Why Did God Make You

Did you ever wonder why God made you and put you on this earth? If you have, you aren’t alone. Most people have asked that question at one time or another, and Christians sometimes take it a step further, by trying to figure out the pre-designed plan of God for their life. Before we begin to confuse ourselves by trying to figure out the details of our future life in advance, we need to start by understanding this simple fact: God has created us for one single purpose, and that is to bring glory to Himself. 

       By now we should understand that glorifying God isn’t something we achieve by any spectacular display of Christian “goodness,” or good works. All of the “good” things that we do are just fine if they are done the right way and are done free of any desire to impress God or other people with our holiness. We glorify God with our works only when we do them because of God’s power which resides in us, and not because of any righteousness that we have developed on our own. Never forget that in order to glorify God, it is our relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ that really counts. 1CO 3:11 gets right to the point; “For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” 1CO 3:12-15 goes on to remind us that the good works that make us so proud are “wood, hay, and stubble,” which will be tossed aside when we stand before God.

       In EPH 3:14-19, Paul knew what it meant to glorify God, and he prayed that believers would grow in spiritual strength through the power of the Holy Spirit and the indwelling of the Lord Jesus Christ. “For this reason, I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, that He would grant you, (believers)  according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man; This means to be strengthen by His Spirit, not a worldly fleshly strength, but a glorious inner strength, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.” In this passage, Paul refers to believers having a “glorious inner strength.” We know that this inner strength is spiritual strength, and we get this spiritual strength by, (you guessed it) perception, taking in Bible doctrine, and application of Bible doctrine.  

       In his epistles, Paul made a lot of references to the physical activity of Greek athletes, often comparing the training and discipline required to become a world-class athlete to that needed for the spiritual person to bring glory to God. He did this for good reason, because training and discipline is necessary if you are to excel at anything. If you want to get in good physical shape, you can’t do it by going to the gym and watching other people sweat. So, if you want to build your spiritual muscles, you don’t sit in Bible class thinking about your social life while the pastor-teacher tries to teach you the Word of God, you concentrate on what is being taught.  

       Just like physical exercise, spiritual exercise can be measured by greater spiritual stamina and greater spiritual coordination. We can recognize progress as we advance from spiritual childhood to spiritual adulthood, and on toward spiritual maturity. We begin our spiritual gymnastics by acquiring a knowledge, or “gnosis,” of Bible doctrine. Soon we understand such things as the fundamentals of God’s pre-designed plan, the doctrine of the dispensations, and the mystery doctrine of the Church Age. Gradually, our “gnosis” knowledge turn into “epignosis” or spiritual wisdom, giving us the ability to apply what we have learned to our everyday life. As we mature we begin to have more confidence in God, and therefore more self-confidence in what we believe; because we understand that no matter what happens, God has our back. As we advance we become more spiritually self-sustained, meaning that we no longer depend on man. This does not mean that we become anti-social; what it does mean is that our happiness becomes based on our relationship with God, not on the approval of others. As we advance we will understand what Paul meant in EPH 3:19 when he said; “and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.” Finally, if we stick to it long enough we will become spiritually mature and we will be one of God’s invisible heroes.

       Developing spiritual strength also means that we will sometimes have to deal with adversity. We will be tested by people, maybe by someone who wants to be our enemy, or who thinks that we are a little odd because of our devotion to Bible doctrine. We will be tested by our own thoughts and have to deal with those weird ideas that rattle around in our head at the wrong time. Then there is the cosmic system, a system that seems to be designed to pull us away from the Word of God. Finally we will have disaster testing, which is a guarantee that at sometime in our life we are going to have to deal with some very tough issues.

       How is the glorification of God shown in the way you live? EPH 4:2-4 tells us “with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing forbearance (patience) to one another in love. Being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling;”  This is meant to remind us that we are to have impersonal, unconditional love for each other, and we are to remember that as Christians we are all, (even the least of us) members of the body of Christ.

       So why is it that so many turn away and resist the will of God? It all comes down to their attitude toward Bible doctrine. Some will not make the effort to take in doctrine and apply it and take the Word of God seriously, in order to become spiritually strong. The minute they pray for something that they think they need and don’t get it, they return to the world’s system. When your faith in the Lord is tested, always remember that you have a unique place in the plan of God. Remember EPH 1:3-6 which says; “Worthy of praise and glorification be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He (God the Father) elected us in Him (the Lord Jesus Christ) before the foundation of the world, In love, He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.”