Theology Thursday: God, What’s the Point?

At some point in our lives, each of us have likely asked God, "What's the point?" Asking this question drives us beyond the surface of life into the depths of our short, though significant, journey on earth. Yet, to understand God's point in our circumstances, we must go beyond our initial perspectives and feelings.

Our emotions and the circumstances we face often hinder our ability to see our larger purpose. This reality is clearly stated, "For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:10, NIV).

As we plow the untamed ground of our human existence and purpose, we see from the Bible that we are designed to flourish in God’s presence. This is an identity beyond any label the world can give us. It is an unexplainable intimacy and interest with the God of the universe who cares about each of us at this moment, in this specific situation. God is working beyond what we can see for His glory to be manifested in our lives. This identity in Christ is the answer to the question of the point of it all.

To fully comprehend this, we must first understand that, as stated above, we are the handiwork or creation of God. If He made us, we are His. Not as a property to be possessed, but as an intentional creation to be cherished. The Bible tells us, “Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are His; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture” (Psalms 100:3, NIV).

As his cherished creation, we have a sense of security that is the foundation of comprehending our identity in Christ and who we are. Though our minds may be veiled from comprehending the full implications of this, it gives a frame of reference in which to begin processing our roles. We are God's gift for this moment in time to the world.

To acknowledge our creation with no purpose or responsibility is to miss the point of being a cherished creation. God never intended His creation to launch out on their own separate from Him. That was the attitude that perverted our free will into the broken world we see today because of the ugly propensity of our fallen nature to sin.

The plan is simple. God made us for intimate interaction and involvement every day. We establish a secure identity in Christ. We have the promise and protection of a God that created us to love us and so that we may bring Him glory. Every day we make volitional decisions of how much we allow this relationship to blossom or stagnate. Every temptation is another opportunity to choose to either run into his arms of security and strength or embrace the poison of relegating our created purpose to sinful behaviors.

One of the greatest risks of God’s fullness of love was to give His cherished creation free will. He made us, gave us giftings and talents, and He sustains our lives and lets us make the decisions from there. God gave us his Holy Spirit as our counselor, comforter and even as one who convicts to remind us when we cross the line of his permissive will beyond his created desire. How we invest our created energies through our free will is a statement of how we love God.

If we ask God our original question, the point is to love us and be with us (as much as we will allow Him to be). This year we will be looking at many facets of how we flourish as we live out our purpose to glorify God. This will strengthen our understanding of our Creator, God, and how much He loves and cares for us.

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