Crystal,
Let me try and explain it.
I love life. You are so right. God gave man this earth to enjoy and to be a blessing and even though sin has entered into the world, it is still touched with the Creators imprint which means we see Him reflected in every child born, in every leaf that colours in Autumn, in every beautifully coloured sunset, in happy family lives..
The Bible tells me that God created everything in nature to show Himself to us, so we are without excuse when we ignore Him. Humans know the joy of being in relationship with each other, and the joy of special family times, and of the wonder of nature, because God gave each of us a spiritual spark to enjoy it, to appreciate it.. and to enjoy life, even whilst under the curse of sin. This is the situation most humans are in, and they do live lives which make them wonder why on earth Christians would focus on the hereafter, when there is so much to enjoy in life in the hereandnow.
We were also created to have relationship with God. Christians believe that that was what was broken when man sinned in the Garden. God, the Creator walked talked and spent intimate moments with Adam and Eve in the Garden that He had created for them. When they chose to go their own way and deliberately disobey God and indeed put their eternal destiny in jeopardy, the one thing they lost that would affect them above all else, was their relationship to God.
Humans do all they can to try and plug that hole, that spiritual desire which is constantly drawing them back to God. God through Christ has enabled that hole to be plugged and for the relationship that God and Man had to be totally and irrevocably restored.
Christians live on this earth in an attitude of life that Adam and Eve had in the Garden before the Fall.. relating intimately with God and knowing Him as well as you know your partner and I know my husband. Jesus described this as having life and life more abundantly.
Yes, every human being, if they are honest knows that sin has it's stamp on this world. We see wars, we see hatred, we see abortion and other evils carried out against other humans, we see nature destroyed and corrupted and cruelty towards gentle animals whose only crime is that they live with humans. The Bible declares that all creation is in bondage to decay and subjected to frustration until the Children of God are revealed. It's described as groaning, as in the pains of childbirth until the present time. The Bible declares that creation is waiting in eager expectation for it's freedom. As humans, we crave to see an end to injustice, to hatred, to all the things that cause our hearts to fear each other instead of living in peace with one another.
You see, for every beautiful experience on this earth, that makes us enjoy life, Christians can see it as the hand of God, giving them a precious and good gift. Yet, we also know that if it seems good now, once the Lord returns, and creation is restored to the point that God said in Genesis "IT is VERY good", everything will be even better.
We are also in a love relationship with God. When my husband is away, I can't wait for his return. To be away from him is to know we are still married, yet it's like having a part of me missing. For the Christian, death means that I am with my Lord.. and Paul says it's "far better".
I love life. I love the fact that I can enjoy every good and perfect gift that the Father has given me whilst I am living life to the fullest. I enjoy and fit as much into each day as I can, to take advantage of the blessings He has given me to enjoy on this earth. I also want to live a long life, and surround myself with the people who are most precious to me in my life.
Yet, I have a promise of an even more glorious and wonderful life when I die. Death for me is a door to the world where my Heavenly Father lives and dwells and where I will be forever with Him. That is my hope as a Christian.