No God, No Purpose

There are those who say, and believe, that one can live a full and content life without God. They deny that there is a Creator, they attribute everything they see around them to some other source, and they believe that they are control of their own existence. If there is anything out there that affects our lives, it is a blind force (physics perhaps) to which we owe nothing and from whom nothing is owed.

However, if we are the products of blind chance and physical processes, what is our purpose for being here? Why should we care? Are blind forces responsible for things like love, justice, good, evil, etc.? Or are those things merely human constructs, designed to decrease friction amongst earth dwellers and increase peace and harmony (more intangible ideas)?

Let’s assume that there is no God. Where did love come from? Those who do not think God exists would say that these attributes ‘evolved’; they are ‘common sense’. If so, how did the human race last long enough to realize these ‘common sense’ ideas? In a world where these ideas would have had to ‘evolve’, our ancestors would have killed each other off before having the opportunity to realize that was a counterproductive course of action.

How about justice and our concept of right and wrong? Anyone who has lived a decade or so has witnessed the way what we consider moral or immoral, right or wrong, good or bad changes with the whim of society. It defies logic to assume that, somehow, in our illustrious past, humanity had the presence of mind to determine right from wrong. Human, by nature (i.e. without God), are self-centered, greedy, untrusting folk who are more concerned with self-preservation than any altruistic sentiments.

Consider this: if morals are a human construct (common sense, product of evolution, etc.), who says that what is moral today may be immoral tomorrow, or vice versa (that is actually what we are seeing now, things that were considered taboo or immoral to our ancestors are readily accepted, or tolerated, as moral today). There would exist no true good or bad, right or wrong. There would only be subjective evaluations of human actions and these evaluations would fluctuate with the cultural bias of the day. The Bible tells us that God has given us objective truth, objective standards, objective morals that do not change with the whims of humanity. It is to these standards we are called accountable.

The truth is that, if there were no God, there would be no morality. The Bible tells us that our condition, without God, is bleak and hopeless, “There is none who understands, there is none who seeks for God; all have turned aside, together they have become useless; there is none who does good, there is not even one. Their throat is an open grave, with their tongues they keep deceiving, the poison of asps is under their lips” (Romans 3:11-13 NASB). Does this sound like a group of people with the ability to create moral, loving, helpful, caring standards and statutes? Not hardly.

And this condition universally affects every person, all of humanity, no one is immune: “...for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23 NASB) and, “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned” (Romans 5:12 NASB).

The Bible tells us that “God is love” (I John 4:8, 16). Therefore, no God means no love. However, many want to deny God’s existence while continuing to experience love. They want to enjoy the benefits God gives without being accountable to Him; therefore, they attempt to deny His existence. God calls these people ‘fools’: “The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they have committed abominable deeds; There is no one who does good” (Psalm 14:1 NASB, also Psalm 53:1) and, “The wicked, in the haughtiness of his countenance, does not seek Him. All his thoughts are, “There is no God” (Psalm 10:4 NASB).

Our purpose in life is to “Love God with all our hearts, soul, mind, body, and strength” (Deuteronomy 6:5, 11:1,13,22, 30:16; Joshua 22:5, 23:11; Psalm 31:23, 97:10; Matthew 22:37; Mark 12:30; Luke 10:27; I Corinthians 16:22). We have meaning and purpose because God exists; otherwise, “...all is vanity and striving after wind” (Ecclesiastes 1:14 NASB).