What is God's Purpose For My Life? - Hope Through The Truth

What is God’s purpose for my life? Many books and articles have been written regarding my purpose. There’s an army of self-help gurus, motivational speakers, and others who make a living by giving people advice on this topic. A few examples of their advice include:

As one successful businessman explains, “I needed to go inside myself to find the answers” to such questions.
One Ph.D. advises “your purpose in life is to live the life of a hero.”
Tony Robbins, a well-known motivational speaker, says “Your purpose starts from within” and then lists twelve steps to finding your purpose in life. Eight of those twelve steps; such as “Develop your own life vision statement,” contained “you” or “your” in the phrase.

Most of the articles I have read on this matter (excluding Christian-based writings) focus on “me;” I determine; I do; I take control. This perspective attempts to answer a different question; “What is your purpose for your life?” From a human perspective this makes perfect sense; because the human way of thinking is; it’s all about me.

God Introduces Himself

However, God’s desire for my life comes from a completely different point of view. If we find the purpose for which God created us; then we will know our purpose for existing. I am convinced God created the universe and everything in it to introduce himself, his power, and his majesty to us while, at the same time, showing his unfathomable love for us.

Creation Says “Hello”

It was God’s unique way of saying “Hello!” in a language that could not be misunderstood.

God’s Word tell us, “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them. Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world” (Psalm 19:1–4).
“… since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse” (Romans 1:19–20).

God could have created an earth with only the bare-bones necessities required to support human life. But he didn’t. Not our God. He created a vast, diverse, beautiful universe full of wonders. He created earth with thousands of trees, hundreds of thousands (or maybe even millions) of plants, insects and animals. The diverse beauty of the mountains, plains, valleys, and forests is breath-taking. He did all this for me and you (Isaiah 45:18). As the Psalmist says, our universe does speak to us day after day. Francis Chan, in his book, Crazy Love, does a great job explaining how creation discloses God’s unparalleled power as well as his amazing love for us.

My Purpose in Life is to Bring Glory to God

So, back to the main question. What is God’s purpose for my life? In its simplest form, God’s purpose for my life (and yours) is to bring glory to him. When we fall in love with our Creator, that is the first way we bring glory to him. Then, all the other things he desires from us and for us will naturally fall into place. You may be asking yourself, “What does he mean by ‘all the other things will naturally fall into place’?” We will get to that a little later. Another question you may be asking yourself is, “How can I know for sure that my purpose in life is to love God?” We can know by looking at who God is, what he does, and what he says.

Who Is God?

Who is God? That three-word question is all-important, but can only be partially answered. God cannot be adequately defined by any language, let alone a sentence, phrase, or a single name (Exodus 6:3). However, Scripture calls God by many different names, each addressing one of his attributes or characteristics. All of these names, taken together, just begin to scratch the surface of describing God’s being.

God is the Creator

The first mention of God by name in Scripture is Genesis 1:1 which says, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” In this verse, God is translated from the Hebrew word Elohim (el-o-heem’), which, according to Strong’s online Bible Concordance means God, mighty, strong. This first verse of the Bible portrays God in his role as Creator, the Mighty One who created everything from nothing through his One and Only Son, Jesus Christ (Hebrews 11:3) (Isaiah 45:12, 18) (Colossians 1:16-20).

God is Love

There are two verses is Scripture which say, “God is love.”

“Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love” (1 John 4:8).
“And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them” (1 John 4:16).

God loves and wants to be loved. But these two verses show God is so much more. He is love. His essence is love. Or, stated another way; he is the essence of love because all love originates with him. God created love. As the Bible tells us, “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God” (1 John 4:7, 19).

God has countless characteristics. If we were to attempt to identify and explain them all, it would fill more libraries than exist on our planet. For purposes of this discussion, we will confine ourselves to the aforementioned core attributes or defining characteristics of God. He is our Almighty Creator and He is love. He created each of us and placed within us the capacity to love and be loved.

What God Does to Show Us His Love

As stated earlier, God showed us his power and love by creating such a marvelous Earth, galaxy, and universe as our temporary home. God demonstrates His love for us in a variety of other ways as well. Let’s look at a few.

God Built Within Us a Desire to Know Him

Most of us want to know our origins. Today, we increasingly see websites and company advertisements offering to help us determine our human lineage. A google query “tracing my ancestry” generated no less than five websites or companies on the first page of that query. If you believe in the Bible and could trace your lineage back far enough, you would eventually get to Noah. All of us came from Shem, Ham, or Japheth (and their wives). If we could trace our lineage all the way back, every one of us would eventually get to Adam and Eve. It makes perfect sense we would like to know our ancestry. Since God wants us to know him, he built that desire within us.

“I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart” (Jeremiah 24:7).
“But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul” (Deuteronomy 4:29).
“The Lord looks down from heaven on all mankind to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God” (Psalm 14:2).
“He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end” (Ecclesiastes 3:11).
“From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us” (Acts 17:26–27).

God Knows Us Intimately

God created us with deliberate care and loving intimacy. Scripture gives us a glimpse of the details:

“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be” (Psalm 139:13–16).
God even knows the number of hairs on our heads (Matthew 10:29-31).
God knows what we need, even before we ask Him (Matthew 6:8).

God Loves Us With an Everlasting Love

We, as humans, desire to be wanted, valued, loved. What if you could find someone whose love for us would never fail (Proverbs 19:22); a love that would endure forever? Would you accept it? The Bible tells us God’s love is:

Unfailing (Psalm 36:7, 48:9, 51:1, 52:8, 109:26).
Everlasting (Psalm 103:17, 136:1-26) (Jeremiah 31:3).
There are many other passages which speak of God’s love for us as well (Deuteronomy 23:5) (John 3:16-17) (Romans 5:8) (Ephesians 2:4-5) (Colossians 3:12).

God’s love for us is just one of the reasons he is so appealing, if we take the time to get to know him.

God Saves Us

It is the desire of God’s heart that everyone would come to repentance and spend eternity with him. That is why he has offered us his plan of salvation.

“The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him” (John 3:16–17).
Jesus said, “This is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those He has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day” (John 6:39–40).
“For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people” (Titus 2:11).
“This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:3–4).
“In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish” (Matthew 18:14).

God paid the ultimate price for us. His plan of salvation for us displayed his unfathomable love when it was purchased with the life-blood of his one and only Son, Jesus Christ (1 John 3:16) (Acts 2:22-23) (Matthew 20:28) (John 15:13).

What God Says

God is relational. He wants us to love him intimately, as one family member loves another. Let’s look at a few familial relationships referenced in Scripture.

When Jesus spoke to those who believed in him, he referred to God as their Father (Matthew 5:16, 45 & 6:6, 9).
Jesus said whoever does the will of God the Father is Jesus’ brother, sister and mother (Matthew 12:50).
Paul referred to God as Father to those who believe in Jesus Christ (Romans 1:7; 8:15) (1 Corinthians 1:3) (Galatians 1:3) (2 Corinthians 6:18) (Ephesians 1:3-5); and as heirs of God (Romans 8:17) (Galatians 4:7).

Love God as Father and His Son Jesus Christ

Scripture commands us to love God. A few Scripture passages include: (Deuteronomy 10:12-13; 11:1, 13, 22; 19:9; 30:16, 20) (Joshua 22:5; 23:11) (Nehemiah 1:5) (Psalm 86:15) (1 Thessalonians 1:4) (2 Thessalonians 2:16).

The Bible also commands us to love Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior because of what he did on the cross for us (1 John 5:1) (Ephesians 6:24) (John 8:42; 14:23).

Love is the Most Important Thing

When God gave the Israelites his law through Moses, he said, “… Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength” (Deuteronomy 6:5). As Samuel was preparing for Saul to serve as the first king of Israel, he repeated this same command to the Israelites (1 Samuel 12:24).

Approximately one thousand years later Jesus was asked, “Which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments” (Matthew 22:36–40).

Motive Matters

Motive matters to God and Jesus. It always has and always will. Jesus told us he came to earth to fulfill the law (Matthew 5:17). One of the ways he accomplished this was to raise the standard, “raise the bar” if you will, regarding the law when he established the new covenant. In the sermon on the mount, Jesus tells us at least five times (Matthew 5:21, 27, 33, 38 & 43), “You have heard that it was said.. . . But I tell you.” What was it the people had “heard that it was said?” The law given by God to Moses for the Israelites to follow. Why did Jesus say, “But I tell you?” Because he was raising the standard on the law; which God gave him authority to do (Matthew 28:18). Consider a few examples:

The law said, “You shall not murder” (Exodus 20:13). Jesus said, “But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister, will be subject to judgment” (Matthew 5:21–22).
The law said, “You shall not commit adultery” (Exodus 20:14). Jesus said, “Anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matthew 5:27–28).
The law said, “Anyone who divorces his wife must give her a certificate of divorce” (Deuteronomy 24:1). Jesus said, “Anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, makes her the victim of adultery, and anyone who marries a divorced woman commits adultery” (Matthew 5:31–32).

Acts and Motive in the Old and New Covenants

The law, the old covenant, addressed wrong actions such as murder, adultery and divorce. Jesus fulfilled (elevated) the law by addressing the motives related to these actions such as anger, lust and hate. No longer did it take an act to break the law. Jesus extended the prohibition to the motive underlying the act. Here is a “trick question” for you. Of those Old Testament laws addressed by Jesus, on how many did he not “raise the bar”? I can think of one. From the beginning God Almighty said, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength” (Deuteronomy 6:5) (Matthew 22:36-38) (Mark 12:30) (Luke 10:27). Jesus could not raise the bar on this one particular law because God set already the bar as high as possible for humans under the old covenant. By “raising the bar” on the other old covenant laws, Jesus made obedience to the new covenant truly a matter of the heart.

Our love of God should be the motivating factor behind our love for everyone, just as God loves everyone. So how can we show our love to others? One way is by introducing them to the one who can save their eternal souls.

Introduce Others to God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ

The Holy Bible tells us one of God’s purposes for our lives is to introduce him, his Son Jesus Christ and his plan of salvation to the rest of the world.

“Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath” (Hebrews 6:17).
“He (God) has saved us and called us to a holy life – not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in.. . . our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel” (2 Timothy 1:9–10).
” . . . for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose” (Philippians 2:13).
“. . . with all wisdom and understanding, he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment – to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ” (Ephesians 1:8–10).
“His (God’s) intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Ephesians 3:10–11).

Give Glory to God

Once we come to know God, understand what he has done for us, and fall in love with him; our response to this should be an overwhelming desire to praise him. Others of great faith before us did so, including: Noah (Genesis 9:26); Melchizedek (Genesis 14:20); Rebekah (Genesis 24:26); Moses (Exodus 15:2) (Deuteronomy 8:4); David (2 Samuel 22:50) (1 Chronicles 16:7-9) (Psalm 31:21; 52:9; 72:18); Solomon (1 Kings 8:56) (2 Chronicles 6:4); Job (Job 1:21); Isaiah (Isaiah 12:1, 4; 25:1); Jeremiah (Jeremiah 20:13); Daniel (Daniel 2:19); Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 3:28); Jesus (Matthew 11:25); Zechariah (Luke 1:64, 68); The crippled woman (Luke 13:13); the centurion (Luke 23:47); and Jesus’s disciples (Luke 24:53) (Acts 2:47) (Galatians 1:24).

The Ultimate Purpose

As stated earlier, if we truly fall in love with God, all the other things he desires from us and for us will naturally fall into place. What does that statement mean? If I fall in love with God, I will love others as myself. I will do my best to give praise and bring honor to him in everything I think, say, or do. That is God’s ultimate purpose for my life and yours.

“So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31).
“And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him” (Colossians 3:17).
“Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen” (1 Peter 4:10–11).
Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples (1 Chronicles 16:24) (Psalm 96:3).

Notes

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.