“Why Am I Here?”

**INTRODUCTION

Hello. My name is Bret McCasland. Welcome to the “Key to the Kingdom.” Lots of people ask many questions surrounding God's purpose and plan for their life. They're unsure of the direction they need to go or the path they need to pursue. They go to seminars, attend classes, or even read books to answer the following question; why am I here? And that is certainly a legitimate question to ask. Everyone needs to know their purpose in life. However, the problem in searching for that answer is we may not like what we find. It does not make much sense, or if it does, it does not give us a sense of meaning, nor does it satisfy our longing. And the reason might be, we are looking for the answers in all the wrong places. And that is why it is so good to spend time seeking the Lord and what He has in mind for us. The Bible gives us some great insight into why we are here and the purpose for which we are to live. In today's lesson, on “Key to the Kingdom,” we will spend some time in God's Word. We will read some passages of Scripture that offer some guidance regarding our life's meaning and purpose. I hope you will stay tuned to this channel for the next few minutes. Please open your Bibles with me as we now study together.

**LESSON

Recently, on “Key to the Kingdom,” we sought to ask and answer the question, who am I? And indeed, that is one of life's greatest questions, as we seek our identity. And we discovered, as we looked into Scripture, that we are people who are loved, saved and forgiven by God. In other words, as Christians, we are special in God's sight. We belong to Him. He belongs to us. Well, as a follow up to that question, we ask another one, which is quite similar; why am I here? Now, some may immediately answer that question by stating, “Well, I am here to be a good father or be a good parent. I am here to be a good husband or to be a good wife. I am here to serve my fellow man, to represent God and to live for Christ.” And all of those might be good and biblical answers. On the other hand, some people might say, “Well, I am here to make as much money as I can make. I am here to live a nice life, to travel, to experience life. I am here to enjoy my retirement.” Oh, there are a host of answers that can be given to the question, why am I here? 3000 people were once asked the question, what do you live for? And the response was 94% of them were simply enduring the present while waiting for the future. You know, many people struggle to find a purpose and a direction for their life. They simply don't know why they are here. Well, to give an answer from the Bible, we could look at several different passages of Scripture. But what I want to do today is to simply focus on three reasons, according to Scripture, as to why we are here upon this earth. Here's the first thing: we are here to bring praise and honor and glory to God. Three times in the letter called Ephesians, in chapter 1, the Apostle Paul reminds us we are to live for the praise and the honor of God; and that is to be the focus of our lives. Notice these words which begin in the last part of verse 5 of that first chapter. <"In love He predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will -to the praise of His glorious grace- which He has freely given us in the one He loves. In Him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of Him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will, in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of His glory. When you believe, you are marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession -to the praise of His glory."> That's interesting, isn't it? Three times in that first chapter, the Apostle Paul wrote, those who are loved, saved and forgiven by God are to live for the praise and for the glory of God. We find it in verse 6 and 12 and also in verse 14, the very verses we just read. And so above all else, above all others, we are to live to the praise of God. We are to praise Him who deserves our first priority. Contrary to popular belief, contrary to the actions of many people, we are not to live to bring glory and praise to ourselves, if we are God's children. The lives we live are to reflect all the attention and all the praise that might come to us back to our Heavenly Father. We live to the praise of the One who gives us our identity in the first place. Jesus said, on several occasions throughout His public ministry, “The first will be last and the last will be first.” We know what that means, don't we? We don't seek attention. We are content to be at the back of the line, if you will. In other words, our lives are to center on the attitude of humility, not pride, not arrogance, but humility. And sometimes that's hard. I understand that. We might be tempted to say, “Well, I deserve a little bit of attention or recognition for who I am and for what I am doing, and I need some praise. I need a pat on the back. I need some kind of recognition to let me know, to remind me, that I am worth something to somebody. I deserve that kind of attention and praise.” And indeed, we may do many good things. We might contribute to God's work in various ways. And it's nice to receive a pat on the back. It's nice to receive a word of appreciation; all that's good and fine. That's certainly in order. And yet we can never allow that to take the place of giving our attention and our praise and glory to God. When we begin to understand who we are as God's children, we will recognize that we really don't deserve anything. Nothing is to be about us; rather, it is always to be about the Lord, and who He is, and what He has done in the past, and what He continues to do in our lives now. Sometimes people might say, “Well, you deserve something nice. You deserve a raise. You deserve some kind of accolade. You deserve a vacation or a host of other things.” And perhaps that's true. We hear those things from time to time; and yet, none of us deserve anything. Think about this: We don't deserve God's love, Jesus’ salvation or a home in heaven. We don't deserve the home in which we live, the car we drive or even the air we breathe. We are because of who God is. The Lord is the only one who deserves any kind of praise or glory. Yes. Everything we are and everything we have comes as a gift from our loving Heavenly Father. And He is more than deserving of all of the praise and all of the glory and all the honor we can possibly give to Him. The writer of Hebrews chapter 13, verse 15, puts it this way: <Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise, the fruit of lips that confess His name.> Yes, honoring and praising God is to be an ongoing part of our every day lives. In the midst of all of the busyness of life, we are to make room for God; for He certainly makes room for us. He watches over our lives. He hears our prayers. He answers our prayers. He provides for our needs. Seems to me that God is in the business of taking care of us, and He embraces that. Why; because we are His children. And whatever we might pursue on our own can never be greater than pursuing a life of living to the praise and glory of our Father in heaven. So when we begin to put things in proper perspective, we will remember who God is. We will remember how much He loves us and what He is doing in our lives. We will recognize Him as our loving Heavenly Father, and we will begin to allow that to sink-in, to the point that everything we do and everything we say is about God. It's about living to His praise and bringing glory to His name. Paul perhaps sums it up best, in these words from Ephesians chapter 5 and verse 20: <Always give thanks to God the Father, in everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.> When we realize that God is the source of every good thing that we enjoy, here upon this earth, then we will begin to live with thanks and praise and honor for our loving Heavenly Father. And so, first of all, as we think about what is our purpose on Earth, well, it's to live to the praise and glory of God. Here's a second thought: We are to live holy lives, in honor of God. The psalmist wrote this, in Psalm 119 verse 8: <Accept my free will offerings of praise, O Lord, and teach me Your ways.> As God finds ways to bless us, we are to find ways to praise Him, and one of the best ways to do that is to live a life of holiness. We are holy in what we say. We are holy in what we do. We turn away from that which is not good and holy in this world. We stay away from evil and sin and that which is not right. We avoid people or situations that call into question our devotion to the Lord. We separate ourselves from the unholy things in this world; and that goes back to a passage in Leviticus, in the early part of the Old Testament. These are the words of God Himself: (Leviticus 11:44) <"I am the Lord, your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy."> When we read that verse, and others like it, it's only natural, then, for us to follow the Holy One who calls us His children. Why would we want to do anything else? Why would we want to live an unholy life as a child of a holy God? Those two things don't match up, do they? Here's the way the Apostle Paul describes it in Philippians chapter 4, verse 8: <Finally, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things.> The apostle Paul reminds us to think about good things, not to think about bad things, not to think about those things which are negative or which take us down, or which bring down other people; but he wants us to think about that which is good and pure and right and admirable and praiseworthy, all of those things. And no doubt he could have listed other things in that passage, as well. But the point is made; what are we allowing into our mind, that we think about? Hopefully it’s nothing that is unholy or impure, because that would not be acceptable to God. And so those who call themselves Christians are careful about what they allow into their minds. And so many times we act upon what we think, and if we're not thinking right, then we are not acting right. If we're not thinking right, we're not talking right. And what I mean by that is that we are not living the holy lives that God would want us to live. And so if we are not careful, if we're not thinking right, we're not doing right, it gets us into lots of trouble. You know, throughout the Bible, God called upon His people to live a holy life. And here's the reason: God is holy, Himself, and His Holiness cannot associate with anything that is not holy. Think for a moment about what happened with Jesus. When Jesus died upon the cross, God turned away. He could not look at His Son. That was not a sign of God's rejection of His son, Jesus. But He recognized that what Jesus was doing was taking upon the sin of this world, on His shoulders. He was bearing the burden and the weight of mankind’s sin when He died upon the cross. God is holy. Jesus is representing that -that is unholy. He's putting it to death. And God turned away. He could not see that; not as a rejection of His Son, but as a rejection of the unholy things that Jesus was bearing for all of us. If we want to live in close fellowship with our Heavenly Father, then holiness will be at the center of our lives. And holiness is displayed in so many different ways. There are several summary statements in Scripture which identifies what holiness looks like. Here's one of my favorites, found in Colossians chapter 3, beginning with verse 12: <"As God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourself with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgives you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity."> There are at least nine different things which Paul identifies in those two verses. And we can spend lots of time commenting on those verses, but they are important things which need to be evident in our lives. He says, this is what your life needs to look like, that you demonstrate compassion and kindness and gentleness and patience and all of those things, no doubt, that represent one who is living to the praise and the glory of God. Let me state it this way: What we say and what we do is always to be done out of respect for the Lord, who saves us and calls us to be like Him. It shapes who we are and it defines our life. Well, that is the essence of what Paul would later write, just a few verses later in chapter 3, verse 17: <Whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.> A big part of why we are here up on this Earth, at this very moment, is to live holy lives to the praise and to the glory of our Father in heaven. Well, here's a third thing I want us to think about, in regards to why we are here: We are to show others the goodness of God. The Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, are filled with many stories of how Jesus lived His life while here upon this Earth. They demonstrate His kindness and compassion, which He showed to others. He treated people with mercy and forgiveness. And by doing that kind of thing, He displayed the very heart of God. Well, we are to do the same thing. We are here on this Earth to represent the One who has already showed what we are supposed to do and how we are supposed to live. We are to demonstrate what that looks like. And every day we have opportunities to demonstrate that goodness, as we live out our purpose. Notice some words from Jesus, Himself, in the Gospel of Luke chapter 6, beginning with verse 35: <"Love your enemies. Do good to them and lend to them without expecting anything back. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Do not judge and you will not be judged. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give and it will be given to you."> When I look at those summary statements, it makes sense to me that Jesus simply wants His followers to extend the same kind of love and forgiveness and mercy and kindness to other people which He extends to us. He calls upon us to demonstrate justice and righteousness among people who don't experience it, who never receive that kind of thing and don't know how to put it into practice themselves. Yes, we are to live in a way that shows to other people the difference Jesus has made in our life. We recognize the blessings of love and forgiveness and salvation, and then we share them with other people. Yes, we can never forget that God's blessings and His demonstrations of all of those good things are never to be terminal with us. They don't end with us. But He gives them to us in abundance so that we can then share them with other people, and serve those whom He puts into our life. Here's another passage. Micah chapter 6 beginning with verse 6: <With what shall I come before the Lord and bow down before the exalted God? And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.> Three things are highlighted in that passage in the Old Testament; justice and mercy and humility. And those things identify people who are God's children. They identify those people who are loved, saved and forgiven by the Lord. And that is what God requires of those who want to walk with Him. With our eternal destination already established, we can now work out our salvation. And that doesn't mean that we have to work in order to receive our salvation, but we ‘work it out,’ we ‘demonstrate’ what it looks like, what we have already received, in the way we live in our relationships with one another. Here's one more passage that I believe helps us to understand the importance of loving and serving other people. Jesus said this, in Matthew 5:16. <”Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”> We are to shine as a light in the midst of a dark world, reflecting God's goodness and God's glory and God's light. In other words, we do good deeds and we bless the lives of others, not to earn our salvation or to draw attention to ourselves, but, to show others what God has already done for us, as we bring praise and glory to His holy name. Perhaps those passages help us identify what our purpose is and how we are to fulfill it. Perhaps those passages and ideas help us to answer the question, why am I here? I'm here to live to the praise and glory of God. I'm here to live a holy life because the One who saves me is holy. And I am also here to serve other people and to share God's goodness with them. You know, we may have all kinds of answers to the question as to why we are here upon this Earth. Many of them are stated, and they're all good. But whatever they might be, they are to fit under the umbrella of practicing how God calls upon us to live, as His holy, saved and forgiven people on this Earth. And that's our ultimate purpose in life. Nothing else is more important. Here's the encouragement for us to consider today: Live in such a way that I am a pleasure to the Lord in all aspects of my life. I hope you will think about that. I hope you will put that into practice in your daily life, and make sure that you are living out your purpose upon this Earth and you understand why you are here. Oh, every day there seem to be new questions presented, and hopefully today's lesson has helped us to answer one of the greatest questions: Why am I here?

**VIDEO CLIP

Have you ever found yourself in a place that was unfamiliar? You didn't know for sure where you were. You've never been here before. You wonder, in fact, how you even got here. You're kind of confused about it all. You wonder why you're here. You know, I suppose that's the way it is with all of us, sometimes. We get lost as we're trying to make our place, our way, from one place to another, and we're confused. And life is kind of like that, sometimes, isn't it? We get confused. We wonder why we're here. We wonder about our purpose and what's going on in the world around us. You know, the Bible is quite clear about our purpose. And as Christians, today, we can know for sure what our purpose really is. The Bible is clear about giving us the direction and the purpose and the promises that are so important and vital for those who belong to the Lord. As we read and study God's Word, from time to time, we begin to see those plans coming clear. We begin to understand about the promises and the blessings that we have as part of God's family, through His son, Jesus Christ. And through all of that, we begin to realize, yes, I do know why I am here. Everything is familiar. Everything is comfortable, because I am a child of God. You know, there may be times in your life when you get lost, you get confused, you get turned around and you long to get back to what is comfortable. You long to get back to something that is familiar. And I hope that you do that. But I hope that as a child of God, you are always comfortable and familiar with the surroundings of God's love and God's presence in your life.

**CONCLUSION

Thank you for tuning in to today's broadcast. I trust this message about answering the question, why am I here, was beneficial. It is good to know our purpose and our direction in life. It is also good for it to match God's will and purpose for us. This message, along with many others, is available on our website at keytothekingdom.com. I hope you will find those lessons which are of interest. Remember, there is never any charge, nor is there any obligation to download them, either in video, audio or written format. There is other information, along with several different Bible studies, on our website as well. It might be convenient to access that website through an app which you can download onto your smart-phone. Our ministry is also found on Facebook®. Every Sunday night, a one minute or a two minute message is uploaded. Many people are following us through Facebook®, and I hope you will too. You can also find us on Roku® Television. We offer this variety of media choices and hopefully one or more of them will work for you. I really appreciate you taking time to watch today's broadcast. And please, consider joining us again at the same time next week, as we continue to study the Bible on “Key to the Kingdom.”