Why Are We Here?

Why Are We Here?

Text: Eph.1: 9-10

Intro: The question we’re considering today is one that has puzzled mankind for many years. That question seems to gnaw at the soul of man, for somewhere in the core of his being he knows that life must ultimately have a purpose—that he must have a purpose.

If you were to ask a number of people what was man’s purpose of existence, the answers would be legion. Some would tell you that man’s purpose is simply to make the world a better place. Others might see man’s purpose as merely trying to better one’s self. Still others might respond with the idea that man is here only to explore his world and discover himself.

However, the goal of man’s existence, from God’s point of view, has never been about man himself. According to God’s Word, the goal of man’s existence—his purpose for being here, is to glorify God and fulfill His eternal plan. This was basically the conclusion of the writer of Ecclesiastes 12: 13, when he said, “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.”

With that thought in mind, I would like to suggest three answers to the question of, “Why are we here?” Since man’s whole duty is to obey and honor God, we must assume the answers to our question must have God as the ultimate goal. Let’s briefly consider this question today.

Theme: Man’s purpose for being here is to be:

I. AN EXTENSION OF GOD’S PRESENCE

A. This Is Implied By Man’s Creation.

Gen.1: 26 “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.”

NOTE: [1] This verse tells us that God created man in His image and likeness. That fact alone implies that we are to be a physical extension of His presence in this world.

We are created after the likeness of the eternal God. This has both moral and motivational implications. In our morals and motives we are to reflect God’s character. Thus, I am to be not only an extension of his life…I am an expression of his character. If my salvation is working, my life is a fitting expression of what God is like.

Jack Taylor, God’s Miraculous Plan Of Economy, published by Broadman Press, Nashville, Tennessee; pg. 20.

[2] Another commentator puts it as follows:

He [man] was to be God’s responsible representative and steward on the earth, to work out his Creator’s will and fulfill the divine purpose.

Charles F. Pfeiffer and Everett F. Harrison, Editors, The Wycliffe Bible Commentary, published by Moody Press, Chicago, Illinois; pg. 4.

[3] James Packer has rightly noted:

Our Maker so designed us that our nature finds final satisfaction and fulfillment only in a relationship of responsive Godlikeness—which means, precisely, that state of correspondence between our acts and God’s will which we call obedience.

James Packer, Your Father Loves You, Harold Shaw Publishers, 1986.

B. This Was Intended In Man’s Conversion.

1. What Satan attempted to ruin through sin, God rescued through salvation.

a. His divine nature within enables us to fulfill God’s will.

II Pet.1: 4 “Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.”

b. His Holy Spirit within ensures our knowledge of God’s will.

John 16: 13 “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come.”

2. The “new man” is God’s correction for man’s corruption.

Eph.4: 24 “And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.”

NOTE: [1] Paul said the “new man” is created “after God.” That means that it is created “’according to what God is in Himself,’ that is, created after the pattern of what God is” (Kenneth S. Wuest, Wuest’s Word Studies, Vol. I, published by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, Michigan; Ephesians and Colossians In The Greek New Testament, pg. 111).

[2] In order for one to be an extension of God’s presence in a lost and dying world, they need regeneration, not renovation.

London businessman Lindsay Clegg told the story of a warehouse property he was selling. The building had been empty for months and needed repairs. Vandals had damaged the doors, smashed the windows, and strewn trash around the interior.