Our Reference Point

It has been said that without an infinite reference point the finite has no meaning. This is why all the things in the world that human beings expect to provide them fulfillment in and of themselves ultimately fail to do so. That which is not attainable on a permanent basis in the deepest sense of the word, permanent, will never meet the ultimate need of creatures that have been endowed with eternal existence. Only the truly eternal both answers that need and provides a derived value for the things we continue to hold dear on Earth.

This is a reality that, sadly, even many professed Christians must learn today.

We do not need to turn to the experience of Solomon in the Book of Ecclesiastes to know that this is true. Today many citizens of affluent liberal democracies in the West search for real and enduring meaning in everything from material possessions, sexually and chemically-induced pleasure, and achievement to adventure travel, extreme physical activity, and even hobbies to try and attain to some sort of transcendence. Solomon did the same with the tools the throne of Israel afforded him 3,000 years ago. Whether then or now the final result was and is the same. Those whose existence is oriented only around the temporal possibilities this life affords must eventually cry out, with Solomon, “Meaningless, meaningless, all is meaningless!”

There is, of course, true meaning in the universe. If there wasn’t humankind would not have such a deeply ingrained longing for it. But such true meaning can only be found in the One who has created all things temporal from the depths of an eternal nature. Only the eternal God embodies, and thus provides for those who seek Him, anything that can be honestly called ultimately significant.

The very planet we live on is not permanent. Neither are our lives here. The Bible teaches that this present fallen world is passing away and is, in fact, destined to be burned in a final cataclysm. As for us our time here it is finite. We will someday die and leave everything and everyone we have known behind. The temporal nature of both the world and our lives in their present form make it absolutely impossible to find lasting meaning in anything here today, at least anything that will not survive beyond our deaths and the coming end of this world.

Trying to find infinite meaning in the finite is perhaps the ultimate exercise in futility.

The good news is that we can find such meaning in our eternal and infinite God, though only through a saving relationship with His Son Jesus. Admittedly, while sojourning here on Earth, our grasp of this meaning will not be what it is destined to be once we meet our Lord face to face, but we can know it now at least in part. We can be touched by God and find our lives infused with purpose that we never dreamed of in our former existence when we were hopelessly wedded to that which does not last.

Beyond this even the things we once felt valuable in our present existence, but have grown disillusioned with, can also be infused with meaning when they are employed in the service of that which is eternal. This is what can happen when the finite acquires that infinite reference point. We may find a new and healthy love for things that were once only useless idols in our lives (if, of course, those idols were not in the form of something intrinsically sinful). Anything morally neutral in this life can be harnessed to the eternal purposes of God and thus find new meaning. They may even fulfill us in ways they could not when they were substitutes for Jesus Christ in our lives.

We are eternal beings whose destiny is only found in our eternal Creator. In Him both we and the finite things of our present find their meaning. God alone is our “Infinite Reference Point” and so much more….