What is the true purpose of life? Is life devoid of any meaning?

What is the true purpose of life? Is life devoid of any meaning? If life is devoid of meaning, what then do the words, meaning, purpose, and significance apply to the desire to know where we come from, why we are here, and where we go when we die, and if they do, what is the implication of the statement spoken by Jesus of Nazareth mean, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me?” What does Jesus mean by this statement, and who is the Father? 

Speaking honestly to philosophical atheists, I have to start where the questions actually live: Is there such a thing as true purpose? Is life objectively meaningful—or do we just assign meaning for psychological survival? And if life is ultimately purposeless, then the words meaning, purpose, and significance become nothing more than temporary labels we paste onto existence to help us cope with the silence of the universe. From a biblical worldview, I don’t believe life is devoid of meaning, but I also don’t believe we can manufacture meaning that endures. Meaning is not something we invent; it’s something we receive. It is anchored in the One who made us, the One in whom we exist, and the One to whom we will give account. That is why the Scriptures are willing to say, without embarrassment, that the question of purpose isn’t ultimately solved by human autonomy, but by God’s authority and God’s design.

 

Life Is Not Meaningless—Because We Are Not Accidental

 

The Bible insists that our existence is not random. Human beings are not cosmic leftovers. We were created intentionally, and that alone changes the entire philosophical landscape. We are made in God’s image (Genesis 1:26–28), and that means our lives have intrinsic dignity and moral significance that cannot be reduced to mere biology or social utility. And more personally, Scripture presses the point further: God’s involvement is not only cosmic; it’s intimate. “You formed my inward parts… Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed… the days fashioned for me” (Psalm 139:13–16). If that’s true, then life is not an accident, and neither are we. And if God is Creator, then purpose is not a human invention; it is something embedded into what we are. Scripture even says that God created people “for My glory” (Isaiah 43:7), and again, “This people I have formed for Myself; they shall declare My praise” (Isaiah 43:21). That is not merely religious poetry; it’s a claim about reality: we exist by God’s will and for God’s reasons. “You are worthy… for You created all things, and by Your will they exist and were created” (Revelation 4:11). And the implication is unavoidable: “Of Him and through Him and to Him are all things”(Romans 11:36). Purpose flows from origin. If our origin is God, our purpose cannot be merely self-referential.

 

The Existential Questions Are Real—And Scripture Admits It

 

Even in Ecclesiastes, the book that sounds like it could be written by a cynical modern philosopher, God acknowledges that human beings feel the weight of eternity pressing into our questions. Ecclesiastes repeatedly exposes the emptiness of a life lived “under the sun” as if this world is all there is. It is precisely because we are not made for a closed system that we ache for something more. That’s why Scripture can affirm ordinary joys without pretending they are ultimate. It says plainly that enjoying the fruits of our labor is a gift: “Every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labor—it is the gift of God” (Ecclesiastes 3:12–13). “Nothing is better… than that his soul should enjoy good in his labor… this also… was from the hand of God” (Ecclesiastes 2:24–25). And yet it also refuses to make pleasure the center, because pleasure cannot bear the weight of ultimate meaning. That’s why Ecclesiastes ends with a conclusion that feels like a final philosophical verdict: “Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man’s all. For God will bring every work into judgment… whether good or evil”(Ecclesiastes 12:13–14). In other words: meaning is real, morality is real, accountability is real. That statement confronts atheism at the exact point where it often struggles: if the universe is ultimately indifferent, then moral obligation is either an illusion or a preference. But Ecclesiastes says, no, there is a Judge, and therefore life carries moral weight.

 

The Purpose Of Life, Biblically, Is Relational And Moral—Not Merely Functional

 

From the Christian worldview, true purpose is not “find what makes you happy” or “become your best self.” Purpose is a God-centered life shaped by love, obedience, and worship, lived in relationship with the Creator and expressed in how we treat people. Jesus summarized the entire moral aim of human life like this: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind… and… you shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:37–40; see also Mark 12:29–31 and Luke 10:27). That means purpose has two inseparable dimensions: 

 

• Vertical: love and devotion to God 
• Horizontal: love and responsibility toward others 

 

And that ethical vision is not vague. Micah puts it in concrete terms: “To do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8). Deuteronomy echoes the same: “What does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord… to love Him… and to keep the commandments… for your good?” (Deuteronomy 10:12–13; see also Joshua 22:5). That is purpose as moral reality, not sentimental spirituality. And here’s the part atheists often find surprising: Scripture refuses to divide life into “sacred” and “secular.” It says purpose touches everything. “Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31). And, “Whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord… for you serve the Lord Christ” (Colossians 3:23–24). Purpose is not reserved for religious moments; it’s meant to saturate ordinary days.

 

But Jesus’ Claim Changes Everything: Meaning And Destiny Are Inseparable

 

Now we come to the statement, the one that either sounds like arrogant exclusivism or like clarity that finally ends the confusion: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). Jesus is not merely offering a philosophy of meaning. He is making a claim about ultimate reality and ultimate access. He is saying: The road to God is not an ideology. The road to God is Me. That forces the question: Who is the Father? In John’s Gospel, the Father is the living God, the Creator, known truly, not by speculation, but by revelation. Jesus defines eternal life in explicitly relational terms: “This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent” (John 17:3). Eternal life is not only duration; it is relationship, knowledge of God through Christ. And if atheists ask, “Why should we trust Jesus’ claim?” Christianity answers by pointing to what Jesus did, not merely what He said. The gospel isn’t “try harder” or “be better.” It is that God acted in history to redeem. Jesus came to give life—real life: “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). He is not presenting a self-help ethic; He is offering reconciliation with God.

 

Purpose Is Not Self-Authored—Because Our Hearts Are Not Reliable Gods

 

This is where Christianity critiques the modern project of self-definition. It’s not that Christians hate happiness or personal fulfillment. It’s that Scripture insists the human heart is not a trustworthy ultimate authority. That is why the Bible warns us against living as if our desires are self-validating, and not to allow our conscience to be our guide. It’s also why the Christian claim about meaning doesn’t begin with “look within,” but “look to God.” That’s why Scripture repeatedly says God’s counsel stands above human plans: “There are many plans in a man’s heart, nevertheless the Lord’s counsel, that will stand” (Proverbs 19:21). And Jesus’ call reorients the center: “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness” (Matthew 6:33). If we reverse that, we don’t just lose moral clarity, we lose ourselves. And yet, the Bible does not teach a bleak view of life. In fact, it promises fullness of joy in God’s presence: “In Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore” (Psalm 16:11). It also says God is not merely the destination; He becomes the strength that holds us when we fail: “My flesh and my heart fail; but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” (Psalm 73:25–26).

 

Meaning Is Also Accountability: Life Is Headed Somewhere

 

Philosophical atheism often treats death as the boundary that erases ultimate significance: we live, we die, and the universe forgets. Scripture disagrees. It says our lives are morally evaluated and ultimately answered. Ecclesiastes ends with judgment (Ecclesiastes 12:13–14). That doesn’t exist to terrorize us; it exists to tell the truth: our choices matter eternally. This is also why Jesus’ words are not just inspirational but urgent. A life aimed at “gaining the whole world” can still be a catastrophic loss: “What profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?” (Matthew 16:24–26). That question slices through every attempt to ground meaning in achievement alone.

 

The Christian Claim: Purpose Is God’s Glory, Expressed Through Love, And Fulfilled In Christ

 

So if I were responding to atheists, I would say it this way, with as much clarity as I can:

1. We exist because God willed us into being (Revelation 4:11; Romans 11:36).
2. We were created in God’s image and for God’s glory (Genesis 1:26–28; Isaiah 43:7).
3. The moral center of life is to love God and love people (Matthew 22:37–40; Mark 12:29–31; Micah 6:8).
4. The daily shape of purpose is worshipful stewardship of ordinary life (1 Corinthians 10:31; Colossians 3:23–24; Romans 12:1–2).
5. The ultimate fulfillment of purpose is knowing God through Jesus Christ (John 17:3), because Jesus is the way to the Father (John 14:6).
6. Life is not meaningless because it is accountable—God will bring our works into judgment (Ecclesiastes 12:13–14).

 

And that’s why Christianity doesn’t treat meaning as a mood, a social construct, or a personal narrative we tell ourselves. Meaning is grounded in the reality of God and culminates in a relationship with Him. The ultimate “direction” isn’t merely ethical instruction, though ethics matter. The “direction” is Christ Himself, because purpose is not only about how to live but about who we belong to. 

I’ll end this where Scripture ends its own philosophy of life: if we want the conclusion of the matter, here it is: “Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man’s all” (Ecclesiastes 12:13). And if we want the heart of those commandments, Jesus tells us: love God fully and love our neighbor truly (Matthew 22:37–40). And if we want the doorway into eternal life, Jesus defines it: to know the Father, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom He has sent (John 17:3).