Read more in this series: Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4
If you wanted to ask the most important question in life, what would you ask? Maybe you would ask for the meaning of life. Maybe you want to know why certain events took place. Maybe you would ask what lies beyond the grave, or maybe you’re more concerned with what you can do now to impact the present.
These are all great questions, and they have great answers. But sometimes we struggle to find those answers, and sometimes when we find the answers we still remain unsatisfied. Maybe the answer isn’t what we expected, or maybe it requires something of us that we aren’t ready to give.
If we want better answers, we have to ask better questions. There is one question in particular that trumps every other question. If we ask this question and find the right answer, every other answer to every other question makes sense.
This question will change your life. It is the greatest question anyone can ask. If you ask yourself this question in every situation, I guarantee your life will change.
Who is God?
This question is everything.
Why ask about the meaning of life? Why not rather ask who defines meaning in the first place? Who makes the rules? Who gets to decide what is valuable and what isn’t?
Why ask about the past, the present, or the future, when we could be asking who invented time? Why ask about nations and politics when we could be asking who created the world?
Who is God? Who is Lord over it all? Who is all of this—all of the human experience, life, the universe, and everything—for?
It’s the greatest question, because it defines every other answer to every other question. Why does it matter who God is? Because if we know who God is, we understand the purpose and value of everything. If everything comes from Him and exists for Him, then everything is defined by Him. Not only do the answers change, the questions change.
Instead of asking about the meaning of life, we can ask, “What meaning does God assign to life?”
Instead of asking why an event happened, we can ask, “Who allowed it to happen? Who caused it to happen?”
If we know who He is, if we know His nature, then we understand the what. We understand the why. We understand the where, the how, and the when.
God can only be God if He is above all. For God to be God, it means no person, no place, no thing or idea is above Him. And if that is the case, then everything beneath Him—all of existence—is defined by who He is.
So the greatest question is, “Who is God?”
There is only one answer. In the end, every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord (Philippians 2:9-11). But very often what we truly believe is betrayed by our actions. We may say that Jesus is Lord, but do we live it? If someone were to judge by our actions, would they know that Jesus is Lord?
Who do we really serve? Do our thoughts and actions serve Jesus as Lord, or do we serve ourselves?
The God of Self Verses The One True God
Every belief in anyone or anything other than Jesus is ultimately a religion of self. Even the worship of idols and false gods is a selfish pursuit. We serve false gods to gain favor. We serve false gods to gain pleasure. We serve false gods to gain power. We serve false gods for any number of selfish, transactional reasons, and it never works.
The only way anything in this life makes sense is when we honor Jesus Christ as Lord, and that means the total denial of self.
Exodus 20:3 ESV - You shall have no other gods before me.
Matthew 16:24 ESV - Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”
Matthew 6:24 ESV - No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.
Jesus will not share the throne in our lives. If Jesus is God, then we don’t get to be. We can’t hold onto any sliver of self-service, no hint of self-importance. If Jesus Christ is God, then all of who we are exists to serve Him, and that applies to every area of life.
Who is God of my marriage? Does my marriage serve Jesus through selflessness, or do I demand that my spouse serve me?
Who is God of my finances? Does money exist to give me security and pleasure, or do I honor Jesus Christ with every penny?
Who is God of my career? Do I work to acquire status and power, or do I serve Jesus by doing all things as unto Him?
Who is God of my emotions? Do I live in pursuit of good feelings, or do I live for Jesus in spite of my feelings?
Who is God of my sexuality? Do I demand others please me and worship my sexual choices, or does my body exist to honor Jesus through selfless obedience?
The Right Perspective
Everything in life comes down to this question. It changes how we approach every situation, and if we remember that Jesus Christ is God, then it gives us a new perspective on everything in life.
When my car breaks down, who is God? Am I god? Do I rant and rave that the car would dare not serve me, or is Jesus God, who created the heavens and the earth? He made the blind to see and the lame to walk. Can He not make my car start? And if He doesn’t, what greater purpose could He intend for this situation? Will I choose thankfulness? Will I honor Him with joy? Will I humble myself and choose gratitude? Will I serve Him even when things don’t go the way I think they should?
When my children rebel, who is God? Am I god? Do I lash out furiously at their defiance, or is Jesus God, who loved us so much that He gave His life for us while we were still sinners? If Jesus is God, then shouldn’t I love my children the way He first loved us? Shouldn’t I demonstrate forgiveness and sacrificial love? Shouldn’t I speak to them with kindness that leads to repentance?
When sales are at an all time low, who is God? Am I god? Do I demand that others honor me with their purchases, or is Jesus God, who said it is better to give than to receive? Is this a time for fear and frustration, or is it a time to have faith? Do I trust Jesus to provide? Do I believe Him when He says not to worry about what I will eat or drink or what I will wear?
No matter the situation, Jesus Christ is God. I serve the eternal, all-powerful, righteous Creator who loves me enough to teach me self-denial. All of who I am is defined by Him. Every situation, good or bad, is an opportunity to know Him more.
I want to leave you with this quote from C.S. Lewis:
“The principle runs through all life from top to bottom. Give up your self, and you will find your real self. Lose your life and you will save it. Submit to death, death of your ambitions and favorite wishes every day and death of your whole body in the end: submit with every fiber of your being, and you will find eternal life. Keep back nothing. Nothing that you have not given away will ever be really yours. Nothing in you that has not died will ever be raised from the dead. Look for yourself, and you will find in the long run only hatred, loneliness, despair, rage, ruin, and decay. But look for Christ and you will find Him, and with Him everything else thrown in.”
― C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
Amazing blog post!! So powerful. Who is God in every situation.
And this quote really got to me:
"Nothing that you have not given away will ever be really yours. Nothing in you that has not died will ever be raised from the dead." Wow.