Truth That Transforms: The Question Behind Every Question - DJ Dickerson - 6/7/26

Ecclesiastes chapter 3 and verse 11.

Ecclesiastes 3 · chapter mention

He has made everything beautiful in its

time.

Also, he has put eternity in their

hearts except that no one can find out

the work that God does from beginning to

end.

Friends, [clears throat]

you think about the Bible,

this very book,

this book has changed nations,

shaped civilizations,

restored broken lives,

and guided countless souls toward

eternity.

Empires have risen

and empires have fallen.

But the word remained.

Kings have ignored it

and they lost their kingdoms.

Families have built their homes

upon the word and found strength through

every storm.

Broken hearts have found

comfort in its promises.

Lost sinners have discovered salvation

within its pages.

Yet for many people today,

the Bible

has become just another book or another

object on a shelf.

We own Bibles. But the question I pose

to you is, do we know them?

We can quote scripture, but do we

understand

the very accounts, the very story behind

what's contained in the Bible?

We attend worship services.

But have we grasped

why we are truly here?

The question behind every question.

this new series of lessons I've been

forming

uh due to

feedback that I get or questions that

I'm asked. And so I kind of look at

those questions and I I see well that's

a you know that that that'll preach,

right? It's a lot of that's a lot of

questions coming. Uh people are studying

with others

uh about these questions that we'll be

looking at in this series of lessons

that we're starting today.

questions that those who have

come to services over years still have

these questions that might still be on

their minds, things that that they're

trying to work through in their lives.

And so that series is entitled truth

that transforms

discovering God, his word, and your

purpose, my purpose.

Because what we're doing in this series

is about rediscovering what matters

most.

It's about allowing God's truth, not

culture, not popular opinion, not

personal feelings, and not convenience

to transform us.

In Romans 12 and:es 1 and two, the

Apostle Paul said, "I beseech you

therefore, brethren, by the mercies of

God, that you present your bodies a

living sacrifice,

holy, acceptable to God, which is your

reasonable service. And do not be

conformed to this world, but be

transformed by the renewing of your

mind, that you may prove what is that

good and acceptable and perfect will of

God." I want you to notice that God's

truth, his word, was never intended

merely to inform us.

See, that's not what's stated in any

scripture and especially Romans 12. It

doesn't say it's there to merely inform

us.

It's meant to transform us

because truth changes the way that we

think. It changes the way that we view

ourselves. Truth changes the way we view

God, our creator. It changes the way we

view eternity. It changes the way we

live. And over the next several weeks,

we're going to take a step back and

we're going to examine the big picture.

We're going to ask some of life's most

important questions. questions that I

get,

questions that you may get when you're

talking to someone or may end up talking

to someone. How do you answer these

questions?

Like, why am I here?

If someone comes up to you later today

and says, "Hey, I would like to study

the Bible with you. I, you know, and I I

just Why am I here? Where do you start?

Where do you begin?

Or someone asked the question, "Well,

does God exist?" Are you ready for that

one?

How about this one? Can the Bible be

trusted?

How did we receive the scriptures? Can

you answer that one?

What What is God's plan for mankind? Why

did Jesus come? WHAT IS THE CHURCH?

What must I do to be saved? I hope as

Christians we can answer that one right

off. Go to the Bible shows book chapter

and verse, right? How should I live as a

disciple of Christ?

You see those questions? Sometimes we

get in the deer of the headlike look.

Sometimes somebody asks us a question

and we're just like,

I have DJ's number, right?

Y'all can get my number out. It's okay.

But the point that I'm saying is we

should be able as individuals, as

Christians, be able to tell people

about what we're convicted of.

You believe this is God's word?

Tell me about it.

Because the these questions that I'm

throwing out there, these are not merely

religious questions, okay? That's not

what these are. These are life

questions.

Life questions.

And before we answer any of them, we we

actually we're going to start this this

lesson off

with the question behind every question.

Why am I here?

Again, as you're going through in your

mind, if you're talking to someone face

to face, they ask this question, where

do you where do you go? What do you what

do what do you start with?

Because I want to tell you the reason I

I entitled this in the question behind

every question.

Because until we understand why we are

here, why we exist, every other question

remains incomplete. Okay? So for this

morning, we're going to open God's word.

We're going to discover what our creator

reveals about the purpose of human life.

And even if you said, "Well, I've heard

these scriptures before." Well, guess

what? We're going to hear them again.

We're going to get ourselves re

reggrounded if you will into this fact

because what the scripture we start out

with in Ecclesiastes 3 and verse 11.

What did what did Solomon say?

Ecclesiastes writer Ecclesiastes 3 and

vers 11. God has placed eternity in our

hearts. Look at that again. Ecclesiastes

3 and verse 11. Because what what what's

being stated here is is is he understood

something about human nature that

remains true even to this day in 2026

because there's just something different

about mankind, isn't there?

I mean, we go and we look at things like

animals survive,

plants grow, but human beings ask

questions.

And we think about meaning AND WE WE

CONTEMPLATE DEATH, don't we? We do that.

We wonder about eternity. WHAT ARE WE

DOING? WE'RE SEARCHING FOR purpose in

life. Why the why are we doing that?

Because God has placed eternity in our

hearts.

Every human being possesses a longing

that cannot be satisfied by temporary

things. Friends,

that's why wealth cannot completely

satisfy.

That's why pleasure eventually

disappoints, doesn't it? That's why

success often leaves people asking that

question, what now?

What now?

Ecclesiastes is one of those books,

right?

Solomon tried everything. He pursued

wisdom. He pursued wealth. He pursued

accomplishments. He pursued pleasure.

And after reaching heights most people

never experience in their life, he

declared even as we see in Ecclesiastes

1 and verse two, vanity of vanity, says

the preacher, vanity of vanities. All is

vanity.

The point that's being made is life

apart from God, our creator, ultimately

leaves the soul empty and void because

we were created for something greater

than this world.

You know, imagine a man dying of thirst,

drinking salt water.

For a moment, he thinks he has found

relief.

Yet the more he drinks, the thirstier he

becomes.

And that's how many spend their lives.

Many spend their lives attempting to

satisfy spiritual thirst with material

things. But the point that we see is

earthly things were never designed to

fill an eternal void.

Never.

God has placed eternity in our hearts

because he created us for himself.

And that leads us to the beginning. See,

I want I want us to go back to the

beginning. That's where we go because

we're created in the image of God. We

got to go back there, don't we? Genesis

Genesis 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1.

Because we have to understand our

purpose and and in doing so, we have to

return to the opening page of scripture

of Genesis 1 verse 26 and 27.

Genesis 1:26

What did God say?

Let us make man in our image, according

to our likeness. Let them have dominion

over the fish of the sea, over the birds

of the air, and over the cattle, over

all the earth, and over every creeping

thing that creeps on the earth.

So God created man in his own image. In

the image of God, he created him. Male

and female he created them.

What do those words do? Again, I I want

you to look from a standpoint you're

studying with someone

and you and you get this verse. We have

this we're we're looking at the

scriptures together. What do those words

distinguish?

How do you explain that verse? Well,

those words distinguish mankind from

everything else God created. That's what

it just did.

Were the stars made in God's image? No.

Were the oceans made in God's image? No.

Were animals made in God's image? The

answer is no.

What's that tell us? Humanity

alone bears the image of God.

That's important to note.

So we start talking about mere happen

stance and oh is life just an accident?

Is that is that is that what it all

amounts to? Right?

No. That means our life is not accident.

We're not produced by random chance.

We're not a meaningless collection of

molecules drifting through the universe.

I mean, people teach that.

But what the Bible says is we were

intentionally created by an intelligent

designer creator.

God made us capable of reason.

We can reason.

We are capable of love. We are capable

of worship. We're capable of

relationships. We're capable of moral

choices.

These qualities reflect the God whose

image we bear.

It's a painting.

When you see a beautiful painting, you

know what happens? You learn something

about the painter, don't you?

When you see a building, you learn

something about the architect.

Likewise, when we examine mankind, we

learn something about the creator.

We were designed for relationship with

him. We were designed to reflect his

character.

We were created to glorify his name. Yet

when we look around the world, something

seems terribly wrong, doesn't it? Oh,

there's there's an issue when we look

around the world.

Because if mankind was created in God's

image, here's the next question that's

going to be asked of you when you're

studying. Why is there so much

brokenness? Are y'all ready for that

one? Okay, you just you were just asked

that question. If I pointed to you and I

say and I point to you and I say, "Hey,

I want you to answer that question." I'm

not going to do that this morning. I

don't put you on the spot. Well, are you

ready for that? How do we explain it?

Why do people struggle with guilt? Why

do families fall apart?

Right?

Why is there violence? Why is there

pain? Why is there suffering? Why is

there death?

We got to a few more chapters, don't we?

Because we talk about sin.

Sin distorted God's design.

Genesis chapter 3:es

1-6.

The serpent was more cunning than any

beast of the field which the Lord God

had made. And he said to the woman, "Has

God indeed said, you shall not eat of

every tree of the garden?" And the woman

said to the serpent, "We may eat of the

fruit of the trees of the garden, but of

the fruit of the tree which is in the

midst of the garden. God has said, "You

shall not eat it, nor shall you touch

it, lest you die." Then the serpent said

to the woman, "You will not surely die.

For God knows that in the day you eat of

it, your eyes will be opened, and you

will be like God, knowing good and evil.

So when the woman saw that the tree was

good for food, that it was pleasant to

the eyes, and a tree desirable to make

one wise, she took of its fruit and ate,

she also gave to her husband with her,

and he ate."

When you back up from Genesis 3, what

you find is Genesis 1 and chapter 2,

creation, right? The majority of the

creation, of course, is focused upon the

creation of man, right? God breathed

breathed

life.

Remember that? Yeah. That's that's

another key aspect of it. That's a

specific that's mentioned about man

being created.

And in Genesis 1 and two in creation, it

it reveals a beautiful picture, doesn't

it? It's so beautiful. Adam and Eve,

they enjoyed fellowship with God. There

was peace. There was innocence. There

was harmony. There was no shame. There

was no fear. There was no separation.

And then we get to chapter three.

Everything changed.

So you're explaining, well, Adam and

Eve, what did they have? They were not

made as robots, right? They were made

robots.

They they had the choice of their will.

What did they want to do? They were

given a command and they chose their

will over God's will. sin entered the

world and the consequences were

absolutely devastating

because you know some people you know we

we kind of focus a lot of times the

greatest tragedy

oh Eden you know the garden they lost

they lost that that was not the greatest

tragedy

the greatest tragedy was what the garden

of Eden represented

and what did that represent fellowship

with God.

See that? That's the point there. What's

being brought out in the scriptures is

the greatest tragedy was not the loss of

Eden. The greatest tragedy was the loss

of fellowship with God.

Isaiah 59:es 1 and 2 gives us this very

insight in regards to sin. Or you might

see the word iniquity. Okay? Isaiah 59

1-2. Prove it for yourself in your

Bibles. Behold, the Lord's hand is not

shorten that it cannot save, nor his ear

heavy that it cannot hear, but your

iniquities have separated you from your

God, and your sins have hidden his face

from you so that he will not hear.

We start trying to identify what is what

is humanity's greatest issue.

We're all put our minds together and

we're going to try to figure out what's

what's humanity's greatest issue. You

think it's political? Do you think it's

economic? Do you think it's educational?

Do you think that's it? The Bible will

tell you real quickly it's not any of

those that I just listed. Humanity's

greatest problem is not political. It's

not economic. It's not educational.

Humanity's greatest problem is

separation from God because of sin.

Every broken relationship, every

injustice, every act of violence, every

funeral, every tear ultimately traces

back to sin's entrance into the world.

Friends,

I want you to imagine a lamp,

okay?

And you unplug that lamp from the wall.

Did that make the lamp disappear?

No,

the lamp,

although unplugged, is still there

sitting on the table.

It may even look beautiful.

But here's the point. Disconnected from

its source, it cannot fulfill its

purpose. Friends, y'all see that?

And that's what sin has done to

humanity. People continue living dayto

day. They continue going to their jobs.

They continue working. They continue to

go to school. They continue building

lives.

But separated from God, they remain

disconnected from the very source of

life and vitality.

The brokenness we see around us,

friends, you know what that is? That's

called evidence.

It's evidence that something has gone

terribly wrong.

But praise be to God that Genesis 3 is

not the end of the story

because God pursued us through

redemption.

The moment sin entered the world, there

is a revealing plan that goes, it's a

thread that goes throughout the

scriptures. We've spent some time on

this in certain other series too,

haven't we?

to redeem mankind. All of the pieces are

here in the scriptures, prophecies,

shadows, all of it's here. It begins

right there at the very beginning,

doesn't it? Oh, and you can see it.

And this is one of the most important

truths we'll learn, I think, in this

entire series is the Bible is not a

random collection of stories. It's not.

The Bible is one story. It's about

redemption, isn't it? And I I you know,

I trying to think you can summarize this

in in four words. Creation, fall,

redemption, restoration.

Creation, fall, redemption, restoration.

God made man. Man sin. God sent Christ.

God brings his people home. Everything

in scripture fits to that very story.

fits perfectly.

The patriarchs, the nation of Israel,

the law of Moses, the prophets, the

sacrifices, the promises, all point

toward Jesus, doesn't

Jesus taught this truth in Luke chap 24

and verse 27. Luke 24 and verse 27. This

is after Jesus resurrection.

And beginning at Moses and all the

prophets, he expounded expounded to them

in all the scriptures the things

concerning himself. Did y'all notice

that? beginning at Moses and all the

prophets, he expounded to them in all

the scriptures.

All of them

the things concerning himself.

That's it. From Genesis to Revelation,

we see a God who refused to abandon what

he created.

And that's the beauty part. A God who

made a way home. a God who loved mankind

enough to send his son.

So when you start getting down to it,

I think it boils down to knowing God is

the purpose of life.

Now think with me.

I I would say that this brings us to one

of the most important statements in this

lesson. John 17 and verse three.

John 17 and verse3. Th this this whole

chapter I mean this whole chapter in

John 17 is a is a beautiful beautiful

prayer that Jesus petitions there to his

father and he prayed for himself. He

prayed for his disciples. He prayed for

all believers. And and this prayer is so

beautiful because it's all about unity,

isn't it? It's about it's about being

unified with God and creator him. We all

may be one. that goes throughout this

this prayer. Genesis in John 17:3 he

John 17:3

says and this is eternal life that they

may know you. Jesus is talking to God

his father and he even says the only

true God and Jesus Christ whom you have

sent. Boy that that does a summary

doesn't it?

You see Jesus does not define life by

possessions. Jesus actually talked about

that that one's life does not consist in

the abundance of things they possess.

Remember that he does not define life by

success. He does not define life by

achievements. He does he he defines life

through what? Relationship. Y'all see

it? This is eternal life that they may

know you

the only true God and Jesus Christ whom

you have sent.

knowing God, trusting God, walking with

God, serving God, loving God, all of

that. He's saying that's why we were

fed.

And Paul affirmed this. We we were just

reading this this morning.

Sometimes our lessons, they kind of go

hand in hand with our Bible classes,

right? Acts 17 and verses 24-28. Look at

that. Acts 17 and verses 24- 28. This is

what Paul is affirming.

in Athens.

God who made the world and everything in

it. Since he is Lord of heaven and

earth, does not dwell in temples made

with hands, nor is he worshiped with

men's hands as though he needed

anything. Since he gives to all life,

breath, and all things. And he has made

from one blood every nation of men to

dwell on all the face of the earth. and

has determined their pre-appointed times

and the boundaries of their dwellings,

so that they should seek the Lord in the

hope that they might grope for him and

find him, though he is not far from each

one of us. For in him we live and move

and have our being, as also some of your

own poets have said, for we are also his

offspring. Y'all notice there there's a

lot in that verse. I would just love to

keep going in. But here here's what Paul

just kind of

emphasizes here, doesn't he? Through all

of this that God created mankind so that

they should seek him. Y'all see it? So

that they should seek the Lord.

What that tells me when I start getting

down what the purpose of life is.

Purpose of life is not purpose of life

is not mere survival.

The purpose of life is not accumulation.

It's not achievement. The purpose of

life is knowing the God who created us.

Friends,

we have to have direction in our lives.

And that's exactly what the scripture

says that it does. You know, we we think

about 2 Timothy chapter 3 and verses 16

2 Timothy 3 · chapter mention

and 17 that speaks about scripture. Now,

we're going to have some more questions

about this. We're going to we're going

to work through a lot of those questions

that I mentioned at the very beginning

of the lesson. These are questions that

you're going to be asked. You may have

been asked. You may have in the middle

of a study with somebody about, you

know, scriptures and about does God

exist and and all of that

or you may be having these questions on

your mind right now that are we talking

about?

But second Timothy 3 16 and 17 says,

"All scripture is given by inspiration

of God and is profitful for God, right?

for reprove, for correction, for

instruction in righteousness, that the

man of God may be complete, thoroughly

equipped for every good work.

All of those words, doctrine, powerful

doctrine, for approve, for correction,

for instruction in righteousness.

Now

without the direction

we will wonder.

That's the way maps work, doesn't it?

Remember back in we we we we laugh about

it now. We used to have map quests and

all those things. Y'all remember that?

Of course. Before that, it was actually

the fold out maps that you got to have.

You fold out the maps. I'm thinking

that's just crazy. We got GPS now. We

love that, don't we? Plug it in and

you're you're ready.

But if it's not connected to the right

destination, guess what? You're going to

wonder. That's what you're going to do.

Because it only helps if it's connected

to the correct destination.

And friends, I'll tell you this. Without

purpose, you know what people do?

Without purpose, people drift.

There are people that have lived their

entire lives and they still don't know

why they are here.

Don't know. I'm asking you, do you know

why you're here?

Is that something that you're still

working through?

I'm going to tell you that what we find

from scripture very simply points out

without God, people search endlessly for

meaning.

You don't think that hits home when you

bury someone

because they didn't bring any they

didn't bring nothing in the world and

they didn't carry anything out.

And that's Bible. That's true.

I won't carry a single thing out with

me.

The only thing I take is what I am.

Soul.

That's it. That goes back to God who

gave it. That's Bible. the truth.

But friends, when a person finds God,

when they

start again seeking the Lord, as the

scripture says, all of those scattered

pieces of life

begin to fit together.

The search for meaning ends when we find

the one who actually gives meaning to

it.

You know, near the end of his life,

Solomon, he he finally arrived at that

answer. He examined so many things,

pleasure, wealth, and conscience,

wisdom, and every pursuit available

under the sun. And he wrote in

Ecclesiastes 12 and:es 13 and 14.

That's the wrong scripture up there.

Ecclesiastes 12:13 and 14 says, "Let us

Ecclesiastes 12:13

hear the conclusion of the whole matter.

Fear God and keep his commandments, for

this is man's all, for God will bring

every work into judgment, including

every secret thing, whether good or

evil." Ecclesiastes 12:13 and 14. Here

Ecclesiastes 12:13

the conclusion of the whole matter. Fear

God and keep his commandments.

Notice that next part. For this is man's

all.

That's the answer, isn't it?

Because again, purpose of life, it don't

matter how much you possess, that's not

purpose.

It doesn't matter how much you

accomplish in life. All the material

things you can think of don't matter.

That's not the purpose of life.

purpose. It doesn't matter what others

think about us.

That's not the purpose of life.

The purpose of life is found in the God

who created us. We were created by him,

separated from him through sin, redeemed

through Christ, and invited back into

fellowship with him. That's the

redemption story. And until we

understand that very truth,

every other question in life remains

unanswered.

Every

other question, that's why I thought it

was fitting that we start here in our

series

because perhaps this morning someone has

been searching.

You might be searching for peace,

searching for purpose. You might be

searching for answers.

And the creator who placed eternity in

your heart has revealed himself through

his word and through his son.

And the question is no longer why am I

here.

The question is what will I do with the

purpose God has revealed?

I've said many of times,

you know,

when I was in college and and taking

adop physiology and all of those science

courses, I always thought, how in the

world can someone deny God?

How

how can a big bang create something as

we are today?

How is that possible?

We'll talk some more about does God

exist about about all those things in

the in the future lessons.

The Bible talks about us as being

wonderfully and fearfully what? Made

songs.

What will we do with the purpose God has

revealed? and such astounding

amazing creation as we are.

The invitation is for you to come this

morning.

The compass that we have

right here

leads us to Christ.

Believe you repent of your sins. Confess

Jesus to be the son of living God.

Be baptized in Christ for the

forgiveness of your sins. As Romans 6:3

Romans 6:3

and4 says, friends, to begin living the

life for which we were created. Isaiah

55 and verse 6 from our scripture

reading this morning. What did it say?

Seek the Lord while he may be found.

Call upon him while he is near.

Friends, we will never fully understand

our life until we understand the why.

Till we understand the purpose given by

our creator. And when we discover why

God made us,

every other piece of life's puzzle

begins to fall into place.

Seek the Lord while he may be found.

Call upon him while he isn't.