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by Charlie Wolcott

What is the purpose of life? This is one of the foundational questions that every man has asked at one point. In one of my first blog posts, I described what a worldview is. A worldview addresses four key types of questions regarding Origins, Purpose, Identity, and Destination. The front line of the worldview debate lies in origins and you can read a number of posts from myself, Steve Risner, or Bill Seng regarding the origins debate between Creation and Evolution. But I want to delve deep into the question about Purpose. Why am I here? What is the purpose of life? Why does the universe exist? Origins deal with how the universe came into existence. Purpose deals with why the universe exists.

For my next three posts, I will address two of the major answers to the question of purpose. One comes from Biblical Christianity and the other comes from a very popular philosophy today called Humanism. I will explain in detail the Biblical side in this post and Humanism next week. After that, we’ll look at how some try to follow both of these positions. Now most can state what the end purpose is from both of these positions relatively quickly but for those that don’t, let me make it clear for what I am talking about.

Biblical Christianity states that the end of all things, the purpose for life’s existence, is for the glory of God. It is not explicitly stated, but this is very clearly the picture the Bible gives us. Humanism states that the end of all things is the happiness of man. Now, we can make these two statements with relative ease, but do we really understand what it means and how they are carried out? Let’s dig into what it means to give glory to God.

Over the last few weeks, I talked about the Resurrection, the Gospel, and how Adam and Christ are linked together. Biblical Christianity states that everything that happens is for the glory of God. This means that Creation happened for the glory of God. That means even though Adam sinned against him, it will be used for the glory of God. It means when God judged the mankind and everything on the earth with the Flood it was for the glory of God. That means when Jesus died on the cross, it was for the glory of God. It means when Jesus was raised from the dead, it was for the glory of God. It means when we are born again, become a new creation, and have a new nature, it is for the glory of God. And it means when Jesus returns to consummate all things, it will be for the glory of God. It means this universe exists to give glory to God. It means our lives on this planet are for the glory of God. It means when we reap what we sow, be it Godly things or sin, God receives glory. By his grace and his blessing, or his judgment and curses, everything that takes place for the glory of God. Have I made this clear enough?

Everything that happens, according to Biblical Christianity, is for the glory of God. It is such an easy statement to make, but very hard to live. And I submit that most of us as American Christians have no real clue about what it really means that everything is for the glory of God. Are we truly doing everything we do with God at the front of our minds? Is God the end of the means, or is he a means to an end? Does God have the spotlight on the stage? Or does he have to share it with something or someone else? Is he even on the stage?

I was raised in the church. I grew up on the mission field. I don’t say this to boast about myself, but I say this to point out that despite my ideal background for being a Christian, I have not very well “met the expectations.” I’ve not done everything that I’ve been raised to do for the glory of God, nor have I had God at the forefront of my mind on a regular basis, let alone a continual basis. And I’ve seen others not do what they do for the glory of God either, even well-meaning Christians, who are authentically born again. True, loving, caring, Christians not doing what they do for the glory of God. And to be honest, none of us can do it. We CAN’T do it. There is not one day where I, Charlie Wolcott, have honored and given glory to God as he ought to be honored and glorified. And to be honest, there won’t be a day where I do that until I meet the Father in person in Heaven.

But this realization, this fact that none of us, including myself, can give God his proper due, is actually all the more glory to God. Because our salvation is not dependent upon us. Our faith is not about our ability to honor and follow God with the level of perfection his holiness requires. The salvation God offers works despite our shortcomings. It’s because it is about him and what he did. The work done on the cross gives God the greatest glory: that God himself became a man, lived as a man to the perfect fulfillment of the perfect standard, died in the place for sinful man, became that sin, and then rose from the dead to defeat death and sin. That is all the work of God and while we do reap the benefit of his work, it is all about him. And we need to truly understand this. It is about him and not about us.

Why do we follow Christianity? Let it be that we follow him because God will be glorified in it. God is worthy of our worship. He is worthy of our obedience. Let us seek that all we do, we do for the glory of God. Not to earn his favor, because we never will be able to do that, but for no other purpose besides giving God what he is due, and for us simply doing that which we ought.

Lastly, do not hear what I am not saying. I am not calling for perfection here. I am simply saying: “This is the standard. Let us pursue it.” Next week, I will dig into Humanism in more detail and in two weeks, I’ll address what I have hinted at here: the compromise between these two philosophies, something I will call “Religious Humanism.” Stay tuned.

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