Dear friend,
“And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” (John 17:3 NKJV)
Here it is, the real, ultimate, eternal purpose of life: knowing God. Listen to what Paul says in Ephesians chapter 3, verses 14-19:
“For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height – to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” (NKJV)
Paul is praying that we may somehow, by the help of the Holy Spirit and through the revelation granted to us in Christ, grasp the measures that cannot be measured: "How wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ." And then he uses this remarkable phrase which contains a deliberate paradox: "To know this love that surpasses knowledge."
So there is a love that we can know, but never know because it surpasses knowledge. This is the love of God – the Father – in His family through Jesus Christ revealed by the Holy Spirit, revealed in Scripture. A revelation that cannot come in any other way.
If you live your whole life and are successful in every other area, but you miss this revelation, this knowledge of the love of God, ultimately your life will have to be written off as a failure because you will have missed the real purpose of living.
You may succeed in your worldly career, you may be academically very proficient, you may become very wealthy, you may be admired and envied by the majority of your neighbours – but you will have missed the one thing that makes life truly worthwhile and meaningful.
For reflection and prayer
Knowing God involves knowing His love. This is the real purpose of living.
