What Am I Here For?
What Am I Here For?
Scot Caley, Lead Minister
What is God’s purpose for our lives as individuals? Many verses point to the answer, but these are some prominent and often quoted on the subject.
John 3:16, 17 (NRS) For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”
Acts 17:24-27 (NRS) The God who made the world and everything in it, he who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mortals life and breath and all things. From one ancestor he made all nations to inhabit the whole earth, and he allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live, so that they would search for God and perhaps grope for him and find him—though indeed he is not far from each one of us.
Mark 12:29, 30 (NRS) Jesus answered, “The first is, “Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.”
God’s central purpose for a human life is the development of a life changing relationship with Him through Jesus Christ. This relationship is established by God and offered to human beings through faith in Jesus Christ. Relationship with God is developed when we respond to Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit and with the help of other Christians. We then learn how to love God with heart, mind, soul, and strength. This relationship will be fulfilled at the end of human history. In eternity, those who entered this relationship with God on earth will enjoy an ultimate intimacy with God in Heaven.
Revelation 21:3-7 (MSG) I heard a voice thunder from the Throne: “Look! Look! God has moved into the neighborhood, making his home with men and women! They’re his people, He’s their God. He’ll wipe every tear from their eyes. Death is gone for good - tears gone, crying gone, pain gone - all the first order of things gone.” The Enthroned continued, “Look! I’m making everything new. Write it all down - each word dependable and accurate.” Then he said, “It’s happened. I’m A to Z. I’m the Beginning, I’m the Conclusion. From Water-of-Life Well I give freely to the thirsty. Conquerors inherit all this. I’ll be God to them, they’ll be sons and daughters to me.
God wants this kind of eternal relationship with every human being who comes into this world.
1 Timothy 2:3b-6 (NRS) God our Savior, who desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God; there is also one mediator between God and humankind, Christ Jesus, himself human, who gave himself a ransom for all —this was attested at the right time.
This is why Jesus came to seek and save the lost. Human beings were created to be in relationship with God. Jesus Christ is the basis of that relationship, no one can come into an eternal saving relationship with God apart from Him. There is no other name given by which we can be saved but the name of Jesus. Without Jesus we are undoubtedly and eternally lost. However, through a relationship with God through Jesus, we will glorify and enjoy Him forever. The Westminster Shorter Catechism has it right on this point I believe: “What is the chief end of man? To glorify God and enjoy Him forever.” This understanding guides us in how we truly help individuals in this life.
Question: Why am I here? Answer: To know God.
Question: What is God’s purpose for my life? Answer: A life-changing relationship with Him.
Question: Where is my life going? Answer: Through Christ, I receive eternal life that begins with Him and never ends through eternity.
Let’s go back to the question: “What am I here for?” There are a lot of ways to answer, but I think all of them are summarized in this one phrase: Trust and follow Jesus. Perhaps, we can summarize all the scriptures on faith with those four words TRUST AND FOLLOW JESUS. Faith includes not just mental assent, but affections and the will, the whole person, as our trusting and following Jesus transforms my head, my heart, my hands, and my feet. This is a large part of being a disciple. It’s not everything, but it is a huge thing. Trusting and following Jesus with every part of our being is what the Christian life is all about. At root, we live out this life trusting and following Jesus in relationship with God and we seek to help others walk this same path. Everyone’s top need is to get help developing a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. Helping people with this pursuit is what discipleship is all about.
Until the nets are full, Scot