So many people today feel that they have nothing to live for. But the Bible gives us a new purpose in life: to live for God and to enjoy Him for ever (Romans 14:7-8). Let us see what God says in His Word:

1. God Wants Us to Seek and Find Him

“God did this so that men would seek Him and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us” (Acts 17:27).

2. God Wants to Save All People through Christ

“. . . God our Saviour . . . wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4).

3. God Wants Us to be Holy

“For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight” (Ephesians 1:3-4).

4. God Wants Us to be Like Him

“He has given us His very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires” (2 Peter 1:4).

Originally God created man in His image (Genesis 1:26), not physically of course, but in righteousness and holiness (Ephesians 4:24). Every believer should be “renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator” (Colossians 3:10), and is “predestined to be conformed to the likeness of His Son” (Romans 8:29).

This does not mean that we will ever be equal to God, but, that the children of God will display more and more the “family likeness” of the new family to which they now belong. As we spend time in worship, “we . . . are being transformed into His likeness with ever-increasing glory” (2 Corinthians 3:18).

5. God Wants Us to be His Witnesses on Earth

“We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God” (2 Corinthians 5:20). “You will be My witnesses . . . to the ends of the earth”(Acts 1:8). “You are . . . a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light” (1 Peter 2:9).

This is because the Lord does not want anyone to perish, but that everyone should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9).

All this is beautifully summed up in one passage of God's Word (Ephesians 1:5-14):

“In love He predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will: to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the One He loves. In Him (Jesus) we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace that He lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. And He made known to us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment; to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ. In Him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of Him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will, in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of His glory. And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession: to the praise of His glory.”

So it is the aim of every real Christian to be one in purpose with God, and to live in harmony with Him. This dedication affects every part of our being: our thinking, speaking and action. God's will is to become our will, so that we may obey and please Him in all things (2 Corinthians 5:9).

Test Yourself No. 17

• Name five steps toward a life worth living. Compare your answers.