Why did God created you? In other words, what is your purpose in life? I know I think about the reason God created me. I am sure you do as well. How do we answer the question?

For What Purpose Did God Create Us?

Glorifying God and enjoying Him forever is how I answer the question.

What does it mean to glorify God?

It means: We worship Him; we praise Him; we lift Him up; we honor Him; we adore Him; we revere Him. These are all synonyms that help us understand what it means to glorify God.

If our purpose is to glorify God, that means our purpose is not:

• To get a great job.
• To have a great family.
• To live in a great house.
• To make a lot of money.
• To live a comfortable life.
• To be secure.
• To have everything go just our way.
• To have others praise us.
• To have others lift us up.
• To have others worship us.

Some of these are good – Job, family, house – and if God so blesses us with them, we should be thankful. These things, however, are not our main purpose in life. Our purpose is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.

Now that is a massive claim, so where do I get this from?

The Biblical Evidence

The Biblical Evidence for Glorifying God

Let’s start with Psalms 86:8-13. There we learn:

• There are no other gods like Him, nor can they do works like His (8).
• He is the Creator and Sustainer of the universe (9).
• His ways are truth (11).
• He is the one who loves us and saves us (13).

Since the Christian God is unique, our Creator and Sustainer, His ways are always true, and He loves and saves us, we are to glorify and worship Him.

Another Scripture that helps us understand our purpose in life is Isaiah 43:7. It reads,

“everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.””

Isaiah teaches us that everyone is created by God and they are created for His glory.

Furthermore, 1 Corinthians 6:20 tells us that we are not our own. We were bought with a price. The price we were bought with was not silver or gold but the blood of Jesus. For that reason, we should follow God’s commands, glorifying Him with our actions.

Finally, 1 Corinthians 10:31 exhorts us to do everything we do to the glory of God. Whether we are eating, drinking, having fun, working, or whatever else we do, we are to do it for God’s glory.

The Biblical Evidence for Enjoying God Forever

Our purpose in life is also to enjoy God forever. I get this from:

Psalms 16:9 & 11 which tells us the Lord is the One who gives us life. As well as He is the one who provides us with joy, with pleasures forevermore.

“Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure…You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”

Revelation 21:3-4 is another Scripture that tells us we are to enjoy God forever. There we learn the Lord will wipe away every tear from our eyes. Death will be no more, along with no more mourning, crying, or pain. Instead, we will live in a New Heaven and New Earth, enjoying God and His creation forever.

“And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”” (Rev. 21:3-4)

What the Evidence is Telling Us

From these Scriptures, we see that our purpose in this life is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever, which means it is not all about us, but it is all about Him. Finding out this life is all about God can be a tough pill to swallow, especially since our natural desire is to glorify and promote ourselves, in order to seek self-worship.

Even though God’s Word goes against our natural desires, it is God’s Word. It never lies. It is always true. If His Word is inerrant, we must trust it, believe it, and submit to it.

How Can We Glorify Him?

With our newly discovered purpose, we need to know how we can glorify God. Let me offer a few ways:

• By praising Him.
• By worshipping Him.
• By living according to His commandments.
• By calling others to Christ.
• By enjoying Him and Him alone, being completely content with Him.

Diagnostic Questions & Challenge

Before we end, let me provide a few diagnostic questions for you to consider.

1. Do you seek to glorify God in all that you do?
2. Do you ask whether your actions are glorifying God before you do them?
3. Do you search Scripture to see whether or not you are living in accordance with God’s Word?
4. Do you enjoy God and the things of God?
5. Do you enjoy reading His Word?
6. Do you enjoy fellowshipping with His people?
7. Do you enjoy hearing God’s Word preached?
8. Do you enjoy singing praises to God?
9. Do you enjoy telling other about God?

If you enjoy and seek to glorify God, you should be able to answer these questions in the positive.

I am afraid, however, there are many who call themselves Christians who can’t answer these questions positively. In other words, they don’t seek to glorify God, nor do they enjoy Him or His people. I believe this is especially true in the Bible Belt where people are quick to call Jesus their Savior, but fellowshipping with His people, reading His Word, and submitting to His commands are absent.

If we are truly Christians, we will live to glorify God and we will enjoy God and the things of God. With that in mind, let’s glorify God and enjoy Him forever.

Resource

Westminister Shorter Catechism Question 1

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