why we are here
The Bible shows that our Creator, Jehovah God, always acts with a clear purpose. One example is the earth’s water cycle, which supports life. Water moves from rivers to the sea, then returns again through evaporation and rain.
That steady cycle helps explain another point. God’s promises are dependable. As the sun warms oceans, seas, and lakes, water rises as vapour and later falls as rain. In a similar way, what God says always achieves what he intends.
Clean water returns from the clouds and keeps the earth living. Likewise, God’s words can sustain our spiritual life. We need more than food for the body, we also need guidance for the mind and heart.
When we take in spiritual help from God, we can shape our life to match his purpose. First, though, we need to understand what that purpose is and how it affects us.
God’s Purpose for the Earth
God wants the best for humankind. So he placed the first man and woman in Eden, a paradise garden. He also told them to have children, fill the earth, and care for it. He gave people the responsibility to look after animals and the natural world.
Those instructions point to a clear aim. God intended the whole earth to become a beautiful home for mankind. The earth was meant to be a gift for people, a place where they could live and thrive.
For that purpose to be enjoyed fully, people needed to honour Jehovah through obedience. However, Adam chose disobedience. As a result, sin and death passed on to his offspring. That inheritance affects everyone today.
Because of this, humans still face death, and the earth has not become a global paradise. Yet God’s purpose has not changed. What he sets out to do will succeed, and he carries out what he takes pleasure in. His aim remains the same, an earth-wide paradise filled with happy people who serve him forever.
God’s Purpose Fulfilled, How?
Jehovah showed great wisdom and love by arranging a way to rescue people from inherited sin and its effects, including imperfection and death. He made it possible for a son to be born without Adam’s inherited sin. This gift is known as the ransom. It opened the way for worthy people to gain everlasting life.
God sent the angel Gabriel to a virgin named Hannah to explain the miracle ahead. Although she had not been with a man, she would become pregnant through God’s holy spirit. God transferred the life of his firstborn Son from heaven to her womb.
About nine months later, Jesus was born as a perfect human, like Adam was at the start. In time, Jesus gave his perfect life in sacrifice. In that way, he became a second Adam and provided the basis for faithful people to be released from sin and death.
This shows how deeply God cares for us. He gave his only-begotten Son so that those who show faith can gain everlasting life. That love calls for a response that is more than words. It calls for appreciation and action.
Enjoying Meaning in Our Lives
Megan, mentioned earlier in this series, found that obeying God’s guidance brought direction and meaning. She explained that the Bible helped her see two things, God has a long-range purpose for mankind, and he also gives meaningful work to those who worship him. She found real satisfaction in using her free will to live in harmony with God’s purpose.
We can do the same. We can learn what God wants and then put it into practice. While the full benefits of the ransom are still ahead, we can already meet the spiritual need that exists in every one of us.
Lewis, also referred to earlier, felt that change in his own life. He finally found answers about why life matters. Looking back, he said his earlier years felt like a string of efforts that led nowhere. At the time, he did not understand why he felt empty. Later, he realised it came from an unmet spiritual need. That sense of emptiness faded once he learned why he is here and what to do with his life.
God’s view of life’s meaning, as presented in the Bible, satisfies in a way human ideas do not. We are here because Jehovah made us with a purpose, to praise his name, build a close relationship with him, and meet our spiritual need. That brings happiness now, and it offers hope for the future too.
The Problem of Suffering
Suffering is one of the hardest issues linked to the meaning of life. Viktor Frankl wrote that if life has meaning, then suffering must have meaning too. He also noted that suffering is part of life, along with fate and death.
The Bible explains why suffering and death exist, and it does not blame God. Instead, it points to the first human couple’s choice to set their own course apart from their Creator. That wrong direction passed on to their descendants, and it sits at the root of human suffering.
Understanding why we are here does not remove every problem. However, it can help us cope with pain and loss. It also gives a solid hope for the future, a time when God will end suffering and death forever.
