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Why Do We Exist?

Why Do We Exist?

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One of the big questions of life is “Why do we exist?” Whether we know God or not, most of us will ask this question at some time in our lives. God created us as curious beings. We love to know how things work. Young children instinctively and frequently ask the question “Why?”, and in different ways, we never outgrow this desire to understand.

For many, this question of why we exist remains unanswered. For us as followers of Christ, God so lovingly speaks into this through His precious Word. Let’s look at a scripture in Jeremiah which gives us some insights into why we exist.

Jeremiah 1:4-5 (NIV) The word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”

We exist because we were conceived in the mind of God.

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you…”

The Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit live eternally in perfect harmony and unity. They love each other’s company. And this is what makes our existence even more special. Our starting point was in the desire and the design of God. We exist because God wants us to exist! God did not need to create us in order to complete Himself – He created us because He wanted to share His love and enjoy relationship with us.

The truth is, before we were naturally conceived, we were conceived in the mind of God. He knew us before our parents conceived us. The word ‘knew’ in this Scripture means to know; to ascertain by seeing. God saw us before there was anything to see!

This impossible reality points to the eternal nature of God. This also makes clear our value to God and His overwhelmingly wonderful heart for us as humans. He desired us as His children and to be part of His family.

We were created by the will of God.

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you…”

God saw us in the realm of the spirit before He formed us in the natural realm. The word ‘formed’ means to mold into a form, especially as a potter, to determine.

There are no accidents in God – there are only masterfully created designs! God did not make a mistake in how He made us. Remember, God saw us before He formed us, and He formed us exactly as He saw us. You were created just as you should be.

Psalms 139:13-16 (NIV) For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

David declared that God saw his unformed body. Before there was anything, God saw everything. This is true for every one of us. God saw us, then God formed us.

We are called by the will of God.

“…before you were born I set you apart…”

We were not called by God as an afterthought. We were called by God before we were conceived or born!

Throughout the Bible, we read that God called people by name. He did this with Adam and Eve, with Moses, with Samuel, and with the disciples. He still does this today, and He has done it with you.

John 15:16 (NIV) You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.

Think of a school yard pick to choose teams for sports. Two captains are chosen, and then with each taking turns, they choose who they want on their team. God Almighty chose you! This choosing is your calling by God to Himself. Our significance is not primarily in what we are called to do for God, but in the truth that we are called by name to be His child and His friend.

We exist because we are commissioned to work with God.

“…I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”

God doesn’t exist to help us in our work. We exist to help God in His work!

Jesus exemplified this continually throughout His life and ministry. He only did what He saw His Father doing, and He was led and anointed by the Holy Spirit. Jesus lived on mission, and He was about His Father’s business.

Our lives are to look the same.

“I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last.”

God has placed within us all that we need for Him to be seen through us. Every gift and ability, every talent and nuance of our lives is given to be used in the work of God. From the Genesis of time, we were created to take care of what God owns. Adam and Eve looked after and worked the garden that God placed them in and called them to steward on His behalf. You and I also are placed on this earth to work with God in what He is doing.

Why do we exist? We exist by the will of God, for relationship with God, and for the glory of God.

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Beyond Understanding

Beyond Understanding

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As human beings, we are naturally curious. We like to know things and understand them. But is our ability to understand everything essential for spiritual growth and the development of spiritual gifts? No. In fact, a sign of spiritual maturity is an acceptance that there will always be things that are beyond our understanding.

Job 36:26 (NIV) How great is God—beyond our understanding! The number of his years is past finding out.

A willingness to not understand is a sign of humility.

God knows everything, we do not. It’s good to remember that Gods ways and His thoughts are so much higher than ours (Isaiah 55:8-9). It’s also good to not think of ourselves more highly than we ought (Romans 12:3). Humility is more necessary for spiritual growth than understanding is.

Humility is equally required in our spiritual gifts. Even when Father reveals something to us, we only get a part of the picture or story.

1 Corinthians 13:9 (NIV) For we know in part and we prophesy in part.

A willingness to not understand is a sign of trust. 

Proverbs 3:5 (NIV) Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.

Completely understanding something often eliminates the need for having to trust in someone. God wants us to trust in Him completely, yet too often our greater trust can be in our ability to understand something.

When it comes to receiving a prophetic word from God for someone, we don’t always understand what it means. This can be a scary step of faith, because if we had a little more understanding, we could be a bit more confident. But the truth is, these are the very times when our trust in God is to be greater than our trust in our understanding.

If there is an item of technology that you completely understand and you know from experience it works, your confidence is in the item. However, if you don’t understand an item and you don’t know if it works, your trust in it is connected to who tells you about it. If you trust the person, you can trust the item.

When God speaks, we can trust Him completely. If we don’t understand what He says, we can still trust in Him because He is always trustworthy.

A willingness to not understand keeps us from distraction.

Many people have spent many hours trying to understand something. While understanding in and of itself is not a wrong pursuit, the problem is when the time given and the thing pursued is taking you away from time with Father and what He wants to show you.

When the disciples asked Jesus about the times and seasons, He redirected them to His present commission to be His witnesses (Acts 1:6-8). If the disciples had stayed focused on what they wanted to understand, they would have been off track with what Jesus was initiating.

It’s important to note that the disciples weren’t asking a question about something grievous to God. The question itself and the desire to understand the times and seasons was not wrong, but it was not Jesus’ focus at that moment. Their ability to move beyond understanding did not distract them from the powerful day of Pentecost and the birth of the early Church.

A willingness to not understand is an invitation into deeper intimacy.

Ephesians 1:17 (NIV) I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.

When it comes to knowing God and walking with God, there will always be an element of mystery. There is both the reality that God is infinitely larger than our natural minds can ever comprehend, and the invitation to search for Him more intimately.

Jeremiah 29:13 (NIV) You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

Finding God on deeper levels is not connected to natural understanding but to divine wisdom and revelation. This is about finding God in our heart and our spirit, not just in our minds. It is knowing Him as Abba Father. There is something beautiful about knowing someone, and because of what you know, your desire to know and love them further grows stronger over time.

A willingness to not understand is an invitation into deeper peace.

Philippians 4:6-7 NIV Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

We often bring our requests to God because we do not understand something. Our way of doing things would be for God to give us the understanding to our requests and that peace would be the result of understanding. But this is so often not God’s way and it is for a very good reason.

If understanding is the ultimate goal of our prayers and it is the guaranteed outcome, our peace is attached to our understanding. But when we are growing deeper in intimacy with the One who loves us unconditionally and completely, our peace is found in Him and it is experienced even deeper in the absence of understanding.

Beyond Understanding

Job 37:5 (NIV) God’s voice thunders in marvelous ways; he does great things beyond our understanding.

We should desire to know God better and to understand His ways more. But this understanding is a spiritual revelation from the Holy Spirit, not an accumulation of facts from studying books or from life experience.

So as we lean into God more and desire what is on His heart for us and for others through us, we are called to be faith-filled people who have a confidence in God and a willingness to live beyond our understanding.