While the fundamentalists are defending their Bible, tooth and nail, from the assaults of the liberals and atheists; screaming persecution from the state and other religions; organizing their political action committees for the defense of their lifestyle; the liberals are doing their best to interact with the demands of a Humanist society; embrace the scientific worldview; unite the church on any grounds, if only as a center for social activity. Ultimately, both are doing the same thing: trying to make society reflect their beliefs; or is that: trying to make their beliefs reflect society. Either way, neither are doing much of a job of it from all appearances.

The reason is simple: It is not the job of the Church to conform society to its beliefs, nor to conform to the society. The sole mission of the Church can be summed up in three words: GOD and MAN.

The scientific community marches on amassing piles and piles of statistical data about every conceivable aspect of our universe, sorting parts, realigning definitions of “things”, trying to “make sense of it all”. As more and more is known about more and more, collectively; scientists are having to “specialize” into certain areas of their investigations resulting in fewer and fewer people knowing less and less about the whole thing being investigated. Unfortunately, as the data accumulates, the studies become studies of statistics and not the original “things”. Man has thus been reduced to the status of other “things”, an object driven by causes and effects, every whim and inclination determined by his own body or some outside force. Apparently the only purpose left for man is to collect data, and destroy everything else.

He has denied the existence of God, which effectively destroys Him, as far as they are concerned, anyway. Then, in contradiction to their own description of man (whom they say is no more than any other animal), they proceed to “rule over the world” by means of inventions (to make life easier) and contrivances of power (to make sure those idiots don’t ruin society), all the while destroying the very earth which supports their very life, and the very people who allow them to flex their political muscles. All of this is done for the advancement of mankind to some goal which has never been fully understood (by modern man) nor outlined for public knowledge (in modern times). Our statistical data overrules all of history, which we can rewrite to conform to our interpretation of our statistical data. Quite frankly, whole masses of mankind have no idea, at this point in man’s existence, of where they are going or for what purpose they are here, right now. In psychological terms, man is neurotic with episodes of generalized psychosis. That means: he doesn’t have any real purpose or meaning for living, and generally acts irrationally.

Man’s irrationality stems from a lack of standards to guide his actions. If man does not have any higher authority for his actions than his own body’s drives, or reactions to outside forces, he becomes his own authority, accountable only to himself. Any society grounded in this view will necessarily be the result of one group “laying down the laws” and “daring the others to violate them” with the power to subjugate the offenders. This is totalitarianism, whether by dictatorship or democracy. Those without the power, are being propagandized into conformity with the desires of the “leaders”, which leads to socialism. Our conscience can be our guide only if our conscience is subject to a higher authority, real or imagined.

Man’s purpose in life can be based on any number of perceived desirable ends to which man can direct his energies. Of course, “desirable” for one person may not be so “desirable” for another. Again, unless our purposes for living are founded upon higher principles than simply fulfilling drives and desires; even if those desires are ostensibly for the good of mankind, we find ourselves in a situation much like the one above. Purposes always change with perceived circumstances, whims of fantasy, and bodily drives.

The meaning we give to life, and to the circumstances in which we find ourselves, is the single motivating factor in the advancement of mankind as a whole, and ourselves as individuals. I believe it was Goethe who once said, “If man can find a meaning, he will find the means.” Meaning in life is just as personal as we are individual. That does not eliminate the possibility or likelihood that we cannot share a common meaning with others. The one thing that sets meaning apart from purpose is that meaning must be found in our everyday circumstances whereas purpose is a perceived goal for which we are striving. The immediate purpose of a man with a tyrant’s gun pointed at his head is survival, while the meaning he gives to the potential sacrifice of his life is a better life for someone else. Survival is never a meaning, but is always a means. On the other hand, meaning is the prerequisite to survival, both for individuals and mankind.

Without a meaning for life, those subjected to concentration camps, prisoners of war, political prisoners, and people in abject poverty will choose to die, even at their own hands. It is only when the incarcerated criminal finds meaning for life, that he will find the means to overcome all obstacles, and find himself able to accomplish great things even if he is never freed from imprisonment. Our meaning for life overcomes all circumstances. No matter what our circumstances, when we find meaning for life (maybe because of, but surely, in spite of those circumstances), we overcome those circumstances, even in the face of death, itself. It is our meaning for life that allows us to accept our death, our ultimate sacrifice for mankind. This is where the teachings of Jesus begin.

Now, for those of you who deny the existence of God, believe the Bible is a bunch of myths and allegories, lay no claim for any type of spiritual life for mankind, or just don’t care - I want to establish somewhat of a foundation for what is about to be said. It is a given that science has accomplished at least what has been said already, probably more, even much, much more. It is essential that we differentiate between empirical facts, proven over and over in experiments where conditions are controlled to insure repetition of results; statistical probability wherein activity is closely monitored, counting the occurrences of various reactions, choosing the groups of the vast majority as norms, labeling the rest as miscellaneous, then proposing that the present interpretation of the data is correct, often on the basis of the activity of a very small percentage of all possible entities over long periods of time (we have to stop somewhere); and truth.

The truth is: However much information we may glean from the parts of the creation (if you want to limit that to the universe, fine), we are still guessing about how it all works together; first, just to be in existence as a physical entity complete in itself; secondly, how the property of life, (plant, animal, or otherwise) influences the physical to produce the varieties of life which are quite obvious; and lastly, given the immutable order of both the physical entities and the life forms, the total harmony evidenced over long time spans between the two, and no real evidence of it self-destructing any time soon, who do we think we are to lord over even a small portion of it? Even if God does not exist, the intelligence of man set against the intelligence exhibited by the total creation would not even be comparable to that of an amoeba to a genius. As someone once said, “Something, we know not what, is doing something, we know not what.” For the sake of brevity, let’s call that “something, we know not what”, God. And, let’s say that the “is doing something, we know not what”, is trying to relate intelligently with the creation. To put it simply, God is trying to communicate with man.

For the Darwinist, consider this: We have determined that mankind probably evolved from an orangutan species, not the gorilla or chimpanzee. Now, as much as man would like to communicate with our “ancestors”, there are monumental obstacles to that communication. Also, I would bet my life on the fact that the natural descendents of our “ancestors” have absolutely no idea that “man” is kin to them. So…in Darwin’s scheme of things, what would have prevented “some man” in times past from evolving into an even “higher” form of which we, as common descendents, know absolutely nothing? Evolution, extended ad infinitum, allows for much more than the scientists of today probably want to think about! Anyway…

In order to communicate, man has devised an elaborate system of words and symbols (which are the same things) enhanced with “body language”, or actions. To get to the real truth of things, we must not confuse the symbols (words, pictures, numbers, statistics etc.) with the reality which they represent. This is why the real truth of things cannot be explained in language of any form; because the reality is always more than the symbol can express. Reality is often better explained by what it is not, rather than what it is, for the same reason. Just as “actions speak louder than words” and body language often reveals the truth behind our lies, reality is best communicated by an action, an experience. As Jack Hayford once said, “A man with an experience is never at the mercy of a man with an argument.” Once reality is experienced, the truth is known, even if it cannot be communicated en toto.

While many people through the ages have experienced this reality; have tried to describe both the experience and the reality; and have given the means by which they perceived the experience to be brought about, man’s own efforts have, generally, been the basis of entering into the experience. What Jesus teaches is that it is God’s prerogative to initiate the experience, to reveal Himself as the Reality behind all the words and symbols; and Jesus teaches that God has done just that for anyone interested in the truth. In other words, God chooses to reveal Himself to Man to the extent which the individual is able to accept, comprehend and relate to such an experience.

It is a one-on-one experience, even though everyone’s experiences contain elements of everyone else’s. The experience ranges from an unexpected, unexplained release from personal dilemma with an incomprehensible sense of peace of mind; to an all-enveloping presence which transforms everything around into an indescribable glory. This experience is described by writers from every religion in the world; and that fact does not diminish the experience of conversion in the Christian religion, nor does it elevate any other religion at variance with Christianity in this regard. It is just a common experience.

But, before we can endeavor to seek out the truth of what Jesus taught, we must first look at His purpose for coming and the actual meaning of His incarnation, in particular.

All of the ancient religions, Jews included, are attempts of man to find a relationship with the unexplainable. For some, this was simply exhibitions of the powers in nature; for others, it was the cause of it all; and everything in between. The most notable common characteristic of all of these religions was the establishment of guidelines for living, for personal conduct and for community relationship. Often, these were given as means for the individual to gain an experience with the object of worship wherein the individual could transcend personal dilemma, and find meaning in life. Some folks all over the world; sought beyond the rules, beyond the means, and experienced the Reality behind all means. Jesus said, “Seek and ye shall find; knock and it shall be opened unto you.”

But, how do we seek for that which encompasses our very existence? For what are we looking? Beyond words, symbols, ideas, concepts and fantasy, it is an experience with the Origin of our existence; with the Ground of our Being; with the inexplicable Oneness of all Creation. For the Christian, God. As Jesus said, “Look. Expect to meet Him, and He will reveal Himself to you.” Not as any concept you have of God, but, as an experience. That “it” in Jesus’ quote is the Reality behind all our words and symbols, of which the word “God” is one.

For the Jew, the purpose of Jesus’ coming was to be the sacrifice by which man’s sin would be forgiven, according to their Scriptures. But, because Jesus would not deliver the Jews from the oppression of the Romans, He was crucified. The Jews had confused the purpose, because their immediate purpose in life was freedom from the Romans not a relationship with God. The real purpose for Jesus’ incarnation is the survival of Mankind as he was intended to be, that man would not “perish” but realize his immortality in the scheme of existence.

The meaning of Jesus’ incarnation is: God has “come down” and “taken on” the nature of Man, demonstrated the excellency of “man in relationship with Him”, and has elevated our nature (by means of this relationship) above the instinctive animate creation. This meaning applies to every man of whatever religion or nationality. To think otherwise belies even our limited intelligence, and deprives “man in relationship with God” of any significance at all. The secular historical accounts of Jesus’ life would have to be declared lies, along with the Gospel accounts. “Man in relationship with God” is the highest pinnacle that man, in our present form, can ever hope to achieve. Whether considered as man’s evolved “higher life form”, the Creator, or any other “higher entity”, God has demonstrated, by experience, that He can communicate with man. If not, the experience of untold numbers of men, women, and children would have to be totally eradicated from memory and memoir, alike. This is what Jesus taught, and what His life demonstrated.

Let’s take a look!