Questions of Life
Written by
Mak Okay-Ikenegbu
July 2023
Who am I?
Whilst we acknowledge we are personalising this to make it more relevant, this applies to the world. The personalisation just speaks to the fact that we are a piece of the puzzle.
We are the image of God (Genesis 1:26). This then means that we cannot know who we are unless we know God. His image is who we are. So, what does his image look like so that we may know who we are? Of course, the eyes that sees the face of God shall die (Exo 33:20). But then in John 1:18 and Col 1:15, the bible tells us we have the image of God in His Son Jesus. In effect, we need to learn from Christ who lived as human to know who we are as per Phil 3:10.
According to Psalm 8:4-5, God has crowned us and made us a reflection of His’s glory and honour.
According to Heb 11:3, by faith, we understand that we are formed by God in his image as male for some and female for others as per Gen 1:27. Formed us in our mother’s womb (Ps 139:13) since after the first woman (1 Cor 11:12).
Therefore, we are the reflection of God’s glory.
Why am I here?
Whilst we acknowledge we are personalising this to make it more relevant, this applies to the world. The personalisation just speaks to the fact that we are a piece of the puzzle.
According to Col 1:16 we are made for God. We are created for His glory as in Isa 43:7. We see in Psalm 8:4-5 as above that we reflect his glory because we are crowned with the glory and honour of God. Therefore, we read in I Cor 10:31-33 that we are to do everything to the glory of God.
According to Psalm 8:6-9 and Gen 1:28 God made us to have dominion over the works of His hand.
According to Rom 12:5-8 and I Cor 12 we all have gifts and desires that God has given us, which we must use to his Glory. Application of the gifts and desires (whether in singleness, marriage, parenting, education, career etc), must conform to the Holy spirit in accordance with Rom 8 and Galatians 5. We must therefore not malign the scriptures or usurp the gifts or authority and freedom we have in Christ inappropriately.
We are the reflection of God’s glory and have been created so we can bring glory to God.
What is wrong with the world?
Whilst we acknowledge we are personalising this to make it more relevant, this applies to the world. The personalisation just speaks to the fact that we are a piece of the puzzle.
As in Colossians 1:17-21, we are alienated from God because of our ungodly actions.
Like in Hosea 4:6-10 and Eze 22:1-12 the world has rejected God through their immorality and sinfulness. Therefore, we are reaping what we sow. As in 1 John 2:15-17 the way of the world is not the will of God. In accordance with Ephesians 4:17-19, we have hardened our hearts.
As in I Cor 12:2, Exo 20:4 and Deut 5:8, we have made idols which we should not. This includes the fleshly desires according to Rom 8 and Galatians 5.
Though the reflection of God’s glory, created so we can bring glory to God; we have rejected our calling or what we were created for.
How can the world be fixed?
Whilst we acknowledge we are personalising this to make it more relevant, this applies to the world. The personalisation just speaks to the fact that we are a piece of the puzzle.
As in Colossians 1:22-23, we must acknowledge the sufficiency of Christ.
We must embrace Christian living as shown in Ephesians 4:20-32.
As in Ephesians 6:10-20, we must put on the full Armor of God shown below:
- Belt of Truth (6:14) – We must always be honest. Truth binds us together against the enemy (Eph 4:15 and 25)
- Breastplate of Righteousness (6:14) – We must be ethical, moral or pure in our conduct. (2 Cor 2:21, Eph 5:3)
- Sandals of the Gospel of Peace (6:15) – We must be united in Christ and people of peace. Peaceful but without compromise (Eph 4:3)
- Shield of Faith (6:16) – Our Christian faith gives us the power and strength to ward off effects of the enemy evident in the flesh. (Eph 3:20; Phil 4:13)
- Helmet of Salvation (6:17) – We are saved, safe and secure in Christ’s work on the cross. We must there be gospel-centred in how we see and perceive things, as well as in how we speak or what we say or taste in general (2 Cor 2:16-20; Eph 3:6; John 3:16, Act 4:12)
- Sword of the Spirt (6:17) – We are saved, safe and secure in Christ’s work on the cross. (Heb 4:15, Jer 23:29)
- Prayer! Prayer!! Prayer!!! – If the spear which is sometimes part of the standard armour of a Roman soldier was was added to others above, it could perhaps have been referred to Paul as the Spear of prayer.
Also, as in 2 Cor 10:1-5, we must defend the faith.
The way of the world is not the will of God as in Rom 12:2. We must therefore discern the good, acceptable and perfect will of God by following God.
As in I Peter 3:18 and Ephesians 4:20-32 – we must return back to God.
In summary, we are the reflection of God’s glory and have been created so we can bring glory to God. However, we have rejected our calling or what we were created for. Therefore, we must return back to our calling and purpose. In essence, who we are, why we are here, what is wrong with our world and how we can fix our world are intertwined.
We may not be able to fix the world in totality in a practical sense; however, when we personalise this and view this from the perspective of love for Christ, we must remain committed to our calling. We must do so to ensure that we play our part in achieving a multigenerational faithfulness to God’s purpose for humanity. That us being a piece of the puzzle.