What is My Purpose?
Dear Friend,
Purpose is defined as “the reason for which something is done or created or for which something exists.” People have been asking the question “What is my purpose?” for thousands of years. In fact, to ask this question is one of the major differences between human beings and the rest of the animal kingdom. An elephant does not conceive of purpose beyond instinct, neither do apes, or birds or squirrels. To answer this essential question is to drive at the core of what it really means to be human.
The secular World at large has so many ways to define purpose. I believe that the Word of God is the only authority that Christians should follow. I believe that Scripture is completely sufficient to answer the question “What is my purpose?” I believe that any other method used to answer this question is unhelpful and confusing. God created mankind in His image. This means that He has the authority and right to define what our purpose is. In His great love and kindness, He inspired the authors of Scripture to answer this important question.
The Bible tells us that God created us for our pleasure and for His glory. In 1 Corinthians 10:31-33 Paul says this, “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God, just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved.” 1 Corinthians 10:31-33 ESV We are to seek God’s glory in literally everything that we do. An important question to ask is, “What is God’s glory?” and “Why do I need to seek it?”
Pastor Paul D Tripp describes God’s glory this way: “In everything that he is and in everything that he does, God is greater than human description. Every attribute and action of God is stunningly beautiful in every way. Each characteristic of God and every accomplishment from his hand is totally perfect. This is what we mean when we talk about God's glory.” What an amazing description of God’s glory! Paul Tripp helps us look at what happens when we fail to give glory to God. He says, “The original design was for human beings to live in a glorious world and exist in perfect relational harmony with a glorious God. But sin corrupted the original design, and now you and I have the desire to live for ourselves. Instead of living for the glory of God, we try to steal that glory for ourselves. We demand to be in the center of our world. We take credit for what only God could produce. We want to be sovereign. We want others to worship us. We establish our own kingdom and punish those who break our laws. We tell ourselves that we're entitled to what we don't deserve, and we complain when we don't get whatever it is that we want. It's a glory disaster.”1
I believe that Paul Tripp hits the nail on the head on what our key problem is. The apostle Paul commands us in 1 Corinthians 10:31 to “do all to the glory of God,” but we are like glory thieves. We steal God’s glory and seek our own glory. Paul is trying to help the Church in Corinth to view their purpose differently. Like them, we need to see that the most mundane things of life, like eating and drinking, have a redemptive purpose in God’s eyes. For disciples of Jesus, there is nothing in life that goes untouched by purpose. God cares about it all. Every single thought, word, and action should be done in such a way that would draw others to see God, love God, and glorify God. The greatest way to give God glory is to strive to save souls.
1 Tripp, Paul. “The Doctrine of Glory.” PaulTripp.Com, 20 Aug. 2018, www.paultripp.com/articles/posts/the-doctrine-of-glory-article.
Paul is singularly focused on one thing, saving the souls of others. It is our sin that strives to steal God’s glory. It is the grace we receive through faith in Jesus that glorifies God most. The gospel is the power of God that changes mankind. When we strive to exalt ourselves over God’s will or over others, we detract from God’s glory. It is when we imitate Jesus Christ and His humility that God is glorified. The gospel of Jesus should create within us a deep sense of humility. You cannot save yourself! No matter how hard you try, no matter how many selfhelp books you read, you cannot live a life for God’s glory apart from faith in Jesus Christ. You see, humility and honor are the two great attributes that lead others to praise God. We must make it our ambition to do all for the glory of God. A Christians’ number one drive in life should be to please Jesus Christ in all areas of their life.
Paul says it this way in 2 Corinthians 5:9-10, “So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.” 2 Corinthians 5:9-10 ESV A disciple of Jesus Christ has one chief ambition for their life: to please Him. This is the ultimate call to cling closely to the Lord in faith, and to lay down our own desires. Our ambition is like the rudder of our lives, directing us in the midst of the turbulent sea. A Christian should have his rudder pointed in one direction, pleasing the Lord, as long as God should grace him with life.
In the United States we live with an incredible amount of prosperity, security, and access to pleasure. The Lord has richly blessed this nation, which founded its constitution and laws off of God’s Word. Prosperity, security and pleasure are great gifts from God, that we should regularly give Him thanks for. However, all the problems we see and recognize in our great country today flow from having the wrong ambitions. We make it our ambition to pursue God’s blessings rather than God Himself. Prosperity, security, and pleasure are not bad, but these good blessings become bad rulers when we live for them rather than for God. Living this way truly does not please God, and Paul warns us sharply that we will have to give an account for our mixed-up ambitions.
The greatest motivation for living a life that pleases Jesus is the recognition that we will all have to give an account for our thoughts, words, and actions to the Lord. There are rewards in heaven to be received for pleasing Jesus. We should live as though everything will be exposed and an account will be given. God’s purpose for His children is that they would no longer live for themselves, rather, they would live for Jesus Christ.
2 Corinthians 5:14-15 says, “For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. 2 Corinthians 5:14-15 ESV To love Jesus Christ is to be controlled by His Spirit. It is to live no longer for yourself. Instead, you and I should consider ourselves dead. Our sinful, carnal, hate filled souls have passed away. All that is left is the resurrected, holy, acceptable, and changed soul. Paul is describing the controlling force of a Christian’s life.
What controls you? Do you give in to every emotion, every desire, every temptation you are presented with? Are you controlled by the opinions of others? Is fear or anger ruling you?
Jesus displays His great love for His people by fulfilling the just requirements of God’s Law. He lived in perfect obedience before His heavenly Father, and submitted to God’s Will, even unto death. Jesus didn’t stay dead. Instead, He conquered sin and death once and for all. It was Jesus Christ’s great love that controlled Him. He lived and died and was raised, so that we could die to our old ways and live for Him. Paul himself was a powerful example of how Christ’s love can control us.
Before Paul was born again by the power of the Holy Spirit, he was a strong enemy of Christ’s church. He opposed Jesus and His disciples, often having them thrown in jail or killed. Paul did everything in his power to stop the spread of the gospel, because he firmly believed that Jesus was a false messiah. Paul loved God’s law passionately, and pridefully thought himself blameless. In Acts 9 we learn how Jesus powerfully saves Paul and uses him to spread the gospel to the Gentiles.
With the same passion Paul used to persecute the church, he spread the gospel all throughout the Mediterranean. It was the love of Jesus Christ that compelled Paul to face incredible hardship, suffering and abuse.
Acts 20:17-24 records Paul’s speech to the elders of Ephesus. It says, “Now from Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called the elders of the church to come to him. And when they came to him, he said to them: “You yourselves know how I lived among you the whole time from the first day that I set foot in Asia, serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials that happened to me through the plots of the Jews; how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public and from house to house, testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me. But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. Acts 20:17-24 ESV
Can you hear the passion, the love behind these words? Paul is ready to die for what he believes in. He knows for certain that he is heading into trouble, that persecution and afflictions await him. Paul has made it his life’s ambition to finish the course the Lord has set before him well. It is the love of God that compels him to preach the gospel of grace to all who he meets. Paul is the perfect example of what it means to be controlled by the love of Jesus Christ. He faces his enemies confident that he is fulfilling God’s purpose in his life. This confidence flows from the incredible love he experiences in his reconciled relationship with God.
So what is your purpose in life? If you are a child of God, then your purpose is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. God’s Word reveals His will for each of His children. You cannot discover your purpose apart from understanding God’s Will for your life. When you view your life in this way, you begin to see God’s loving hand in all of your life.
God cares about every single detail of your life, from the food you eat to the clothes you wear. He is intimately aware of your needs and desires. In fact, He knows your heart much better than you do! God knows that the best way to live life is for His glory, and when you try to steal His glory only pain will follow. The application for this message is clear: to be in Christ is to glorify God with all your life. To be an unbeliever is to live for your own glory. I promise you that to steal God’s glory is to invite pain and hardship into your life.
If you are a believer, consider every single portion of your life as sacred, set apart for God. Think about how your thoughts, words, and actions either draw or take away from the glory of God. Ask another brother or sister in Christ to help you give glory to God in the areas of your life where you are stealing His glory. Pray specifically that you would strive to fight for God’s glory in this area of your life. Meditate on God’s Word, and strive to put His thoughts, words, and actions on. You will experience incredible intimacy with God when you consider this your purpose.
If you are an unbeliever, receive this warning! You will have to give an account for every careless word, thought, and action you ever committed in your life. You are currently striving to steal glory from God, by living for your own purpose. Your selfish lifestyle will catch up to you, and your only hope is to repent and believe in Jesus Christ. His righteousness is sufficient to cleanse you from all your sins, but you must trust in Him today. Come to Jesus! Live for the glory of God, and rest in His amazing love.
Yours in Christ,
Chris A. Rice