Have you ever been asked "what is the meaning of life?" Or what is our purpose? Did you know that the Bible gives a one word answer? Love! Let me explain.
In (ref) we read of a teacher of the law asking Jesus what the most important commandment is and he replies
"love the Lord your God with all your heart soul and strength and love your neighbour as yourself....all other commandments hang off these two commandments"
So what does this have to do with the meaning of life? Think now for a moment, what is the law? In our everyday experiences we see two different types of law we see
a. a command to behave in a certain way by an authority with the threat of consequences
b. a description of something's function
for example a legal law that says "if you drive faster than the speed limit you will pay a fine" is an example of the first type of law. The second type of law is like a law of physics, for example when God commanded gravity to exist he didn't say to all the massive objects in the world "if you do not attract other massive objects there will be consequences!" That would be a bizarre thing for God to say! No the law of gravity is not given as a command with the threat of consequences. It just describes something's function or purpose*.
For example, a coffee machine makes coffee, therefore I can write that the law of the coffee machine is that it makes coffee. I can also say that the law of a coffee machine is that it does not make lemonade. Furthermore, I can say that the law of coffee is that it tastes a certain way, it smells a certain way, it wakes you up etc. There is no punishment if coffee tastes differently, or smells differently etc. If a coffee machine violates the law of the coffee machine we say it is a broken coffee machine
So what type of law is the law of Moses? Both! In many verses we read the consequences of sin. However, we also read in Romans chapter 7
22 For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. 23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. (Romans 7:22-3 NLT)
Notice how it talks about the law of sin. Is he saying that there is a command for him to sin with consequences if he disobeys it? No! He is talking about the second type of law here. So we see the law which he delights in is a description of how God created him. However, he sees something completely different at work within him. This is like when someone is sick we know that God created our body to function in a certain way, let us call this "the law of health". However, when we are sick we see a different law at work within us, the "law of sickness".
The law of God describes how God created us. When God said let "there be light" he released the law or light into the universe; a description of what light does when it is going through space, going through crystals, bouncing off mirrors and every single thing that light does in every situation. Later God said "let there be male and female created in our image" and God released the law of man. It shows how a man made in the image of God gives to the poor, is faithful to their wife, worships God whole heartedly and even looks after animals. Simply put a man made in the image of a God of love, loves. So what is the meaning of life? It is the law - love.
* function is a synonym for meaning or purpose if and only if a designer is involved who knows what He is doing.
