What Is The Purpose Of Life?

There is something inside of people that longs to know the purpose of life, but they find nothing to satisfy the longing.

They look at the uncontrolled chaos and corruption in the world and are left disillusioned.

They look at the unfulfillment from their own life experiences and are left disillusioned.

Disillusionment leads them to conclude that life has no purpose.

Disillusionment leads them to conclude they have no purpose.

Disillusionment leads to despair.

Despair leads to one of four decisions:

Decision #1: The decision to enjoy life as much as possible for tomorrow I die - “eat, drink, and be merry…for tomorrow I die.”

Decision #2: The decision to escape the pain of life even if I die.

Decision #3: The decision to exist until I die.

Decision #4: The decision to end one’s life and die.

No matter which decision people make, each decision ultimately ends in death.

Death is the source of despair for some and the cure for despair for others.

Is it possible that life does have purpose that replaces despair with meaning?

Is it possible that life has purpose while we are living and continues after we die?

I believe the answer is yes.

The word purpose is defined as the reason something exists.

So, what is the reason for the existence of people?

Are we on this earth by random chance, mere accident?

Or are we on this earth by specific choice, purposeful intent?

When we look at a created item such as cell phone, computer, automobile, or airplane, we conclude the item is in existence by purposeful intent.

It never enters our minds the item is in existence by random, accidental chance.

There is too much design to the items we see to conclude the items were formed accidentally, without human intent and intelligence.

We reason that even a stapler does not exist by random chance but by specific, purposeful, intelligent design.

We conclude the stapler was designed and developed by someone for a specific purpose.

The human body is more complex than a stapler, cell phone, computer, automobile, or airplane.

Yet some conclude that humans are on earth by random chance, a mere accident of the universe…which, by the way, those who conclude humans are on earth by accident also say the universe is in existence by accident.

However, when we examine the human body and the universe, we discover a design to both…a complex design.

Any reasonable person would conclude that because the human body and the universe has such intricate design there must be an intelligent designer.

This is much like a symphony.

A symphony has many complex musical arrangements, leading reasonable people to conclude there must be a composer…and an intelligent one at that.

Because the human body and the universe has complex designs to both, reasonable people conclude there must be a creator, a designer.

Which then leads us to ask the question, “Who designed and created the human body and the universe?”

This leads us to the reasonable conclusion there must be a God who designed and created the human body and the universe.

But who is God?

Can we know God?

We discover in the writings contained in the Bible (Can The Bible Be Trusted?) that there is a God who created the universe and the human body.

God created us to know him.

God created us to be in a relationship with him.

God created us to love us.

Yet God did not force us to know him, to be in a relationship with him, or to love him.

Rather, because he loved us, he gave us the choice to live in relationship with him or to leave him.

The first humans God created chose to leave God, to live independently from God.

By leaving God, they disconnected themselves from God; consequently, death entered the human race.

This would be like the water giving a fish the opportunity to leave the water and live independently from the water.

If the fish chose to leave the water, death would enter the fish.

And this is what happened to the human race.

When Adam and Eve, the first humans, chose to leave God and live independently from him, death entered the human race.

People began to search for meaning and purpose to life, causing disillusionment to set in, which ultimately turned to despair.

This left people with four decisions:

Decision #1: The decision to enjoy life as much as possible for tomorrow I die - “eat, drink, and be merry…for tomorrow I die.”

Decision #2: The decision to escape the pain of life even if I die.

Decision #3: The decision to exist until I die.

Decision #4: The decision to end one’s life and die.

This is a miserable existence…a life without meaning and purpose.

Into this miserable existence, God revealed himself to the human race through Jesus.

You see…God never stopped loving the human race, even though the human race stopped living in relationship with him.

Because of his great love for us, God revealed himself to us in Jesus, taking upon himself the death of the human race and ultimately defeating death through the resurrection of Jesus.

One of the most popular verses in the Bible is John 3:16, which reads,

”For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

Jesus said in John 5:25,

“Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.”

In John 11:25-26, Jesus said,

“Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

Peter, one of the close friends and followers of Jesus, wrote in 1 Peter 1:3-4,

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade.

We see in these verses that God loves each of us and gave Jesus so that whoever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life.

God created us to know him personally and to live eternally.

2 Corinthians 5:18-19 says that “God was in Christ [Jesus] reconciling the world to himself, not counting our sins against us.”

We have all sinned, meaning we have acted in ways that are not loving to others….we have had thoughts that were not loving…we have made decisions that were not loving…we have behaved in immoral ways.

All of these are sins which result in eternal death and separation from God (perish in John 3:16).

Yet God removed these sins that separated us from knowing him and kept us from living eternally.

He removed these sins when all of our sins were counted against Jesus when he died on the cross.

Jesus then defeated death by rising from the dead.

Through the death and resurrection of Jesus, we can know God personally and live eternally.

There is no sin that is separating us from God.

There is no sin that would keep a person from living eternally with God.

All a person has to do to know God and live eternally is to believe in Jesus…yes, that’s it…believe.

To know God is to enjoy his presence in your life, though you do not see him and may not feel him.

But he is with you…he is in you…he loves you.

And this is your purpose in life…this is the reason for your existence…to know God.

All of life flows from knowing God.

Just like life for a fish flows from being in the water and the water being in the fish, life for a person is being in a relationship with God, no longer living independently from God.

Knowing God begins by believing in Jesus.

…Believing that God was bringing people into a relationship with himself through Jesus.

…Believing that Jesus died for all your sins, removing any sin from separating you from him and enabling you to live eternally.

How do you believe?

There is no magical formula for believing…there is no hidden meaning to believing…believing is simply believing.

Maybe the simple prayer below will be helpful to you as you express your belief.

God, I believe you love me and that Jesus died for all my sins, removing any sin that would keep me separated from you. I believe Jesus rose from the dead, defeating death, enabling me to live eternally.

If you made the decision to believe in Jesus, you know God and you have eternal life.

Jesus said,

“Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.”

We know God and have eternal life by believing in Jesus.

Know that God is with you…know that God loves you…know that God lives in you.

Maybe life has left you disillusioned and miserable, leaving you with the four decisions mentioned above.

Yet there is a fifth decision, a decision to believe in Jesus.

Believing in Jesus will not make life easier…it will not cure the chaos and corruption you see in the world.

But believing in Jesus will give you purpose in life.

To read more about Jesus giving our lives meaning and purpose, click below.

Jesus Solves Life’s Two Greatest Problems