Why Am I Here?

God created humanity for a reason. God created you with a purpose.

Were we created to glorify God?

We received an email commenting on the "Why Am I Here?" page. It raises a very important question that needed to be asked. Here it is:

Question:

Hi.

I've heard repeatedly, including by one of my pastors, and here again on your website that the answer to "why are we here?" is that we were created to glorify God.

I'm a follower of Jesus Christ, but I find this answer not a very good one, and misleading as to God's character. God is Love, and "love never boasts, is never proud...". God wants to love us, and He wants us to love Him back and to let Him love the world by letting His spirit shine (glory) through us. He loves us first - and it had nothing to do with the "work" of us singing His praises first. God made each of us to LOVE HIM. And that should be the answer to why we are here - TO LOVE GOD AND KNOW HIM PERSONALLY IN A LOVING RELATIONSHIP.

Your website quotes Isaiah 43:7 as referring to all men, but it was actually referring to Israel and/or in a larger sense all who are called by God - His people. The verse says we are made "for" His glory, which means to show His glory to the world - we are to be His conduits of glory, that is, His lights to a darkened world; that is the meaning of that verse.

Jesus demonstrated that when He asked the Father to glorify Him so that He could glorify the Father. (John 17:1). We, who are His people, who have God's spirit in us, should do the same - that is share God's glory to the world, which in turn brings glory to God.

Jesus gave us our command - "to love one another, as I have loved you." (John 13:34), and God said we are to "Love Him with all our heart (Deut. 6:5). So, our command is to Love God & Others. To say that we're commanded to glorify God is confusing, especially to a new believer, who then thinks that God has such a big ego that all He wants us for is to stand around and tell Him how good He is all day.

Yes, He's fully deserving of our praise, and we should show him praise and honor Him, but that's not why we were made. No, we were made to Love God, and to be Loved By Him - He wants a loving relationship with us, and after that He wants to use us to show His love/light/life/glory to others, so that He can love them too.

Thanks - Jeff

Answer:

Hi Jeff:

Thank you for your email. I very much appreciate your writing and asking this question. I can see this is a question that needs clarification. I agree with almost all you say, but not with the conclusion.

We need to start by asking, what is God's glory? There are two types of glory.

God has intrinsic glory. It is part of God. It is infinite. We cannot add to it nor take anything away from it. It is who God is, just as God is love. There can be no lust for more glory because there can be no additional glory. It is already infinite and unchanging.

There is also glory given to God by His creation. 1 Chronicles 16:29 says, "Give unto the Lord the glory due unto His name." (A command to glorify God.) This is different in that this glory comes from God's creation, including us. Does God need this glory? No. There is nothing He needs from His creation. Thus there can be no ego-driven desire for greater glory from His creation. Also, this glory is not infinite. It can change, both increasing and decreasing. This is God's glory as shown in His creation. And in many respects this is God's glory that benefits us, because when God is glorified it becomes more obvious to non-believers that God is real and they are accountable to God.

What is the relationship between love and glory? We are commanded to do both. We are commanded to glorify God. We are commanded to love, and love is identified as the greatest commandment. But the two are not mutually exclusive. The result of our love is that God is glorified.

The analogy of a soldier is often used in scripture. What is the purpose of a soldier? It is to win the war. What is each solder to do? The greatest commandment to each soldier is that they obey the commands of their superiors. That commandment is above all others. Does that mean the soldier's purpose is to obey his superior officers? Yes. But although obedience to superiors is the greatest commandment, it is not the greatest purpose. The soldier's purpose for existing is to achieve the greater purpose of winning the war. It is the same with God. We are commanded to love, and we have a purpose to love God, but the greater purpose -- the ultimate reason for loving God is that He be glorified.

We are commanded to love so that we fulfill our purpose of glorifying God.

Thank you for writing. This is a great question that I'm sure many people have. Thank you!

Your Brother in Christ,
Steve
Move To Assurance

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