Why are we here? Where are we going? What is the purpose of life? People have long struggled to answer these questions.
One of the wonderful things about the Bible is that, in its pages, we have rock-solid answers. Thanks to the Word of God, there are children all around the world who can answer the important questions of life, while Bible-rejecting geniuses stumble about in darkness.
So, we might take a moment and ask ourselves, why are we here? What is the purpose of life? Romans 1 gives us a hint. In describing the worldview of the godless,
Paul says that they have “exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God” (v.23). Whatever else this means, it is saying that their error is that they undervalued the glory of God. Fallen man wants to exalt himself and this necessitates that he diminish God in his thinking.
One often hears Christians being blamed for thinking that the earth is the center of the universe. Apart from wrongly equating the Roman Catholic church with Christianity, it is peculiar that Christians are routinely ridiculed for theories that were developed by a pagan Greek astrologer (Ptolemy). But this is especially peculiar when, planetary motion aside, those who falsely accuse Christians of this view have precisely the same philosophical viewpoint that they are ridiculing: they believe that we are the center of the universe. God, if He exists at all, is subservient to us—we are free to ignore His commands as much as we’d like; He is to be satisfied with whatever token service we deign to throw His way (usually on Christmas and Easter); and He is answerable to us if world conditions are not to our liking.
The Bible presents an infinitely loftier view of life and history. It turns out that, as much as it might pain our egos to admit it, the universe doesn’t even philosophically orbit us! The real purpose of life and the universe is to glorify God. The glory of God is the purpose of creation (Ps. 19:1; Isa. 43:7; Ps. 8:5), the Law (Ex. 24:16), the tabernacle (Ex. 40:34-35), the temple (1 Kings 8:11), salvation (Heb. 2:10; 2 Pet. 1:2-3;
1 Pet. 5:10), Israel (Isa. 44:23), the church (Eph. 3:21), and the future (Isa. 24:23; 66:18).
It is important for us as believers to realize that salvation, as wonderful as it is, is not the ultimate purpose of history. It is a means to an even greater end: the glory of God. This is clearly stated in Ephesians 1:6, 12, and 14.
As Charles Ryrie has put it, “Salvation, for all its wonder, is but one facet of the diamond of the glory of God.”
Why does this matter? Because we need to resist the natural tendency of the flesh to exalt man. As Christians, we are not exempt from the temptation to view ourselves as the center of all things. But the Lord wants to lift our eyes higher to enjoy the privilege of transcending our natural thoughts and seeing through His eyes. Secondly, it is essential because the glory of God is to be the goal of our every thought, word, and deed: “whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Cor. 10:31b). If the glory of God isn’t given the right place in our doctrine, it will be difficult to give it the right place in our practice.
But, primarily, the reason we need to value the glory of God above all else is that the glory of God is a person (Ezek. 43:2), the Lord Jesus, and, in all things, He must have the preeminence (Col. 1:18).