God made me to know Him, love Him and serve Him in this world, and to be happy with Him for ever in the next.
Here we are face to face with the greatest problem of our existence―viz., why we are here. God never does anything, even the most minute thing, without having some end in view; and surely when He created man, the noblest work of His hands, He must have had some very special object in creating Him. The Catechism tells us that He made man for Himself.
First, to know Him. Now we can, and do, know a great deal about God, even though we have never seen Him: (1) From the Old Testament, where God revealed Himself to the patriarchs and prophets; (2) from the New Testament, where God has made known to us much about Himself and the next world through Jesus Christ, His only Son.
Secondly, we are made to love God. The more we know about Him the more we see His infinite beauty and goodness, and thus we are induced to love Him; for even in this world we love what is beautiful and good.
Lastly, we are made to serve God. The way we show our love for God is by serving Him, by doing His will. He Himself has said, "If you love Me, keep My commandments" (John xiv. 15). The reward of all this―viz., of trying to know all we can about God, of loving and serving Him―is to be the possession of heaven, that happy place to which everyone is anxious to go, God has promised this, so we cannot doubt it.
So you understand now why you were made, why you are here: not to make a great name for yourself, not to get rich, not to enjoy yourself as you like, but simply to serve the God who made you. You are one of His creatures; you depend entirely upon Him for everything. As your Creator, God has His rights over you, and the greatest of these rights is that you should know and love and serve Him.
The Catechism Simply Explained
B. Herder Book Company , 1899
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