Why Are We Here?

Many people do not have a very good opinion of this world. They are not happy, and this includes many Christians. Christians may ask: Why are we here? Why are Christians left to continue life in this corrupt and sinful world? Why does God not take more Christians away from this life? I believe there are a number of reasons for this.

First of all, evangelists will tell Christians they are here to spread the Gospel. By this they mean the Gospel of personal salvation, to get as many people saved as possible. This idea does not seem to be working, as most of our people in the Western world are rejecting Christianity and we seem to be sliding further into sin with every decade. Something is wrong. For some reason we are not seeing revival happening. Perhaps we need to preach the whole Gospel, meaning we should tell people about the coming of Christ’s Kingdom. “And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.” Luke 1:33.

Another reason Christians are in this world is to learn by suffering. Even Jesus Christ had to learn this lesson. “Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared; Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;” Hebrews 5:7-8. God’s people, down through the ages, have suffered. “They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; (Of whom the world was not worthy) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.” Hebrews 11:37-38. If we suffer, but remain loyal to God, we have learned the lesson He has for us, the lesson of obedience.

Another reason Christians are in this world is so that God can judge people of the world according to how they have treated Christians. “Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.” Matthew 25:37-45. God lives inside each Christian, and when someone hurts a Christian, God feels the pain. Also, when someone helps a Christian, he is helping God.

Another reason Christians are in the world is to just make the world a better place. Christians in the past have built hospitals and orphanages, brought in social welfare, outlawed slavery, given men and women the vote, allowed all Christian denominations to worship without persecution, brought in laws based on the Ten Commandments, and many more accomplishments that have made the countries with Christian foundations the ones that people want to live in. The sad truth is that we are now ignoring our Christian foundations as the proportion of Bible believing Christians in our society shrinks.

God feels everything Christians feel. He knows our despair, and He will reward us in the end. For now, we have to persevere and pray for his Kingdom to come as He instructed us in the Lord’s Prayer: “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.” Matthew 6:10.