What is the Meaning of Life?

WHAT IS THE MEANING OF LIFE? As humans, we are curious beings. We have questions, and we like to know the answers. This instinct has fuelled our endeavours leading to great discoveries in science and technology. But the greatest question of all is less scientific and more philosophical: What is the meaning of life? Is it to eat, drink, and be merry? Or is there a deeper meaning to our existence?

In What is the Meaning of Life? George Athas examines life and all its peculiarities to discover the answer to the greatest question of all.

WHAT IS THE

MEANING of

LIFE?

George Athas was born in Sydney, Australia, and completed his PhD in Semitic Studies at the University of Sydney. He is currently the Director of Research at Moore Theological College, and teaches in the Old Testament department. He is married to Koula, and they have two daughters, Hosanna and Josephine. He loves coffee, travel, books, and is an avid Formula One fan.

Discovery Series presents biblical insights for all areas of life.

To read any of over 100 titles, visit discoveryseries.org.

FR060

George Athas

Please direct all correspondence to the office nearest you: Australia PO Box 15, Kilsyth, VIC 3137, Australia Telephone: (+61-3) 9761-7086 Email: australia@odb.org Produced by Our Daily Bread Ministries

Many people, making even the smallest of donations, enable Our Daily Bread Ministries to reach others with the life-changing wisdom of the Bible. We are not funded or endowed by any group or denomination.

We want to hear from you.

Visit us at odb.org or write to the office nearest you (see list on last page).

New Zealand PO Box 303095, North Harbour, Auckland 0751, New Zealand Telephone: (+64-9) 444-4146 Email: newzealand@odb.org For a detailed listing of our offices, go to ourdailybread.org/locations

introduction

What Is the Meaning of Life?

A

s humans, we are curious beings. We

have questions, and we like to know

the answers. This instinct has fuelled

our endeavours through the ages, leading to great discoveries in science and technology, which have

generally led us to more convenient and comfortable lives. Of course, the same instinct has also driven us to 1

pursue ways of harming ourselves and each other. We have polluted our environment, damaged flora and fauna, not to mention killed untold millions in the countless wars that fill our history books. And despite all our advances, poverty is still very real around the world.

And one of the great questions, if not the greatest question we can ask is less scientific and more philosophical: What is the meaning of life?

It’s a very simple question when we pose it, but it’s notoriously difficult to find an answer. Where on earth would we find the answer? How would we work it out? Is there one answer, or are there many? Is there even an answer out there to be found?

In this booklet, I want to ask some of these questions. My hope is that whoever you are, whatever your hopes and dreams, and whatever circumstances you find yourself in, you might pause to think about life’s big questions, and find real answers which bring real hope and fulfilment.

George Athas

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WHAT IS THE MEANING OF LIFE?

contents one

What Is the Meaning of Life? . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 two

Does Life Have Any Meaning? . . . . . . . . . 11 three

Can We Imagine Something Better? . . . 17 four

What Is the Meaning of Death? . . . . . . . 21 five

Is Death the End?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 six

Death Is Not the End! Life Does Have Meaning! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

EDITORS: Leslie Koh, Jayni Manners COVER IMAGE: Shutterstock COVER DESIGN: Mary Chang INTERIOR DESIGN: Mary Chang INTERIOR IMAGES: (p.1,11,17,29) Shutterstock; (p.5,21,25) Pixabay All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW LIVING TRANSLATION®, Copyright © 1996, 2O04, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. © 2021 Our Daily Bread Ministries All rights reserved.

Printed in Indonesia

one

What Is the Meaning of Life?

“L

ife is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.”

I love the movie, Forrest Gump. The main character

is such a friendly, simple, even naïve young man, with all the odds stacked against him. But in a complex, 5

hostile, and unstable world, he is the wisest and happiest person of all. His long-suffering mother, who is well attuned to the realities of an unforgiving world, coins the phrase (one of many) that guides Forrest through the rough and tumble of life, and which Forrest proffers to the stranger who happens to sit beside him at the bus stop.

The saying rings true, doesn’t it? You never know what you’re going to get in life. We might have our dreams and make our plans, but in the end, life just happens. It never stops to ask our permission, and so it doesn’t always run according to the script we might have written for ourselves.

When I was a kid, I wanted to be a racing driver. I loved car racing, and so, when I could afford it, I would head over to an indoor go-karting track with friends to fulfil my need for speed. I loved it!

One particular day, when I was in my mid-teens, it just so happened that the national 6

WHAT IS THE MEANING OF LIFE?

We might have our dreams and make our plans, but in the end, life just happens.

go-karting champion was there. After I had spent about fifteen minutes darting around the corners and weaving through the other competitors, I got out of the go-kart, and he approached me.

“You know,” he said to me, “I was watching you out there. You’re pretty good. I think you might have what it takes to be successful in racing.”

My eyes widened and my heart soared. It was my dream to be a racer, and to think I might be able to succeed at it, do it for a living, and perhaps even be a champion one day was music to my teenage ears.

“All you need is a go-kart,” he said, “and I could point you in the right direction.”

I raced home and told my parents. But mum and dad just weren’t in a financial position to buy me a go-kart and enter me in competitions. And so, today, I’m not a racing car driver. I just watch it on television. My plans literally did not stay on track.

Did you make plans for your life? Did you have a scenario in your mind about how you wanted your life to play out? Even if your plans are on track, can you guarantee that they’ll stay on track?

What Is the Meaning of Life?

7

Or maybe you’re the kind of person who doesn’t really make plans. You just like to go with the flow, live in the moment, and make the most of that. But can you guarantee that those moments will be good, happy, fulfilling moments?

The fact is we just can’t guarantee things. Many of us have the power to plan, some of us have the means to fulfil them, but none of us has the ability to control all the variables of life. There is so much of life that we just cannot control. “You never know what you’re gonna get.”

You see, life is bigger than just me. Human life was happening well before I showed up, and it will continue long after I’m gone.

Yes, we all share commonalities, such as birth, growth, and death—at least that’s how it’s supposed to go. But even those

None of us has the ability to control all the variables of life.

basics are things we don’t control. How are we meant to fulfil our hopes in life when some of its most basic elements are out of our own hands?

8

WHAT IS THE MEANING OF LIFE?

What happens when it feels like someone else’s hand is on our steering wheel? How do we successfully thread our way around the bends, corners, and straights of life without crashing off somewhere? Where am I supposed to find meaning or contentment?

The meaning of life is far bigger than just the meaning of my own life. I’m really just one drop in the ocean. Life can’t

The meaning of life is far bigger than just the meaning of my own life . . . Life can’t really be just about me and me alone.

really be just about me and me alone.

But where do we start to look for an answer? Is it even possible to know the meaning of life? Should we even attempt to find out? Is it even important to know if life has any meaning?

What Is the Meaning of Life?

9

two

Does Life Have Any Meaning?

W

ell, yes, frankly it is important.

If you’ve ever made a decision in your life—and who hasn’t?—

then you’ve implied that there is some kind of meaning out there. Either it is affecting you to make a decision, or you’re making a decision in order to aim for it. Not every choice we make is of the same 11

magnitude. For example, one study out of Cornell University determined that we make, on average, 226.7 decisions a day just on food. Another found we made anything up to 35,000 remotely conscious decisions each day. Most of these are of minor consequence, but all our decisions add up to make us who we are, and what we are about. And we all make some very important decisions in our lives, which affect us and others. Where should I live? Whom should I love? What should I do? As soon as we ask, “Should I?” we are seeking something that is bigger than ourselves. We are seeking to align our life with something. Whether we acknowledge it or not, we are seeking purpose.

This is, in fact, a way of trying to gain control over our lives. But there are many facets of life that are simply beyond our ability to control. None of us controlled when and where we were born, who our biological parents were, or what DNA they imparted to us. And none of us has any way of controlling death—sooner or later it will come for us. And yet, these two extremities of our lives—birth and death— shape us in the most profound and fundamental 12

WHAT IS THE MEANING OF LIFE?

ways. We cannot control everything in our life, and so we cannot pretend that we can create our own meaning by the things we can control. There’s

We cannot than the aspects of it within our control everything in control. our life, and Then there are times when so we cannot something comes along and robs pretend that we us of the control we thought can create our we did have. We lose a job. We own meaning lose a child. We lose our health. by the things we Crises are moments that weigh can control. just so much more to our lives

down heavily upon us, not just

because they stir up such strong emotions, but because they often shove us into new directions that we had not planned on going. We are like billiard balls—nice and still until another ball careens into us, sending us hurtling towards a corner pocket. Crises remind us that the meaning of life is actually bigger than all of us and beyond our ability to control.

Does Life Have Any Meaning?

13

Before 2020 most of us hadn’t heard of the word ‘coronavirus’ or ‘COVID-19’.

But this miniscule virion

Crises remind us that the meaning of life is actually bigger than all of us and beyond our ability to control.

caused a pandemic which resulted in most countries going into some form of lockdown. Our lives changed.

We were confined to our homes. We were restricted from coming within a few feet of others. We were urged to wash our hands thoroughly, and stop touching our faces. Human

history has had multiple bouts of deadly pandemics, but never before had the entire planet come to a standstill. We were trying to stop the spread of the virus while people were dying and businesses were going bust. Meanwhile billions of dollars were being poured into medical research to try to develop a vaccine in a race against time.

How did the pandemic affect you? Was your university shut down? Did your overseas friends 14

WHAT IS THE MEANING OF LIFE?

who were studying with you have to return to their home country, without any assurance about whether they’d be able to get back to complete their study?

Did you lose a job you just started, so that now you are struggling to get income, making you dependent on welfare and special arrangements? Are you now struggling to pay the rent or the mortgage? Did you find yourself suddenly having to mind and educate your children on your own at home, while trying to work at home, too? Did you find yourself sick, getting tested, and waiting nervously for the result? Did your steady life continue as before, but just in a different mode?

The virus has made us realise that we are all interconnected whether we realise it or not.

Even shut in our own homes, we are still dependent on each other, and yet affected by each other. Just one infected person has the potential of passing this terrible disease on to many,

The virus has made us realise that we are all interconnected whether we realise it or not.

many others. The destiny of

Does Life Have Any Meaning?

15

other people is, in part, my responsibility.

Crises like the Coronavirus pandemic have the ability to stop us in our tracks, make us take stock of our lives, evaluate, and try to find meaning.earned from Jesus how to love, how to put others ahead of themselves, how to forgive, how to reconcile, how to show compassion, and how to make peace.

We could say that their own influence and significance is simply a further outworking of Jesus’ influence and significance.

At this point, you might wonder: Why was Jesus such a significant influence? What sort of a person was he?

three

Can We Imagine Something Better?

A

similar thing happened to a man in ancient Jerusalem. He was the author of Ecclesiastes, a book in the Bible.

Tradition identifies him as King Solomon, famed for his staggering wealth and brilliant intellect. But the book never actually names the author, instead referring to him simply as “the Teacher.” He was a 17

descendant of Israel’s King David, and he lived during a great crisis that brought untold misery to the lives of all the

The Teacher figured that, even if he had it all and could change the lives of others, it would all be meaningless, because in the end, death would have the final say over everyone.

people around him. He felt enormously frustrated that he could not do anything to change this, despite his intellect and glorious royal heritage. All he could do was imagine what it would be like to have the power to change things.

And this is actually what he did. He conducted a thought experiment. He imagined what it would be like if he could put all the kings of his illustrious ancestry together, rolling all their accomplishments, wealth,

and wisdom into one. He figured that it would give him a lot of pleasure, make him very famous, and perhaps even make a difference to others. But there was one thing that put a pin in his entire imaginative 18

WHAT IS THE MEANING OF LIFE?

experiment: death. The Teacher figured that, even if he had it all and could change the lives of others, it would all be meaningless, because in the end, death would have the final say over everyone.

Many of us today live comfortable lives. We have pleasant living quarters with plumbed-in water, electricity to power our appliances and gadgets, airconditioning to keep us cool or warm as the seasons demand, televisions to entertain us, and the internet to keep us connected to the rest of the world. Some of us probably didn’t mind the shutdown of our society due to the Coronavirus.

Others of us, though, will feel the pressure acutely, as we suddenly face the possible loss of our livelihood and lifestyle. Yet, not one of us will ever escape death.

For some among us, the virus will come to take its toll. For others, we may live for decades to come. But the stark reality is that, no matter who we are, how much we have, or how expansive our imagination is—whether we are rich or poor, sick or healthy, or whatever the colour of our skin—every last one of us will succumb to death. We don’t know whether it will come in the form of a virus, an accident, or

Can We Imagine Something Better?

19

simply old age. But it will come. Like the Teacher, we might be able to imagine what it’s like to have it all, but death stares every one of us in the face. Death doesn’t blink. Death doesn’t look away. Death always comes.

20

WHAT IS THE MEANING OF LIFE?

four

What Is the Meaning of Death?

I

f we are looking for the meaning of life, then we have to face the reality of death. The Teacher did, and he concluded that life is a zero-sum-

game. No matter how many points you notch up in your life, death always brings your total back to nil.

Death prizes our fingers off everything, and takes it 21

from us.

Of course, in reaching such a bleak conclusion, the Teacher also wondered whether

[The Teacher] concluded that life is a zerosum-game. No matter how many points you notch up in your life, death always brings your total back to nil.

there was any kind of joy that people might snatch from the wreckage of life. He concluded, “There is nothing better than to enjoy food and drink and to find satisfaction in work” (Ecclesiastes 2:24). The Teacher

acknowledged that these most basic activities should spark joy.

Not even Marie Kondo would throw these away. And yet, the Teacher also realised that for many people living in the crisis

of his own day, even these simple delights of life—a morsel of tasty food, a refreshing drink, or a sense of achievement and satisfaction—were beyond their grasp.

Many of us can scarcely imagine what it’s like to live in need of such basics. For others of us, it’s an 22

WHAT IS THE MEANING OF LIFE?

all too painful memory or plain reality. For those of us who cannot eat what we like, drink what we want, or achieve the goals we aim for, where does meaning lie? Is life meaningful only for the “haves” and not for the “have nots?” Well, the Teacher realised that death came to both. Whether rich or poor, just or unjust, powerful or weak—all end up in the grave.

The Teacher, who believed there was a God, could not figure out why this God did not do anything about the crisis facing his nation. How could the God whom so many relied on sit back and seem to do nothing? All the Teacher could do was slump his shoulders, let the tears roll down his face, and sigh with defeat. “Everything is meaningless … completely meaningless!” (Ecclesiastes 1:2) was his conclusion.

Death is the most skilled thief of all. It robs us of life, steals our possessions, undermines our accomplishments, and takes away our loved ones.

The book of Ecclesiastes makes it plain that if life is to

What Is the Meaning of Death?

23

have any sort of substance, any kind of real meaning, then we have to deal with death. For, though death is a seemingly natural part of life, it is also humanity’s greatest enemy. Death is the most skilled thief of all.

It robs us of life, steals our possessions, undermines our accomplishments, and takes away our loved ones. And crises that take these things away from us remind us of our mortality, because they have the spectre of death rising behind them.

five

Is Death the End?

I

s that all life is—a failed attempt to stave off our inevitable death? If there is a God, is he inactive—immune to our struggle for meaning?

But God was not inactive. The Teacher, a

descendant of David, looked back at the glory days of his ancestors, but I wish he could have looked forward towards one of his later descendants— 25

the even more impressive, Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus was also a descendant of David. Like his forebear, the Teacher, Jesus did not enjoy the corridors of power.

Despite this, he outdid all his royal ancestors put together. How? Jesus dealt with death. That’s how.

You see, many called Jesus “teacher,” because he had students (disciples) and would go from place to place teaching people. But he was more than just a teacher. He would go about bringing people from illness and the edge of death back to health and full life. But he was more than just a healer.

If all we see in Jesus is a good person with good intentions, then we will have missed the most impressive thing about him.

He exposed the corruption of the authorities of his day, challenging them to amend their ways. But he was more than just an activist. If all we see in Jesus is a good person with good intentions, then we will have missed the most impressive thing about him.

26

WHAT IS THE MEANING OF LIFE?

Jesus dealt with death.

Jesus was executed in the first century for challenging the authorities and institutions of the day. He was beaten, publicly stripped naked, strung up and nailed by his limbs to the timbers of a Roman cross, and left to die a most horrid death. For all the good he had done, he was abandoned by everyone and everything. Like his ancestor, the Teacher, before him, he wondered why God did nothing to change the situation. “My God! My God!” he cried, “Why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46). And so it seemed that, like everyone else in human history, Jesus’ life was a zero-sum-game.

Except it wasn’t.

For, although Jesus died, and was buried in a tomb late on a Friday, on the Sunday morning his tomb was found open and emptied. The linen sheets in which his corpse had been wrapped were still there, but he himself was not. Later that day, and for many days after, his followers claimed to have seen him alive. And not just to have seen him, but to have spoken with him, interacted with him, touched him, and shared meals with him. And this was not just

Is Death the End?

27

an isolated experience of one or two people, but the consistent experience of entire groups of people— over five hundred of them, in fact. These were not gullible people, either. These were people who knew that dead men did not come back to life. They knew full well what crucifixion did. They lived in a world that lacked the kinds of medical advances that help us today to prolong our lives. Their life was lived even more fully in the shadow of death than our own. And yet, these men and women were utterly transformed by the experience of interacting with a man who had indeed come back to life—never to die again. These were men and women who would go on to devote their lives to telling others about this most astounding reality, and many of them surrendered their lives in this pursuit.

Why? Because they knew that life now had meaning.

Death no longer has the final word. Jesus had shown that. God had bestowed meaning on life. And they wanted others to know it, too.

28

WHAT IS THE MEANING OF LIFE?

six

Death Is Not the End! Life Does Have Meaning!

M

any are rightly sceptical about the possibility of Jesus rising from the dead. It just doesn’t happen.

But what if it did? Each of us has a unique life, as Jesus did, too. What if this one singular, utterly unique event in Jesus’ life was real? If Jesus did die 29

and come back to life, then life is not, “completely meaningless!” as the Teacher puts it.

What would you do if you could drink from the fountain of youth? Would you do it? What about if you could genetically engineer your cells to keep regenerating over and over and over again? Would you do it? What about if you could simply live forever, control the variables of life, and live in harmony with all people forevermore? Would you do it?

British author and former atheist, Peter Hitchens, once appeared on Australian television and was asked which dangerous idea he thought had the greatest potential to change the world for the better if it were implemented. “The most dangerous idea in human history and philosophy,” he said, “remains the belief that Jesus Christ was the Son of God and rose from the dead . . . because it alters the whole of human behaviour and all our responsibilities. It turns the universe from a meaningless chaos into a designed place in which there is justice and there is hope and, therefore, we all have a duty to discover the nature of that justice and work towards that hope. It alters us all. If we reject it, it alters us all 30

WHAT IS THE MEANING OF LIFE?

as well. It is incredibly dangerous. It’s why so many people turn against it” (Q&A, ABC, 4 November 2013).

Hitchens recognized that the claims about Jesus have the potential to change everyone’s life. If Jesus did indeed rise from the dead, then the problem of death would have been solved. Life would cease to be a zero-sum-game. Death would not be the ultimate thief who robs us of everything.

The universe would not be a meaningless chaos. Instead, there would be real justice and real hope. By knowing Jesus, we would stand to gain everything.

All the crises we face, the emotions that upturn us, the poverty we experience, the bad decisions we make—all of them would take on a completely new sense, because instead of those things presenting us with the spectre of death, we would

Jesus’ resurrection is of such magnitude that it would eclipse all of the crises we have faced in human history put together.

have something beyond all of

Death Is Not the End! Life Does Have Meaning!

31

them. We would have Jesus presenting us with the prospect of eternal life. Jesus’ resurrection is of such magnitude that it would eclipse all of the crises we have faced in human history put together.

Eating, drinking, and finding satisfaction in our work are all great things. But they are not the totality of life, and they do not even come close to filling out the meaning of life. Don’t we want our lives to be more than a vague memory for a couple of generations after we die? Don’t we want our decisions to count for something? Don’t we want to avoid our lives being absolutely meaningless? Wouldn’t it be great if we could eat, drink, and find satisfaction forever? If we want any of those things, we need to find where true meaning in life lies. We need to find someone who can get us through the universal crisis of death.

Jesus is that someone.

32

WHAT IS THE MEANING OF LIFE?

Please direct all correspondence to the office nearest you: Australia PO Box 15, Kilsyth, VIC 3137, Australia Telephone: (+61-3) 9761-7086 Email: australia@odb.org Produced by Our Daily Bread Ministries

Many people, making even the smallest of donations, enable Our Daily Bread Ministries to reach others with the life-changing wisdom of the Bible. We are not funded or endowed by any group or denomination.

We want to hear from you.

Visit us at odb.org or write to the office nearest you (see list on last page).

New Zealand PO Box 303095, North Harbour, Auckland 0751, New Zealand Telephone: (+64-9) 444-4146 Email: newzealand@odb.org For a detailed listing of our offices, go to ourdailybread.org/locations

WHAT IS THE MEANING OF LIFE? As humans, we are curious beings. We have questions, and we like to know the answers. This instinct has fuelled our endeavours leading to great discoveries in science and technology. But the greatest question of all is less scientific and more philosophical: What is the meaning of life? Is it to eat, drink, and be merry? Or is there a deeper meaning to our existence?

In What is the Meaning of Life? George Athas examines life and all its peculiarities to discover the answer to the greatest question of all.

WHAT IS THE

MEANING of

LIFE?

George Athas was born in Sydney, Australia, and completed his PhD in Semitic Studies at the University of Sydney. He is currently the Director of Research at Moore Theological College, and teaches in the Old Testament department. He is married to Koula, and they have two daughters, Hosanna and Josephine. He loves coffee, travel, books, and is an avid Formula One fan.

Discovery Series presents biblical insights for all areas of life.

To read any of over 100 titles, visit discoveryseries.org.

FR060

George Athas