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Everything is always moving. Birds flit from branch to branch, commuters go from home to work and back, and trees sway in the breeze. Even things that appear still—rocks, grass, buildings—are humming with atomic vibration. All the while, our planet hurtles through space at thousands of miles per hour, ceaselessly orbiting the sun. Many of the ancients observed this world and drew a conclusion: Motion isn’t mere chaos—it implies direction. Everything seems drawn toward something. Leaves move toward the sun, rivers run to the sea, birds return to the nest. Motion reveals purpose.
Today, such an idea feels obscure. Modern people often speak of goals—grades, careers, vacations, retirement—but hesitate to ask about purpose: Why does anything exist? What are we here for? What should men and women strive to become? These questions, answered confidently in previous generations, are now rare. In large part, this is because many no longer believe that the world is purposeful. Why answer questions that are irrelevant? If all things arose by chance, then all things—including us—are ultimately random. And if that’s so, then any purpose we craft is purely subjective: a self-assigned meaning in an indifferent void. Christians believe something entirely different: “The Lord has made everything for its purpose, even the wicked for the day of trouble” (Prov. 16:4). Nothing is random. It may sometimes seem that way from our perspective, but not from God’s. All things—not just human beings—move toward His ordained end. As the Westminster Shorter Catechism describes on its first page, man’s chief end is “to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.” The Bible emphasizes this purpose from Genesis to Revelation, from its constant emphasis on holiness to its frequent commands to praise the Lord. But “to glorify God” is not man’s chief end alone. All creation is swept into God’s design. Every stone, every tree, every bird, every soul has a purpose: the glory of God.
This glory will be revealed in blessing or in judgment. All things will serve the divine end—willingly or unwillingly. God’s purposes are not up for debate. His creation, from its first dawn to its final sunset, moves toward a fixed conclusion. “I know that you can do all things,” said Job, “and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted” (Job 42:2). The universe is not adrift. It is not without intention. “For from him and through him and to him are all things” (Rom. 11:36). Things are not out of control. They’re not meaningless. There is a point. Everything exists for Him, and one day He will make all things new (Rev. 21:5).