So what, then, does the Bible say about the meaning of life? Why are we here on the earth? What are we to do? What is my purpose on this earth? What is your purpose? What is uncle Steve’s purpose?
It is God’s intention that mankind—the pinnacle of His glorious Creation—seek Him. Paul said this to a group of Greeks in a city that, in a manner of speaking, had more gods than people! “What are they good for? Absolutely nothing!” There is a God Who is alive, however, and Paul wanted them to know that this God created the universe, including themselves, and that this God wants them to seek Him—to look for the truth.
And what is the purpose of this search? What is the purpose of any search? To find what it is that you seek, of course. And so, since God intends and expects man to seek Him and His truth, He full intends that they be able to find Him, and to identify His truth.
This is NOT a promise that the Holy Spirit will directly guide each and every person into all truth; rather, it is a promise that the word which was given through the apostles (to whom this promise was strictly given¹) was, indeed, from Almighty God—a fact that was repeatedly confirmed by their performance of various miracles (cf. Mark 16:20)—the same way Jesus proved Himself to be Who He claimed to be!
Truly Proverbs 23:23 is worth repeating here: “Buy the truth, and sell it not; yea, wisdom, and instruction, and understanding,” —all of which can be found only in the word of God, come down through the ages to be known as The Holy Bible.
“And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient? So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief….
Are we to suppose that Jehovah of hosts contradicted Himself? Certainly not! Rather, we see the divine, spiritual, biblical principle that to “rebel against” God’s word—to disobey—is, in fact, to disbelieve! In other words, the “unbelievers” of the world are not those who deny God’s existence; but those who defy God’s word.
So, it isn’t enough to look for the truth; nor is it enough to identify the truth. If we would fulfill our purpose in this life, we must follow the truth—wherever it takes us: even if it takes us away from mom and dad, granny and granddad, wife or husband, son or daughter.
Finally, once we have Looked for the truth, Identified it, and made it our habit to Follow it, we still must not stop: but we must then strive to spread it to others.
This is what the first century Christians did (cf. Acts 8:4), and the results were “out of this world” (cf. Acts 17:6).
Our purpose in THIS life is to prepare for the NEXT life.
Our purpose THIS day is to prepare for THAT Day.
Our purpose on EARTH is to get to HEAVEN.
¹ The statements recorded in chapters 13-17 of John’s gospel account are all in the upper room, spoken between Jesus and His twelve (or eleven—cf. Jn. 13:30) apostles, alone (see Luke 22:14). The parallel accounts of this quiet evening alone with the apostles (which would be their last evening together) are as follows: Matthew 26:20-29; Mark 14:17-25; Luke 22:14-38; John 13:1 – 17:26. Everything spoken in these sections of Scripture were spoken strictly to the apostles, and therefore should not be taken out of context to mean something they don’t. This is commonly done in regard to the promise recorded in John 14:15-26 and 16:4-15—namely, the coming of the Holy Spirit, and what He was to do. Many erroneously believe this promise applies to anyone who “believes in” Jesus. However, when engaging in a closer examination of the balance of testimony in the New Testament record, it becomes evident that this promise—in its directness—was limited strictly to the twelve apostles [- Judas, + Matthias (cf. Acts 1:26)].