By Ian D’Souza

I remember as a child and then as a teenager asking the following questions in my subconscious mind over and over again.  As far as I can remember, I could never find the correct answers from any of the classics or other materials (Reader’s Digest for example), that I frequently read.  Neither were they adequately discussed or shared in school and college.

The three basic questions of life are: (1) Where did I come from?  (2) Why am I here?  (3)  Where am I going?  Yes, Darwin did try to provide the answers through his hypothesis of “Natural Selection” which is regarded as the main process that brings about Evolution. However, consider the following:

“It is vitally important that words such as ‘Evolution’ be used accurately and consistently. The theory of ‘Evolution’ that the evolutionists are really promoting, and which creationists oppose, is the idea that particles turned into people over time, without any need for an intelligent Designer. The evolutionist Kerkut accurately defined this ‘general theory of Evolution’ (GTE) as ‘the theory that all the living forms in the world have arisen from a single source which itself came from an inorganic form.’ He continued: ‘The evidence which supports this is not sufficiently strong to allow us to consider it as anything more than a working hypothesis”.[i]

It is not my purpose to get into the whole argument against evolution.  There is plenty of excellent material written by more qualified people available and many more excellent websites debunking the same.  My sole purpose of mentioning the above (in passing), was to establish that Evolution does not provide the answers to the three most basic of life’s questions. The Bible on the other hand does provide correct, valuable and sensible information towards these questions.  When we approach the Bible for answers, it can only be done by faith in a Creator / Intelligent Designer as the only possible answer that satisfies all requirements.

Where did I come from? 

“Then God said, Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them” (Gen 1:26-27 NASB).

“Know that the LORD Himself is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture” (Ps 100:3 NASB).

The above two scriptures are only a sample that show us that we have been divinely created, with precision and finesse that is impossible to any evolutionary process.  Consider your eye that can see for miles, the ears that can pick up the faintest sound, the nose that affords us the ability to smell, etc.  Time and space do not permit me to discuss the complexities of the human brain, the human heart, the liver, kidneys, lungs and other vitals without which we cannot live.  If one simply studied the complexities of these organs and the unfathomable DNA, all of which goes to make up the human being, it would be very, very difficult indeed to ascribe it to some random evolutionary process.  There is a mathematical precision with which every iota of this universe and the human body has been made.  This speaks of an intelligent; far, far intelligent Creator, far superior than the most intelligent man, as being the originator of our being.  In short, the conclusion is:  God created you and me!

Why am I here? 

“The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God, and keep his commandments; for this is the whole duty of man” (Eccl 12:13 RSV).

“Worthy art thou, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for thou didst create all things, and by thy will they existed and were created” (Rev 4:11 RSV).

“For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him” (Colossians 1:16 NASB).

When we live without this Creator-God, we are left to our own devices in thinking that the reason for our existence is to make money, or simply to be happy, or to marry and produce children, or invent more and more machines, etc.  No, we have been primarily created by God, through God and for God, to observe His commandments and enjoy His presence forever.  Our lifetime on this earth is meant to be a manifestation of His goodness and glory shining through our lives. Isaiah understood our purpose[ii] which is why he wrote “Everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made” (Isaiah 43:7 NASB).

Where am I going?

“For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. For God sent the Son into the world, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. He who believes in him is not condemned; he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God” (John 3:16-18 RSV).

“The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want… Surely goodness and loving kindness will follow me all the days of my life, And I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever” (Psalm 23:1,6 RSV).

“And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire” (Rev 20:15 NASB).

We are well able to realize that all is not well inside of our lives.  There seems to be a consistent desire to live for ourselves, want for ourselves, increase for ourselves, etc. People that are self-centered are absorbed in themselves. They have no room in their heart for God. They are too ignorant or prideful to seek God for their needs and for His wisdom.  (Psalm 10:4) advises that the selfish have no room in their thoughts for God.  Yet the scriptures plainly spell out to man, his end in (Rev 20:15) above. There is a destination in store for everyone. If the statement in point 1 above – where did I come from is true, then the question where am I going is also true. God is gracious and merciful and long-suffering in his wait to get our attention. All that we need as evidence to point out to His existence has been seen. “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they [we] are without excuse” (Rom 1:20 NASB).   Yet He has not left us orphaned or without hope.  The culprit of our self-centeredness is SIN.  The middle letter of which is the letter “I”.  When man sinned against God his original God-centeredness got corrupted and turned into self-centeredness.  This capital “I” is the root of all sin in the world today.  Society is becoming inundated with and defined by the I, Me & Myself culture. 

But God in His grace has provided a way through the death of His Son Jesus Christ, as a means to solve this crisis and restore man back to God-centeredness.  How this works is like this:  the moment a man puts his trust in Christ as his Saviour, believing in Him with all his heart, then He (Christ) comes to live in our hearts through His Holy Spirit. The bible teaches us that positionally, from the moment we believe, our old sin-nature has been put away together with Christ in His death and we are freed from our self-centeredness to live for Him instead. Experientially, we see this miracle of change worked out through the daily exigencies of life. This is the only way God has freely provided, that anyone, no matter your caste or creed, size or colour, can avail of this free gift of salvation through Christ His Son!

In conclusion, let me state, that the true meaning of life – that is answering the three basic questions that we have been asking right from the beginning; Where did I come from, Why am I here, and Where am I going, is found only in God and in knowing Him through Jesus Christ, His only Son!

[i] G.A. Kerkut, Implications of Evolution (Oxford, UK: Pergamon, 1960), p. 157

[ii] Westminster Shorter Catechism – What is the chief end of man?