What Is The Meaning Of Life?

What is the meaning of life according to the Bible? How do you find meaning in life if you’re a Christian?

The Meaning of Life

When someone asks about the meaning of life they usually mean, “What is my purpose? What is the reason I exist?” How can the atheist answer this? Only that they are meant to become fertilizer and to be recycled into matter. This much is true but that’s not the end as the Bible teaches that God is not the God of the dead, but of the living, and speaks as if Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are yet alive, because in fact, they are. God told Moses to tell the Israelites that He is “The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations” (Ex 3:15). Jesus spoke to the Sadducees, who did not believe in the resurrection, and told them much the same thing that God told Moses, and speaking “as for the dead being raised, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the bush, how God spoke to him, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’” (Mark 12:26). Clearly, the Bible declares that this life is not all that there is, therefore there must be a purpose to life; and there is! And it isn’t fertilizer.

Creation and God’s Glory

Before we talk about why we were created and what our purpose is, why not read about what the true purpose of creation is. The psalmist nailed it by writing that “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork” (Psalm 19:1), and “You have set your glory above the heavens” (Psalm 8:1). But some claim they don’t see that, but just in case they do, the psalmist includes “all the peoples” when he wrote “The heavens proclaim his righteousness, and all the peoples see his glory” (Psalm 97:6). The wording “All the peoples” obviously means absolutely everyone. Paul writes as a matter of fact that “what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse” (Rom 1:19-20). They are without excuse because they “suppress the truth” (Rom 1:18) willfully and intentionally and the reason is, they love their sin and don’t want to give it up. So did I, at least at one time. Even so, that doesn’t make me superior to anyone because I only received the free gift of God’s grace and it wasn’t because I brought anything of worth to God or did any works to earn it (Eph 2:8-9).

Created for His Glory

What about humans though? What is our purpose? What is the meaning of life? It depends on who you ask and whether they believe (John 3:16) or not (compost). Returning to the Book of Psalms we read “Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor” (Psalm 8:5) so again, for what purpose were we created? Isaiah is absolutely clear in writing that “everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made” (Isaiah 43:7). So if you are called, then God has called you to glorify Him. Paul wrote to the Corinthians that “you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body” (1st Cor 6:20) and in giving thanks to God 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). Paul also added that we can “glorify God because of [our] submission that comes from your confession of the gospel of Christ, and the generosity of your contribution for them and for all others” (2nd Cor 9:13). King David once wrote “When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him. Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor” (Psalm 8:4-5). He was amazed because God is all glorious and we are infinitely less than that. He is eternal, we are not but He offers eternal life so why not praise Him and glorify Him by your life.

Conclusion

God calls everyone who says He doesn’t exist a fool (Psalm14:1). I’m not saying that, the Word of God says that, but I would say it’s foolish not to. You can claim that God doesn’t exist all you want in your finite mind but if there is a finite existence, there must be some Infinite One Who exists. That is actually God’s name; “I AM” essentially means “I exist, always have, and always will” and is “being” or as always in a perpetual state of being. He has no need outside of Himself to exist. There is nothing that can be done to God or nothing anyone can do ever do that will cause Him to cease to exist. He is the “Self-Existent One” but amazingly, He desires to have a personal relationship with you. Have you already repented and trusted in Him? Then you have. If not, why not? Is it Romans chapter 1?

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.