The Purpose of Life

Have the circumstances of your life ever provoked you to ask the Question, “Why am I here?” Perhaps your questions have been more desperate kind like, “Why was I ever born?” or “Is this all there is to life?” You are not alone. The Wisest man who ever lived described life as monotonous and meaningless. In the book of Ecclesiastes Solomon’s quest was for the worthwhile in life (Ecclesiastes 1:4-8). The question that echoes through the book of Ecclesiastes is “What profit has a man from all his labor in which he toils under the sun?” We might express it in a way today: We go to bed late, we get up early, we go to work, we drive home, eat, go to bed, to get up early, to go back to work, to come home. And as if that were enough, we are plagued with making ends meet financially, fighting off the latest virus, hoping to avoid some dreaded disease, mistreated at work, and abused at home, and then we die. Every aspect of life seems vain. It is like striving after the wind.

There was a man named Job who pondered the significance of life after losing his livestock, his children, and even his health. All that was left of him was the breath of life and his wife who counseled him to renounce God and die. Job was a desperate man in a desperate situation. He even made statements like, “May the day perish on which I was born, and the night in which it was said, ‘A Male child is conceived’” (Job 3:3-12). And Job had a bunch of fair weathered friends who believed Job had done some despicably wicked thing to have fallen victim to the calamities described in the first two chapters of Job. Even though they were all wrong. So, how do we make sense of life and the varying circumstances in which we find ourselves?

Today I want us to consider some passages:
“Even every one that is called by my name: For I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him.” (Isaiah 43:7, KJV)
“The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament sheweth his handywork.” (Psalm 19:1, KJV)
“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16, KJV)
“What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore, glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.” (1 Corinthians 6:19–20, KJV)
“Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.” (1 Corinthians 10:31, KJV)

The Scriptures make it clear that the purpose of all creation is to glorify God. To glorify God is to magnify Him. In particular, the God we are to glorify is the One who reveals Himself to us through Scriptures and through nature.  

In the introduction of Paul’s letter to the saints in Rome, he writes of those who, knowing God, “glorified him not as God, neither gave thanks,” and he tells us that “they became vain in their reasoning and their senseless heart was darkened” (Romans 1:21). How could anyone actually expect to successfully cope with the conflicts of life if they became vain in their reasoning and their senseless hearts are darkened?

Are you beginning to see how vital a clear perspective on the purpose of life is in relationship to coping with problems? Not having a clear vision of the reason for our existence may vary well be one of our biggest problems of all. So, how can God be glorified in your life? The same way He has always been glorified: by faithful obedience to His will. In so doing, our lives prove that such a life is good and acceptable and perfect (Romans 12:2). Obedience is equated with good works, for which we have been created (Ephesians 2:10). Those works spring forth from a full heart of faith in God.
              A common problem for many of us is being so wrapped up in gratifying our own wants and needs that we forget it is God we are to serve. We become a problem oriented that we take our eyes off God and lose our focus on the very purpose for our existence. When our focus is on the cares and riches and pleasures of life, Gods Word is choked out and no fruit in our life is brought to perfection (Luke 8:14).

Knowing that our ultimate purpose in life is to bring glory to God, will resolve a lot of the problems that we face in our everyday life. For instance, consider how you might revolutionize every area of your life knowing that the reason for your existence is to glorify God. It would change we way we treat our spouse, change the way we seek happiness, change the way we treat our children, change the way we would talk to others, and the list can go on and on. Too many people are so focused on themselves and try to bring glory to themselves that they are missing the mark. Let us strive to fulfill our purpose in life and that is to bring glory and honor to God!

Steven Lloyd