Raison D’être

I listened to a conversation sometime last week, and it left an impression upon me. It was not serious conversation, but it centered on Raison D’être.

What is a ‘raison d’être’? What does it mean? What are the implications of it?

But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.

Exodus 9:16 (NLT, emphasis added)

In the world of scales, one principle that exists is that things should be made to solve problems, to meet needs. Any innovation that doesn’t solve a problem or meet a need will, in all likelihood, become a problem by virtue of its existence and/or its use.

In thinking of about a raison d’etre, the above verse of Scripture come to mind. This was God talking to Pharaoh through Moses.

I want to draw our attention of a couple of things.

What does Raison D’etre mean?

It’s a French statement. It means Reason for Existence.  It deals with the ‘why’; Why does a thing exist? Why were you created? Why are you alive? It’s implies clearly that there is a God reason behind why you were created. That there is a God-reason why you are alive.

Two Streams of ‘Raison’

In the Scriptures, there is a foundational reason for our existence. There is a foundational reason for creation.

Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.

Revelations 4:11 (KJV)

The foundational reason Scriptures advance as the basis for the creation of all things is the pleasure of God.

As I’ve written previously, when we think of the pleasure of God, we must not make the mistake of thinking about it the same way we would think about the pleasure of a man. A man can find pleasure, for instance, at the expense of another man.

But God doesn’t find pleasure at the expense of His creation, rather, He – in a sense – finds pleasure in the pleasure of His creation and in their delight in Him. In the words of John Piper, God is most glorified in us, when we are most satisfied in Him.

Scriptures also advance a second reason for existence, distinct from the first and yet a subset of it. This is what God was speaking to Pharaoh about. He refers to it as the very purpose for which He raised Pharaoh up; the very purpose.

There is a person-specific purpose God assigned to each one of us in the creation model.  That purpose was muddled up following the fall, however it is recovered in Christ through Redemption.

No, we neither make nor save ourselves. God does both the making and saving. He creates each of us by Christ Jesus to join him in the work he does, the good work he has gotten ready for us to do, work we had better be doing. (MSB)

For we are God’s [own] handiwork (His workmanship), recreated in Christ Jesus, [born anew] that we may do those good works which God predestined (planned beforehand) for us [taking paths which He prepared ahead of time], that we should walk in them [living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us to live]. (AMP)

Ephesians 2:10

Hear it in the words of John the Baptist:

I knew nothing about who he was–only this: that my task has been to get Israel ready to recognize him as the God-Revealer. That is why I came here baptizing with water, giving you a good bath and scrubbing sins from your life so you can get a fresh start with God.”

John 1:31 (MSB)

John, no doubt, did several things. He was voice that cried in the wilderness, he was the one who came baptizing with water. All of those actions were only expressions of his singular purpose, which was to get Israel to recognize Christ as the Revelation of God. To get Israel to recognize the Christ for who He really was.

We can go on and on, and find several examples of this in Scriptures.

What are we saying? We are simply stating that every one of us has a reason for existing. And that, that reason, our Raison d’être is a God- reason. We are also saying that whilst there is an overarching reason in God for us and the rest of creation, there is a person-specific reason that was recovered and made accessible to us in Christ.

To find your Raison D’être, you have to first believe in and confess Christ as revealed in the scriptures. Any other starting posting is futile and unsatisfying.

We will never truly find our reason for existing without finding Christ and being found in Him.