The Destinies of a Man

The Destinies of a Man

At the very moment you believed the grace gospel, you were regenerated in spirit, and you were placed into Christ, becoming an adopted son, seated with Christ in the heavenlies. What a contrast to what you were before this! Before salvation by God's grace, you were a dead sinner, living out a vain existence that would end with the wrath of God. You were of no value to anything going on in this earth. Paul said,

Ephesians 2:1-3 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others [who are outside of Christ].

Without the life of Christ at salvation, all man is doing down here is living out some insignificant, vain existence, that ends in death and the wrath of God. This is true! Tell me truthfully what the meaning of life is outside of Christ? Define life for me! Define what this existence of ours is all about! Solomon in all his wisdom wrote a whole book on it called, Ecclesiastes. Read it and see what he says. Is our life for riches? Solomon said, "I've seen a great evil: man's labour stores up all these riches and then he dies, and another man gets them." He said, "For there is no more remembrance of the wise than of the fool forever, since all that now is will be forgotten in the days to come. And how does a wise man die? As the fool!"

So, is the meaning of life to get wisdom? Is the meaning of life to get riches? What's the purpose of it all? Let me tell you why it's all vain; because man is dead in spirit, and he is going to die in the flesh. What then? That's what Solomon concludes. He called it the vanity of vanities and at the end of the book he said, "Rejoice o young man in thy youth and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth. Do whatever your heart wants to do young man, but know this, that after all these things, God will bring thee into judgment." In chapter 12 Solomon says [paraphrasing], "Remember thy Creator in the days of thy youth while the evil day cometh not." What's the evil day? "When the eyes start going dim and the strong men of the house begin to quake, the white hair begins to flourish, the grinders cease, and the music of the daughters are brought low. When man looks around and says, I no longer have any joy in my days, then shall man go to his long home (talking about death)."

Outside of Jesus Christ there's no purpose on this earth, but the moment you get in Christ, you go from being a dead sinner living out a vain existence under the wrath of God, to being quickened, raised up, seated in heavenly places as a fellow heir, and part of God's eternal purpose which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord. You went from vanity to being called into the very purpose God has determined for heaven and earth through the Lord Jesus Christ. You're a part of something eternal now, something that God planned before the foundation of the world and will carry out to the ages to come. 

These are the destinies of a man. Its a contrast of hopelessness to exultation, and it all revolves around the grace of God to you freely through the gospel of grace in Jesus Christ.