Final Destination

Have you ever wondered what the purpose of it all is? Who are we? Why are we here? Where are we going? What is the point of our lives? Some people put all their hope in this world. For them, “the one who wins with the most toys wins.” Maybe the point of it all is the accumulation of wealth and power, the ability to control the details of our lives, and the lives of others. (Some just hope to survive, one day at a time.) On the other hand, some put their hope in another world, another life. They picture an alternate reality or an afterlife in a variety of ways. Maybe the life to come is filled with fruit, or beaches, or virgins. Maybe we’ll have beautiful mansions located in cities with streets of gold. Or maybe God will simply restore this planet and the rest of the universe to its original state and intent and fill it with immortal humans.

How do you see your final destination? If you “put all your eggs” in an otherworldly basket, you may not pay very much attention to the day-to-day issues and struggles, the need to represent God’s Rule in the messiness of this life. If you put your hope in this life, you may fail to see the big picture, to learn the wisdom that comes only with the fear of the Lord. Seeing your final destination defines the road you see yourself on – the Way you are traveling – and gives you a sense of purpose and direction on your journey.

So what is the point? What is the reason for our lives? St. Augustine confessed, “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.” Much later Blaise Pascal wrote, “There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every man which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God, the Creator, made known through Jesus.” The old Westminster Shorter Catechism began with the statement, “Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.” All these classic statements attempt to answer the big questions.

The apostle Paul also proposed an answer: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters” (Romans 8:28-29). This is one of those passages in the Bible that we know so well we seldom take the time to reflect on the details. God causes everything to work together in harmony toward on goal; God has one clear purpose for all those who love him and been called out by him. God knew in advance what that purpose was; God set out a clear path and a clear destiny for his chosen ones. That purpose, that path, that destiny, was simply this – that they be formed into the image of God’s Son; that God’s people reflect the character and the likeness of Christ.

In other words, God leverages every aspect of our lives to make us more like Jesus. Everything works together toward that goal.

That maybe doesn’t seem like a very glorious purpose until you think about the nature and glory of the one we are becoming like. In another place Paul taught that Jesus sums up all of creation (Ephesians 1:10). Jesus is the firstborn “over all creation.” In fact, all things have been made by Jesus and for Jesus. It is the power and glory and authority of Christ that holds everything in creation together (see Colossians 1:15-17). The glory of God is fully revealed in Jesus. Everything else is a distraction; all else is darkness compared to the light of Christ.

There can be no greater honor, no brighter glory, than being formed into the image and character of Christ. That is our final destination.

At the end of his life the apostle John penned these beautiful words: “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure (1 John 3:1-3). Think about it! Even now, because of the work of Christ on the cross, we are counted as God’s children. But that’s not all! In the end we are certain about two things: (1) we will be like him, and (2) we will see him as he is. We will be able to behold his pure glory because we will have come to increasingly reflect that glory. That’s our destiny! That’s our purpose! That’s the point of it all! And all things, every detail of our lives – the good, the bad, and the ugly – are working toward that end.

So you see, just believing in Jesus and going to heaven when we die is, in the end, a very shallow understanding of our final destination. God has so much more in mind for us, both in this life and in the life to come.