What on Earth am I Here For?
2 Cor. 4:16-5:1

Welcome to 40 Days of Purpose. Today, we’re going to look at three of life’s greatest questions: 1) The question of existence – why am I alive? 2) the question of significance – does my life matter? and 3) the question of intention – what is my purpose? 

During our time together this morning I hope to answer the first two and give a tantalizing introduction to the third. Hopefully.  

The first question, the “Question of Existence: Why am I alive?” is not exactly a new question. It has been asked for thousands of years.

In fact, all the way back in the Old Testament book of Jeremiah 20:18, Jeremiah’s asking God: “Why was I born? Was it only to have trouble and sorrow, to end my life in disgrace?”  

Now I imagine there’ve probably been times in your life when you felt that way, too. Was I born just to have a bunch of problems? Was I put on this planet just to have heartache, grief and stress?

If we have no clue why we’re alive, life can get pretty darn depressing.  Know what the answer is? I’ll give you a hint …it starts with the letters G.O.D.

Unfortunately, much of the world tries to figure it all out without God. For example: Survivalists conclude that the purpose of life is to live as long as possible. I've done enough visitations in nursing homes to know that long life, without purpose and companionship, is rarely a blessing.

The Hedonist believes the purpose of life is pleasure. But as the wise come to understand, many activities that bring momentary pleasure, often come with negative side effects in the long run.

The Materialist says "Life is about acquiring things." We’ve all seen the bumper sticker that proclaims "He who dies with the most toys wins." But we could add "The one who dies with the most toys still dies." And, as far as I can tell, you can't take it with you! 

None of these are very satisfying answers.

[SET UP AND INSERT SCENE ONE OF THE DRAMA)

Not a bad question. So, why are we alive? Why does God want us here? Why are we on this planet? Is there a reason? Proverbs 16:4 says, “The Lord has made everything for his own purpose (and that includes you and me).”

 We’re for HIS purpose. Actually, God has five purposes for our lives. In the next 40 days we’re going to look in detail at each of those five purposes. The five reasons God put you and me on this planet.

This morning, though, I just want us to see God’s motive. Ephesians 1:4 says, “Long before he laid down the Earth’s foundation, he had us in his mind and settled on us as the focus of his love to be made whole and holy by his love.”

Now if you don’t get anything else as we start these 40 days, I want you to understand this, God made you, to love you. You were created to be loved by God. We are alive to be loved and to love.

The second key question of life is the question of significance: Does my life matter? It’s been said that we go through life variously at one of three levels.

The most basic is the survival level. This is where many people find themselves today ... they put in their time and live for the weekend ... just surviving – that’s all that matters.

Or, as the Bee Gee's hit song years ago says, "Staying Alive." (I think I just dated myself!)

One step above the survival level is the success level. That’s where most people we know out in the world probably are – they don't want to just survive, they want to succeed at something ... it may not matter to them what!

They may accumulate the world's greatest collection of baseball cards. They may be like a classmate I once had who could stuff eight golf balls in his mouth... he was a success!

Or …they may even be the president of a large multi-national company … But sadly lots of these people are still empty inside.  Something’s missing.

The third level of living is the significance level. One achieves the significance level by knowing the meaning of life, knowing how much we matter to God, and knowing, and living out God's purposes for our life!

[SET UP AND INSERT SCENE TWO OF THE DRAMA]

So … is God playing games with us? Is God intentionally trying to confuse us? Does he keep us in the dark so we don’t know really why we’re here and what we’re here for and what our meaning is? Is that his plan? – No, not at all.

God wants you to know how much you matter to him. God wants you to know the meaning of life. He wants you to know his purposes. And if you just stay with us for the next 40 days, that’s exactly what we’re going to talk about. You see God has extremely long-range plans for you.

In Psalm 139:13 we read "It was you (God) who formed my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother's womb."  The knowledge that we aren't just the result of a biological occurrence, but were created and known by God, gives each life significance!

And in God’s plan, we are to exist forever! Psalm 33:11 tells us God's "plans endure forever; his purposes last eternally." If we are to exist forever, then our lives have eternal significance!

Each of us may get to live 60, 70, 80, or 90 years or more. But that’s just a drop in the bucket compared to eternity. It’s like if you stretched out a line from San Jose to Tokyo, across the Pacific Ocean.

The first millimeter of that line would not even equal how tiny your life is compared to all the time you’re going to spend in eternity. This life is just a prelude to what God has in store for us.

God’s plans and purposes for us don't end at death. Our body will one day give out, but we are far more than a body. We were made to be loved by God, and we were made to last forever! Isn’t that cool?

Okay, the question of existence: “why am I alive?” is answered by God saying "I made you to love you, that's why you're alive." The question of significance: "Does my life matter?" is answered by God: "Oh yes! You matter so much to me; I plan to keep you around for eternity!"

Now, how about the third question. If you were created by an all-powerful God - and you were! And if your life matters to an all-loving God - and it does! Then the question that naturally follows is: what is my purpose?

Bertrand Russell, the famous skeptic and atheist philosopher, was honest enough to say, "Unless you assume the existence of God, the question of life's meaning and purpose is irrelevant."

If there is no God. If you are just part of the naturalistic order of things, no better than a microbe, then your life really doesn't matter. But there is a purpose, because there is a God.

That means, if we want to know what our purpose is, then we had better seek God out.

(SET UP AND INSERT SCENE THREE OF THE DRAMA)

          Now, in that sketch, Steve did two things right – 1) he went to the Bible; 2) he actually started with the right verse – the very first verse in the bible: Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning, God created.”       

God created the heavens and the earth AND each of us. It all starts with God, it continues with God, it ends with God.

Proverbs 9:10 says, “Knowing God results in every other kind of understanding.” You want to understand the meaning of life? You want to understand your purpose of life?

You find your purpose by getting to know God. The more you get to know God, the more you’re going to understand the ways and the wisdom of God and the more you’re going to understand the meaning and purpose of life.

That’s why we’re going to take 40 days to look at God’s purposes for you.

In your bulletin there should be a 40 Days of Purpose card. Would you take this out? Now this is a different kind of card, because you’re not going to turn this card in. In a moment I’m going to invite you to sign this card and after the service is over, take it home.

Let’s look at this card together.  It says: Believing that God created me for his purposes and that the best use of my life is to fulfill those purposes, I commit the next 40 days to better understanding of God’s five purposes for me.

·                                I will participate in a 40 days of Purpose small group.  We have ten small groups, many meeting on different days of the week. If you’re not in one, it’s not too late. Look for Ken or myself out on the courtyard after the service and we will get you all signed up.

·                                I will read each day’s chapter from The Purpose Driven Life book. Everybody gets a free copy of the book – if you don’t have one – we’ll give you one this morning.    I want to suggest that you schedule a daily appointment to sit down and read it. Either in the morning, at lunch. I don’t care when you do it. Schedule it and do it every day for the next 40 days. It will only take you about 15 minutes a day.

·                    I will do my best to hear all seven messages in this series, The Purpose Driven Life. You’ve already heard the first one.  It’s great if you can be here each Sunday – but if something prevents you from doing that, our messages will be found on our church web site. The value of our sermons is that what we will be saying on Sunday will set up what you’re going to be studying during the week following. So what we’re talking about today, you’re going to be studying in more detail this week.

If you add up the time it will take you to do all those things – and if in doing them you read really slow and worship goes long and your small group just won’t stop talking - it would still be less than 48 hours total.

So here’s my question – is the rest of your life and is all of the rest of your eternity worth 48 hours of your time, over the next six weeks? I hope so.

I want to ask you to sign this card and then I want you to take it home, and I want you to put it up on your refrigerator to remind you. Or on your bathroom mirror or any place you will see it on a daily basis.

Now I realize that all of us here tonight are at different stages in our spiritual journey. That is okay. We’re all going to go through this journey together, no matter what stage we are in.

Whether you are new to “church” or have been attending for years; whether you know your bible inside and out or are not sure the difference between the New and Old Testament - regardless of where you are in your spiritual journey, you are welcome.

During these 40 Days, it doesn't matter where you are or who you are because it's not about you, it's about God.

Andbelieve me, God wants you to know him better, he wants you to know your purpose, and he wants you to know how much you are loved.  May the next 40 days help us discover just that.

Amen.