The Purpose of Life.

What is man’s ultimate purpose of life? Victor Frankl wrote a book titled "Man's Search for Meaning." Frankl was at one time a prisoner in the German concentration camps during World War II. He was an Austrian neurologist, psychiatrist, philosopher, and Holocaust survivor. He noticed in the Nazi concentration camps that those who did well and or survived were people who had some meaning to their lives. Perhaps the meaning had to do with getting back to family, travelling to different parts of the world, or writing a book or starting a business, etc. The greater the purpose, the better they did.

People today have different purposes in life. The most common seems to be to get as much pleasure out of life as possible. “Eat and drink for tomorrow we die.” (1 Corinthians 15:32) This also means avoiding what could cause us displeasure, discomfort or pain. These may not be the athletes or scholars. Others want fame and will do whatever it takes to obtain it. They will suffer and sacrifice to receive it. Still others want power and they will strive, grab it and use it to feel good about themselves. Still others have no purpose and are like nihilists, just getting by. They believe life has no purpose, and it is too difficult to figure out.

However, what is the ultimate purpose of our life? Why are we here? Were we created for a purpose that we can realize? According to God, we were created in his image. (Genesis 1:26-27) What does it mean to be created in God’s image and likeness? It means we can be in a love relationship with our creator by choice and the power of God. It means that we were created very good. (Genesis 1:31) However, we were corrupted by sin, but can be redeemed from this distortion in Jesus Christ. Our purpose is to know God, love God and walk in his goodness in relation to him and others. Man’s ultimate purpose is God’s love and goodness. This is what heaven will be. That goodness can again be realized in and through Jesus Christ.

Man's ultimate destiny is heaven and hell. There will it seems be degrees of pain in hell and rewards in heaven. We don’t know what those rewards look like but there are rewards for those who faithfully love, serve and honor Jesus Christ. Being with God is our ultimate purpose and sharing in his goodness, love and strength. "Michael Bird suggests hell will be less like God's torture chamber and more like a tribunal where he exposes and addresses sins against God and humans. Bird notes, 'Hell is about justice, not torture." cited in Christian Theology, p. 783, Adam Harwood.

If we don’t want God’s purpose, God will leave us to our own devices now and forever. He will not force us into a love relationship with Him. The time is past to pretend we are God. The gift of God in salvation is open to everyone, but it must be received to be actual and the only way to receive it is on God’s terms. (John 1:12) Repent of trying to be your own God and acknowledge him as Savior and Lord. Give him honor and glory for he is the essence of goodness and love. Learn to live God’s way and to His glory and not primarily ours.

Can you imagine being in eternity and knowing that you could have realized your purpose in life and failed to do so and now you are cut off from any good forever and forever? Talk about regrets. We can deny on this earth that we don’t have regrets, but it will be undeniable in eternity. If you refuse God’s love in Jesus Christ, you will miss out on your ultimate purpose in all of life. As God’s word says, “He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end” (Ecclesiastes 3:11).

“There is Lewis suggested, a deep and intense feeling of longing within human beings, which no earthly object or experience can satisfy. Lewis terms this sense “joy,” and argues that it points to God as its source and goal (hence the title of his celebrated autobiography, Surprised by Joy). According to Lewis is “an unsatisfied desire which is itself more desirable than any other satisfaction anyone who has experienced it will want it again.

Lewis addressed this question further in a sermon entitled “The Weight of Glory,” preached at the University of Oxford on June 8, 1941. Lewis spoke of “ a desire which no natural happiness will satisfy, ““a desire, still wandering and uncertain of its object still largely unable to see that object in the direction where it really lies.” C.S. Lewis, cited in Christian Theology, p. 194, Alister McGrath.

We can waste our life on what doesn’t ultimately satisfy or let our life be placed in the Holy Trinity by the power of God, and realize the image of God and become more Christlike every day. Why would be waste our life on the good and miss the best? Why would we be ungrateful for the very expensive gift in Jesus Christ for our redemption from the penalty and the power of sin? Jesus does love you, but until that love is received and responded to in gratitude, it lies dormant in your life.

Receive and enter in your ultimate purpose of your life. It is a gift far too valuable to ignore and disdain. He loves you. Do you love him? As the bible states, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).

This love is not earned it is received, and the test of receiving it is a life of gratitude and mutual love toward God and others. Enter into God and his glory, a glory that honours his goodness, enter into it and walk in love and gratitude. When we seek God’s glory, the result is our own goodness and joy. God loves you. Do you love him? His love is wrapped up in our purpose. This results in power and grace that is far beyond our ability. It is to live in the Spirit and grace as we were created.