The sports fans among us will be aware that this year, we have seen the UEFA European Football Championships and the Olympic Games Paris 2024. I am sure there are more, but I am not very focused on sports. Sports games and competitions are very important to many people. Still, others think they are only games, so don't get too serious about them.
It got me thinking! Is life just a game? From one angle, the answer is no, it is not, and it's a very serious undertaking. You only get one run of it, so don't mess it up. The Lord Jesus warned people about wasting their lives when He said, 'And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?', Mark 8. 36, NLT. You were created to know God, and without Him, this life and the next will be very pointless and hopeless.
Yet, there's a certain truth in the notion that life is akin to a game. Just as games are meticulously planned, so too is our life. The Bible teaches that our existence is not a haphazard occurrence, but a purposeful design. Each of us is a unique creation, born with the mission to know our creator, God. As Jesus said, 'I came that they may have life and have it abundantly' (John 10. 10).
An essential part of championships or games is to know the rules and play by them. Games don't work without rules; nobody enjoys the games, and it is impossible to be fair or to win without rules. So it is with life. Life falls apart without rules; we may not like them, but they exist to make life fair and enjoyable for everyone. So, the rules of life were written and published in the Bible, but oddly enough, God also wrote them in our hearts. So, from the youngest child to the most mature adult, we all have an inbuilt sense of justice and fairness. That's what we call conscience, which still works very effectively unless we ignore it. However, it is common knowledge that most of us regularly break God's rules of life - the Bible states, ' for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,' Romans. 3. 23.
But, here comes the hard part - the rules of games have built within them penalties for when the rules are broken. It would be abnormal for a referee to fail to enforce rules and to apply penalties. Games and sports could only run fairly or be worth their time if rules were enforced. Again, this is true of the game of life. Just as a referee is empowered to apply the rules and their decision is binding and final, so it is with the rules of life and God. God is the lawmaker, and Jesus, the Son of God, is the referee. He makes the final assessment and applies the penalties. On numerous occasions, the Bible make this clear:
'(God) has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this, he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead,' Acts 17:31 - this must be referring to the Lord Jesus.
'And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment,' Hebrews 9:27.
But, the good news is that the Lord Jesus, while appointed Judge at the end of time, is today the mediator and the Saviour to all who come and trust Him to save them, 1 Tim. 2. 5, Titus 3. 4-6.
All quotations are from the ESV Bible unless stated otherwise.
All photos courtesy of Unsplash
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