Far too often we think of this life as being everything, and we don't give any thought to the next life. But in reality, this is the before life. Then comes the afterlife. There is more to come.
It's very important that we know why we are here on Earth, because if we don't, we can very easily waste our lives.
So, why do we exist? Why are we here? Why did God create us in the first place?
To find the answer to these questions, we must go to Scripture. In effect, we have to go to Heaven to find out why we are here on planet Earth. And in the fourth chapter of the book of Revelation, that is where the scene unfolds.
After John the apostle was banished to the island of Patmos, he was caught up in the next dimension and saw things that are yet to come. He described this in Revelation. In the first part of the book, John gave an overview of the seven churches, starting with Ephesus and ending with Laodicea.
Then in chapter 4, we read how John suddenly was hurtled into Heaven, caught up into the presence of God. He used the language of his day to try to describe what was before his eyes.
In verses 2 and 3, John described God seated on his throne, resplendent in glory, as well as angels and 24 elders who were seated around the throne. Then John tells us the elders laid their crowns before the throne and said, "You are worthy, O Lord our God, to receive glory and honor and power. For you created all things, and they exist because you created what you pleased" (Revelation 4:11 NLT).
So why do we exist? Why were we created? Answer: We exist to bring God glory and pleasure.
Now, we don't exist to bring ourselves glory and pleasure. In fact, if we live for pleasure, we never will find it. The Bible says that those who live for pleasure are dead while they live (see 1 Timothy 5:6). Living for pleasure is one of the least pleasurable things we can do.
Freddie Mercury is an example of someone who lived this way. As the lead singer of the rock band Queen, he was awash in cash and fame. Mercury spent his life in the pursuit of pleasure. He was quoted as saying, "Excess is a part of my nature. To me dullness is a disease. I need danger and excitement. … Straight people bore me stiff. I love freaky people."
But that didn't turn out well for him. (It never does.) Mercury realized that in his attempt to be a star, he had effectively created a monster. He said, "The monster is me. Success, family, money, sex, drugs, whatever you want I can have it. But now I am beginning to see that as much as I created it, I want to escape from it. I am starting to worry that I can't control it as much as it controls me." Mercury died in 1991 at age 45 from complications due to AIDS.
It reminds me of the statement God made to Cain when he saw trouble developing in his heart. God issued this warning, saying, "Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you. But you must subdue it and be its master" (Genesis 4:7 NLT).
Sin is like a crouching beast, ready to pounce, ready to control us. And if we live for pleasure, that beast will take over.
Living for pleasure never will bring pleasure. But living for God will bring pleasure as a side effect – not by seeking it but by seeking him. The psalmist David wrote of God, "You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever" (Psalm 16:11 NLT).
We live for the glory of God. Speaking through the prophet Isaiah, God said, "Bring all who claim me as their God, for I have made them for my glory. It was I who created them" (Isaiah 43:7 NLT).
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The apostle Paul wrote to the church in Corinth, "So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God" (1 Corinthians 10:31 NLT).
Whatever we do, we should do it for God's glory. And if we can't do it for God's glory, then we shouldn't be doing it.
Life is preparation for eternity. Life is the warm-up act. We were made by God and for God, and God wants us to practice on Earth what we will do forever in eternity.
In John's gospel we find a conversation that Jesus had with a woman at a well in Samaria. She had been married and divorced five times and was living with a man. Using the well as a metaphor for life, Jesus said, "Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again" (4:13 NLT).
Effectively, Jesus was saying, "Let me tell you something: Men are never going to fill the deepest need of your life. That's why you've gone back to that well five times. You always will thirst. But if you drink of the water I will give you, you never will thirst again."
He went on to say, "The time is coming – indeed it's here now – when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way" (verse 23 NLT).
God is looking for people who will get this, who will figure out the reason they are on this earth.
Those who live for pleasure never will find it. They will be like the woman at the well, drinking and drinking but never finding satisfaction. They will pursue one experience after another. And like Freddie Mercury, they will chase after nothing and end up throwing their lives away.
On the other hand, those who put God first, those who ask Jesus Christ to forgive their sins and seek to bring glory to His name, will find the reason they were created.
Are you living for God's glory, or are you living for your own? Whatever you do, do it for the glory of God. Then you will know God's pleasure.
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