Foundations for Life, the Universe and Everything
Pastor Eugene introduces our upcoming sermon series on Genesis 1-12, which answers the big questions of life.
Do you want to know what life is ultimately about, what is the meaning of it all? If so, then do a Google search of this exact phrase (make sure it’s all in lowercase): “the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything”. The answer may surprise you.
Fans of Douglas Adam’s books may recognise this cultural reference. In his Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series of novels, Adams describes how a supercomputer called Deep Thought is programmed to compute “the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe and everything”. After 7.5 million years of complex calculations, Deep Thought finally returns this hilariously anti-climactic, comically absurd answer: “42”.
Many since have theorised and speculated about the significance of the number. But Adams gave the definitive explanation: “The answer to this is very simple. It was a joke… I sat at my desk, stared into the garden and thought '42 will do'. I typed it out. End of story.”
Jokes aside, to what or whom would we turn for answers to life’s big questions? Questions such as: Who are we? What is the purpose of life, or the reason for our existence? Where did we come from? Where are we going? What is wrong with the world? How can everything be put right? Our answers to these questions will profoundly affect how we live and what we live for. Hint: The answer is not “42”.
Thankfully, we do not have to depend on a supercomputer to figure things out. We have a Creator God who, in the beginning, made the heavens and the earth. And He is not silent. God has graciously revealed these fundamental truths to us, so that we might know and worship Him.
This is the reason why the book of Genesis is in the Bible. This is also the purpose for our upcoming sermon series on Genesis 1-12, from June 12 till August 15. Titled Foundations, this series will focus on these foundational chapters of Scripture, which help us to understand the rest of the Bible’s big story of creation-fall-redemption-new creation.
Grasping our place in our Creator’s plan, we understand our need for His grace in order to live for His glory. We may have different individual stories, but when God weaves our stories into His, He unites us with a shared identity and purpose as His redeemed people.
These opening chapters of Genesis reveal who God is and our relationship with Him. Knowing our identity as men and women created in God’s image helps us makes sense of our place in His creation. It gives meaning to all of life, including work, relationships and marriage.
Knowing what is wrong with the world helps us to understand why things are broken. It points us to the gracious and merciful God, who has lovingly provided the only remedy for our sin. Thanks to God’s salvation plan to restore all of creation, there is hope for humanity. This plan culminates with the coming of God’s promised Saviour. Genesis invites us to trust in Him—the seed of a woman and Abraham’s offspring—whom God has sent for us. In Him alone will all peoples, families and nations of the world find true blessing and rest.