God’s Purpose, Glorify God, God create you

Why did God create you? What is your purpose in life? The Bible clearly tells us.

The Creation

If you’ve ever looked deep into the stars on a moonless night and away from the city, you must agree with the psalmist who wrote, “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork” (Psalm 19:1). This could not be a random occurrence or have happened by blind chance. Just looking at the awesome beauty of God’s creation brings glory to God because He is its Creator. A creator is always greater than anything they could create, just like the artist is always greater than their painting, so just looking at the vastness of the universe and the countless billions of stars, and the amazing amount of space where the universe resides, shows us that we have a very, very big God. This is why the psalmist says that “All the earth worships you and sings praises to you; they sing praises to your name.” Selah” (Psalm 66:4), “Therefore in the east give glory to the Lord; in the coastlands of the sea, give glory to the name of the Lord, the God of Israel” (Isaiah 24:15).

God’s Creatures

If you’ve ever seen the giant whales or great white sharks, you know they have few enemies. They are at the top of the ocean food chain, so imagine how much greater is their Creator, who taunting says to Job, “Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook or press down his tongue with a cord” (Job 41:1)? The obvious answer is no, but God can do all things. Then, there is the “Behemoth, which I made as I made you; he eats grass like an ox” (Job 40:15). This could be an elephant or rhinoceros, but man of himself is no match for their strength and agility. Many of nature’s greatest creatures are hard for man to tame, but even the smallest creatures glorify God and do amazing things…and all according to His purpose, so they bring Him glory. At least the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the life in the oceans fulfill God’s purpose. They know nothing different than to do what God has purposed them to do. That’s why they were created; to glorify Him and to provide provisions for mankind.

Mankind

Did you know that we can also glory God in our bodies? The Apostle Paul writes that “you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body” (1 Cor 6:20), but you can’t glorify God in your body by living in sexual immorality. Quite the opposite occurs, so the way to glorify God in our bodies is to “Flee from sexual immorality. Every other sin a person commits is outside the body, but the sexually immoral person sins against his own body” (1 Cor 6:18), and that cannot glorify God. We must live lives of holiness so that our lives bring glory to God and not shame to the cause of Christ, so it is “Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness” (Psalm 115:1)! Our very purpose for existence is to “Give glory to the Lord your God before he brings darkness, before your feet stumble on the twilight mountains, and while you look for light he turns it into gloom and makes it deep darkness” (Jer 13:16).

Glory to God

If we do not bring glory to God, we have failed in our purpose in life. Even our times of trouble are appointed by God for a purpose. These trials are allowed by God so that we might “call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me” (Psalm 50:15). How do we glorify God by being delivered from our troubles? Remember God says, “he will hide me in his shelter in the day of trouble; he will conceal me under the cover of his tent; he will lift me high upon a rock” (Psalm 27:5), so after we are delivered from our troubles, we should give thanks to God and say, “Thank you Jesus,” for it was in His name we prayed. This brings glory to the name of Jesus Christ, and that’s God’s intended purpose for His creation, for His creatures, and for us, His children. Everything that happens to us is designed to be for our good. Paul knows “that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (Rom 8:28).

Conclusion

The Westminster Shorter Catechism is a catechism that was written in 1646 and 1647 and it states in the very beginning that “Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.” Forever starts after death or when Jesus Christ returns, and the eternal kingdom begins. That’s a time when “many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life” (Dan 12:2a), and those who receive everlasting life are “those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever” (Dan 12:3). When that eternal kingdom comes down out of heaven, which is the New Jerusalem (Rev 21:2), “the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb of God” (Rev 21:23). Even then, God will still be receiving glory…and it will be so forever, for that’s His very purpose in all things. That’s why you were born and that’s God’s purpose for your existence.

Here is some related reading for you: What is God’s Purpose for Creating Us?

Resource – Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version^® (ESV^®), Crossway Bibles. (2007). ESV: Study Bible: English standard version. Wheaton, Ill: Crossway Bibles. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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