Rev. Aaron Long: Why are we here?

Why are we here?  Why do we exist?  What is our purpose?  Most people today are completely focused on either doing mundane things like work, kids, or family, or they are totally consumed with useless entertainments whether it be TikTok or YouTube or Facebook or some other form of social media.  We just let our minds go blank in the morass of modern culture and forget there are more important things in life.

We were built for more than mindless activities.  We were built to serve God; we were built with a purpose.  Why are we here?  We are here because God wanted us to be.  God in Trinity is self-sufficient, He doesn’t need anything beyond Himself, therefore, the fact that we are here means He wanted us to be here.  God made us to serve Him, glorify Him, and enjoy Him forever. 

So, if our purpose, the reason for our existence is to serve God, glorify God, and enjoy Him forever, how does this play out?  Well, lets start off with how we are to serve God.  In the book of Genesis God gives Adam and Eve three commands, to tend the garden and keep it, to reproduce and multiply, and to obey His commandments (not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil), and these commands haven’t changed till this day. 

We are to work, to be productive.  To do something with our life is a way of serving God.  I am not talking about just making money, or doing busy work, I mean work that makes a difference in your world.  When you work for the church and in the church, you are making a difference.  Same as in your day-to-day job.  Even the most mundane jobs out there serve to make the world a better place.  As we work, we join with God in His greater plan, we enter into the work of God Himself.

We are to reproduce.  This can and does mean having children but it also means going out and spreading the faith. The church is always one generation from dying out.  We are called to evangelize, to tell people about Jesus.  We are called to educate, to teach people the Christian faith and guide and lead them down the paths they should be walking.  We are called to empower people in their specific ministries, to help people go out and walk the Christian walk that God made them to walk.

We are called to obey His commandments.  Stop thinking that God just wants to put rules onus to punish us.  Think back to your own parents, if they told you not to touch the hot stove were they doing that to be mean?  No, they were doing it to protect you.  When God says not to do something its because He is protecting you.

Why do we exist?  Because God loves us, because Jesus wants us to live our lives to the fullest, because the Holy Spirit has a plan and a purpose for us.  Life is not meaningless, it isn’t empty.  It is full and great and should be dedicated to glorifying God and enjoying Him forever.