What on Earth, for Heaven's Sake

We will start with what we know: we are sentient beings on this planet we call Earth, floating through the vastness of space and, if you are reading this now, I can safely presume you didn’t first realize that fact just yesterday. We could potentially take a broad epistemological detour now of how we know anything at all. However, that is neither the purpose nor the scope of this book. I will simply say that if you doubt the fact I have already stated above then you should be consistent with your skepticism and doubt your own skepticism, which would surely be self-defeating. No, I do not need to expound on this any longer, for you already know, in your heart that you exist and indeed, that God Almighty exists. I will not waste time or ink here to peruse through the cosmological argument for the existence of God. (If you don’t know what this is, you can certainly read about it elsewhere, but God does not need our help in proving his existence.)
In fact, the Word of God, the Holy Bible, makes it abundantly clear that He, the invisible, immortal, eternal God has given enough “proof” of himself to every man so as to not need a formal defense of His existence. For certain, the first chapter of Romans indicates that what may be known about God, He Himself has made plain to all men, in a general sense by His creation, so that, indeed, men are “without excuse” concerning the reality of who God is. Only foolish people ultimately say “No God!” Yes, notice that I did not use the wording ‘there is no God,’ but rather “no God.” There are men who claim to be atheists, but God does not believe in their atheism. For in reality, they do not say to God “I do not believe in you,” but rather, “I don’t want you in my life,” and thus they say “no God (for me).”
Ultimately, we can theorize and philosophize about our ontological (nature of being and existence) requisites – simply, I know I am here so now what must I do – but these typically lead to an infinite regress of men’s thoughts about what should and should not be done. First, we should note that mere men cannot speak as to what ought to be, but rather what is, on a universal scale. When we speak of moral decrees, of necessity we must invoke a transcendent standard. Otherwise we merely have one man’s opinion against another and suddenly force, convenience, or something else other than the transcendental moral law becomes paramount. Pragmatism (whatever seems to work), utilitarianism (whatever brings about the most perceived amount of happiness), and fundamentalism (doing what has worked traditionally in the past over a period of time) all fall short to speak to individuals and individual situations. The great author and philosopher, C.S. Lewis related this point by saying that men invariably appeal to a higher moral standard when dealing with issues of the principles of ethics. Eventually, these moral dilemmas converge at something that approximates the ‘golden rule’ so famously declared by Jesus of Nazareth. Thus, the simplicity and magnitude of the divine prime directive is vindicated; in other words, the teaching of Christ is shown to be wholly and completely true and good.
I will say here and now, though, as an aside, care must be taken as to not make this new law, the law of Christ, a heavier weight and burden. No, it should be liberating and set us on a trajectory with the momentum to reach the goal. This law is freeing, not a bondage. It is the sail and the wind, not the anchor that cannot be hauled in. We should be moved by it, rather than trying to move to it.
In the strain of philosophy, however, perhaps the teleological (study of purpose) argument is more pertinent here. At a very stripped-down level, the argument looks something like this: everything that has a beginning has a purpose. We can learn the purpose of some objects by the way in which those objects are distinct from others. A simple example is that a hammer is good for one main task, to nail nails. We know that because of its unique design. A hammer is not good for digging holes or tightening screws or writing papers. Its unique design of a slender shaft with a perfectly designed grip and a heavy metal head with a smooth, flat end shows us that it was made for one specific purpose, which is again, to the hit the nail on the head. The degree to which it can perform this task proves its utility. If the shaft broke, or the head became loose, or the head were made of foam instead metal it would suddenly lose its functional capacity. Yet, it could become less useful while still maintaining its ‘usability,’ for example, if the head were slightly loose, or the shaft a bit too short. But if the grip is ‘goldilocks,’ the head formed and fastened well, and it is swung with just the right angular momentum…you know the result. Thus, as all the parts of this gestalt come together in just the right way at the sweet spot – the zone of optimal functioning – is realized, and so we see the purpose of the hammer.
In a similar manner we can inquire as to what is the purpose of mankind by seeing what makes him unique. This inquiry has only so much power, though, as far too often the thoughts of man tend to drift toward, well, just that…the thoughts of man. What I mean is this: without scripture as the foundation of their thinking, men will glorify their own rational capacity as the end of human purpose. So then, intellectual reasoning becomes the main goal of life and those who reason well thereby live well. Those who, like the imperfect hammer, miss the mark by not reasoning well are deemed less respectable and less useful. Unfortunately, or perhaps rather fortunately, this is not the measurement. Knowledge and reckoning are good, in and of themselves, but alone they can lead to pride. It is possible and very likely to be a highly educated fool. If not coupled with humility, knowledge is like the plastic wellhead covers that resemble rocks that people like to use in my neighborhood. They serve a purpose, certainly, but they have no true substance of a real rock. They are deceptive, by nature, full of air and spider webs rather than hard minerals.
Knowledge and good reasoning is not the primary purpose of mankind. Simply, it is this: to know God and enjoy Him forever. It is so simple and yet so profound. Why would He want to know us? Even more personally, why would He want to know me? Could it be that somehow, in including me, a lowly and undignified sinner, in His grand plan of redemption that His worth and infinite value are magnified (telescopically, not microscopically) even more. Could it be that even in the just condemnation of unrepentant sinners His glory is still displayed? This must be the case, or so the ninth chapter of Romans seems to imply. That is a glimpse at how vast the glory of God reaches, not just to the highest mountains and lowest oceans, but also to the highest heights of heaven and lowest depths hell. He is an awesome God.
A thought, though, that may occur is that, perhaps, wisdom, or the right application of knowledge, is the end toward which we should strive. There are seemingly endless benefits to wisdom, and wisdom is even personified as a woman that cries for people to notice and adopt her. Curiously, wisdom even seems to be personified to the point of being given divine attributes. Not to mention, Christ is called the wisdom and the power of God in 1 Corinthians. The Son of God is very intricately linked to wisdom, though we must be careful here as to not adopt some pantheistic, heretical teaching that Christ is an impersonal force or attribute of God that somehow took on a body.