Why Does The World Exist?

Why does everything exist? What is the purpose for the world’s existence?

Heavens Declare

The psalmist wrote about the purpose for creation in Psalm 19:1 where he wrote “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.” What he is saying is that the creation itself gives glory to God because of the enormous size and nature of the universe. What is so tremendously big, like the universe, shows our God is even bigger. What is created is never greater than Who it was that created it so God is glorified by the creation and the creation declares God’s glory because it is His creation.

Why is there Anything?

Jim Holt, who wrote Why Does the World Exist was standing on the balcony one night and looking down at the world and he asked, “Why is there Something and not Nothing?” That’s a very good question. For Holt, the world came into existence in obedience to some principle of simplicity but that doesn’t tell us very much. The world’s philosophers can’t tell us why the world exists…only that it does. Philosophers may even go to the extreme that this world is not even reality or we can’t know for sure that we’re not all actually a part of someone’s dream. For them, reality is hard to define in philosophical terms but they can’t really give us a firm reason as to why the world exists and what the purpose for the universe. One philosophy class I had years ago put a chair in front of the classroom and asked, “Does this chair exist if you don’t see it?’ My thought was, try to sit in it and find out but he wasn’t happy with that answer. He wanted proof that it existed. Perhaps the students thought like me; does this class even exist and does a “final exam” really exist. We all found out later that yes, final exams do exist and we had proof when looking at our grades.

Why do we Exist?

We were created to glorify God and here’s how that works. The Holy One of Israel, the Lord God inspired Isaiah to write that “everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory whom I formed and made” (43:7) is created to glorify God. Since God created Israel and all who are “called by my name” for His glory, we know that is why He created you and me. God saved the Gentiles “in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy” (Rom15:9). The Apostle Peter tells us to “Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation” (1st Pet 2:12) and “if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name” (1st Pet 4:16). The Apostle Paul adds that since “you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body” (1st Cor 6:20). When the Gentiles were exposed to the gospel of grace and not of race, “the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed” (Acts 13:48).

Glorifying God

The Apostle John recorded Jesus words about seeking to glorify God the Father and prayed, “Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again” (John 12:28). The psalmist wrote, “I give thanks to you, O Lord my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify your name forever” (Psalm 86:12). When Jesus was about to leave and return to the Father after His crucifixion, death, and resurrection, Jesus said of the Holy Spirit’s coming, “He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you” (John 16:14). God’s glory cannot be diminished by human endeavors for God’s glory has always existed and exists now, even though it’s unseen. Jesus prayed, “Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed” (John 17:5) so we know that Jesus’ was already in glory before coming in the flesh to redeem flesh because, as John wrote, “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).

Conclusion

The glory or brightness of the sun cannot be diminished and neither can God’s glory. We can either glorify God in prayers, songs, praise, and in our lives by living a life of holiness (not perfection) or we can glory in our own doings but this is not true glory. Only God is glorified but we have the great privilege to glory Him in our lives and to show His glory by living in Christ-likeness. That’s why we exist and why the world or the universe exists; for the glory of God for nothing else matters.

Article by Jack Wellman

Jack Wellman is Pastor of the Mulvane Brethren Church in Mulvane Kansas. Jack is also the Senior Writer at What Christians Want To Know whose mission is to equip, encourage, and energize Christians and to address questions about the believer’s daily walk with God and the Bible. You can follow Jack on Google Plus or check out his book Teaching Children the Gospel available on Amazon.