Tag Archives: Meaning

What is Life all About? Part 2

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What am I doing here?  That’s the question many people struggle with. What is my purpose in life? Isn’t there some overarching plan that would explain where I fit in?

The answer is yes. There is a plan, a design, and purpose. The purpose and plan is that the Almighty God who created all things, did so for his own enjoyment and glory. He wants us as rational creatures to also delight in that creation, to praise him for it, and to enjoy it with him. He made us in his image, and part of that image is that we ourselves are creative, thinking, and enjoying individuals. God delights in relationship and he wants us to delight in it as well.

God has always existed in three persons and even before creation, the three persons of the God-head had fellowship, communication, and love between them. When they said, “Let us make man in our image” (Genesis 1:26) they wanted to extend that love and fellowship with a particular part of the creation, namely human beings.

Everything God does is ultimately for his glory. In Psalms 4:2 God asks, “How long, O you sons of men, Will you turn my glory to shame? How long will you love worthlessness, and seek falsehood?”

Isaiah 42:8 I am the Lord, that is My name; And My glory I will not give to another, Nor My praise to carved images.

Isaiah 43:7 Everyone who is called by My name, Whom I have created for My glory; I have formed him, yes, I have made him.”

All the way through the Bible God does things for the sake of his glory and for his great name’s sake.

At this point some may think, “That’s what I don’t like about God. He is focused on himself, and seems to go around trying to prove how great he is.”

The problem with this kind of thinking is that if it were a man making these claims it would definitely be egotistical and self-serving. But here’s the point: God was and is all in all. Before he created, there was nothing but him. He made creation for himself. We show a small part of God’s image when we create something for our enjoyment. And when we make something like a piece of artwork, it is for us to enjoy and for others to enjoy with us. Now suppose this piece of artwork somehow had a mind of its own and said that it didn’t want to look as it does, or it doesn’t want to be hung where you decided to hang it, or it didn’t want to be sold for the price you had agreed to. Wouldn’t it be ludicrous for a man-made project to try to dictate its own character and value? This is exactly what God thinks about our reasoning.

In Romans 9:20, God asks, “But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, ‘Why have you made me like this?’”

So my point today, is that we need to remember that all of this is not about us. When we’re asking the question as to why we are here or what is the meaning of life, we need to remember that the meaning at its core is that we are here for God’s glory and everything we do and say is meant to exalt him and make him look good to others. If we’re running around looking for ways to have the focus shift to ourselves, we will be sorely disappointed and find life to be ultimately meaningless. But if we look for ways to exalt him and demonstrate his greatness to others, we will find meaning and fulfillment in life.

What is Life All About? — Start with God!

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When we begin to try to figure out what life is all about and where we fit, we always need to start with the Bible. What does it say about God, the universe, and us? The Bible starts with God – “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” I believe that we won’t have a true perspective of who we are as people and what our predicament is, until we consider who God is and what he is like. The Bible presents that for us throughout its pages. So let’s look at that a little bit. What is God like?

In Job chapter 38, God responds to Job’s questioning by basically asking, “Who are you to try to counsel me?” God goes on to ask Job where he was when God laid the foundations of the earth. He wonders if Job knows how the planets work or how the sea stays within its bounds or how light and darkness work and on and on it goes. God created everything there is and he owns it all. In the poetic language of Isaiah 40, God says that he has measured the waters of the earth in the hollow of his hand. He says that the nations to him are like a drop in the bucket.

So throughout the Bible we have God presented to us as an all-powerful, all-knowing spirit who has always existed. He is the one who created all that we see around us. He is described as a being who is actually a person in the sense that he thinks, creates, knows, and communicates. In other words, he has a personality, and is not just a force.

This God does not need our counsel or advice. We live at His discretion. Paul told the Athenians that God has given us life and breath and all things. He is Lord of heaven and earth, and he does not dwell in temples made with hands. He doesn’t need anything since he is the one who has provided everything we have. He is the one who has made all people from one blood and has determined their preappointed times and boundaries for their existence on the earth. See Acts 17 beginning with verse 24 for the complete account of this discussion.

The thing I want us to think about today is the fact that we often go around defining everything the way we want it to be and flaunt our opinions as though they were significant in the whole scheme of things. Bring up any topic related to religion or morality and you will get countless opinions. Sentences start something like this, “My God would never …. !”  “It wouldn’t be loving for God to….”  “God would never forbid such-n-such because he wants us to be happy and to be self-fulfilled.

I think it would be wise for us to take our many thoughts and opinions and submit them to evaluation by God’s own statements of the way things are. We can wish all we want to have the God of our own creation, but that’s actually not possible. We need to live in the real universe with the God who is really there, not in some imaginary place where there is a god of our own invention.