The Question of Meaning: Why Am I Here?

This is one of the "Big Five" that every worldview needs to answer.  The question may be posed as in the title, "Why am I here?" or it may be posed more as in "What is my purpose?" and "How can I find that purpose and meaning?"  I'll try to address these questions biblically in this article.

The first answer that I can give you to the reason we are here is that God made man special, "In His image" to be able to be His viceroys here on earth.  That is that all power and authority still resides with the LORD, but He made Adam and Eve stewards and caretakers of everything He had created and gave Adam (and Eve) dominion over the plants and animals.  But that's not all we learn from the Creation account.

We also learn that we are different because God put His breath or His Spirit within in so that we would be eternal creatures who would understand spiritual and moral truths and so that we could have an eternal relationship with him.  He gave us a unique ability to speak with Him, to learn about Him, and to obey Him (or disobey Him as we see in Genesis 3).  The choice to love and obey Him is key to our relationship with Him and it is that relationship that is such a huge part to our meaning in this world.  The Westminster Shorter Catechism puts it this way, "The chief end [purpose] of man to worship God and enjoy Him forever." (References given for this statement are I Corinthians 10: 31, Romans 11:36, and Psalm 73: 25-28).

So, God has given men and women a special role in creation to be stewards of all that He made, to have dominion over His creation (to rule over it) and has made us unique in all of creation so that we can love Him, obey Him, and have a relationship with Him.  He has created us with inherent value because we are made "In His image" and we are made with a desire to know Him, worship Him, and obey Him--at least, that was the original design.  So, what went wrong?  Why is it that we feel more like the lyrics of the song (quoting from several passages of Scripture), "I am a flower quickly fading--here today and gone tomorrow.  A wave tossed in the ocean.  A vapor in the wind."  All these things are but momentary in the grand scheme of things.  Like the Psalmist David we look at the universe and wonder, "When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?" (Psalm 8:3-4).  David's son Solomon would say that without a relationship with the LORD, the answer to the question of Meaning is "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity!" (There is no purpose--everything is vain and empty without God to give it meaning).  "13 The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. 14 For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil." (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14).

See, the LORD has put it in our hearts that this world is not all that there is--that there is something more than this.  He has, "put eternity in our hearts." (Ecclesiastes 3:11).  We know that we are to fear the LORD and to obey Him.  My answer is bigger than that though.  My value and worth are found in my new identity--what God has made me (a new creation).  So, perhaps that will be the next major questions that I will tackle.  "Who am I?"