Life's Biggest Questions: What the Bible Says about the Things That Matter Most

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. Life's Biggest QuestionsWhat the Bible Says about the Things That Matter MostBy Erik ThoennesGood News PublishersCopyright © 2011 CrosswayAll rights reserved.ISBN: 978-1-4335-2671-8ContentsList of Figures, 11, Acknowledgments, 13, 1. What Are Life's Biggest Questions?, 15, 2. Does God Exist?, 21, 3. What Does It Mean to Know and Love God?, 29, 4. How Does God Reveal Himself?, 41, 5. How Well Can You Know God?, 51, 6. What Is God Like?, 57, 7. How Do You Explain the Trinity?, 71, 8. Who Is Jesus Christ?, 81, 9. Who Is the Holy Spirit?, 101, 10. What Did Jesus Christ Accomplish?, 111, 11. What Is a Human Being?, 129, 12. How Does God Relate to His Creation?, 139, 13. What Is Sin?, 145, 14. How Does God Save Sinners?, 151, 15. What Is the Church?, 159, 16. How Will It All End?, 65, Conclusion, 173, Scripture Index, 175, CHAPTER 1WHAT ARE LIFE'S BIGGEST QUESTIONS?"The unexamined life is not worth living." - SocratesEveryone wants a meaningful life. There is nothing more human than wondering what that means. Even in days filled with shallowness and countless distractions, when the light goes out at the end of the day and you lie in bed staring at the ceiling, you aren't human if you don't think about what it all means. But a meaningful life can be found only by asking good, honest questions. Good questions get to the foundational things that everyone wonders about. Humans in every generation and culture have always asked questions such as, is there a God? What is a human being? Is there such a thing as sin and, if so, can anything be done about it? Is there life after death? Even if you try to ignore questions like these, all it takes is an inquisitive child or the death of a loved one to bring life's big questions back to the surface. Asking questions assumes there are answers and that they can be found. But many today wonder if objective truth may be found, or if all we have are personal and cultural conventions. Even if absolute truth does exist, can we break out of our limited perspectives and discover it? Many increasingly think we are all left to ourselves to make truth up as we go and there is no way to know what is true or false, right or wrong, good or bad, worthwhile or empty. The Roman governor Pontius Pilate seemed to foreshadow our growing contemporary cynicism about truth when he asked Jesus, "What is truth?" before handing him over to be unjustly murdered (John 18:38).Into this mounting confusion, uncertainty, and despair, Jesus Christ breaks in, declaring that he is "the way, and the truth, and the life ..." (John 14:6) and that he alone can bring life that is abundantly fulfilling and eternally significant (John 10:10). He is the one who restores peace with God and brings the answers we long to know. He not only provides the answers we long for, he is the answer. The Bible is the primary source for knowing Jesus and the answers he taught. While many acknowledge the wisdom and goodness of Jesus, it is also vital to realize that he viewed the Scriptures as God's Word and the foundation for answering life's greatest questions. This book is an effort to clearly and concisely present those answers. If you aren't really sure what Christians actually believe or if you've been a Christian for a long time but want to solidify the foundation of your faith, I hope this short book can accomplish both of those goals.GETTING TO THE POINTThis paragraph gets to the bottom line of what Christians believe. The Bible is inspired by God and is centrally about God and what it means to have a relationship with him. God has always existed as one God in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He has always been revealing himself and communicating everything we will ever need to know to live profoundly meaningful lives. The basic story line of the Bible reveals a loving and holy God who created everything just as he wanted it to be as an expression of his excellence and bea