Why do I (and you) exist?
Dec 13 2022 - Eric Buresh
I recently had a very good discussion with an avowed humanist. We had a fair amount of common ground. We both believe and affirm the dignity of each human being. We both believe and affirm the importance of personal responsibility. We both share a desire for the eradication of poverty, hunger, and all forms of human oppression. Yet, the differences were stark. My humanist friend has constructed a belief system that excludes God at every turn (because in the humanist view God does not exist) and elevates humankind as the primary value in the universe. In contrast, in my belief system, God is at the very center of everything, and gives everything, including mankind, its value.
After some discussion, I asked my friend, why he believed humans beings are so full of dignity and value – why are humans so important? According to the humanist world view, mankind came from nothing (or from some non-descript primordial goo) and mankind is going to nothing (there is no afterlife – we just go away). Yet, somehow, in the time between nothing and nothing, humans are apparently the most important things that exist. Where does this inherent value derive? After some cogitation, my friend said what every humanist is forced to say when pressed on the reason humans have value, “we have value because we are the only beings that have the cognitive ability to consider the reason for our own existence, to give meaning to our own lives.” Hmm, that seems like an odd value for a being that just disappears after a few decades. Whatever meaning you concoct for yourself just dies with you and is gone forever. Seems like an utterly meaningless purpose. What’s the point?
Frustrated, my friend retorts, “Well, why do you think humans are so valuable? Why do you think we exist?” I had no cogitation on this question! Humans are immensely valuable because God created us to convey His own beautiful image (Genesis 1:27). Now, before you discount my perspective of human value, it is based squarely on a notion that should be familiar to you. Let’s say that I, a middle-aged white guy from Kansas, happens to paint a very nice painting of a nature scene. How much would that painting be worth? Nothing. Nobody knows who I am, and my doodling has no intrinsic value. Now let’s say that a guy named Picasso had painted a very nice painting of a nature scene. How much would that painting be worth? A ton. Why? Because Picasso is hugely famous, and his works have uniquely amazing quality. Now, exponentially increase that value to match a Creator whose fame transcends time and every generation and whose works of creation are far beyond comparison or description. We have value because we are the handiwork of the most infinitely famous Artist ever (Ephesians 2:10) and we are His pinnacle work revealing most closely what He wants us to know about Himself. As the special work of this preeminent Artist, we have inestimable value.
Why then do we exist? We exist -- we were created, made, and formed -- to glorify the Creator (Isaiah 43:6b-7). God created us both to see and to shine His glory. Do you ever wonder why all humans are moved when we see God’s creative hand? We are universally stirred by the massive things in creation like the mountains, the oceans, or the Grand Canyon. We can look at images from the James Webb Space Telescope (which has looked further into space than humans ever have before) and we see an organized design of galaxies that just keeps going and going and going, and we feel the amazement of vastness of it all. God’s creative reach is infinite like He is. And yet it is intricate like the functioning of human cells and personal like the growth of a human being from a single cell. But ask the question why? Why do humans share these feelings and stirrings of the soul. Because we were made for that purpose – to see the glory of the Creator.
As believers in Christ, we are also part of His continuing creations (2 Corinthians 5:17). We uniquely exist to shine for God’s glory (Matthew 5:16). We are displays of God’s handiwork for people to be amazed at and stirred by, not for our glory, but for the glory of the Creator. We are meant to move souls with our words and deeds to desire the work of the Creator. That is why we exist. And that reason transcends the grave. The glory that I see and the glory that I shine for my Father will go on and on and on, just like Him. It is eternal. My humanist friend didn’t accept my answer, and that’s ok. I shined the glory of my Creator, and how satisfying it is to fulfill the very reason for my existence.