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What is our purpose in living?

Do you know why you are alive? Do you know the purpose in your existence? The cry of so many hearts is Why am I here” and What am I supposed to be doing?” Without answers to these perplexing questions there is an emptiness in life that never goes away. Without a clear understanding of our purpose and reason for living, there is nothing in life worth living for.

Hopelessness is one of the absolute worst states a person can ever descend into. To get to the point where there is no way things will get better or nothing good in life breeds negativity and even suicidal thoughts. There must be a reason God placed us here and there must a purpose in our drawing breath. Of all the quests in this life, finding the answers to these questions is the most important.

Within God’s Word are all things that pertain to life and to godliness. Everything to which there is an answer available to us is found in God’s Word—either living or written. If we are willing to look into what God has to say about things, we can find the answers to those questions which baffle our minds and hinder our ability to with God.

Ephesians 1:4-6 has to be one of the absolute greatest explanations of what our reason for being really is in the whole Bible. I can think of no more powerful verses which, when understood, unlock doors of understanding that enable a believer to finally ascend into the throne room of God, thus enjoying and exercising the rights and privileges that come with our position in Christ as sons of God.

From the King James Version, here is Ephesians 1:4-6:

According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:

Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,

To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.”

For centuries the greatness of Ephesians 1:4-6 has been lost in the perpetual debates regarding predestination. Like many other great verses, people can’t see the forest for the trees here. The sad reality is that theologians have spent their entire lives arguing either for or against predestination based on these verses and failed to see and teach the greater truths found in them.

So much of the confusion could be avoided if the word foreordained” were used instead of predestined”. God foreordaining” us is more or less the same as God choosing us” in verse 4. In both cases it is God who is doing the action and not us. God chose us to be holy and without blame before Him in love, and God chose us to be ordained by Jesus Christ to Himself.

To help simplify what Ephesians 1:4-6 is saying, please look at them from one of my favorite versions—The Amplified Bible:

Even as [in His love] He chose us [actually picked us out for Himself as His own] in Christ before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy (consecrated and set apart for Him) and blameless in His sight, even above reproach, before Him in love.

For He foreordained us (destined us, planned in love for us) to be adopted (revealed) as His own children through Jesus Christ, in accordance with the purpose of His will [because it pleased Him and was His kind intent]--

[So that we might be] to the praise and the commendation of His glorious grace (favor and mercy), which He so freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.”

God chose us in Christ from the beginning to be His own. Knowing we would believe, He picked us out for Himself. This was all done in Christ before the foundation of the world. That was a long time ago.

God did this with the intent purpose being that we should be holy and blameless in His sight. God did this with a view to us being so righteous in His sight that we are above reproach. God did this so that we could stand before Him and be showered with and in His love.

God foreordained, destined and planned for us to be adopted and be His own children through the finished work of Jesus Christ. He did this because it pleased Him to do so and because His very nature is one of perfect love.

Why would God so love us that He would chose us to be holy and blameless in His very presence? Why would God handpick each one of us to be His children? What was in this thing for Him?

God did everything He did for us in and through the work of His Son Jesus Christ so that we might be to PRAISE OF HIS GLORY. God did it all so that we bless Him” with praise for His amazing grace so freely given us in Christ.

Our purpose in life is not to become rich or famous. Our purpose in life is not live in the lap of luxury. Our purpose in life is not to have a mega ministry with hundreds of thousands of adorning fans. Our purpose in life is not to get married, work a job, have kids and retire at a golfing mecca. All these things may or may not happen in life, but they are most definitely not our purpose in living.

We have one predominant purpose in this life and that is to PRAISE GOD for all He has done for us and blessed us with in Christ Jesus. From God’s perspective, we are alive to be living epistles of all He has given to us in Christ and in so doing, bring Him praise and glory. If we can keep things simple and understand that our purpose in drawing breath is to bring praise to God; then we will walk in all His blessings and bring a huge smile to His face.

posted: 06/23/2009 02:43am by blessings2you View: Backlinks, Permalink Total Views: 318 ShortURL: http://christianblog.com/ab50 Category: Preaching & Teaching	Print This Blog Entry
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Author: blessings2you
Location: Warrenton Missouri USA
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Age: 57
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god called me to serve him when i was 16 years old while on a church work trip in new mexico in 1969. in the 40 years since; i attended bible school/leadership training, been ordained to the christian ministry and worked full time for a non-denominational ministry for nearly ten... view full biography

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in 1969 god stepped in and transformed my life as a sixteen year old teenager. after a couple of years of intense emotional ups and downs, i decided i needed a firm foundation in my life that went beyond emotional experiences. it was the decision to become involved with a... view full testimony

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Praise the Lord! Amen. May we "walk in all His blessings" through the valleys and at the mountaintops "and bring a huge smile to His face". Thanks B2Y for expounding from Ephesians.

Posted 06/23/2009 03:16am
Author: ptl2008

I had been thinking about this topic last night...well actually in the wee hours of the morning. The very wee hours. What is my purpose? What would God have me to do? It all begins with praising God for who He is and what He has done for us in Christ Jesus!

Let all that I am praise the Lord;
with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name.
Let all that I am praise the Lord;
may I never forget the good things he does for me.
He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases.
Psalm 103:1-3 (NLT)

Blessings!

K :princess:

Posted 06/23/2009 05:07am
Author: kreynolds

These are great verses that my Pastor had me memorize when I was going through a very deep valley, and I'm so glad he did.

Great blog, B2Y.

Posted 06/23/2009 07:03am
Author: whobelieve

So often we get caught up in the world's deceptions that we are here for material things, house, money, career, mega ministry, large church numbers, marriage, children. When our sole purpose in life is to bring glory to God.

I remind women often that if our purpose in life is to bring glory to God, then that is also our purpose in marriage. Believe it or not, our purpose in marriage is not to be happy -- no more so than that being our purpose in life. Although it may happen, as you say.

Great blog, sorry I got off on that tangent there.

Posted 06/23/2009 08:06am
Author: savedbyegrace

Tangents are allowed

These verses in Ephesians are great verses to commit to memory so as to call upon them when feeling lost, bewildered or just plain depressed about life.

Thanks for your contributions.

B2Y

Posted 06/23/2009 08:25am
Author: blessings2you

If I may step in... Tangents are not allowed! It reminds me waaaaay to much of geometry! Oh the horrors!

(You know, cosine, sine, tangent...

) *cough* Never mind...

This is such an important message B2Y! Thanks for sharing it

Prayerfully,
Diva

Posted 06/23/2009 11:02am
Author: cowgirldiva

Thank you for this reminder. I didn't read it until this evening after a long conversation with God ... kind of a screaming fit really ... I asked for sign of what He wanted me to do, which I got ten minutes after I walked in the house and I asked for something to remind me of who I am, which I got as I logged onto the site and landed on this blog.

blessings,
erin

Posted 06/23/2009 08:49pm
Author: throughfaith

We dont realise it everyday, that words break down our spirit, human life is so precious that we get side tracked daily , we step out of his grace, i have to remember , that it is truly his words that build our inner hearts, these words are life changing even in the midst of trouble

We were born to be love,

In Gen God said , Let us make man in our image, after our likeness, these words are power filled for daily living, this means inside our wombs lies the character of God to be love, joy peace, patience , kindness, goodness, faithful gentlle and self controlled,

we have an enemy that desires to strip away what Jesus did for man, he gave back to us the ability to have his character to stand in the storms of life,

when our hearts desires to good , our flesh says no, so graces give us the courage to choose, that our very existance and purpose is to be like God, and that is love

This is hard in reality but if we think about it, if you can still smile, even a small one, we are alive, even if we have been through many troubles, have many unanswered questions, if we can smile and look in the mirror and say , i am love , his grace fills us up with his incredible love , on the days we feel confused or low, his word always finds away to bring out of the storm.

When Gods heart looks down upon his most precious created children, all he sees when he looks at you , is love. His love that is now planted inside of you, that what makes God so awsome, he is real when you are alone and troubled, he sees the small tear down your face, he hears the sigh of your heart, did you know this is the place were God is real, because inside of you , you just know you are not alone.

I came through words from the past that used to suck the life out of me, and send me into deep depression until Gods words taught me how to fight in the spirit, did you know that wvwry human being has in them a seed, something in them kicks in to stay alive, our real purpose is to be, just be who we are, and many are afraid, that they truly are just love.

Posted 06/26/2009 03:21am
Author: cheryl40

kbird singing... .

Praise God from whom all blessings flow
Praise him ye creatures here below
Praise him above ye heavenly hosts
Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost

Posted 06/26/2009 03:54am
Author: kiwibird

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