"... created in Christ Jesus for good works ..." (Eph 2:10 NASB)
created--having been created ( Eph 4:24 Psa 102:18 Isa 43:21 2Cr 5:5, 17 ).
unto good works--"for good works." "Good works" cannot be performed until we are new "created unto" them. Paul never calls the works of the law "good works." We are not saved by, but created unto, good works. [A. R. Fausset]
In Christ Jesus, that is, on the account of what he has done and suffered, and by the influence and operation of his blessed Spirit. Unto good works, etc. The apostle having before ascribed this change to divine grace in exclusion of works, lest he should seem thereby to discourage good works, he here observes that though the change is to be ascribed to nothing of that nature (for we are the workmanship of God), yet God, in his new creation, has designed and prepared us for good works: Created unto good works, with a design that we should be fruitful in them. Wherever God by his grace implants good principles, they are intended to be for good works. [Matthew Henry]
Q & A 86 [Heidelberg Catechism]
Q. Since we have been delivered from our misery by grace through Christ without any merit of our own, why then should we do good works?
A. Because Christ, having redeemed us by his blood, is also restoring us by his Spirit into his image, so that with our whole lives we may show that we are thankful to God for his benefits, [Rom. 6:13; 12:1-2; 1 Pet. 2:5-10] so that he may be praised through us, [Matt. 5:16; 1 Cor. 6:19-20] so that we may be assured of our faith by its fruits, [Matt. 7:17-18; Gal. 5:22-24; 2 Pet. 1:10-11] and so that by our godly living our neighbors may be won over to Christ. [Matt. 5:14-16; Rom. 14:17-19]
My thoughts:
Before I was saved, Nihilism made perfect sense. The old saying "you live, you die and when you are gone, you don't even leave a hole" summed up the deep purposelessness that human beings attempt to cover in some sort of fancy wallpaper. However, if you look at the veneer even a little closely, you can tell that it is a faux finish. If you look beneath the surface, you discover the wood is all rotted away, dying and dangerously close to collapse.
Then one encounters God and His transforming power. Suddenly, we are capable of doing that for which we were created. The transformation from dying in the flesh to living in Christ opens the door to finally being capable of doing good works ... the reason for our existence (serving the purpose for which God created us).