“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” (John 10:27)
© Brian Labosier June 6, 2022
1. What Is Life All About?
Have you ever asked yourself, what is the meaning and purpose of life? In answering that question, many plead ignorance, conclude they are essentially clueless, and then muddle through life as best they can. Others are more reflective and proactive. They believe we can discover the true meaning of life through our own resources by using one or more of the following strategies.
One strategy is depending on our own understanding as if our human minds alone are sufficient to puzzle out the mysteries of life. We can find this approach to life as early as the Fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden when Eve “saw that the [forbidden] tree … was to be desired to make one wise” (Genesis 3:6, italics added). This approach also shows itself down through history, especially in the Renaissance and the Enlightenment, as well as in such later philosophical schools as Rationalism, and more recently twentieth-century Modernism.
A second, but related approach, focuses especially on what we can see and experience for ourselves. Again, the appeal of acquiring knowledge through our physical senses dates back to our first forefathers in the Garden of Eden. Eve is also described as someone who “saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes” (Genesis 3:6, italics added). This variation of depending on ourselves was also advanced by both the Renaissance and the Enlightenment, and shows itself in such philosophical movements as Empiricism and the development of Modern Science.
A third general approach focuses more on our own feelings, emotions, and intuitive insights. Perhaps the phrase that best anticipates this approach in the original temptation story is that the fruit was “to be desired to make one wise” (Genesis 3:6, italics added). Perhaps the philosophical school of Romanticism best captures this approach to life, although it later shows itself in such diverse venues as the Woodstock Rock Festival of 1969 and the current cultural focus on being true to one’s own inner self.
A fourth major approach focuses especially on the human will. Meaning and purpose in life are seen as taking place only as one deliberately exercises one’s own personal willpower. Again, this was anticipated in the Garden of Eden when Eve “took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her” (Genesis 3:6). This act of choosing to take matters into one’s one hands is perhaps best illustrated by twentieth-century Existentialism, although it is just as prevalent in today’s world with its focus on the self and its ability to recreate one’s own appearance, personality and even such things as one’s sexuality and gender.
More recently, Postmodernism has concluded that no one size fits all. Rather, each of us is unique, and consequently, we need to discover our own personal sense of meaning and purpose in life. All of this has produced what Carl R. Trueman has described as expressive individualism in his recent book, The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self (Crossway, 2020). His book title says it all: people are increasingly focused in on themselves and their own perceptions of life. But is this modern sense of self and its personal pursuits and pleasures really all there is to life?
The God of the Bible provides a very different answer. Life has a God-given purpose. The ultimate goal and purpose of life, God tells us, is knowing Him as the greatest and best of beings. There is nothing greater or more life-changing than an encounter with the true and living God. J. I. Packer describes it this way in Knowing God (InterVarsity, 1973, 29 and dust jacket):
“What were we made for? To know God.
What aim should we set ourselves in life? To know God.
What is ‘eternal life’ that Jesus gives? Knowledge of God….
What is the best thing in life, bringing more joy, delight, and contentment than anything else?
Knowledge of God….
What, of all the states that God ever sees man in, gives Him most pleasure?
Knowledge of Himself.”
J. I. Packer also reminds us that knowing things (factual knowledge) is simpler and different from knowing people (relational knowledge). Since God is a Person, knowing Him involves a personal relationship of communion or fellowship with Him. This is very different from merely knowing some theological truths about Him. God is a Person—and this means that knowing Him requires knowing Him as a Person.
The good news is that God tells us knowing Him is possible. Even though we are very different from God, He has made us in such a way—namely, in His own image and likeness (Genesis 1:26)—that He can relate personally with us, and we with Him. Thus, it is possible for us to know God in the deepest sense of that expression—not exhaustively to be sure, but knowing Him truly all the same. He promises us we can become His covenant people and He our covenant God: “I will walk among you and will be your God, and you shall be my people” (Leviticus 26:12). Since God originally created us specifically for a personal relationship with Himself, it is not surprising that this relationship with God meets our deepest needs and allows us to discover a whole new meaning and purpose in life.
The biblical concept of covenant also reminds us that there is both an objective reality to knowing God and a subjective reality. The Puritans have helped us think through this relationship between these two realities through the language of our union and communion with God. Our union with Christ is a foundational objective reality for all believers and refers to that once-for-all event of God bringing us into a saving relationship with Himself as our Heavenly Father through Christ, while our communion with Him is an ongoing subjective experience and refers to our feelings of perceived closeness to God as our Father and Christ as our Lord and Savior that varies throughout life. God’s covenant with His people gives us great hope and confidence in God, but still our awareness of these covenant promises varies from day to day throughout all the ups and downs of life. The challenge for us is to remain firmly rooted in the covenant promises of knowing God. We begin the Christian life of knowing God by faith, and we need to continue to live the rest of our lives through faith in Him.
Strangely, much of present-day Evangelicalism has little real interest in God or knowing Him personally. Many self-described Christians are often more preoccupied with themselves and what they will receive: feelings of peace and contentment, material blessings in this life, and a guaranteed home in heaven for all eternity. The danger here is that the gifts of salvation can easily become more important than the Giver of these gifts. There is a character in John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress named Gullible who illustrates this temptation. Gullible was all excited—for a time at least—about such biblical promises as one day seeing heavenly streets of gold and the thought of no more pains or sorrows. The problem was that he had no real relationship with God, and not surprisingly, his apparent interest in God soon evaporated. What we see in Bunyan’s character Gullible is simply an early form of the health-and-wealth gospel where one pursues God selfishly for the gifts he or she will receive from God. Sadly, many people, like Gullible, demonstrate an appearance of spiritual interest, but no living relationship with God. At best, they have a carnal or self-centered interest in God.
A deliberate focus on knowing God helps remind us that God is a Person—not simply a source of blessings we can receive—and that actually knowing Him makes all the difference between life and death, between eternal joy and unending regret, between walking in the light versus remaining in the darkness.
Pause and Reflect
(1) Do you find yourself more naturally guided in life by:
- what makes sense to you intellectually,
- your feelings and emotions,
- your desires and what seems right, or
- your knowledge of God and His Word?
(2) In one sense there is a certain logic in seeking to discover truth through such means as our minds, wills, and emotions. This is how God has made us. We shouldn’t be ashamed of these gifts from God. The problem is that these human resources are both finite and flawed. In other words, they are both limited in power, and ever since the temptation of Adam and Eve in the Garden, they no longer function accurately. This is why we need outside help from God in order to make sense of life.
(3) We are all in process spiritually. Where do you see yourself in your relationship with God?
(4) If knowing God is the key purpose of your life, how should this pursuit impact how you live the rest of your life?