What’s the Point of Life?

Being human means that all of us will sooner or later ask ourselves fundamental existential questions: Who am I? Why am I here? What is my purpose? Why does my life matter? Whether we’re a teenager wondering how we fit in with our peers, a college student agonizing over choosing a major and future career, or a middle-aged adult wondering how our life ended up being so different from what we imagined for ourselves, this question of “What’s the point of life?” has perennial relevance, often revisiting us in fresh ways at different seasons and stages of life.

Consider for a moment how tragic it would be if there were no answer to this question. If that were the case, then there wouldn’t be any point of life at all. We wouldn’t have a purpose, our choices wouldn’t matter, and everything would ultimately be futile. The nothingness of nihilism would cast a dark shadow over our lives and our world.

Yet it’s equally tragic to incorrectly answer the question. All around us, we see the various ways that individuals and societies seek to answer this question. While we may not even be consciously aware of the ruling motivations and desires of our hearts, what we believe to be the point of life will always show itself in our values, priorities, and pursuits. People answer this question of the point of life in myriad ways: love, power, success, happiness, marriage, children, career, fame, achievement, status, relationships, popularity, beauty, adventure, wealth, ease, or even the noble sounding “making the world a better place.”

And while none of these things are inherently bad, none of them is the right answer to our question of “What’s the point of life?” because none of them rises above the horizontal plane of earthly existence, the material world before our eyes, and the sum and substance of our own thoughts and desires. Despite those who argue that there is no God and that the universe and all it contains somehow developed from nothing to everything, the truth is that human beings are creatures. We are created by God, and therefore dependent on revelation (or communication) from Him to know who we are, why we exist, why the world exists, and what the point of life is.

God “speaks” to all people through creation and conscience, but He speaks most fully through His written Word, the Bible. It is only here that the perplexing question “What’s the point of life?” can be rightly answered. For example, Romans 11:36 shows us that God is the source, means, and end of all things when it says: “For from [God] and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever” (emphasis added). Because of this truth, it logically follows that the response of mankind should be to glorify God. The Apostle Paul explicitly says to believers: “You were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body” (1 Cor. 6:20). Later in the same letter, he makes the sweeping statement, “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Cor. 10:31). In work or in leisure, in good times or in bad, in youth or in old age, on weekdays or on weekends, in ministry or in the mundane, the point of life as a human being is to glorify our Creator, who is also Redeemer and Savior of those who place their faith in Christ alone for salvation.

This purpose of glorifying and enjoying the one true God is seen not only in the New Testament but in the Old Testament as well. After twelve chapters of meditations on the vanity and brevity of life under the sun, the book of Ecclesiastes concludes, “The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man” (Eccl. 12:13). Here, fearing God and keeping His commandments is simply another way to communicate what it means to glorify God and walk in joyful fellowship with Him.

Such living on earth is a preview and foretaste of what God’s people will be doing for all eternity in the new heavens and new earth. In Revelation 4:11, we see the twenty-four elders worshiping God, saying,

Worthy are you, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they existed and were created.

With so much of Scripture emphasizing God’s glory as mankind’s purpose, it’s no wonder that when the first question of the Westminster Shorter Catechism asks, “What is the chief end of man?” it answers, “Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.” Glorifying God is not an oppressive burden or begrudging service that we offer to Him, nor is it disconnected from a loving personal relationship with Him. Rather, glorifying God is the genuine desire that arises from a regenerate heart to draw near to our covenant-making God in fellowship, to walk in ways that are pleasing to Him, to praise and thank Him for His glorious character and works, to learn more about Him through His Word, and to proclaim His excellencies to the world.

In a fast-paced modern world, it can be easy to lose sight of our purpose to glorify and enjoy God amid long to-do lists, work meetings, family obligations, errand-running, and a million other things. But glorifying and enjoying God isn’t just a “spiritual” task we seek to do after we’ve completed all our earthly responsibilities for the day. Rather, we must guard against the temptation to lose sight of this purpose while engaged in the ordinary things that fill our day: the doctor’s appointment, soccer game, lunch, oil change, meeting, laundry, or school assignment.

Glorifying and enjoying God is what we were made to do, and as we do so, we fulfill our highest purpose in life and experience our greatest joy because it draws us close to the triune God, for whom we were created.