Is It True That We Were Created for a Purpose?

Is It True That We Were Created for a Purpose? A redeemed humanity has an eternal purpose. But what about me as an individual within that redeemed humanity. Not just in eternity, but here in this life? Does God have a purpose for me now? Does creation have a purpose? Is there a purpose for the existence of humanity? And, more specifically, do I have a purpose, a reason for being? This article will look at what answers the Bible can provide to these important questions. Defining Purpose Google defines purpose as “the reason for which something is done or created or for which something exists.” This definition gives us two distinct ways that “purpose” is used. The first has to do with why something is done. And the second concerns why somethingexists. The first of these usages is pretty straightforward. Nearly everything we do is for some reason, even if that reason is not a good one. The purpose of going to work nearly every morning for over 40 years was to be able to buy food and clothes as well asprovide my family a place to live. There was a concrete reason for my employment. The second usage of purpose concerns the reason for existence. The purpose of my gardens is that they bring me pleasure. I enjoy their peaceful beauty. The purpose of my kitchen is much more practical. It allows me to prepare my meals. But there are other things around my house that have no purpose, although they might have at one time. The dust bunnies under the couch serve no purpose, at least as far as I am concerned. Much of what occupies my garage had a purpose when I put it there. But that purpose has been lost over time. While it might be useful to someone else, it no longer has value to me. When we look at the question asked in the title of this article, we are mostly concerned with our reason for existence. Were we created for a purpose? Is there a reason for our existence? From an Atheistic Perspective An atheist would answer this question in two distinct ways. They will often first address what they see as their own purpose. Essentially what they mean by this is the purpose they have assigned to themselves. What they are trying to accomplish in this life. But that is not the question being addressed here. When asked more specifically why they exist, rather than not existing, they have to say that they have no purpose. There is no reason why they exist. If there is no creator of the universe, then the whole cosmos is without purpose. It just is. The Purpose of Creation as a Whole A Christian will have an entirely different answer to this question about purpose. Believing that there is a God who created the universe changes how we view its purpose. If the universe is just an accident, then it can have no real purpose. But if it was intentionally created, as Scripture affirms, then the creation would have a purpose. The creator was trying to accomplish something in his creation. But what was it? I do not believe that Scripture gives us an explicit purpose statement for the creation. While it does clearly affirm that God intentionally created all that is, the purpose is not directly revealed. Some might argue that it was simply something for him to enjoy, like an artist painting a picture. And he did indeed find the creation to be good and desirable. But I believe that God’s purpose in creation was not creation itself. Rather it was something that would come out of the creation. In this case, creation itself is only a means to an end. You might think of this universe as being like my kitchen. The purpose of the kitchen is to produce a meal. In the same way, the purpose of creation is to produce something. And I believe that something is humanity. Not what we are now. But what we were made to become. The Purpose of Humanity If the focus of creation is on humanity, the logical question would be why? What purpose would God have in creating humanity? In the context of the whole creation, we are pretty insignificant. Why create all of this for us? The first chapter of Genesis does give us an answer concerning the purpose of humanity. In this chapter, there are eight creative acts spanning the six days. In three of the creative acts, there is a given purpose. On day two, a vault is created to separate the waters above from the waters below. On day four, the celestial bodies are created to institute a way to track time. And, finally, the eighth creative action produced humanity. When God created humanity in his image, it was to rule over the other creatures that God had made. Humanity’s initial purpose in creation was to be God’s vice-regent, caring for God’s creation under God’s authority. Our Ultimate Purpose But being caretakers for the rest of creation is not the end purpose for our creation. It is only an intermediate step toward God’s final purpose. You can find that final purpose expressed in Ephesians 1:13-14. Here Paul says that those who have believed in Christ have been sealed by the Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance. An inheritance that is awaiting our final redemption. This inheritance does not belong to all of humanity. But only to those who have believed in Christ and given their lives to him. Paul here calls us God’s possession. Like the kitchen that exists to produce a meal, so the creation exists to produce a redeemed humanity for God. What purpose we will have in eternity is unclear. But we can be assured that we are precious to God. And that he has a purpose for us. My Purpose A redeemed humanity has an eternal purpose. But what about me as an individual within that redeemed humanity. Not just in eternity, but here in this life? Does God have a purpose for me now? I believe that there are two distinct purposes for our lives as believers today. The first is to function within Christ’s church as an active and healthy member of the body. All redeemed humanity makes up Christ’s body. And each of us has a role within that body to fulfill. Ephesians 4:16 tells us that the body is healthy and growing when each member of the body is doing what God has called us to do. Each of us has a different role within the body (1Corinthians 12:12-31), and our purpose here is, at least in part, to fulfill that role the best we can. The second purpose I see for us here is to prepare for our eternity. 1 Corinthians 3:10-15 talks about building our lives on the foundation of Christ. And Paul tells us that in some way our eternal future is impacted by the way we have built now. It is not an issue of salvation. But it does make clear that the life I livenow is preparing me for my future. ------------------------------------------------------- Life Is Beautiful and Brief by Laura MacCorkle Teach us to number our days aright,that we may gain a heart of wisdom. Psalm 90:12, NIV Beneath my fun-loving exterior is a very analytical person. I love my life, I love spontaneity and I also happen to love trying to figure things out! But like all good things taken to the extreme, my analyzing can turn obsessive and my focus fixed on that which cannot be explained anyway. It�s like the quote I ran across recently from prolific author Philip Yancey: �Faithis believing in advance what will only make sense in reverse.� How true is that! Even so, I am always trying to make sense of a given situation going forward. Always. But in light of today�s verse, how sad is that that I am consumed with trying to know what I think I need to know when I think I need to know it. Surely I�m missing out on opportunities to serve the Lord and the rest that is only found in him. In a recent siutation when I was trying to �make sense� of what was going on, I also listened to a great sermon from Pastor Ray Pritchard of Keep Believing Ministries. And the best take-away nugget was this: �When you need to know, you�ll know.� How simple! And yet how hard. Here I am trying to find wisdom in what I can see and what I can figure out, when my life could be freed up by this reminder that God is sovereign and has all things under his control�no matter the circumstance. Whatever I am trying to figure out today may not matter tomorrow. So why am I not looking to God first and seeking his direction in what matters most in this very moment? �Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom,� the psalmist requests of God. And how do we gain a heart of wisdom? By knowing the mind of Christ. By acknowledging our frailty and our humanity. And by remembering that God is God and we are not. Earlier in Psalm 90 we read this: You turn men back to dust ... For a thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night. And toward the end of the passage, it says: May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us; establish the work of our hands for us�yes, establish the work of our hands. The psalmist reminds us that God determines our life span, and he has his own timing and plans for each of our lives. Will we serve him and seek to fear and obey him before we once again turn to dust? Or will we fix our minds on ourselves, on our currentcircumstances and on trying to live our lives without regard to God�s perfect purposes? At the end of the day, even if our lives never make sense (even in reverse!), we are called to bend the knee and praise the one who has �brought forth the earth and the world.� Because of God�s �unfailing love,� life indeed is beautiful. And though it may be brief and sometimes confusing, because of his son our eternity is secure ... causing us to �sing for joy and be glad all our days.� Intersecting Faith & Life: Knowing that your life is beautiful and brief, have you made yourself available to God for him to work in and through you as you walk by faith? List one reason that causes you to �be glad� today, because of the new life the Father has prepared in advance for you (Eph.2:1-10). Further Reading: Psa. 103:13-18, NIV Psa. 119:133, NIV �Take My Life and Let It Be� Words & Music: Frances R. Havergal, 1874 Take my life, and let it be Consecrated, Lord, to Thee; Take my moments and my days, Let them flow in ceaseless praise, Let them flow in ceaseless praise. ------------------------------------------------- Almighty God �And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the AlmightyGod; walk before me, and be thou perfect.� (Genesis 17:1) This is the first of 48 occurrences of the designation of God by the term �Almighty� in the Old Testament. There are also nine times in the New Testament where God is called �Almighty,� plus once where He is called �omnipotent.� The last time it occurs is verynear the end of the Bible, telling us that there is no special temple in the holy city, �for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it� (Revelation21:22). Thus, in the first and last books of the Bible, and often in between, we are reminded that our God is an omnipotent God. As Jeremiah prayed; �Ah Lord GOD! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there isnothing too hard for thee� (Jeremiah 32:17). Sarah �laughed� when God said that she would bear a son in her old age, but God responded: �Is any thing too hard for the LORD?� (Genesis 18:14). Many yearslater, the angel told the Virgin Mary that she would have a son, and she said: �How shall this be?� (Luke 1:34.) The angel replied: �With God nothing shallbe impossible� (Luke 1:37). Some things God cannot do, of course, for �God cannot be tempted with evil� (James 1:13) and He �cannot lie� (Titus1:2), so whatever He does is right and whatever He says is true. We may not always understand just why He does or says something, but in eternity we shall learn that He was indeed able to do what He says. He is omnipotent! God did create the cosmos in all its macroscopic complexity and all the living kinds with their microscopic complexity. �I am the LORD, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?� (Jeremiah32:27). HMM VISIT: PROPHECY WATCHER WEEKLY NEWS: HTTP://PROPHECY-WATCHER-WEEKLY-NEWS.BLOGSPOT.COM