THE FOUR GREAT QUESTIONS OF LIFE

Imagine if you will…

One day you wake on a deserted island with ten other people. There is no memory or recollection of any past life by any on the island.

What would you be preoccupied with…

Four Questions… 1. Who am I? 2. How did I get here? 3. Why am I here? 4. Where am I going?

Today, most people suffer from spiritual amnesia

Replacement Questions… 1. Who will I marry? 2. What will I do? 3. What college will I attend? 4. How will I secure my financial future?

Isn’t that what most of the world does. Either they have never asked the great questions, or they have given up. They just live life as though devoting one’s life to answering the great questions was just not important.

Paul Answers The Four Great Questions in his Mars Hill Sermon Acts 17:16-34

Background… 1. The date: 51 AD 2.The setting: The second missionary journey - Paul had left Silias and Timothy in Brea and had gone on to Athens alone 3.The place: the Areopagus in Athens

The Philosophers Epicureans - Saw pleasure as the chief end of life. This was to be achieved by living a tranquil life free from disturbances. Epicureans - Saw pleasure as the chief end of life. This was to be achieved by living a tranquil life free from disturbances. Stoics - Aimed at living a life consistently with nature, stressed the rational faculty in man, and were atheistic seeing God as the World- soul. Stoics - Aimed at living a life consistently with nature, stressed the rational faculty in man, and were atheistic seeing God as the World- soul.

What are the philosophies that compete for the minds and hearts of people today?

Question 1 Who am I? My name is______ - that is not who you are, only your name! My name is______ - that is not who you are, only your name! My parents are _______, my birth date and place of birth is__________. - that is not who you are, only your relation to your birth parents and when and where you were born! My parents are _______, my birth date and place of birth is__________. - that is not who you are, only your relation to your birth parents and when and where you were born! My job is_______ - that is not who you are, only what your occupation is! My job is_______ - that is not who you are, only what your occupation is!

To answer “Who am I?” I must first answer the following… Am I the effect of the random collision of atomic particles over billions and billions of years… Or, Am I the offspring of the living God?

"Once I was a tadpole going for a swim, Then I was a bullfrog with my tail tucked in; Then I was a monkey swinging from a tree, Now, I am a professor with a PhD"

…for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said,' For we also are His offspring.' Acts 17:28 Acts 17:28

We are the offspring of God means that… 1.We are related to God in a similar way as a child is to a parent 2.We were created by God – Gen. 2:7 3.We were created in God’s image – Gen. 1:27 4.We were created triune beings with spirit, soul, and body – I Thess. 5:23 5.We are loved by God as evidenced by His redemptive work – Romans 5:8

Question 2 How did I get here? Answer: God precisely placed me when and where to live! Acts 17:26

…and He made from one, every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times, and the boundaries of their habitation, Acts 17:26 Acts 17:26

Question 3 Why am I here? Answer: The purpose of life is to find God and to have a relationship with Him! Acts 17:27

Illustration: The greatest explorers in history like: John Cabot, Juan Ponce de Leon, Ferdinand Magellan, Francis Drake, Sir Walter Raleigh and Henry Hudson went on long dangerous journeys in search for the unknown. All people must have this tenacity in searching for God.

…that they should seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; Acts 17:27 Acts 17:27

grope (gröp) — 1. To reach about uncertainly; feel one's way: groped for the telephone. 2. To search blindly or uncertainly: grope for an answer. —tr. To make (one's way) by groping. —n. The act of groping.

What it means to find God can be best summed up in the Lord’s words to the young Solomon…

“As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve Him with a whole heart and a willing mind; for the Lord searches all hearts, and understands every intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will let you find Him; but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever.” I Chronicles 28:9

Question 4 Where am I going? Answer: My time on earth is going to culminate in standing before my God and giving an account of my life! Acts 17:30-31

"Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead. Acts 17:30-31