People ask this in the dark, usually. The scriptures answer it in daylight, and they answer it briefly.
Made in His image, and given a job
The Torah begins with a decision.
God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the sky, and over the livestock, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth."
Then He blesses them and tells them to fill the Earth and look after it (Genesis 1:28). A chapter later the man is put in the garden "to cultivate and keep it" (Genesis 2:15). So from the first page there is work, and the work is care.
The Psalms ask the same question out loud and do not flinch at how small we are.
When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have ordained; what is man, that you think of him? What is the son of man, that you care for him?
The answer the Psalm gives is that He crowned us with glory and honour and put the works of His hands under our feet (Psalm 8:5–6). Not because we are large. Because He chose to.
The short answer, twice
Two books give the whole thing in one sentence each. Ecclesiastes ends a long and honest argument by saying that the end of the matter is to fear the Lord God and keep His commandments, "for this is the whole duty of man" (Ecclesiastes 12:13). Micah strips it to three things.
He has shown you, O man, what is good. What does The Lord God require of you, but to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?
That is the Torah and the prophets talking. Nothing complicated, and nothing easy either.
Worship, and what the word covers
The Recitation gives the purpose in five words.
And I did not create the unseen spirits and mankind except to worship Me.
Another chapter says He made death and life to test which of us is best in deed (The Recitation 67:2). And before Adam was made, the angels were told that a successive authority was being placed on the Earth (The Recitation 2:30).
Put those three together and worship is not only what happens when we kneel. It covers the deed, the trust, and the keeping of the ground under our feet.
The Messiah is asked to rank them
Someone asks Jesus the Messiah which commandment is greatest. He gives two and refuses to separate them.
Jesus said to him, "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.'
This is the first and great commandment.
A second likewise is this, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'
He then says the whole law and the prophets depend on these two (Matthew 22:40). Love of Him, and love of the person next to you. Take either one away and the other stops standing.
So, why were we made
Reading the four together, the answer comes out in four parts, and each rests on a verse.
- To know Him. The Messiah calls knowing "the only true God" eternal life (John 17:3).
- To worship Him. That is the reason given outright (The Recitation 51:56).
- To keep His Earth. We were put here to work it and guard it (Genesis 2:15), and set over it as caretakers (The Recitation 2:30).
- To look after one another. Justice, mercy, a humble walk (Micah 6:8), and your neighbour treated as yourself (Matthew 22:39).
None of these four is a reward we earn and none is a secret. They were said plainly, early, and more than once.
A thing to try
Take Micah 6:8 into one ordinary day. Act justly in one dealing. Show mercy where you could have been hard. Walk humbly, which mostly means saying less. Perhaps you will find that the question of why we are here gets quieter when it is being answered rather than asked.
Questions people might ask
Does "worship" only mean praying?
No. In the scriptures it covers the whole of a life lived towards Him: work done with care, mercy shown, His words kept. Prayer is part of it, not the whole of it.
Why did He make us if He needs nothing?
The Lord God revealed to us in the Recitation that He does not ask for provision from us (The Recitation 51:57). Making us was not a need. It was His choice, and the Torah calls what He made very good (Genesis 1:31).
What am I supposed to do today?
Love Him, love the person in front of you, and do the work in front of you well. The Psalms say to trust Him at all times and pour out your heart before Him (Psalm 62:8).
