The Summum Bonum of Life
One of the greatest questions a person can ask is, “What on earth am I here for?” The reason why I think this question is one of the greatest questions a person could ever ask is because it gets at the purpose of life and the reason for living.
One of the greatest questions a person can ask is, “What on earth am I here for?” The reason why I think this question is one of the greatest questions a person could ever ask is because it gets at the purpose of life and the reason for living.
The apostle Paul once wrote to a group of Christians, “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Cor. 10:31). In other words, for the apostle Paul, the meaning of life and the purpose for my existence on earth is wrapped up in a simple statement: “We exist for the glory of God.” The glory of God is a bit of an obscure concept. What is the glory of God really, and what significance does it have to this very day and life in general? The glory of God is simply His character; it is His love, His justice, His mercy, His wrath, His grace, and His holiness put on display for all to see. The reason why Paul said we ought to do all that we do to the glory of God is because He not only created all things, but that all things exist for Him.
I think that you would agree that God is God because He is as good as good as it gets, or to use the Latin phrase… God is the summum bonum, which simply means that He is the highest good. As I write this blog the highest good for the Chicago Black Hawks and the Philadelphia Flyers is winning the Stanley Cup. In a few months, for the Denver Broncos, the summum bonum will be the Super Bowl. For many in baseball fans, the summum bonum of sports is the World Series. What is your summum bonum? What is it in life that you call the highest good? Is your highest good a good education, a well paying job, a strong and healthy family?
For the apostle Paul, the summum bonumof life before he became a Christ follower was a Christless religion, but he later discovered that the meaning of life was found in Jesus; upon coming to faith in Jesus, Paul’s life was reoriented. For the apostle, Jesus became his most valuable treasure in all of life; Paul likened knowing Jesus and living for God in the following way: “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever” (1 Cor. 9:24-25). What do you consider to be the summum bonum of your life? What prize are you running the race of life for? What trophy do you draw the meaning of life around?
