Washing machines wash clothes, toasters toast, clocks measure the passage of time. Everything that’s been made has been made for a reason. The Bible tells us everything was made by God. The meaning of life has stumped philosophers for centuries, but the Bible suggests some answers in the form of love, caring for the world and God’s glory.
Why would someone plant and tend a vineyard? To get grapes. The Bible often talks about humans as if we’re planted and tended to by God, like a vineyard. But we bear a different kind of fruit; we bear the image of God. Paul, in the Bible, tells us to put on the image of the Creator. Put on kindness, he says, humility, meekness, patience, forgiveness. Above all, put on love. Paul views love as the ultimate expression of what God is like, and he believes the greatest aim of the Christian life is to be an embodiment of that love.
Jesus highlights the necessity of experiencing His love first, and then He commands us to go and demonstrate that love to one another. Jesus reminds us that this fruit that we were created to bear is only possible for those who are receiving life from Him. If we want to bear the fruit that Jesus is talking about, we need Him to send the Holy Spirit to us. It’s through the Holy Spirit that we can enjoy Jesus’ love today. It’s through the Spirit that we can receive the life-giving accomplishments of Jesus’ death and resurrection. The Holy Spirit can apply Jesus’ death to us to cleanse us from sin and apply Jesus’ life to us so we can begin to love as He loves.
As the bearers of God’s image, we’re supposed to reflect, not just His love, but His wise rule over all He’s made. The Bible tells us God’s first instructions to humanity: be fruitful and multiply, steward and care for all living things. But we haven’t done a great job. The world is ravaged by war, resources are hoarded by some, whilst others starve. We’ve tamed a lot of animals, but we haven’t tamed the human heart. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, the Russian philosopher and critic of the Soviet regime, once said that the line between good and evil doesn’t run between nations but through every single human heart. Instead of allowing God to guide our lives and set boundaries for us, we want to control as much as we can. Thankfully, our failure to care for the world isn’t the end of the story. Through His death, Jesus offers a way for our failure to end. Our selfish desires can die with Him on the cross, and His blood can mark us as people bought for a great purpose: to be transformed into people that will one day rule the earth with Him in justice and mercy, fulfilling the purpose we were created for.
So, part of our purpose is to demonstrate God’s love to one another and to care for God’s creation, but at the centre of our purpose is God Himself. Loving people and caring for the world can be done as acts of love received by Him as worship. Jesus said when we love one another, His Father is glorified. To glorify something is to increase its reputation. There are many who express anger and hatred towards God; others are just indifferent, as if God is a boring pair of socks at Christmas. Even those who do love God still fail to fully recognise how majestic and perfect He is. God doesn’t have the glory or reputation He deserves, but this doesn’t affect His self-esteem. He isn’t petty. But when we fail to recognise the full beauty of something, we enjoy it less. In a culture where truth and justice matter, we should desire that the worth of all things is properly appreciated, including that which is most worthy: God Himself.
The Bible offers us hope for a world characterised by the knowledge of the glory of God. Jesus makes this happen, becoming flesh so that the image of the invisible God can be displayed with perfection, and giving us the Holy Spirit so our knowledge and experience of God can one day be made perfect.
Video interview with Rahil and Ben, article written by Jack Barraclough and Brianna Gregoriou
