15 He *said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Matthew 16:15 (NASB)
Several years ago when I liven in Kansas I served on a jury for a few days. We tried a criminal drug case. It was heart rending. All through the trial we were subjected to evidence and testimony that were all vivid markers of the deep darkness to which our world is in bondage. Even though my life is far removed from that of the drug culture and that of the police who must operate in it, but not be part of it, I still felt compassion for those people who do not have the light of life from our Lord Jesus Christ.
The state of Man in this world is not one that the marketing people on Madison Avenue try to portray. Instead, we learn from the Bible that this physical life is short. There are spiritual realities for all people that, when ignored, make the temporal most important. This is tragic and more prevalent in those all around us than any of us like to believe. What does the Bible say about this?
17 I said to myself, “God will judge both the righteous man and the wicked man,” for a time for every matter and for every deed is there. 18 I said to myself concerning the sons of men, “God has surely tested them in order for them to see that they are but beasts.” 19 For the fate of the sons of men and the fate of beasts is the same. As one dies so dies the other; indeed, they all have the same breath and there is no advantage for man over beast, for all is vanity. 20 All go to the same place. All came from the dust and all return to the dust. Ecclesiastes 3:17-20 (NASB)
If we stopped there we would have a pretty hopeless outlook on this life wouldn’t we? However, God has not left His creation, Man, in this hopeless and vain existence which is only a few short years on planet Earth without any hope. He sent His Son, Jesus to us. Why? Did He come to teach us how to live better in this life? Did He come to heal the sick and show us that we must live as He did in order earn a way out of this existence to a better life? Who is Jesus? We must all answer that question one way or another.