My best shot at explaining the meaning of life.

When people ask me about Christianity or what my faith is all about, this is the best way I can describe it. 

Ready? Here goes:

I start by asking them a simple question in return: "What is the meaning of life?" Most of the time people say relationships. Relationships with family and friends. People to love and to be loved by. No one yet has been overly materialistic and said anything about making tons of green paper called MONEY and spending it on nice shiny things and being famous. 

My response is that Christians agree! We completely agree! Relationships give life meaning...except we add one. We add one more relationship onto the stack of family and friends. That relationship is with whoever made all this stuff. Whoever made us. Whoever made the world. We probably should know that guy! That's probably important, right? 

You see, Christians believe this world was MADE by someone.

Just like when you clicked onto this website, you KNOW someone had to intelligently design it. (Or at least semi-intelligently!) You know it didn't just appear out of thin air. You know the javascript code didn't just evolve from letters. Like you, Christians don't look at websites, buildings, or cars any differently - we all know someone intelligent had to design such complex systems. So this is exactly where our complex human bodies, complex ecosystems, and physics comes from. God made them.

And the good news is He is perfect! Someone that powerful would be horrifying if they had flaws. Can you imagine? An imperfect God? Someone so powerful, so intelligent, could become evil? Or just have "issues?" No one wants a God with "issues." Imagine talking about him: "Hey! You should meet God! He's great! Well actually, he has some issues...but honestly most of the time he's great!" The good news is God is perfect. The bad news is we are not.

And in order to have a meaningful life, we need to have the most meaningful relationship of all - a relationship with God. But we can't. Because we're imperfect. 

And because God is perfectly just, our imperfection must be paid for in order to be reconciled. In order to be perfectly just, our imperfection must be atoned for. "Looking the other way" is not justice or grace. Think of that feeling you get when you hear about a horrific crime - that feeling that someone should pay! That is a healthy response. That's justice. Injustice is getting away with it. God is perfectly just. We must pay for our imperfection.

But God said no. He said we can't pay for it. It's too severe. And He loves us too much. 

God did something inconceivable. He paid for it. Through the death and resurrection of His Son Jesus Christ, He paid for it. And because Jesus was God, the price He paid is as eternal as He is. It is sufficient to cover our imperfection past, present, and future. If we give up trying to be perfect...if we have the humility to admit we personally need that sacrifice...if we start baby-stepping our way toward Jesus...we begin to enter into the most meaningful, life-giving relationship of all: a relationship with God.

That is the meaning of life. This is why Jesus came.

So...what do you think the meaning of life is?

Jesus: "...I came so that they may have life and life to the full." ~ John 10:10b