and wrestle with our humanity:
We were made for so much more than just the Human Nature we were born with
There is something deep inside us - hidden away due to the Sin Virus
Some little remnant of Heaven - living in the deep recesses of our minds
Something that is available to each of us - we just need to do some digging in order to find it
But once we find it - we can use it to "rise above the Human Condition”
Land the plane:
This week ask yourself the Big Three Questions:
What do you believe about where you came from?
Do you truly understand your purpose in life?
And are you confident about your future after death?
CT suggests this is a foundational step in our spiritual growth - and that until we truly wrestle with the answers to these questions - we will struggle in life.
We may not even know why we’re struggling - but there is a good chance one or all of these questions has been left unanswered, or ignored.
Next week we dive a bit deeper into our purpose in life by walking through the Fourth Basic Assumption: To Be Human Is to Worship
Until then - keep Transcending Human!