Why Am I Here?

This world can be a noisy and confusing place. Our lives are filled with ups and downs, varying circumstances that span the limits of our strength and emotions.

The writer of Ecclesiastes describes our existence on this earth “under heaven” as consisting of a certain order of positives and negatives, a balance of experiences, all of which we should learn to embrace if we will find any sort of peace – understanding that it is out of our natural power to control time as it marches on:

“To everything there is a season,
A time for every purpose under heaven:

A time to be born,
And a time to die;
A time to plant,
And a time to pluck what is planted;
A time to kill,
And a time to heal;
A time to break down,
And a time to build up;
A time to weep,
And a time to laugh;
A time to mourn,
And a time to dance;
A time to cast away stones,
And a time to gather stones;
A time to embrace,
And a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to gain,
And a time to lose;
A time to keep,
And a time to throw away;
A time to tear,
And a time to sew;
A time to keep silence,
And a time to speak;
A time to love,
And a time to hate;
A time of war,
And a time of peace” (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8).

But also as the writer of Ecclesiastes observed, these finite experiences within time awaken something deep inside us that longs for much more. He writes that God has put eternity in our hearts (Ecclesiastes 3:11). Even though we may not understand all that God has done and continues to do outside of our limited space and time, we have a sense that life exists of more than what we have experienced with our five senses.

What a beautiful reality, isn’t it, that we as humans have this awesome ability to know that there is something more, even if we can’t quite put our finger on it?

It is in this innate desire, when awakened, the Word of God speaks most clearly. God has not left us to wonder. He has told us exactly what that “something more” is.

Relationship with God

The Bible tells us that men and women were made in God’s image (Genesis 1:27). This does not mean that our physical bodies look like Him, but rather that our very lives were meant to reflect Him. In ancient days, an “image” was something believed to be inhabited by a deity; in pagan religions, this was an inanimate statue created by the hands of men. But God, the Creator of all mankind, placed His image in human souls. This was His glory and presence, in the human heart, guiding them and using them to spread His glory – His life and presence – to all of creation, for its continued, abundant blessing.

But God does not inhabit the hearts of those who choose to reject Him. He has given them a choice. Adam and Eve had a choice to obey God or to disobey God, to heed His warnings or to outright rebel against them and fatally seek to have life and power apart from Him. They chose to eat from the tree He told them not to eat of or they would “surely die” (Genesis 2:17). It was the tree of good and evil – an object that mixed the holy with the unholy, and thus made its fruit, and anyone who ate of it, utterly unholy.

“Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?” (1 Corinthians 5:6).

Much like Adam and Eve, many of us today try to seek our own happiness. We want to be in charge of our own lives and actually believe that we can find satisfaction by filling our lives with created things, rather than with the Creator. But apart from some fleeting pleasures, we will never find it apart from relationship with God, because He created us for the very purpose of having intimate fellowship with Him. He created us to glorify Him in the earth, and to worship Him.

Instead of finding true joy and peace in this purpose, our sinful nature leads us further and further away from Him. It keeps us wandering in the wilderness, apart from His protective covering, or presence, exposed to the dangers of evil and the pull of lesser things on our hearts and lives. The sin in our souls has corrupted that image of God in which we were made. Our spirits are darkened, and it is not until we are willing to search out freedom through God’s truth that light can begin to bring about understanding and life.

Thankfully, God never made it difficult for a truly searching heart to find Him and to obtain righteousness – freedom from sin.

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled” (Matthew 5:6).

Right with God

This righteousness is not anything that we can obtain on our own. Rather, God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to cleanse us of sin and to give us His righteousness, so that we can once again dwell with God, and He with (and in) us. Jesus Christ was both fully God and fully man. In His humanity, He was without sin, making Him the only One who could take our sin upon Himself and put it to death, but because He was also God, He could also defeat death by rising from the grave – making His sacrifice powerful and effective.

“For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21) (see also Hebrews 4:15; 1 Peter 2:22).

“And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin” (1 John 3:5).

The way to receive this forgiveness and righteousness is to put our faith and trust in Jesus Christ, knowing that we cannot on our own get rid of our sinful nature and the condemnation of death that comes with it (see Romans 6:23a). Only Jesus Christ can lead us back to a relationship with God (see John 14:6). He alone provides us with the gift of eternal life by His infinitely powerful sacrifice for us. We need only to believe:

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

“…if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved…” (Romans 10:9).

A new spirit

When you do this, you will receive a new, spiritual nature, allowing you to live in righteousness rather than as a slave to sin.

Scripture says: “If you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption…the Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God…” (Romans 8:13-16).

And: “We have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God” (1 Corinthians 2:12).

The hunger you have inside of you is for freedom and purpose, and this is what Jesus Christ came to bring.

“…Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst…And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life…” (John 6:35, 40).

When you trust in Jesus Christ for salvation from sin and for the promise of eternal life, He will give you a new spirit – His Spirit – to understand the wonderful purposes for which He made you, and to focus your heart on Heaven to come:

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:19-21).

May your treasure be Christ and the salvation and hope He came to bring.