What on Earth Am I Here For?
40 Days of Purpose
Ecclesiastes 8:1, 15
INTRODUCTION:
As we begin our 40 Days of Purpose we want to consider “What on Earth Am I Here For?”
Video Clip: Everybody Loves Raymond
So do you ever feel like your only purpose is to open a jar of pickles, or kill a spider? Are you looking for meaning and purpose in your life? You have come to the right place!
People from all walks of life are looking for meaning and purpose. Most people have no idea why they are alive on planet Earth. What is the meaning of life?
Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived asked the same kind of questions. He wrote down what he discovered in the book of Ecclesiastes. Initially Solomon sees that life is “meaningless, a chasing after the wind—God has dealt a tragic existence to the human race” (Ecclesiastes 1:13: NIV/NLT). However, Solomon continued to apply himself to the study of life; he gained understanding and truth for us to consider today.
• Ecclesiastes 8:1 (MsgB)
There’s nothing better than being wise, Knowing how to interpret the meaning of life. Wisdom puts light in the eyes.
There’s something for you to think about! The happiest people—those who have “light in their eyes,” those who have a spring in their step, those with a reason to get out of bed in the morning—these are the people who have discovered the meaning of life.
Still Solomon knew some of life’s questions would never be answered.
• Ecclesiastes 8:15 (MsgB)
So, I’m all for just going ahead and having a good time—the best possible. The only earthly good men and women can look forward to is to eat and drink well and have a good time—compensation for the struggle for survival these few years God gives us on earth.
How many people do you know living their lives like that? The only pleasure many people know is to “eat drink and be merry for tomorrow they may die.”
Is life nothing more than a struggle for survival? What on earth are we here for? Solomon searched high and low to find an answer to the meaning of life. What did he learn—what can he teach us? Here is the conclusion of Solomon’s wisdom.
• Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 (MsgB)
[13] The last and final word is this: Fear God. Do what he tells you. [14] And that’s it. Eventually God will bring everything that we do out into the open and judge it according to its hidden intent, whether it’s good or evil.
Solomon discovered that when all is said and done, we are made to live our lives for God—now that flies in the face of the conventional wisdom of our day. Most of people today just want to live for themselves—if it feels good do it.
Could Solomon be right? Is there a higher purpose for living our lives? Should we seek to live not for ourselves, but for God? Everyone wants to live life with “light in their eyes”—to do more than just survive.
This morning we are going to examine three of the great questions of life. Through the next 40 days we want to like Solomon apply our hearts to gain wisdom and understanding—to discover the meaning of life.
The question “What on earth am I here for” can be broken down into three questions. These are some of the ultimate questions people ask:
[1] The question of existence: why am I alive?
[2] The question of significance: does my life matter?
[3] The question of persistence: what is my purpose?
1. THE QUESTION OF EXISTENCE: WHY AM I ALIVE?
Why am I alive? This isn’t a new question; people have been asking it for thousands of years.
• Jeremiah 20:18 (Today’s English Version)
Why was I born? Was it only to have trouble and sorrow, to end my life in disgrace?
We have all felt like that at one time or another haven’t we? Could I just stay in bed today? Is life nothing more than one problem after another? Was I put on this planet just to have heartache, grief and stress?
o Arthur Ashley Brilliant says “My life has a superb cast, but I can’t figure out the plot.”
o Jack Hanley wrote, “I hope life isn’t a joke, because I don’t get it.”
What on earth am I here for? Why am I alive?
Let’s just be honest for a moment. Without God in the equation, there are no answers to satisfy these questions. Probably the greatest, atheist philosopher of the last century, Bertrand Russell said, “Unless you assume the existence of God, the question of life’s meaning and purpose is irrelevant.” Well for an atheist at least he was intellectually honest. Only God can show us the answers to the ultimate questions of life.
Okay, what is God’s answer? Why are we alive? Why are we on this planet?
The reason you’re alive uncovers God’s motive. God didn’t make you just to do His bidding and carry out His will. God has even a greater reason for you to be on the planet. YOU ARE HERE TO BE LOVED BY GOD.
• Ephesians 1:4 (The Message)
Long before He laid down the earth’s foundation, He had us in His mind and settled on us as the focus of His love to be made whole and holy by His love.
• Ephesians 1:4 (New Living Translation)
Long ago, even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes.
Don’t miss this. You are here; you’re alive today because God loves you! You are “the focus of His love”. If you only get one thing today as we start these 40 days of purpose, I pray you will know once and for all that you were created to be loved by God. God made you to love you!
Why on earth are you here? Why are you alive? It all begins and ends with the reality that God love you!
• 1 John 3:1 (NIV)
How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!
God could have programmed robots to fulfill His purpose. If God had made for Himself human puppets to de everything He commanded, then we wouldn’t be human beings made in the image of God. Instead we would be human doings made in the service of God. (If that went over your heads or in one ear and out the other, then either take some time to think about it, or talk with me later.)
Here’s the point—God made us first and foremost to be the recipients of His love. The reason you are alive is so God can make His love known to you. And because we are made in God’s image and the objects of His love, we can then respond to God with an overflow of love in return. As His children, our delight is to love our Father.
Yes, we are made for God’s purpose, but that’s not why we fulfill God’s desire. We do it as a response of love to God. Our reason for being—the meaning of life begins and ends with God, and it begins and ends with love because “God is love” (see 1 John 4:8, 16).
Why am I alive? I’m on planet Earth because God loves me.
2. THE QUESTION OF SIGNIFICANCE: DOES MY LIFE MATTER?
Well if you know you are here because God loves you, then you already know the answer to this question. Does your life have significance and meaning? Does your life count for something? Absolutely! Jesus died for you. You mattered enough to God for Him to send His Son to die upon the cross so your sins can be forgiven. You are incredibly important to God. Your value is worth more than you can imagine.
• 1 Peter 1:18-19 (NLT)
[18] . . . God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And the ransom he paid was not mere gold or silver. [19] He paid for you with the precious lifeblood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God.
Still many people struggle with this important question of significance. Even good people who attend church week in and week out still wonder, “Does my life matter?”
• Isaiah 49:4a (NLT)
My work all seems so useless. I’ve spent my strength for nothing and for no purpose at all.
You were made for meaning. If you don’t know why God put you on planet Earth, if you don’t have meaning and purpose in your life, then life doesn’t make sense.
o During World War II prisoners in a Nazi concentration camp in Hungary worked in a factory processing human sewage. The factory was destroyed by allied bombing, so the prisoners had nothing to do. The Nazi soldiers had the prisoners take all the rubble of that factory and move it to another field. The next day, they had them take that same rubble and move it back in reverse. Day after day the prisoners moved the same pile of rubble back and forth, back and forth with no purpose—no meaning. In time the prisoners lost their minds and literally went crazy.
Life can be difficult and hard for all of us. Stress out and burned out with the routine of life many people search for meaning and significance. I don’t want any of you going crazy on me, so I want to reassure you of just how much you matter to God.
• Isaiah 44:2 (Contemporary English)
I am your Creator. You were in My care, even before you were born.
God says, God was caring for you even in His mind, as He thought you up.
• Psalm 139:16 (Living Bible)
You scheduled each day of my life before I began to breathe. Every day was recorded in your book.
That’s how much you matter to God. He paid so much attention to your life that every detail was recorded in His book, before you even took a breath. That’s how much you matter to God. Do you matter? – Yes. He made you. He made you to love you and the Bible says you do matter. He sees everything in your life, the good, the bad and everything in-between. You do matter to Him.
How important are you to God? God’s plan and purpose for your life is greater than just 60, 70, 80 or even 90 years. God has extremely long-range plans for you.
• Psalm 33:11 (God’s Word)
His plans endure forever; His purposes last eternally.
How long do God’s plans endure? FOREVER! How long will His purposes last? ETERNALLY!
• Proverbs16:4 (New Living Translation)
The Lord has made everything for His own purposes.
Does your life matter? The Bible says God made you for His own purposes; God has a wonderful plan for your life. You are important to God; you matter to Him. The Lord says, “I have a plan and a purpose for your life, but it doesn’t end when you die; My purpose for your life is eternal!”
Now make the connection with me (it’s not rocket science—it’s like 2+2=4). Are you ready?
God’s purposes are eternal, and
God has a purpose for your life, therefore
You are eternal! Write it down: “I was made to last forever!”
You matter to God! Your not just a flash of light—now you see me now you don’t. Even if you lived 100 years that’s only just the beginning; it’s just a drop in the bucket compared to all God has in store for you in eternity.
This life is not all there is. One of the biggest ways you can waste your life is thinking all there is, is here and now. You’re going to spend far more time on that side of death, than you do on this side.
o The time you spend on earth really isn’t that very long. If you stretched out a string around the world and looked at it from end to end the first millimeter of string would still be greater than how small your life is on earth compared to all the time you’re going to spend in eternity.
You were created to live forever and life is preparation for eternity.
• 2 Corinthians 5:1 (Today’s English Version)
When this tent we live in – our body here on earth – is torn down. God will have a house in Heaven for us to live in. A home He himself has made, which will last forever.
You matter to God! He loves you! God doesn’t just want to spend this lifetime with you; God wants to be with you throughout all eternity. He has a place prepared for you!
The question of existence – why am I alive? God answers it by saying, “I made you to love you, that’s why you’re alive.” In the question of Significance – does my life matter? God says, oh yes you matter. You matter so much that I intend on keeping you alive for the rest of eternity. You’re going to be around for a long, long time.
3. THE QUESTION OF PERSISTENCE: WHAT IS MY PURPOSE?
Remember after Solomon applied his wisdom to discover the meaning of life he said we should, “Fear God and keep His commandments, this is the whole duty of man” (Proverbs 12:13 NIV). Solomon discovered that the meaning and purpose of life begins and ends with God. God gives us our reason for being; without God life is just a “chasing after the wind”—it’s all useless.
• Proverbs16:4 (New Living Translation)
The Lord has made everything for His own purposes.
We are here for God’s purpose. God made EVERYTHING for His purpose. Every rock, every plant, every animal, everything on the planet has a purpose given to it by it’s creator God.
What will motivate you to keep going? What will give you persistence? Knowing your purpose! And what is your purpose? YOU WERE MADE FOR GOD’S PRUOSES.
Go back to the first question: Why are you alive? God put you here to love you! And if you’re alive, you also have a God-given purpose. If you want to know if God has a purpose for your life, check your heart. If it’s still beating, God still has a purpose for you here on earth.
Dr. Hugh Moorhead, Chairman of the Department of Philosophy at the Northeastern University, wrote to 250 well-known philosophers, scientists, writers and intellectuals of the world and asked them, “What is the purpose of life?” Some of these people offered their best guesses. Some admitted they made up a purpose in life. Some admitted they didn’t have any idea as to what the purpose of life was and if Dr. Moorhead knew would be please let them know.
o Carl Jung, a famous psychiatrist said, “I don’t know the meaning, the purpose of life, but it looks as if something were meant by it.”
o Isaac Asimov wrote, “As far as I can see, there is no purpose.”
o Joseph Taylor said, “I have no answers to the meaning of life and I no longer want to search for any.”
It’s too bad that not one of these 250 intellectuals could clearly define a purpose for living. Wouldn’t you think at least one of them would have offered something we could all base our life upon? Apparently none of them had read Solomon’s discourse on life.
Life without purpose isn’t a life worth living. Is it any wonder the suicide rate in our society is on the rise? Suicide is now the number two killer of teenagers. Suicide isn’t just about the inability to face difficulties or problems in life. It’s about a lack of purpose. When you know your purpose for life you can overcome any obstacle that may get in your way. Purpose enables you to overcome!
Oprah Winfrey did a show on discovering your purpose some time ago. Oprah knows everything! Surely she ought to be able to give us a reason for living. Unfortunately Oprah must still be looking for her purpose too. At every single break she would say “Now, come back because we’re going to tell you your purpose.” And people would stay tuned in, but did they ever tell you what your purpose for life was? No! Oprah and her guests didn’t even come close. They didn’t even attempt to tell you the purpose for living. In fact, as the credits were rolling at the end of the show Oprah looks at you through the credits and says, “Remember, you’ve got to figure it out by yourself.”
Life needs meaning. Why am I on planet earth? What is the purpose of life?
o The survivalist says, “The purpose of life is just to stay alive.” In other words, your purpose is to do everything you can to not die. Odds are we are all going to die, but let’s put it off as long as we can. Who knows we may someday find the “fountain of youth.”
o The naturalist says, “The purpose of life is to reproduce itself.” In other words, we are all just here for biological reasons. Rap artist, Ice T, wrote, “The only reason we’re here is to reproduce. Just chill out and reproduce. Keep the species alive.” Well I guess Susie and I have done our part—5 kids between the two of us, but is that enough? We don’t want to be the cause of extinction!
o The hedonist says, “The purpose of life is pleasure, to have fun and party-hardy.” Wow are you motivated now? But what if we’re not invited to the party—should we crash it or throw our own?
o The materialist says, “Life is all about the acquisition of things.” Your life is measured by the things you own. Have you seen the bumper sticker that says, “He who dies with the most toys wins?” The problem with that is that he who dies with the most toys, still dies. What have you gained?
o The self-help philosophy says, “You can invent your own purpose.” Discover your dreams and live your life to achieve your goals. With enough ambition and faith in yourself you can be anything you want to be. You can be a success. Unfortunately, you can be a great success and still not know, “What on earth am I here for?” Knowing your purpose for life is greater than just personal fulfillment.
People have struggled with the question of purpose for a long time. David asked God about the reason he was made.
• Psalm 89:47 (New Century Version)
Why did you create us? For nothing?
You are not an accident or some chance of evolution. God created you to love you. He made you to live forever, and God made you for His purposes.
• Proverbs 9:10 (Living Bible)
Knowing God results in every other kind of understanding.
You want to understand the meaning of life; you want to understand your purpose of life? You find your purpose by getting to know God. It all begins and ends with God.
• Colossians 1:16 (The Message)
For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible. . . everything got started in Him and finds its purpose in Him.”
If you want to know your purpose in life, start getting to know Jesus. The more you get to know God, the more you’re going to understand the ways and the wisdom of God and the more you’re going to understand the meaning and purpose of life.
None of us will find real joy and satisfaction in this life until we discover God’s purpose for life. The truth is God has five purposes for your life. In the next 40 days we’re going to look in detail at those five purposes. The five reasons God put you on this planet.
Take out your 40 Days of Purpose commitment card. I want everybody to get one of these. Now this card is different than most because you’re not going to turn this card in. Instead I want you to sign it and then take it home and put it on your refrigerator. Let this card be a daily reminder of your commitment to complete each of the three steps in the 40 days of purpose.
You may be asking, why 40 Days? Well, the Bible is very clear that God considers 40 days to be a spiritually significant time period. In fact, in the Bible, any time God wanted to prepare people for His purposes, He took 40 days. For instance:
• Noah’s life was transformed by 40 days of rain
• Moses’ life was transformed by 40 days on Mount Sinai
• The spies were transformed by 40 days in the Promise Land
• David was transformed by Goliath’s 40-day challenge
• The city of Nineveh was transformed in 40 days
• Jesus was empowered for ministry by spending 40 days in the desert
• and the disciples were transformed by 40 days with Jesus after the resurrection.
The next 40 days are going to transform your life. I’m absolutely confident of that. I want you to look at this card. Notice, follow along with me.
Believing that God created me for His purposes and that the best use of my life is to fulfill those purposes, I commit the next 40 days to better understanding of God’s five purposes for me.
• I will participate in a 40 days of Purpose small group. We have 6 home groups plus groups meeting here at the church on Wednesday nights and Sunday mornings. Plus our youth will be meeting each Monday night. If you’re not in one, it’s not too late. You can sign up today at the book table and get your copy of the Purpose Driven Life.
• I will read each day’s chapter from the Purpose Driven Life book. Everybody who gets in a group, is going to get a free copy of that book. I want to suggest that you schedule a daily appointment to sit down and read it. Either in the morning, at lunch. I don’t care when you do it. Schedule it and do it every day for the next 40 days. It will take you about 15 minutes a day. I would also suggest that you get a partner that you can call on the phone and discuss what you’ve read. Don’t go through this journey alone. Get yourself a spiritual partner.
• I will do my best to hear all 7 messages in this series, The Purpose Driven Life. What I’m going to be saying each Sunday will set up what you’re going to be studying during the week following. So what we’re talking about today, you’re going to be studying in more detail this week.
Now, look up here. The fact is, if you added up what time it would take you to do all those things – I took the time to add it all up and I was real generous. It would still be less than 48 hours total. So here’s my question – is the rest of your life and is all of the rest of your eternity worth 48 hours of your time, now? I would think so.
Let’s bow our heads – You know God had a purpose in bringing you here today. He wants you to know Him and He wants you to know His purposes for you. So talk to Him. You don’t have to use any fancy words. If you don’t know what to say, let me help you. If you want to make a fresh start with Jesus then simply say, “Me too, God” in your own heart as I say this prayer.
“Dear God, I realize that if it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t be alive. But because you made me, you must have a purpose for me. I admit that I focused on my plans for my life, not yours. But I want to know your purposes for me, so I commit the next 40 days of my life to learning about it. Thank you that you made me so you could love me. Thank you that you cared for me even when I didn’t know you. Thank you that I was made to last forever. I want a life filled with meaning. I want to start by getting to know you better. So as best as I understand, I ask you, Jesus Christ, to come into my life and help me to understand your purposes for me. I want to take the first step today. In your name I pray, Amen.”
