Why Are We Here?

What is the meaning of life?

TO THE often-asked questions above, many would add another: Can we look forward to anything more than simply living out a brief span of 70 or 80 years and then dying?​—Psalm 90:9, 10.

Perhaps at no other time do we raise such questions as intensely as when we sense how brief our life span really is. Of course, we do not need to be going through a life-threatening crisis to ask why we are here. Disillusionment can trigger the question as well. And some ask it as they reflect on their life pattern.

Dave had a well-paying job and a nice apartment, and he enjoyed spending time with his many friends. He relates: “I was walking home from a party late one night when the question hit me ‘Is this it?​—Will I only live a brief period of time and then die? Or is there something more?’ What struck me was the hollowness of my life at the time.”

In his book Man’s Search for Meaning, Viktor Frankl noted that some of his fellow Holocaust survivors faced such a question after their release from concentration camps. Upon returning home, some of them found that their loved ones had perished. Frankl wrote: “Woe to him who, when the day of his dreams finally came, found it so different from all he had longed for!”

Those Who Raise the Question

The question of why we are here is common to all generations. The Bible describes people who questioned the purpose of their life. The man Job, after losing his wealth and his children and while enduring excruciating illness, asked: “Why from the womb did I not proceed to die? Why did I not come forth from the belly itself and then expire?”​—Job 3:11.

The prophet Elijah felt similarly. While feeling alone as a worshipper of God, he lamented: “It is enough! Now, O Jehovah, take my soul away.” (1 Kings 19:4) Such a sentiment is all too familiar. Indeed, the Bible describes Elijah as “a man with feelings like ours.”​—James 5:17.

A Successful Trip Through Life

Life is often compared to a journey. Just as you may begin a trip with no final destination in mind, you could live your life without identifying its real purpose. If you do so, you risk getting caught up in what well-known writer Stephen R. Covey calls “the busy-ness of life.” He wrote about those who “find themselves achieving victories that are empty, successes that have come at the expense of things they suddenly realize were far more valuable to them.”

Would you not agree that increasing our speed on a trip is pointless if we are not heading in the right direction? Likewise, looking for meaning in life by simply increasing our “busy-ness” will bring only emptiness, not true fulfillment.

The quest to understand why we are here transcends cultural and age differences. It stems from a profound need that we all have, a spiritual one that can remain unsatisfied even after our material needs have been met. Consider how some have tried to fill this need in their search for the purpose of life.

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Looking for meaning in life simply by increasing our “busy-ness” will bring only emptiness, not true fulfillment

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Job questioned why he had been born

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Elijah had “feelings like ours”

Where Can You Find Answers?

ONE goal of religion is to teach the purpose of life. Many people, however, have found that their spiritual needs have been unfulfilled by the teachings of their religion. Denise, who was raised as a Catholic, recalls: “The Baltimore Catechism includes the question, ‘Why did God make us?’ with the answer, ‘God made us to show forth His goodness and to share with us His everlasting happiness in heaven.’

“That didn’t provide a clear reason for why I am here,” Denise continued. “If I’m only waiting to go to heaven, what am I supposed to be doing in the meantime?” Denise’s experience is not unusual. One survey found that two thirds of those interviewed believe that most churches and synagogues are not effective in helping people find a meaning in life.

As a result, many turn elsewhere to find answers​—to science or various forms of philosophy identified by such labels as humanism, nihilism, and existentialism. Why do people keep seeking, although few seem to realize satisfaction?

Inherently Spiritual

Dr. Kevin S. Seybold calls it “the seemingly universal tendency of humans to worship something.” In recent years a number of scientists have reached the conclusion that humans are, in fact, inherently inclined to look for a deeper meaning in life. Some actually believe that genetic and other physiological evidence points to a natural need for humans to connect with a higher power.

While the concept of spirituality is debated in academic circles, most people do not need a scientific consensus to believe that humans have a spiritual need. It is our spirituality that triggers in our mind what some call ultimate questions: Why are we here? What should we do with our lives? Are we accountable to an all-powerful Creator?

If you make time for careful observation of the natural world, you will find some of the answers to these questions. For instance, consider the mind-boggling complexities found in nature, from unicellular organisms to galactic clusters millions of light years away. Do they not tell us that there is an intelligent Designer, or Creator? The Bible says: “For [God’s] invisible qualities are clearly seen from the world’s creation onward, because they are perceived by the things made, even his eternal power and Godship, so that they are inexcusable.”​—Romans 1:20.

Satisfy Your Spiritual Need

Regarding the way God made humans, the Bible says: “He has even put eternity into their minds.” (Ecclesiastes 3:11, Byington) Our inborn desire is to live, not to die. Our inherent quest is to know the meaning of life, to want answers to questions.

Seeking answers is, in effect, part of being human. After noting man’s scientific and technological achievements, an editor of The Wall Street Journal wrote: “We are still left with questions of who we are and why we are and where we are going.” Wisely, we will look for answers from the best source. Pointing to that Source, the Bible says: “[God] has made us, and not we ourselves.”​—Psalm 100:3.

Is it not reasonable that we look to the One responsible for such miracles of creation to satisfy our spiritual need? Jesus Christ recommended that we do just that. He recognized that only the Source of life​—our Creator—​can satisfy our spiritual need.​—Psalm 36:5, 9; Matthew 5:3, 6.

Surely, having a reliable answer to the question Why are we here? is vital to having our spiritual need satisfied. Please consider the refreshing viewpoint of our Creator on this matter.

Why We Are Here

THE Bible reveals that our Creator, Jehovah God, never acts without purpose. Consider, as an example, his provision of earth’s water cycle, which makes life on earth possible. The Bible describes it in this poetic, yet accurate, way: “All streams flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full. To the place the streams come from, there they return again.”​—Ecclesiastes 1:7, New International Version.

The Bible compares the reliability of God’s promises to the cycle just described. As we know today, the sun’s power causes water to evaporate from the oceans, seas, and lakes, and later it is returned to earth as precipitation. Jehovah calls attention to this cycle and explains: “So my word that goes forth from my mouth will prove to be. It will not return to me without results, but it will certainly do that in which I have delighted, and it will have certain success in that for which I have sent it.”​—Isaiah 55:10, 11.

Clean water is returned to earth from the clouds to make life possible on earth. Similarly, the “word that goes forth from [God’s] mouth” is able to sustain our spiritual lives. It is as Jesus Christ himself explained: “Man must live, not on bread alone, but on every utterance coming forth through Jehovah’s mouth.”​—Matthew 4:4.

Partaking of spiritual food from God makes it possible for us to conform our lives to his purpose. Yet, before we can do that, we need to understand what God’s purpose is. Why, for example, did God create the earth? And how does his purpose regarding it affect us? Let us see.

God’s Purpose for the Earth

Because God wants the best for humankind, he placed the first man and woman, Adam and Eve, in Eden, a paradise garden. He then instructed them to have children, saying: “Be fruitful and become many and fill the earth and subdue it, and have in subjection the fish of the sea and the flying creatures of the heavens and every living creature that is moving upon the earth.”​—Genesis 1:26-28; 2:8, 9, 15.

What conclusion can we draw from these instructions? Isn’t it clear that God wanted the whole earth to be cultivated into a paradise home for mankind? His Word says: “As regards the heavens, to Jehovah the heavens belong, but the earth he has given to the sons of men.”​—Psalm 115:16.

Yet, for humans to realize the fulfillment of God’s purpose that they enjoy the earth forever, they would need to honor Jehovah by obeying him. But did Adam do that? No, he sinned by disobeying God. With what consequence? All of Adam’s offspring, including all of us today, have inherited sin and death, just as the Bible says: “Through one man sin entered into the world and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men because they had all sinned.”​—Romans 5:12.

As a result, all humans are subject to death and earth has not yet been cultivated into an earth-wide paradise. Could it be, then, that God’s purpose for earth has changed?

No, for recall that God said: “My word that goes forth from my mouth . . . will not return to me without results” but “will have certain success in that for which I have sent it.” Moreover, God promised: “Everything that is my delight I shall do.” (Isaiah 45:18; 46:10; 55:11) And it is God’s delight​—his purpose—​that this earth become an earth-wide paradise populated with humans serving him forever in happiness, as he originally purposed.​—Psalm 37:29; Isaiah 35:5, 6; 65:21-24; Revelation 21:3, 4.

God’s Purpose Fulfilled​—How?

Jehovah manifested his unsurpassed wisdom and love in making provision for humans to be rescued from inherited sin and its consequences​—imperfection and ultimate death. He did this by making possible the birth of a son who would be free of the sin that all others have inherited from the first man, Adam. This provision is called a ransom, which was provided so that worthy humans could receive everlasting life. (Matthew 20:28; Ephesians 1:7; 1 Timothy 2:5, 6) How was the ransom provided?

Jehovah’s angel Gabriel announced to a virgin woman named Mary her approaching miraculous childbirth, describing how the child would be born to her even though she was “having no intercourse with a man.” The miracle that God performed was that of transferring the life of his firstborn Son from his position in heaven to an egg cell within Mary’s womb. She thus became pregnant through the operation of God’s holy spirit.​—Luke 1:26-35.

Jesus was born about nine months later as a perfect human, comparable to the first man, Adam. In time, he was able to give his perfect human life in a sacrificial death. By so doing, Jesus served as ‘the second Adam’ and thereby provided the basis for all those faithful to God to be ransomed from sin and death.​—1 Corinthians 15:45, 47.

Surely we should be moved by this great love that God has manifested for us! As the Bible says, “God loved the world so much that he gave his only-begotten Son, in order that everyone exercising faith in him might not be destroyed but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16) The question is, How will we respond to God’s love? Should it not be with appreciation for his gift? Consider examples of some who have such appreciation.

Enjoying Meaning in Our Lives

Denise, mentioned in the previous article, found that honoring God by heeding his laws and instructions gave her life focus and meaning. She relates: “I learned from the Bible that besides having a long-range purpose for mankind, God has a specific work for those who worship him. I can’t imagine a more satisfying life than using the free will he has given me to praise him by living in harmony with his purpose.”

We can do similarly by learning what God’s will is and then doing it. True, we need yet to realize fully the application of the ransom sacrifice, which will make possible our enjoying human perfection in a new world of righteousness. But in the meantime, it is urgent that we satisfy the spiritual yearning that God has placed in each of us.

Dave, referred to in the first article of this series, is one who has had his spiritual hunger satisfied. He found answers to his questions about the meaning of life. “Looking back,” he says, “I see my life before learning about God’s purpose as a series of fruitless endeavors. I didn’t know it at the time, but the hollowness I felt was actually an unfilled spiritual need. I never have that feeling now. I understand why I’m here and what I should be doing with my life.”

Yes, unlike the thoughts of imperfect men, God’s view of the meaning of life as presented in the Bible is truly satisfying. We are here because of Jehovah’s purpose in making us​—that we may praise his name, have a good relationship with him, and thus satisfy our spiritual need. Both today and for all eternity, we can enjoy the fulfillment of the inspired proclamation: “Happy is the people whose God is Jehovah!”​—Psalm 144:15.

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THE PROBLEM OF SUFFERING

Suffering has been called one of the greatest challenges to understanding why we are here. Viktor Frankl stated: “If there is a meaning in life at all, then there must be a meaning in suffering. Suffering is an ineradicable part of life, even as fate and death.”

The Bible explains the reason for suffering and death. God is not responsible. Rather, these are the consequences of the first human couple’s disastrous decision to set the course of their lives independent of their Creator. This sinful tendency has been inherited by all their descendants and is the root cause of human suffering.

Although understanding why we are here does not solve all of life’s problems, it does provide a basis for coping with them. Also, we are given a hope for the future, a time when suffering and death will be eradicated forever by God.

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The Bible compares the reliability of God’s promises to the marvelous water cycle

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Rain

Evaporation

Evaporation

Lakes, rivers

Oceans

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Why can we be sure that, in time, earth will be a paradise filled with happy, healthy people?

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‘I can’t imagine a more satisfying life than using my free will to serve God.’​—Denise