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Apples of Gold
Radio Script for October 1, 2010
“What is Life About?”
Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.
What is life about?
Have you ever asked that question? It goes along with other questions like, “What am I doing here?” and “Do I have a purpose?” Is life more than eating and drinking and slogging through one day to the next?
Well let me ask you this. Do you believe in “intelligent design”? Do you believe that all the beauty and intricacies of the universe were created by some awesome being?
I do. The evidence detected by my senses just screams that there is something behind it all.
So it is very easy for me to believe that there is a creator. In my mind, that conclusion is followed very closely by the conclusion that the creator had a reason for His creation. He had a design and a purpose.
Since I’m a Christian, it won’t surprise you when I turn to the Bible for answers. Now you may not be a Bible-believing Christian yourself, but just listen and see if this makes any sense.
In the book of Genesis we find the creation story. Genesis 1:26 says, “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, in our likeness…”
I know that the whole universe is intricate and amazing, but it doesn’t surprise me that it’s human beings who were created in the likeness of God. People are amazing! The things we do and think and feel, the things we create – and we aren’t done yet! It’s easy for me to believe that the Creator unleashed a portion of Himself in human beings.
Now this may sound like a crude comparison, but to me Genesis 1:26 sounds a lot like a man and wife saying, “Let’s make a baby that looks like us.”
You know how that makes me feel? It makes me feel loved!
God didn’t just throw a frog’s leg and mushrooms into a boiling cauldron to see what would come out. He said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness…”
We were planned! We were designed and created in the image of God.
Genesis 1:27 says, “So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”
I don’t know where God got the “male and female” idea, but I like it! There are a host of implications from those three little words “male and female.” They are not the same, but they go together as a pair.
Genesis 2:18 says, “The Lord God said, ‘It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.’” So God created a woman, and Genesis 2:24 says, “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.”
In Matthew 19:6 Jesus said “…so they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.”
I know this sounds basic, but we are asking a basic question today. What is life about?
So God created us male and female so we could pair up with a partner for life. Now what?
Genesis 1:28 says, “God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.’” Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden, and what were they told to do? “Work it and take care of it.”
So at the dawn of creation, here is the way God set things up. He created the world and men and women. They were to pair up and be lifelong companions. They were to make babies and raise a family. They were to subdue the earth, rule over the animals and tend the plants.
As the population grew, a few more foundational principles came to be. Caring for your extended family is one of them, including aging relatives. God designed the family as a support system. Beyond this, we are to love our neighbors and help those in need who are not family.
Also, we are to bring about justice when people harm each other rather than care for them. We are to bring about order from chaos. It’s all part of our initial “charter” if you will, to “subdue the earth.”
So what is life about? Are you starting to see the answer?
It shouldn’t be hard to see. These things are being done all over the world. Men and women still reflect the image and likeness of God. We still pair up for lifelong companionship, though many miss out on the lifelong part. We are still fruitful and multiplying, raising families and caring for extended family and needy neighbors. We are still ruling over the animals and tending the garden. We are still working to bring about justice and order from chaos as we subdue the earth.
One major problem is that there seems to be a flaw in the design, a virus in the software. Just when things go well, something foul happens. Why is that?
According to the Bible, it’s due to sin. Sin is the termite in the wood. We live in a fallen world, so bad things happen, and often the bad things are done by people.
Well I’m short on time, but in a nutshell, this is where the Gospel of Jesus Christ comes in. The Son of God came to earth as a man, shed His blood and died to pay the price for our sin. Now we can return to our Creator and be “born again.” We become new creations in Christ, then the Holy Spirit moves in and starts running out the termites. Then to really make a long story short, our body dies, we step into eternity with God, and He has a bunch of plans after that.
So what is life about? We should still be carrying out God’s initial plans from the book of Genesis, then add to that the sharing of the Gospel so others can return to the Creator themselves, and experience His intimate work in their own life, both for now and for eternity.
And that’s what life is about.
Comments?
E-mail me: dougapple@wave94.com.
May God bless you today! With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.
© 2010 The Arrow’s Tip
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(Proverbs 25:11 – “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.”)
Why “The Arrow’s Tip”? Each morning, after diligently seeking the Lord, I write Apples of Gold. Then before I release it to the public I pray one final prayer, “Lord, send forth your arrows.” I envision Apples of Gold as arrows, tips dipped in the river of the water of life that flows from the throne of God (Rev. 22:1), sailing toward the hearts and minds of men and women around the world.
Doug Apple
General Manager - Wave 94
Christian Radio for Tallahassee
PO Box 4105
Tallahassee, FL 32315
(850) 926-8000
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