One of the big questions that man has sought to answer over the centuries is…Why am I here? It goes without saying that the pursuit for the answer leads to a whole host of others questions. Questions like—Who am I? Where did I come from? What happens when I die? What am I suppose to be doing? What is the meaning of life anyway?

The good news this morning is—there’s an answer to all of these questions in the Word of God. When we started this series—asking the why questions…the reason we began with the subject, “Why is Scripture reliable?” was to give us a foundation to work from when addressing some of the more difficult questions people are curious about.

We learned that the Bible was not man-made or man-centered therefore—we can rely on it to be what it claims to be…the Word of God. And furthermore—since the Bible teaches us that it is impossible for God to lie (Heb 6:18)…it is trustworthy for answering the more difficult questions concerning life.

Today—we want to look at what the Bible has to say concerning the question, “Why was I created?” Last week we learned about how we were fearfully and wonderfully made (Ps 139) as opposed to simply being here by chance.

This morning—we want to think about the reason for why we’re here. Now that we know we were created by God…does He really have a purpose for our life? As we seek to answer the question, “Why was I created?” I want to mention 3 things for us to consider.

1.We were created to be with God.

In Revelation 21:3 we read, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and He will live with them. They will be His people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.” The larger context for this verse is the revelation of a new heaven and a new earth (v1). We’re told that in the eternity to come…believers will be with God.

This has always been God’s plan from the very beginning. In Genesis 1-3 we read about God creating man and putting him in Eden and they have fellowship with each other (3:8a). Their fellowship consists of sharing in each other’s presence. Sadly—we read in verses 1-7 that Adam and Eve fall into sin and break the bond of that fellowship they have with God. Then as a consequence of their action they are banished from Eden (v23) and driven out (v24). But—praise God this is not the end of the story.

From Genesis 3 all the way through Revelation 20—we read about the process of reconciliation that God puts into action for us whereby we can once again enjoy the fellowship that was lost in the garden. It’s true that our sin separates us from enjoying perfect fellowship with God—but He has made provision for everyone who calls out to Him by faith seeking forgiveness that leads to restored fellowship.

This means—even though man has broken fellowship with God…God has not completely removed Himself from those who seek to be with Him. As a matter of fact—what He has done is provide a way whereby man can once again enjoy fellowship with Him.

In the OT we see this take place through sacrifices that make it possible for people to enter into fellowship with God. This is a picture what will be further revealed in the NT through the sacrifice of Jesus. It’s also important that we don’t miss the fact about who’s taking the initiative in all of this…it’s God. He’s the One at work here. He’s the reconciler.

The Bible teaches that we “all have turned away” (Rom 3) we broke fellowship with God and we’re on the run. But—God has intervened because He created us to be with Him. That’s why He sent His Son. According to Jesus—He came to seek and to save what was lost (Luke 19:10).

Do you remember what the angel of the Lord told Joseph about the child Mary was going to give birth to? He said, “He will save His people from their sins” (Mat 1:21). Do you also remember what the angel said He was to be called? He’s to be called Immanuel…which means God with us (23).

God has always been with us because He created us to be with Him. But—because He is holy and just our sin had to be dealt with. That’s what you read about in Genesis 3 all the way through Revelation 20. We need to praise God that He never completely left us or forsook us. He was always at work drawing people to Himself. He was the One dealing with our sin problem. We need to praise God for the fact that through faith in Jesus a person has the Spirit of Christ in their life and also the hope of Revelation 21:3… being with God for eternity.

2. We were created to worship God.

When we truly understand all that God has done in order for us to be with Him throughout eternity…it should naturally lead us to worship. Psalm 86:9 says, “All the nations You have made will come and worship before You, O Lord; they will bring glory to your name.”

Worship is our response to God’s revelation of Himself. It’s when we ascribe honor and glory to His name. Worship is when we come before God in humility, in gratitude, in submission of our will and in an attitude of obedience.

Worship is personal and viewed as a way of life in Romans 12:1. Worship is also pictured throughout the Bible in a family context (Gen 4:2-5), in a church context (Acts 13:2), and in an eternal context (Rev 4,5).

 Isaiah 43:7 tells us that we were created to worship and Jesus said in John 4:23 that the Father seeks the true worship of mankind. In order for anyone to worship in truth—first they must know the Truth personally. Jesus is the Truth according to John 14:6…”I am the way, the truth.”

In John 8:32 we’re told that the truth will set a person free. Free from the bondage and power of sin. When Adam sinned we all became sinners because we’re his descendants (Rom 5:12). The truth that sets a person free—is believing that God has sent His Son to break the power of sin on the cross and accepting His death and resurrection as our only means of forgiveness.

Believing that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God who takes away the sin of the world leads to new life. Once a person is born again spiritually…they naturally seek to worship God because that’s what we were created to do. If personal and corporate worship is not natural—what…?   

3. We were also created to work for God.

Salvation takes us back spiritually to where we were in the beginning…in fellowship with God. One aspect of our fellowship responsibilities according to Genesis 2:15…is work. Some think that work was a consequence of Adam’s sin…but we read here in Genesis 2 that work is assigned before man sinned. Man’s work was adversely affected by sin…as was everything in creation (Rom 8:19ff). Yet—doing the work of God is what we’ve been created to do. 

The danger in doing the work of God—is falling to the temptation of believing that our work somehow merits salvation. Or—that somehow we will be seen as better than other believers. Attitudes like these speak of self-centeredness, pride and arrogance. These are not the right motivations for doing the work of God.

Jesus said the work of God is to believe in Jesus Christ (John 6:29). The apostle Paul clearly teaches that we are not saved by works…yet “we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works” (Eph 2:8-10). Matthew 5:16 says that good deeds generate praise for our heavenly Father. And Jesus said in John 14:12, “anyone who has faith in Him will do what He has been doing.”

What was He doing…the work of God? Matthew 20:28 tells us that Jesus didn’t come to be served…but to serve. That’s work. I am not saying that Jesus was created like you and me. He is God. What I am saying is—He sets the example for us who have given our life to God through faith in Him. That example is one of doing good works.

All of this is simply a short answer to the question, “Why was I created?” But—at the same time…how can we make some application of this to our life today?

We were created for fellowship with God—but our sin has broken that fellowship. Have you been reconciled back into fellowship with God through believing in Jesus?

We were created to worship God. Is there a desire in your heart to worship? Is that desire being met on a regular basis? Personally? Corporately?

We were created to work for God. Do your daily actions indicate the presence of God’s Spirit in your life? It’s been said, “Faith alone saves…but faith that saves is not alone.” John Calvin