What Is The Purpose of This life?

[TRUTH over TRADITION]

Ecclesiastes 12:13
13 But listen, for this is the end of the matter: Fear God and keep His Commandments… this is all there is for a man!

Someone recently shared with me their opinion on this matter and I found it extremely deep and thought provoking. That person told me that they felt that this life is given to us so that we can experience what it is like to live in a world that is in the clutches of sin, ruled by powers and principalities that do not respect the true God.

I thought the above statement was no more than pie in the sky talk until the person pointed out that Jesus died so that EVERYONE could be resurrected to life.

Quote:
John 5:28 ‘Don’t be surprised at this, because the hour is coming when everyone in the tombs will hear his voice 29 and come out; those who did good things to a resurrection of life, and those who practiced what is bad to a resurrection of judgment.

I Cor 15:21 Since death came through a man, resurrection from the dead also comes through a man. 22 And as all are dying because of Adam, all will be made alive in the Anointed One,

Here's where I'm going with this. We know the Bible says in Hebrews that "It is appointed man once to die, and after that a judgment." Could that judgment be what we pass on ourselves by the way we live AFTER being resurrected? This question assumes that all people that are NOT a part of the 144,000 (the first fruits, those who have their part in the first resurrection) will be resurrected into a world not ruled by rebel spirits and into a world where the following is happenning: Revelation 20:1

Quote:
Then I saw a messenger come down from heaven with a long chain in his hand, and the key to the abyss; 2 and he grabbed the dragon – the original snake, the Slanderer and Opposer – and chained him up for a thousand years. 3 Then he threw him into the abyss… closing it and locking it up over him, so he couldn’t mislead the nations anymore until the end of the thousand years. But after that, he has to be set free for a little while.

This would mean that ALL MEN are free to choose to life as they see fit whether it be in service to God or in service to self. Those who choose God will be gifted with eternal life while those who choose self will be the ones who eventually get misled by the released Slanderer and will have their place in the "lake of fire," (the 2nd death, not Hell) from which there will be no resurrection. Just a thought.

 

[Gazelle]

I would caution the reader to not take everything written (especially in Ecclesiastes) as truth from God.
Yes, the writer there is expressing his own sentiments accurately, and yes, God has allowed them to be put into His Book. However, not everything in that particular writing is true: take for example the exclamation of "Vanity, vanity, all is vanity." No, it isn't.

With regards to our "appointment" with death, it doesn't mean we will all keep it. ;) Those who were taken out by God didn't, and those who are taken up by Christ prior to dying, won't.

I disagree with the premise of being given life to experience sin. I don't find that in my Bible, but find that God wanted only the best for us, and still, even after being sinful beings who follow God, He still has "plans" for us, to bless us and not hurt us.

For me, I believe that our main purpose here on earth never changed: it is to fellowship with and worship God. We have an added task, that of witnessing of God's love and mercy to others.

 

[n2thelight]

The purpose of this life is for you to make a choice in whom you will follow.....God or satan.......

 

[childeye]

TRUTH over TRADITION;583057]

This would mean that ALL MEN are free to choose to life as they see fit whether it be in service to God or in service to self. Those who choose God will be gifted with eternal life while those who choose self will be the ones who eventually get misled by the released Slanderer and will have their place in the "lake of fire," (the 2nd death, not Hell) from which there will be no resurrection. Just a thought.

One problem with your post. You define freewill as choosing, whereas freewill is defined as a will that chooses freely not merely chooses. That means if freewill exists there are no higher powers that restrain or compel a person such as the Holy Spirit compels one to Love and restrains lawlessness. And also there is no adversary of the Godhead who deceives and corrupts and manipulates through lies and fear of death. So the purpose of this life would not then be to give men opportunity to choose God but to show that without Love (God) there is no life. All things exist to glorify God not God exists to glorify all things. As the Christ is the True Image of God all things of darkness have existed so that the Light of God could be presented for all sentient beings to behold and worship appropriately.

This is indeed the case. For we note that Spirit begets spirit so that the children of God take on the attributes of God and the children of Satan take on the attributes of Satan. Ones choices therefore are predetermined according to who Fathers the spirit that dwells in the soul, hence Jesus says "you are of your Father the devil and his works you will do". As those who are born of God are changed by revelation of the Truth it cannot be said we chose God but rather He chose us through revelation of the Truth. Christ is that Truth and we were made for him.

 

[n2thelight]

One problem with your post. You define freewill as choosing, whereas freewill is defined as a will that chooses freely not merely chooses. That means if freewill exists there are no higher powers that restrain or compel a person such as the Holy Spirit compels one to Love and restrains lawlessness. And also there is no adversary of the Godhead who deceives and corrupts and manipulates through lies and fear of death. So the purpose of this life would not then be to give men opportunity to choose God but to show that without Love (God) there is no life. All things exist to glorify God not God exists to glorify all things. As the Christ is the True Image of God all things of darkness have existed so that the Light of God could be presented for all sentient beings to behold and worship appropriately.

This is indeed the case. For we note that Spirit begets spirit so that the children of God take on the attributes of God and the children of Satan take on the attributes of Satan. Ones choices therefore are predetermined according to who Fathers the spirit that dwells in the soul, hence Jesus says "you are of your Father the devil and his works you will do". As those who are born of God are changed by revelation of the Truth it cannot be said we chose God but rather He chose us through revelation of the Truth. Christ is that Truth and we were made for him.

I don't feel the choice is predetermined,except for the elect......We have a choice in whom we choose

 

[childeye]

I don't feel the choice is predetermined,except for the elect......We have a choice in whom we choose

As you have said this, I see we wil end up only arguing semantics as you believe some choices are pre-determined and some not. Still it remains that the purpose of this life is to glorify God and I don't mean this as some platitude. On display here for all of heaven and earth, are the workings of spiritual powers of Light and dark in men, not free wills, that is my point. When the blind think they see and the seeing know their blindness, it is only God that is glorified as the Light.

 

[TRUTH over TRADITION]

At times asking questions is the best method to use if we are to find answers to life's mysteries. A good question that most of us have asked is:
Why or for what purpose did God create man?

From the creation accounts, the best answer that I have been able to glean is that man was created to exercise proper dominion over the rest of creation and to have a relationship with God, man's creator. Considering that man was created in the image and likeness of God and was given dominion some have even tried to make the case that God was trying to create Himself in man.

From reading the scriptures (Genesis, Job, 1 Peter), this dominion given to man did not seem to sit well with all of God's other creations, specifically the 'accuser of the brethren.'. When we consider that the opposer/the satan is depicted as a subject of God who is man's arch nemesis that in the courts of God is said to be accusing man before the Lord, the question of, WHY comes to mind. The best why I can think of is that the adversary was jealous and had a hard time accepting God's creative will for man. Consider what Hebrews 2 says about man:

For, someone somewhere testified to this fact, when he asked, ‘Just what is man that You should remember him, or the son of man that You should watch over him? 7 Why, You made him a little lower than [Your] messengers; You crowned him with glory and honor; and You put him in charge of everything that You made with Your hands, 8 then You put everything under his feet.’ So, when [God] puts everything under [our feet], He doesn’t leave anything that [men] aren’t in charge of. However, we don’t see everything obeying us yet.

 

[John 8:32]

I would caution the reader to not take everything written (especially in Ecclesiastes) as truth from God.
Yes, the writer there is expressing his own sentiments accurately, and yes, God has allowed them to be put into His Book. However, not everything in that particular writing is true: take for example the exclamation of "Vanity, vanity, all is vanity." No, it isn't.

With regards to our "appointment" with death, it doesn't mean we will all keep it. ;) Those who were taken out by God didn't, and those who are taken up by Christ prior to dying, won't.

I disagree with the premise of being given life to experience sin. I don't find that in my Bible, but find that God wanted only the best for us, and still, even after being sinful beings who follow God, He still has "plans" for us, to bless us and not hurt us.

For me, I believe that our main purpose here on earth never changed: it is to fellowship with and worship God. We have an added task, that of witnessing of God's love and mercy to others.

And you are the authority to tell us which parts of scripture are inspired and which are not?

2Ti 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

With all due respect, you are in error.

 

[John 8:32]

The purpose of this life is to prepare for eternity. One must choose whom he will follow and obey, Christ unto eternal life or Satan unto death.

 

[TRUTH over TRADITION]

The purpose of this life is to prepare for eternity.

Quite possibly. This idea has a lot of merit but leaves a bit unexplained as one could wonder why God wouldn't have just created the eternity He desired from the jump. One would think that God created this world and this life with a greater purpose in mind thatn we are privy to on our day to day.

 

[TRUTH over TRADITION]

We're all familiar with Romans 3:23 saying that we've fallen short of God's glory I assume. One thing this passage has always left me questioning was what exactly is the glory of God to which the passage refers. Is it His sinless perfection or something else as well like possibly having to do with dominion God created man to have?
Since all men have sinned, this dominion passed to another temporarily. It seems that the 'other' is the Satan, who is also known as the ruler of the power of the air (Ephesians 2:1-2). It seems that his accusing of man to God referenced in post 7 paid off, for man failed and he (Satan) was apparently given dominion in the place of man.

If that is the case it was a real bummer until the Messiah came along as we apparently were created to have it all, but in our vain desire to be like God in our immature state, let it slip away into the hands of the evil one. THEN, Jesus comes along. And Jesus, who was tempted in all ways did not succome to sin and he sacrified himself in order to redeem (purchase) man from the power of the Satan and claim the dominion God created man for. So Jesus, the second Adam, was able to live up to the glory of God unlike his predicessor and because of that, Jesus has been given a name that is above very name. So in Jesus, God accomplished His creative purposes and never intended for our reality to continue endlessly. He planned for and allow sin which leads to entropy and death to enter our reality in order to gain sons who would prove worthy of the glory and honor God created man for.

 

[Larry H]

I think this life is just a bus stop to a better existence.We must accept God’s arrangement for salvation through His Son. And do our best to please our Father in Heaven. To share the knowledge we have earth other; remembering it's not what we know but what we do with what we know. There is not going to be a second chance salvation plan in the future a many might believe.Today is the day of salvation.

With the opportunity we have; use it to get others to know Father and His Son as we do. And don’t forget to bring home the chocolate!

 

[John 8:32]

The purpose of this life is to prepare for eternity.

Quite possibly. This idea has a lot of merit but leaves a bit unexplained as one could wonder why God wouldn't have just created the eternity He desired from the jump. One would think that God created this world and this life with a greater purpose in mind thatn we are privy to on our day to day.

God could create automatons that will always do His will, but what He wants is children who will do His will of their own will. He created Lucifer and gave him free moral agency, but Lucifer chose poorly (excuse the reference to the "last Crusade") and became Satan. So God created flesh that has the potential of becoming God (never in the authority or power or prominence of the Father and Christ, but in makeup). The potential to become His children, of His family. The choice of life, to follow God, apparently becomes fixed at the resurrection such that we can never do as Satan has done. We will be at one with God for all eternity.

 

[TRUTH over TRADITION]

God could create automatons that will always do His will, but what He wants is children who will do His will of their own will........ God created flesh that has the potential of becoming God (never in the authority or power or prominence of the Father and Christ, but in makeup). The potential to become His children, of His family.

That's the jist of it it would appear. I think both John 1 and 1st John 1 gives us insight into the Father's creative purpose as well.

He created Lucifer and gave him free moral agency, but Lucifer chose poorly (excuse the reference to the "last Crusade") and became Satan.

Why tie in the one described as a shining one/light bringer with the Satan?

 

[TRUTH over TRADITION]

Read Ecclesiastes.

Did you not see the very 1st line of the OP?

 

[John 8:32]

He created Lucifer and gave him free moral agency, but Lucifer chose poorly (excuse the reference to the "last Crusade") and became Satan.

Why tie in the one described as a shining one/light bringer with the Satan?

Isa 14:12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
Isa 14:13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
Isa 14:14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.
Isa 14:15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.

Luk 10:18 And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.

Eze 28:12 Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.
Eze 28:13 Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.
Eze 28:14 Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.
Eze 28:15 Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.

Satan was created perfect, but became sinful (iniquity = lawlessness).

Eze 28:16 By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.
Eze 28:17 Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.

 

[TRUTH over TRADITION]

John 8:32,

This may be for another thread, but I don't follow how Isaiah 14 or Ezekial 28 speak about the satan. From the contexts, especially of Isaiah 13 and 14, it seems very distinctively to be pointing to men.

 

[John 8:32]

John 8:32,

This may be for another thread, but I don't follow how Isaiah 14 or Ezekial 28 speak about the satan. From the contexts, especially of Isaiah 13 and 14, it seems very distinctively to be pointing to men.

Isa 14...

this could only apply to someone greater than a man...

Isa 14:12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
Isa 14:13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
Isa 14:14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.

What man could even think to replace God?

Ezek 28

Type and antitype...

Eze 28:2 Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a God, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet thou art a man, and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God:

God refers to someone here as the prince of Tyre and says he is a man. Now let's drop down a bit...

Eze 28:12 Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.

What man seal up the sum of wisdom, and is perfect in beauty? None.

Eze 28:13 Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.

Whomever this is, he was in Eden. The king of Tyre was not even a gleam in his daddy's eye at the time of Eden (before the flood).

Eze 28:14 Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.

Ah, here he is referred to as a covering Cherub, not a man. Remeber the Ark? It had two covering Cherubs, one on each end of the Mercy Seat.

Eze 28:15 Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.
Eze 28:16 By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.

This is obviously not a man. Now read Ezekiel 10 and you will see the description of a Cherub and you will see that the covering Cherub could not have been a man.

***Added thought***

There is much that goes on in the spirit realm that we do not see...

Dan 10:2 In those days I Daniel was mourning three full weeks.
Dan 10:3 I ate no pleasant bread, neither came flesh nor wine in my mouth, neither did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled.
Dan 10:4 And in the four and twentieth day of the first month, as I was by the side of the great river, which is Hiddekel;
Dan 10:5 Then I lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold a certain man clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with fine gold of Uphaz:
Dan 10:6 His body also was like the beryl, and his face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as lamps of fire, and his arms and his feet like in colour to polished brass, and the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude.
Dan 10:7 And I Daniel alone saw the vision: for the men that were with me saw not the vision; but a great quaking fell upon them, so that they fled to hide themselves.
Dan 10:8 Therefore I was left alone, and saw this great vision, and there remained no strength in me: for my comeliness was turned in me into corruption, and I retained no strength.
Dan 10:9 Yet heard I the voice of his words: and when I heard the voice of his words, then was I in a deep sleep on my face, and my face toward the ground.
Dan 10:10 And, behold, an hand touched me, which set me upon my knees and upon the palms of my hands.
Dan 10:11 And he said unto me, O Daniel, a man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak unto thee, and stand upright: for unto thee am I now sent. And when he had spoken this word unto me, I stood trembling.
Dan 10:12 Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words.
Dan 10:13 But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia.

Now, do you really think that men could withstand these angels? Here is what an angel is capable of...

2Sa 24:15 So the LORD sent a pestilence upon Israel from the morning even to the time appointed: and there died of the people from Dan even to Beersheba seventy thousand men.
2Sa 24:16 And when the angel stretched out his hand upon Jerusalem to destroy it, the LORD repented him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed the people, It is enough: stay now thine hand. And the angel of the LORD was by the threshingplace of Araunah the Jebusite.
2Sa 24:17 And David spake unto the LORD when he saw the angel that smote the people, and said, Lo, I have sinned, and I have done wickedly: but these sheep, what have they done? let thine hand, I pray thee, be against me, and against my father's house.

2Ki 19:35 And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the LORD went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.

 

[Guest]

I believe the purpose of my life is to love people the way Christ loved me first.

 

[Dr Doughboy]

Hi TOT, et al. Your post intrigued me. I am living and breathing the topic of meaning and purpose in life with my dissertation right now and just created a course on this topic. Praying 4 u all. Be blessed.