The purpose of life. 2.5 billion entries in Google and only floundering results. Why do people care about their life’s purpose?
Neshama is the divine essence (breath of life) God infused into human beings (Genesis 2:7). It confers on humans five human features. The first overriding element our consciousness revolves around is the purpose of life. Is there one? What is it? Why am I here? These are the existential questions about our existence and the meaning of life. Why do humans even wonder about such issues? Here’s the answer.
(Mind-Body Problem Solved, Chapter 15 – Table of Contents)
- God made humans in His image and likeness (Gen. 1:27).
- He accomplished this by infusing His neshama (breath of life) into humans,
- The neshama, consciousness, confers on humans, godly qualities (image of God).
- God forms with purpose therefore humans can form with a purpose of life.
- to know what their purpose of life is.
When God formed Adam from the dust of the ground, He already had a coordinated concept for consummating His creation. In Genesis 2:7, the Hebrew word formed signifies a potter molding his clay with resolution and purpose (at UnlockBibleMeaning.com see Strong’s H3335 yatsar). God, with His infinite mind, imagines a framework and is determined to bring to fruition His original concept, ”…I have purposed (H3335) it, I will also do it…” (Isaiah 46:11). Purposed is the same Hebrew word as formed in Gen. 2:7.
God creates because He has a purpose. He has a long-term, organized, coherent policy, which He has committed to writing in the Bible and preserved for us (Isaiah 30:8). He has an overall goal and no one shall annul it (Isaiah 14:26-27). It includes you and me and He’s equipped each of us, through consciousness, with the attributes to accomplish His goals.
I devoted Section 1 of Audit of Humankind to these immaterial singularities of each human. In giving the neshama, consciousness, to human beings, God automatically gave us all the singularities necessary to pursue our purpose in life.
The Singularity of Humankind is associated with their purpose in life
Humans can only accomplish their purpose in life because all the singularities necessary for this task are part of the complete package God breathed into humans. All these capacities are mental attributes. You cannot find them in the brain, they are inherent in our psychological makeup. God designed humans this way by breathing the breath of life, the nishmat chayim, the neshama, into them when He created the first human who represents all human beings.
A purpose in life has always characterized humans worldwide and down through history. Think about that fact. How can that be? Where did it come from? Genesis 2:7 answers that question. Here is a concise summary of the key mental attributes that confer on humans the capacity to plan goals, entertain aspirations, and ambition for their future. Click the links for a more profound view of these human characteristics.
- Nature of Humans, Consciousness & Mind Reveal Adroit Humans (1.1 in the book Audit of Humankind). This chapter exposes the nature of consciousness and the mind.
- Space-Time is Not Only Scientific Theory, but It’s Also a Human Singularity (1.2)
Each of us has 24-hours (our time) to manage whatever we want (our space). It consists of time at home, office, factory, in a truck, airport, ship, etc. wherever you spend your leisure, sleeping, working (that’s your space) hours (that’s your time). Your space includes every physical item you use including the Invisibles like the air you breathe, the electricity to run the tools, the odors in the kitchen, or the heat in the gymnasium. Humans alone manage their space time. - Creativity Sets Humankind Apart from and Above All Other Life on Earth (1.3)
I’m amazed by the inventiveness of human ingenuity, aren’t you? The myriad ways to cook food, decorate a room, build a house, catch fish, turn wood, etc. God is the Creator and the neshama equips every single human with the ability to invent objects, ideas, and ways of accomplishing tasks. It’s never-ending. - Imagination—Another Singularity of Humankind in Your Consciousness (1.4)
Anytime a writer throws words on a page, a painter dips their brush in paint, a designer sketches lines on a serviette in a restaurant, they’re imagining. We’ve filled our consumer society with merchandise that started in someone’s conceptualizing mind. Each product was first a figment of a creator’s imagination, a flash of insight, a daydream, or maybe even a night-dream. Imagination is where everything starts. Humans imagine because they possess consciousness, neshama. - Bears Don’t Learn to Ride Bicycles. Humans Learn That and Much More (1.5)
To learn is a lifelong endeavor. It starts with how to suck your mother’s nipple and ends with how to get out of bed with an arthritis-wracked body. There always was, is, and will be something new to understand. When humans look up at the cloudy sky and wonder about the weather, pick up their daily newspaper, listen to the news or watch it on their mobile phone, they’re learning about the world around them and themselves. When consciousness stops, learning stops. - Your Choices Tell Us Who You Are. In Fact, They Identify You (1.6)
Every human being has a choice over various aspects of their lives. Humankind is one race but, through choice, we’re 8 billion individuals. Through our consciousness, we choose our personal hairdo, what we read, or watch, the causes we support, and the ideas we propagate. - Growth Mindset—A Frame of Mind Unique to Humankind (1.7)
Consciousness confers on humans the thrill of making progress. Seeing oneself and others, improve their lives. Not just earning more money or living in a luxury house. But, progress like piling blocks one on top of each other, learning the alphabet, riding a bicycle, learning the waltz, and driving a car. Daily we make incremental improvements to our life experiences. - I Challenge you … A Human Trait that Keeps Us Moving Forward (1.8)
Whether it’s a face-off over a game of Monopoly or a personal test to obtain one’s driver’s license, the challenge is a uniquely human characteristic. Over two billion people step up to the challenge of playing video games. That’s about one in three persons worldwide. Huge. Why do they play? It’s fun, but it’s also a challenge. We’re trying to beat something. Better our score, faster, more accurate, more skill. We all have personal records that we’re proud of, but always trying to improve. This is an aspect of consciousness necessary for the purpose of life. - Rule Life Responsibly—The Key Human Singularity (1.9)
Rule life responsibly comes down to how each person exerts their dual nature over the space time they influence; how we take care of the living and non-living environments which we impact. Life is a labyrinth of choices, moves, and decisions. Negotiating life is meeting these daily, weekly, and yearly challenges responsibly.
Let me be forthright with you. It is not standing upright that defines a human, God formed humans upright from the dust, from the start. Neshama, consciousness, the ability to have a purpose in life defines a human being. The fact that you know you have to manage your space and time, that you can use your imagination, and learn to create, grow and face challenges to lead a responsible life in the human family. That consciousness determines you are human.
Each of the five features of consciousness will end with a brief excursion into their application in real life. The Bible is anything but myths and pretty stories. God’s Word exposes a practical way of life applicable in the 21st century. Scripture clearly lays out directions for each aspect of consciousness including the why, how, and what. They are for all human beings regardless of gender, culture, race, or religion. The section on psychology will group the overall directives. In fact, many good books have discovered and detailed the proper approach to develop purpose in life.
The second section will elaborate on the biblical spiritual approach to the proper use of each aspect of consciousness. God gave us neshama and He expects humans to use it according to His will. Those people who make the choice to follow God and adhere to His way of life receive specific instructions when it comes to serving God.
Psychology and purpose of life
Psychology is the study of the mind. We shall discuss what the mind is but consciousness is the foundation of humans. It is like the motor, body, brakes, steering, or wheels of a car. Those five features define a car. Each feature can exist in thousands, even millions of types, but each of the five features is fundamental to a car. Likewise, the purpose of life is a fundamental feature, one of the five that characterizes humans.
For a human to flourish, they must know what their purpose in life is. Education, in all its forms, from parenting to teaching, to maturing, to growing up, to apprenticing, to educating, to mentoring, to forming, to training, to development, to whatever we input into an individual’s psyche must first and foremost be to enhance that person’s purpose of life.
Truth, love, authority, courage, power, intelligence, travel, experiences, etc. are not the purpose of life. They are tools we use to enhance and reach our purpose in life. Education is not about facts, exams, and diplomas. Yes, those are necessary, but they are stepping-stones to helping young and old to KNOW and ACCOMPLISH their purpose in life.
Your purpose of life is that overriding desire to do something in line with your personal ambitions, education, and skills. It is what motivates you to get out of bed, to think and plan your future. It’s what you really want to do with your life.
Our imagination, choices, creativity, learning, growth mindset, and challenges lead us there. We are fulfilled, happy, and at peace because of the combination of our 24-hour daily activities. It is our work time, leisure time, home time, bed time that satisfy our needs for ourselves and those around us.
Psychology, all therapy, and education should be putting all people on the track to their individual purpose in life.
The spiritual purpose of life
How can I assert and you be certain that knowing one’s purpose in life is a Godly infused characteristic of neshama, consciousness? Because, in the first five minutes of the existence of humans, God tells Adam what humanity’s purpose on Earth is. To dress and keep the Garden of Eden. No, God didn’t tell Adam to be a gardener :). The Biblical Hebrew of that phrase means to worship and serve God. That meaning encompasses the entire purpose of God for humankind. In other words, the purpose in life for human existence on Earth.
Read Dress and Keep Garden of Eden. Man Destined to be a Gardener? In reality, the spiritual purpose in life is identical to our psychological purpose in life. With the essential additional point that God is our main focus. This is not some spiritual wishy-washy babble or foolishness. God wants us to accomplish something real based on His directives. His message is simple, “worship and serve God means put God and our neighbor first in our lives.”
That means whatever personal and professional purpose in life we choose should be aligned with worship of God and the service of our fellow humans, near and far.
We still have four features of consciousness to cover. They will detail exactly what alignment with God and neighbor mean. Spirituality is not just attending church, and singing hymns. Real spirituality is how you exercise your purpose in life. Is it Godly oriented or not?
The first aspect of consciousness is that every single human who has ever walked the face of this Earth has an ingrained purpose for their life. Success or failure, worldly or godly, is not the issue here, the key is all humans have the inborn desire for a purpose in life. It exists only because humans alone possess neshama consciousness.
Next week, we shall elaborate on the second attribute of consciousness; how and why humans worldwide function identically.
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