Why am I here? What is the purpose of believing in God?

Question

THIS IS MY CASE

I'm a Christian and I know for sure believing in God and getting salvation through Jesus Christ is the ultimate purpose of human life. But what about the purpose of believing in God? It seems that I live my life just to be a good holy guy and get an air ticket to heaven. Nothing more. And this world seems to be a play with God and us being actors, materials being props and incidents being the script. I don't know why the bloody hell I'm here.

I found the following answers in the Bible but none of them can actually answer my question.

1. We live to glorify God God is omnipotent... he needs not to be glorified... even if he needs glory he can do it by himself, ie not through human

2. We live to become more like God A little bit illogical I think... God is perfect and no matter how hard we try we can't be like him/ God wouldn't let us make ourselves equal to him

3. We live a holy life to go to heaven
This one makes my life a living hell. Whenever I study/work I think about the ultimate purpose of what I'm doing, and the answer is always disappointing. Nothing we do on earth carries any value except for believing in God. Nothing else matters (it doesn't matter whether I go to a good university or live the rest of my life on gov't benefits, whether a meteorite will hit Earth or not). If I could go to heaven even if I committed suicide, I'D KILL MYSELF RIGHT AWAY.

Why did God create us in the first place? He had everything. I don't see any reason why God had to create us. (btw I know my parents gave birth to me without any reason - it's a norm for their generation to get married and have offspring.)

All in all... EVERYTHING'S ABSURD.

Please help me I've had enough old clichés (eg ask and it shall be given unto you) from my preachers. And I'll sit my public exams in a month but still can't find anything that motivates to studying. Almost zero productivity in life. I've been seeking like mad, but I still can't find.

I want the ULTIMATE answer to what is the ULTIMATE purpose of life and of believing in God - the only answer I can think of is, sadly, simply to go to heaven after I die.

PS I tried to quit Christianity several times but coudln't. For one thing Christianity is too real to quit (even after I read about all the points against it), and the thought scares me that I'd go to hell if God was really there and I didn't believe in him. At the reason level I think Christianity is extremely silly, but I still believe in God no matter how, though being rather sceptical).

Answer 1

Actually Bible though giving the knowledge of God is limited in the answers because it is very recently around 2000 years ago written. Whereas the eternal Vedas have been around since time immemorial and therefore give answers to all kinds of questions in a very elaborate details. Bible can be compared to a pocket dictionary and Vedas can be compared to encyclopedia. Both speak of the same subject matter, spirit soul and God etc.....

For instance, Jesus Christ says in the Bible, "What profiteth a man if he gains the whole world but loses his soul". But no further details of soul is given in the bible so one is left to speculation.
Lord Krishna tell in Bhagavad-gita-2.12 & 13
Never was there a time when I did not exist, nor you, nor all these kings; nor in the future shall any of us cease to be. As the embodied soul continuously passes, in this body, from boyhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. A sober person is not bewildered by such a change.

Lord Krishna gives further information in Chapter 2 verses 22 to 25, "As a person puts on new garments, giving up old ones, the soul similarly accepts new material bodies, giving up the old and useless ones. The soul can never be cut to pieces by any weapon, nor burned by fire, nor moistened by water, nor withered by the wind. This individual soul is unbreakable and insoluble, and can be neither burned nor dried. He is everlasting, present everywhere, unchangeable, immovable and eternally the same.
It is said that the soul is invisible, inconceivable and immutable. Knowing this, you should not grieve for the body".

In the material world everything is temporary and comes to and end or dies for that which has birth has death also. But,the reason behind birth and death is to learn the lesson that the material world is temporary and miserable as told by Lord Sri Krishna in the Bhagavad-gita(8.15) thus, "After attaining Me, the great souls, who are yogis in devotion, never return to this temporary world, which is full of miseries, because they have attained the highest perfection".

Just like one goes to school not to stay there permanently or one goes to the hospital not to stay there for over. From the school we learn and go out and from the hospital we get cured and go out. Similarly in this temporary miserable world of repeated birth and death (Mrityu samsara) we learn the lesson and go back to our original home, back to God's abode in the spiritual world

Some excerpts from questions asked by Mike Robinson of London Broadcasting Company in 1976 while interviewing Prabhupada(Founder of ISKCON).

Mike Robinson: Can you tell me what you believe to be the meaning of life? Why do we exist in the first place?

Srila Prabhupada: The meaning of life is to enjoy. But now you are on a false platform of life, and therefore you are suffering instead of enjoying. Everywhere we see the struggle for existence. Everyone is struggling, but what is their enjoyment in the end? They are simply suffering and dying. Therefore, although life means enjoyment, at the present moment your life is not enjoyment. But if you come to the real, spiritual platform of life, then you'll enjoy.

Mike Robinson: Can you explain to me, finally, some of the stages you go through in spiritual life? What are the spiritual stages a new devotee of Krishna goes through?

Srila Prabhupada: The first stage is that you are inquisitive. "So," you say, "what is this Krishna consciousness movement? Let me study it." This is called sraddha, or faith. This is the beginning. Then, if you are serious, you mix with those who are cultivating this knowledge. You try to understand how they are feeling. Then you'll feel, "Why not become one of them?" And when you become one of them, then all your misgivings soon go away. You become more faithful, and then you get a real taste for Krishna consciousness. Why aren't these boys going to see the cinema? Why don't they eat meat or go to the nightclub? Because their taste has changed. They hate all these things now. In this way, you make progress. First faith, then association with devotees, then removal of all misgivings, then firm faith, then taste, then God realization, and then love of God, the perfection. That is first-class religion. Not some ritualistic ceremony of "I believe, you believe." That is not religion. That is cheating. Real religion means to develop your love for God. That is the perfection of religion.

Mike Robinson: Thank you very much for talking with me. It's been a pleasure talking to you.

Srila Prabhupada: Hare Krishna.

Answer 2

I am a believer in organized religion, but I look at it this way. Religion makes people feel better. It helps provide an explanation for unexplainable events and lets you believe that some higher power has control of the universe. That it's not just one big random jumble events. There is something to be said for this comfort. Even though there is no rational basis to believe, I find it gives me some peace of mind and something to believe in.

I don't believe in living life by some strict moral code to ultimately go to heaven. Do you really think God cares if you drank before you were 21? Do you God cares that you were in a premarital sexual relationship? The part about being good getting you a ticket to heaven is just the moralists and puritans co-opting religion in order to make sure people feel bad about doing things society may find objectionable.

Dude, I went through these feelings too. You can either let it keep you in agony, or you can make a decision to believe or not and move on. It's not easy to do, but once you decide, life is better.

Answer 3

Serious questions.

We can serve and glorify only one master, the God side or the worldly human side of ourselves. God is grateful for the things you do, likewise you show gratefulness for the things done for you. With that realtionship we keep our priorities straight and remind ourselves of the order of the universe. If you show gratitude to Lucky Lady, the gambling entity you have fallen into worldliness. the world is not made of luck and chance but the order is the best possible for all.

Part of that order is having an example to follow that makes us able to manifest our highest potential. That example is Jesus. Jesus never said he was perfect. that's what others said about him. But he was far advanced. His struggles are like our own. How he handled them we can learn from.

Jesus said be ye perfect ecven as your Father in Heaven is perfect. The old way of attemptoing perfection was to follow all the rules as Jews did. That would take a perfect human and that doesn't exist.
The new perfection is living in the process by the Holy Spirit working through you to teach you the way. I expect God is learning as he goes as well. That is why Jesus said be perfect as he is.

It may seem like a play and as Shakespeare said it is, yet it can be fun, challenging, rewarding.
Just believing doesn't get you to heaven. That is a twisted idea people have created to absolve them from doing anything and if there is a devil he is having a good laugh over it.Jesus said you know a person by his fruits, his works.
Go with Godspeed

Answer 4

I once heard a wonderful sermon on this exact topic. You ended up really wondering why on earth God created man, because he doesn't need us. The outcome of that sermon was that we are supposed to actually have fun, that human beings are too serious!

I think it's your problem: you are far too serious. You won't ever have all the answers to all the philosophicaly questions before you die, but you are here now, for a brief moment in eternity, and you could just as well enjoy it. As a Christian you have so much reason to....

By the way, I worry that you might be suffering from a depression. It might be the reason why life seem so meaningless to you. Just a thought, but don't hesitate to have it checked out if necessary.

Answer 5

The Father has more to offer than just going to Heaven..Salvation is more than that..to tell you the Truth, the length of time those who accept the Lordship of Jesus will spend in Heaven in comparison to other things planned for the Eternal ages will be quite brief.

1 Corinthians [Contemporary English Version]
1:9 God can be trusted, and he chose you to be partners with his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Father chose you to be a partner with JESUS! Think about that for a moment..God didnt save you just to have you worship Him for all eternity [that actually would be selfish], He saved you to love you..to shower all His assets and "good stuff" on you..

Ephesians [Holman Christian Standard Bible]
2:7 so that in the coming ages He might display the immeasurable riches of His grace in [His] kindness to us in Christ Jesus.

When you develop a living relationship with your Father, you will cease to feel the way you do. How do you do that?

Galatians [Kjv]
4:1 Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all;
4:2 But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father.

Get yourself into a good church where you'll be taught His Word and recieve training in being a partner with Jesus and an active participator in The God-Life...from there you'll be having the time of your life.

One last thing...you believe youre not perfect..it might suprise you but this is what God thinks..

Hebrews [Kjv]
10:14 For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.

Answer 6

You're missing the point.

The purpose is to follow that path of good and doing good as God and Jesus have tried to instill in to you.

Believing is all nice and great, but doing is more important.

The person who professes to know and follow the master but fails to do his tasks above and beyond the call of duty will face a harsher punishment than the person who make no professing at all.

God and Jesus is a way of life. And it's hard work, too. And it's about knowing what's right and what's wrong.

Answer 7

There is one thing that God can't create and that is people that love him automatically. God created us all with free will. The reason He did this was to give us the choice to love Him. And all through history God sent us Prophets and people of the law to teach us this, that He loves us and desires more than anything in the world that we return His love. Finally as an example of His love His only Son, our Lord, Jesus Christ suffered the cross and rose for the forgiveness of our failures and the rebirth of ourselves. That is our goal, not to get to a mansion in the sky but to go into the arms of our Father and love unconditionally for all eternity. That is heaven.

Answer 8

The ultimate purpose as a christian is not salvation but serving the Lord who saved you.

Ephesians 2:10 For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

We are to become like Jesus not the Father.

Answer 9

All in all... EVERYTHING'S ABSURD. This place called Earth doesn't make any sense, it is full of miseries such as birth, disease, old age, death, anxiety, fear, abuse, envy, etc. So, why are we here? It seems to me that we've been put here as a punishment, just like criminals go to prison houses for punishment. We don't belong here, that is why we have this urge to leave never to return. Believing in God is a good beginning but not sufficient for us to get out, we must develop love and a service attitude in order for Him to let us back into His Kingdom, there is no other way.

Answer 10

You were something your mom and dad wanted, but couldn't
have without God's blessing. God put you here because he have a plan for you, all you got to do is believe that whatever god wants you to do, you do it with great pleasure for him. and believe and have the faith in God and ask.John 15:7

If you down and out pray and believe and He will work it out .
How can you say you are a christian and believe in God with a doubt like this? Again i say read your bible and pray for wisdom.
understanding for the word of God. He will show you. When
doing this remove everything from your mine except the word.
I will be praying for you.

God forever Bless you. keep the faith and believe.