MAN'S DESTINY

JOB 3:2

A. "WHY IS LIGHT GIVEN TO A MAN WHOSE WAY IS HID, AND WHOM GOD HATH HEDGED IN?
  1. The question as to why we are in this world has been in all ages the question by all thinking people:
    1. Even the prophet Jeremiah cried out, "cursed by the day wherein I was born" - Jer. 20"14-15
    2. "Woe is me, my mother, that thou hast born me a man of strife" - Jer. 15:10
  2. The question is raised for several reasons:
    1. Because we find so many disillusionments in our lives, that we fail to see the wisdom of being in this world
    2. Hardship, sickness, bereavement have beclouded the importance of our existence B. WHY IS LIGHT GIVEN TO A MAN WHOSE WAY IS HID AND WHOM GOD HATH HEDGED IN?"
  3. To find the answer to Job's question, we need to consider:
    1. Man's creation in the first place - He was created to reflect the honor and glory of God - Gen. 1:26-27; Rev. 4:11
    2. God created man to be a ruler over the world He had prepared for man - Ps. 8:4-7; Gen. 1:26-28
  4. Man's disobedience disrupted and delayed God's plan for man:
    1. The violation of the law of life by man had its effect upon his environment - Gen. 3:17-25
    2. Man's difficulties in this present life are in one way or another the effects of his transgression - hereditary or otherwise
  5. But the Creator of man became also his Redeemer:
    1. Our first parents learned the lesson of redemption while yet in the garden of Eden - Gen. 3:15-21; Rom. 5:12
    2. Christ, the second Adam was to restore the lost dominion - Micah 4:8
    3. The plan of the redemption of man reveals the great reason as to why light was given to man to begin with - John 3:16
    4. God saw in man potentials to be developed to become a spectacle to the angels - Deut 7:6; I Cor. 4:9 C. "WHY IS LIGHT GIVEN TO A MAN WHOSE WAY IS HID AND WHOM GOD HATH HEDGED IN?"
  6. Could Job have seen the end from the beginning, he would never have raised such a question:
    1. Sorrow, pain and bereavement had blinded that man to the great purpose of God in his life
    2. Things temporarily had obstructed his view
    3. Could he have foreseen that his perseverance in all his trials became the star of hope for all sufferers hereafter, he would have had the answer to his question - James 5:11
  7. Let me offer, briefly a number of good reasons as to why light was given to me and to you:
    1. To live unto Him who loved you and me and gave Himself for us - 2 Cor. 5:15; that is a very good reason for our life
    2. Since He redeemed us with His own blood, we are trophies of His grace and live unto Him - Rom. 14:7-8
    3. We are here to "shew forth the praise of Him who hath called us out of darkness into this marvelous light" - I Pet. 2:9; that is another good reason for being alive
    4. Christ called us to be a light to others in this sin-darkened world - Matt. 5:14; that is still another good reason for being alive
    5. Finally, we are alive so that we can become fellow heirs of all God's promises, present, and future - Eph. 3:6; Tit. 3:7; Rom. 4:13; that is a good and rewarding reason for being alive
  8. Dear ones:
    1. When sorrow and disappointments cause deep questions to come to our minds, let us not be hasty to conclude that it would have been better for us not to have seen the light in this world
    2. Let us keep in mind that when God hedges us in He has a divine reason for it - just like a mother hedges her darling son in to keep him from being harmed
    3. Could we see the end from the beginning, we would see that love from above guided our life that way
    4. Someday, I shall understand what seems hidden to me today; someday I will understand that God's way is best


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