I WONDER: WHY AM I HERE?
“Life is tragic for the person who has plenty to live on, but nothing to live for.”
In our society, we often hear the desperate cry, “Just why am I here?” It may come from a teenager with no one to turn to or from a wife whose husband has left her. It may come from one who just needs a purpose in life.
We have seen in previous lessons that God has put us upon this earth as morally responsible beings and that He has given us all that is necessary to live acceptably to Him. There must, therefore, be a purpose. Again, we turn to the Bible, our manual, for the answer.
Solomon, writing in Ecclesiastes 12:13, summed up the purpose of man: “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: fear God and keep His commandments for this is the whole of man.” In keeping with this, the present lesson will focus on the duty of man to God as his purpose in life.
1. I Am Here to Recognize The Love of God.
(Romans 5:8) “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were
still sinners, Christ died for us.”
God has done great things for us! He created us, provided for our good, and also loved us in spite of our mistakes. When man sinned, God set into motion the plan to save man from his sin (Genesis 3:15). The justice of God required an acceptable sacrifice. God provided that sacrifice in the person of the man Jesus Christ (John 3:16).
This love is not the love familiar to mankind. Mankind loves someone in return for love, but God loved us even though we had not loved him (Romans 5:6-8). More than that, we opposed Him! And, He loved us anyway!
When people don’t know of the love of God, they sin against him, transgressing His laws. But this ignorance does not excuse them. The people on the day of Pentecost were subject to God but they had crucified His Son. Peter preached to them, making them aware of the love of God and many of them responded to it (Acts 2:36-40). We can recognize that love also.
2. I Am Here to Receive the Love of God.
(Romans 10:17) “So then faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.”
Simply recognizing love does not make it possible for one to be saved by that recognition. For example, if a man was drowning and someone tossed a live-preserver to him, he would not be pulled to safety simply because he saw the preserver in the water. He would have to take hold of it to be pulled to safety.
Many may say they love God, but refrain from doing what he has commanded to be saved. Jesus told of such people in Matthew 7:21-23. Those present on Pentecost were told to save themselves, even though God had provided the sacrifice of Christ (Acts 2:39). Their repentance and baptism did not nullify the sacrifice of Christ, rather those acts were part of the reception of God’s love.
3. I Am Here to Return the Love of God.
(I John 4:10) “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to
be the propitiation for our sins.”
God has loved us, he wants us to receive that love, but He also wants us to return love to Him. Our natural response should be to love Him in return, but some choose to rebel against the love of God. He has set forth how we should obey His commandments in returning His for us. Jesus said to his apostles, “If you love Me, keep My commandments” (John 14:15). John, one of the apostles present at that time, later wrote, “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments, and His commandments are not burdensome.” (I John 5:3).
God wants us to show our love for Him. We should not think He has asked us to do certain things to earn salvation. These commandments are not ways of earning salvation (our salvation was bought by the death of Christ (Acts 20:28), but, rather, the way of obtaining the gift.
4. I Am Here to Reflect the Love of God to Others.
(John 13:34-35) “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have
loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if
you have love for one another.”
Because we have recognized, received, and returned the love of God, we must also reflect the love of God to others. By our obedience to God, we have become sons of God (Galatians 3:26). Sons of their father ought to show forth His characteristics. We love others because God loved us. Jesus told His disciples that they were to love as He loved them.
Christians are peculiar people (I Peter 2:9). The love of Christians should be, as much as possible, like that of God. We are to love others, even if they don’t love us in return (Matthew 5:44). A Christian cannot love God and hate his brother (I John 4:20).
God is love (I John 4:8). His reaction to the sin of man was based on His love. He demonstrated that love through the gift of His Son and we must recognize that love. However, we must receive that love for it to do us any good. We must return God’s love to be saved. Finally, a child of God reflects love because he has been loved by God. He loves as his Father loved him.
— Mike Johnson
