Purpose of life?

[James_Lai]

Hello.

A big question for all people is what is the purpose of my life? As in the Ecclesiastes it says, we all die and everything we work for is inherited by people who didn’t earn it. Eat, drink and be merry as it’s the only sense we can make out of this life.

Reading the Bible, listening to church preaching or talking with Christians it seems the main purpose of life is to get to Heaven, a happy eternal Paradise. Because the other alternative of being tormented in endless Hell is less desirable to say the least. Carrot and stick. The good old dualism of existence. God and the devil, life and death, reward and punishment, good and bad.

According to Evangelical denominations, it seems to be easy enough by praying a short prayer with faith and it seals the deal. You are born again and guaranteed Heaven no matter what as Jesus’s blood washes and makes you perfect in the eyes of God.

Not a hard thing to do. Learn some information and believe it. Saved by grace alone through faith in the finished work of Christ.

After you did it, all that remains is to spread the good news to all people in all corners of the world out of love, gratitude and moral duty.

This salvation method seems pretty weird to me on one hand, on another hand this idea of the good news and undeserved love of God is very powerful. People feel so relieved and changed. Talking about the sincere and genuine ones; as in any faith there are those who pretend or do it for money or think they do it right, but in fact aren’t really convinced etc. These days it seems in the Western society secular thought is the most powerful and overwhelmed every other idea (Islam being pretty resilient it seems against conformism)

Non-evangelical seem to say it’s not enough to have faith, you need a lifetime of worship and dedication to obeying God’s commands. I’m not sure I understand this idea well. It’s like faith and works together, which is a bit contradictory. But I get it, as it’s a deeper and more complex understanding how life works perhaps. It’s less weird actually, because it seems more logical and fair to me, and probably aligns better with the Biblical teaching of both faith in heart and high ethics in behaviour.

Anyways.

Can you please define what is the purpose of life according to Christian teaching? Overall in most general terms, and more detailed for everyday happenings and relations. Big picture and more practical.

 

[Pavel Mosko]

To Glorify God. To Commune with God. To do Good Works.

 

[James_Lai]

To Glorify God. To Commune with God. To do Good Works.

Why?

 

[Pavel Mosko]

Why?

Well in Christian theology going back to early Genesis we were made for that.

to the list I would also add "To Love one anther". Since that is an important function that comes from being Created in the Image of God.

 

[ripple the car]

To know and walk with God.

Why

Because He has created us for Himself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in Him. ~ Saint Augustine

 

[Akita Suggagaki]

Can you please define what is the purpose of life according to Christian teaching? Overall in most general terms, and more detailed for everyday happenings and relations. Big picture and more practical.

John 10:10b, "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly."

The purpose of life is to discover and live it's abundance and that is found only in Christ.

What does it look like in detailed everyday terms?

For starters:

1. Repent
   
2. Rejoice
3. Let Your Light Shine
4. Be Reconciled
5. Keep Your Word
6. Turn your cheek
7. Love Your Enemies
8. Be Perfect
9. Lay Up Treasures in Heaven
10. Seek God’s Kingdom
11. Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself.
12. Stop Judging
13. Do to others whatever you would have them do to you.
14. Fear Not
    
15. Take his Yoke
    
16. Honor Your Parents
    
17. Deny Yourself & take up your cross
    
18. Go to Offenders
    
19. Beware of greed
    
20. Forgive Others
    
21. Honor Marriage
    
22. Be a Servant
    
23. Ask in Faith
    
24. Welcome the Poor
    
25. Render to Caesar
    
26. Love the Lord
    
27. Love Your Neighbor
28. Be Born Again
29. Watch and Pray
30. Love One Another
31. Be Merciful

 

[Abaxvahl]

Hello.

A big question for all people is what is the purpose of my life? As in the Ecclesiastes it says, we all die and everything we work for is inherited by people who didn’t earn it. Eat, drink and be merry as it’s the only sense we can make out of this life.

Reading the Bible, listening to church preaching or talking with Christians it seems the main purpose of life is to get to Heaven, a happy eternal Paradise. Because the other alternative of being tormented in endless Hell is less desirable to say the least. Carrot and stick. The good old dualism of existence. God and the devil, life and death, reward and punishment, good and bad.

According to Evangelical denominations, it seems to be easy enough by praying a short prayer with faith and it seals the deal. You are born again and guaranteed Heaven no matter what as Jesus’s blood washes and makes you perfect in the eyes of God.

Not a hard thing to do. Learn some information and believe it. Saved by grace alone through faith in the finished work of Christ.

After you did it, all that remains is to spread the good news to all people in all corners of the world out of love, gratitude and moral duty.

This salvation method seems pretty weird to me on one hand, on another hand this idea of the good news and undeserved love of God is very powerful. People feel so relieved and changed. Talking about the sincere and genuine ones; as in any faith there are those who pretend or do it for money or think they do it right, but in fact aren’t really convinced etc. These days it seems in the Western society secular thought is the most powerful and overwhelmed every other idea (Islam being pretty resilient it seems against conformism)

Non-evangelical seem to say it’s not enough to have faith, you need a lifetime of worship and dedication to obeying God’s commands. I’m not sure I understand this idea well. It’s like faith and works together, which is a bit contradictory. But I get it, as it’s a deeper and more complex understanding how life works perhaps. It’s less weird actually, because it seems more logical and fair to me, and probably aligns better with the Biblical teaching of both faith in heart and high ethics in behaviour.

Anyways.

Can you please define what is the purpose of life according to Christian teaching? Overall in most general terms, and more detailed for everyday happenings and relations. Big picture and more practical.

This video gets the big general picture perfectly, it's short so I recommend watching it, but if I were to summarize it into a single sentence it would be "to enter into the eternal life of love that God has within Himself, which He made us so that we could experience":

For daily practices in this, he touches on it in the video but in a little more specification:

1) loving God with acts that join us to His will and sanctify us (prayer, going to Church, studying the Scriptures and Saints, meditating on God, etc),
2) loving ourselves by doing the former and resisting the world, the flesh, and the devil which would separate us from God (fasting, resisting temptations, avoiding occasions of sin),
3) loving others by serving them (feeding the hungry, supporting our parents in their old age, many other such acts of mercy).

This makes up the stuff of life in my opinion.

 

[St_Worm2]

I like the Westminster Shorter Catechism's concise answer to that question. It goes as follows:

Q. What is the chief end of man?
A. Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him for ever.

1 Cor. 10:31; Rom. 11:36; Ps. 73:25-28.
​

--David

 

[d taylor]

Hello.

A big question for all people is what is the purpose of my life? As in the Ecclesiastes it says, we all die and everything we work for is inherited by people who didn’t earn it. Eat, drink and be merry as it’s the only sense we can make out of this life.

Reading the Bible, listening to church preaching or talking with Christians it seems the main purpose of life is to get to Heaven, a happy eternal Paradise. Because the other alternative of being tormented in endless Hell is less desirable to say the least. Carrot and stick. The good old dualism of existence. God and the devil, life and death, reward and punishment, good and bad.

According to Evangelical denominations, it seems to be easy enough by praying a short prayer with faith and it seals the deal. You are born again and guaranteed Heaven no matter what as Jesus’s blood washes and makes you perfect in the eyes of God.

Not a hard thing to do. Learn some information and believe it. Saved by grace alone through faith in the finished work of Christ.

After you did it, all that remains is to spread the good news to all people in all corners of the world out of love, gratitude and moral duty.

This salvation method seems pretty weird to me on one hand, on another hand this idea of the good news and undeserved love of God is very powerful. People feel so relieved and changed. Talking about the sincere and genuine ones; as in any faith there are those who pretend or do it for money or think they do it right, but in fact aren’t really convinced etc. These days it seems in the Western society secular thought is the most powerful and overwhelmed every other idea (Islam being pretty resilient it seems against conformism)

Non-evangelical seem to say it’s not enough to have faith, you need a lifetime of worship and dedication to obeying God’s commands. I’m not sure I understand this idea well. It’s like faith and works together, which is a bit contradictory. But I get it, as it’s a deeper and more complex understanding how life works perhaps. It’s less weird actually, because it seems more logical and fair to me, and probably aligns better with the Biblical teaching of both faith in heart and high ethics in behaviour.

Anyways.

Can you please define what is the purpose of life according to Christian teaching? Overall in most general terms, and more detailed for everyday happenings and relations. Big picture and more practical.

What i am writing is not Bionically base, as in it is found in exact verses in The Bible.

But humanities purpose, i see as being connected to satan and his fall. Satan when he fell, was sentenced to the lake of fire. But satan appealed his sentence, it may have went something like how can a loving God send his greatest creation to eternal punishment.

So in an answer to satan's appeal God created humans as a witness to God and Him as a just judge.

How exactly we are involved in this i am not sure.

But one other point you stated, I am not sure if you realize that believes (In The Messiah) do not spend eternity in heaven, but spend eternity on the new earth created by God after the 1000 year millennium rule of The Messiah is over.

 

[Halbhh]

Non-evangelical seem to say it’s not enough to have faith, you need a lifetime of worship and dedication to obeying God’s commands. I’m not sure I understand this idea well. It’s like faith and works together, which is a bit contradictory.

Yes, that sparks a lot of discussion, as you might imagine.

Grace instead of Works, yet then saying we are to do works.

First that passage:

"As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.

8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."
Ephesians 2

See it? Grace through faith alone, without works, yet...we are to do works which God has prepared us to do.

And here is the aid to understand this seeming contradiction:

Bible Gateway passage: John 15:1-17 - New International Version

 

[mama2one]

The Greatest Commandment

28 One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”

29 “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.[a] 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[c] There is no commandment greater than these.”

32 “Well said, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. 33 To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

34 When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions.

 

[Sketcher]

Can you please define what is the purpose of life according to Christian teaching? Overall in most general terms, and more detailed for everyday happenings and relations. Big picture and more practical.

"For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." - Ephesians 2:10

Hard to top that. God made us new, gave us life, and gave us a purpose to walk in the good works he has for us. It is our responsibility to discover what those works are, and to do them. It can be as simple as helping a coworker change a tire, or it could be as specific as utilizing your talents and experiences to do something further reaching - writing a God-honoring book, or writing a God-honoring song that will stand the test of time. Or, it could be as sacrificial as taking a bullet for somebody, or meeting a literal martyrdom. It's usually IMO, a process of self-discovery and practice (for the long-term stuff, such as studying to write that book) and in the short term, keeping one's eyes open to those who have immediate needs that you can and should meet (like the coworker needing help with the tire).

 

[Halbhh]

Can you please define what is the purpose of life according to Christian teaching?

Christian teaching ... will be the teaching of Christ, and He taught us much, and here is a key, central teaching to us to illustrate:

John 13:34 A new commandment I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you also must love one another.

The Greek word Χριστιανός (Christianos), meaning "follower of Christ" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christians#Etymology)

So, the main goals are to trust in Christ, which is also to trust in God -- 'faith', to believe. And then, with faith, to follow Him, which from faith, will mean to listen to His words and follow them, doing as He said to us to do.

 

[Jamdoc]

I see a lot of what I expected for answers and I'm moved to fill in always the forgotten answer to this question.

On top of worshiping God and glorifying God as our purpose in life, God created us for another purpose and that purpose has not expired and will be returned to us when Jesus comes.

Genesis 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.
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

Genesis 2

5 And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground.
...
15 And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.

Everything of course exists to glorify God, but God has many things created to glorify Him. On top of that, man has the distinct destiny to hold dominion of the Earth and to take care of God's creation. To minister to the plants, and the animals, and each other.
That is the whole "ruling and reigning" thing that Jesus talks about in Revelation,
it is authority that Adam gave up in sinning, as of now, dominion belongs to Satan and his angels.
But when Christ returns and restores all things.... among those things restored is man's dominion of the the earth.

Part of why the whole of creation groans as Paul put it in Romans 8 is because we do not have our rightful dominion and we are not what we were meant to be.
When all things are restored, we will take care of this Earth as God meant for us to do, and all creation will rejoice.

16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
19 For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.
20 For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,
21 Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.

You know sometimes you see on the news, or on youtube or facebook.. someone kindly helping a wild animal that has gotten injured? How the animal, despite fearing us, instinctively knows that we can help them?

It's those glimmers where I can see "we were meant to do that, this is the relationship between us and creation that God intended". It's just a peek.. but it pulls at me.

It is one of the ways that we serve and glorify God is to minister to His creation as He intended for us to do.

 

[eleos1954]

Hello.

A big question for all people is what is the purpose of my life? As in the Ecclesiastes it says, we all die and everything we work for is inherited by people who didn’t earn it. Eat, drink and be merry as it’s the only sense we can make out of this life.

Reading the Bible, listening to church preaching or talking with Christians it seems the main purpose of life is to get to Heaven, a happy eternal Paradise. Because the other alternative of being tormented in endless Hell is less desirable to say the least. Carrot and stick. The good old dualism of existence. God and the devil, life and death, reward and punishment, good and bad.

According to Evangelical denominations, it seems to be easy enough by praying a short prayer with faith and it seals the deal. You are born again and guaranteed Heaven no matter what as Jesus’s blood washes and makes you perfect in the eyes of God.

Not a hard thing to do. Learn some information and believe it. Saved by grace alone through faith in the finished work of Christ.

After you did it, all that remains is to spread the good news to all people in all corners of the world out of love, gratitude and moral duty.

This salvation method seems pretty weird to me on one hand, on another hand this idea of the good news and undeserved love of God is very powerful. People feel so relieved and changed. Talking about the sincere and genuine ones; as in any faith there are those who pretend or do it for money or think they do it right, but in fact aren’t really convinced etc. These days it seems in the Western society secular thought is the most powerful and overwhelmed every other idea (Islam being pretty resilient it seems against conformism)

Non-evangelical seem to say it’s not enough to have faith, you need a lifetime of worship and dedication to obeying God’s commands. I’m not sure I understand this idea well. It’s like faith and works together, which is a bit contradictory. But I get it, as it’s a deeper and more complex understanding how life works perhaps. It’s less weird actually, because it seems more logical and fair to me, and probably aligns better with the Biblical teaching of both faith in heart and high ethics in behaviour.

Anyways.

Can you please define what is the purpose of life according to Christian teaching? Overall in most general terms, and more detailed for everyday happenings and relations. Big picture and more practical.

To Love like God loves .... putting others before self. It's all about Love.

1st Corinthians 13

Love

1If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a ringing gong or a clanging cymbal. 2If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have absolute faith so as to move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3If I give all I possess to the poor and exult in the surrender of my body,a but have not love, I gain nothing.4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no account of wrongs. 6Love takes no pleasure in evil, but rejoices in the truth. 7It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.8Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be restrained; where there is knowledge, it will be dismissed. 9For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10but when the perfect comes, the partial passes away.11When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I set aside childish ways. 12Now we see but a dim reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

13And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love; but the greatest of these is love.

God IS Love.

1st John 4

God Is Love

7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and His love is perfected in us.

 

[ChetSinger]

Hello.

A big question for all people is what is the purpose of my life?

I think God created us to enjoy our company. He is a craftsman, we are the work of his hands, and every craftsman enjoys the work of his hands. That's what the resurrection is all about, to me: the human race once again living in direct company with God.

There's a passage that says Jesus endured the cross because of "the joy that was set before him". That joy is living with us in the next age. It's gonna be a good time.

 

[James_Lai]

I think God created us to enjoy our company. He is a craftsman, we are the work of his hands, and every craftsman enjoys the work of his hands. That's what the resurrection is all about, to me: the human race once again living in direct company with God.

There's a passage that says Jesus endured the cross because of "the joy that was set before him". That joy is living with us in the next age. It's gonna be a good time.

how about those in hell? Matthew 7 , most people are hell-bound

 

[timf]

Can you please define what is the purpose of life according to Christian teaching? Overall in most general terms, and more detailed for everyday happenings and relations. Big picture and more practical.

If going to heaven was the only purpose of Christianity you would expect that as soon as a person became a Christian, he would die and go to heaven. It would seem cruel to leave a person to contend with an evil and hostile world.

When a person becomes a Christian, he is placed in the body of Christ by the Holy Spirit. In a way, he continues the work of Jesus.

God came into the world in the person of Jesus to be a mechanism by which some could be drawn to him and receive life eternal.

In a similar way, our continued existence after becoming a Christian is to show the love of Christ (selflessness and self-sacrifice) to others so that they may also come to follow the path of truth to life eternal.

Jesus said that all who were of the truth would hear his voice. This mirrors a principle of physics called resonance. Our continued existence after salvation is so that our family and friends might see through us a path to the truth that is in Jesus.

 

[ChetSinger]

how about those in hell? Matthew 7 , most people are hell-bound

Hell is a tragedy. But people don't go there because they sin. We know this is true because everybody sins but not everybody goes to hell. People go to hell because their sins aren't forgiven. The gospel is about the forgiveness of sins. That's why it's good news. Jesus even forgave those who brutally murdered him. To me that's pretty much unfathomable. But that's how God is.

 

[IWalkAlone]

To love God and be loved by Him. And to love each other.