If I Have a Purpose, Then What Is It?

by | Jul 1, 2021 | Inspiration | 137 comments

Bertrand Russell (1870-1972) was a British philosopher, historian, author, and winner of the 1950 Nobel Peace Prize for Literature.  He was also a self-proclaimed atheist.  One time he made quite a profound statement when one considers his thoughts about God.  He said, “Unless you assume a God, the question of life’s purpose is meaningless.”1 Russell was onto something. 

Purpose, Russell said quite rightly, requires a Creator God.  For creation, and especially mankind as the crowning part of that creation to have a purpose requires that God, as revealed in the Bible, exist.  If there is no God being Creator and active Sustainer of that creation, then there is no purpose behind the universe.  If there is no Intelligence behind the intelligent design we see prominently displayed throughout the entire universe, and especially in humankind, then there is no purpose for the universe, and especially for man.  If, instead, the earth, and universe and mankind are simply by-products of a naturalistic evolutionary process, then it is meaningless to ask why any of it is here.  For if an indifferent evolutionary process is responsible for it all, then the closest one can come to a sense of purpose for human life is to conclude each person is here to “outwit, outplay, and outlast” all others so he/she can win the “million dollar prize” in life – being winner of the survival of the fittest in his/her species.

Assuming the existence of God and thus of purpose, how important is a sense of purpose to a full and meaningful life? It is important because it provides a person with what the Japanese call “ikigai ”- “a reason to get up in the morning.”2  Another reason is that purpose provides direction for one’s life so that he/she does not wander aimlessly. The late, great American philosopher Yogi Berra spoke to that when he said, “If you don’t know where you are going, you might wind up some place else.”3 Purpose provides vision, thus a destination.   

If therefore we have a purpose, what then is that purpose?  Why, then has God created us?  No better answer can be found than the one given in The Westminster Shorter Catechism, which asks and answers that question this way: “What is the chief end of man?  Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.”  This then is our primary reason for being.  All other purposes in life, no matter how noble, are subservient to that chief purpose.

How then can we best glorify God?  First, we bring honor and glory to His Name through our obedience to Him in our daily lives.  1 Corinthians 6:20 (NASB) says, “For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.”  Second, we bring honor and glory to Him when we lift our heart and voices to Him in praise.  We can declare with Jude,  “Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time, now and forever. Amen.”(Jude 1:24-25 NASB)  

How then can we enjoy God forever?  We can find joy in what it means to know we have a personal relationship with God through our faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.  We can join with the apostle Paul in declaring, “Now to Him who is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church, and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.” (Ephesians 3:20-21 NASB) 

A tombstone in France has this epitaph chiseled on it, “Here is a man who went out of this world without ever realizing why he came into it.”4  Which would be worse?  Not believing you have a God-given purpose such that survival of the fittest directs your life, or believing you have a purpose because God created you, but having no idea what it is? Neither is a choice I’d want to make.

1The Purpose Driven Life, Rick Warren, 2012, p. 21
2The Week, 1/17/20,p.19; AARP, June/July 2019, p. 36
3The Week, 1/17/20,p.19; AARP, June/July 2019, p. 36
4Brian’s Lines, July 2011, p.9 – SeminaryPlus.org

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