Why are we here? What is the purpose of life?

We came to earth to become “as the gods, knowing good from evil.”1 That is why we are here; that is the purpose of life. Through experience and choice, we decide for ourselves whether or not we will live as Heavenly Father does. His life is a perfect life because he is perfect; his life holds the greatest opportunity for happiness.

“Eternal life is the name of the kind of life which God lives and is therefore ‘the greatest of all the gifts of God’ 2; …those who gain it [eternal life] become like God, they are one with him.” 3

To gain eternal life is a purpose of life and why we are here

Eternal life is to live where God lives and to live as God lives, or in the family unit as husbands and wives sealed together with their children for all eternity. A couple’s gaining eternal life is to gain the supernal blessing of eternal lives, or endless posterity as God enjoys.

Like Abraham and Sarah, who received the promise of eternal lives, a couple that strives to live like Abraham and Sarah may qualify for the blessings of eternal posterity as numerous as “the dust of the earth,” 4 or as “innumerable as the stars; or, if ye were to count the sand upon the seashore.” 5

Our purpose in life, therefore, is to choose to become like God by living his commandments so that we may dwell with him one day and enjoy the blessings of eternal life and eternal lives. The more we become like him, the more we find lasting peace, joy, and happiness.

To gain a body is a purpose of life and why we are here

We are born into this life and receive the supernal gift of a physical body. This body of flesh and bone is the eternal “tabernacle of the [man’s] spirit” and the “living temple of God.” 6 “The physical…body is…organized in the complete and minute image of the spirit body.” 7

In man’s body are the secrets of his destiny: to become like God and to enjoy eternal life and eternal lives. Thus, to become like God we must obtain a body like God’s--“The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man's” 8—and our body must become as is his, sanctified and glorified by having passed through the resurrection of the dead, “raised from mortality to immortality, from corruption to incorruption.” 9

Of the body's change from mortality to immortality, Elder Bruce R. McConkie said, “Mortality is that state of existence during which body and spirit are temporarily joined together; immortality is that future resurrected state in which body and spirit are inseparably connected.” 10

To be tested is a purpose of life and why we are here

We came to earth to be tested and proved to see if we will do all things whatsoever the God shall command us. 11 So that we might progress and become like God, he gives us commandments, which are patterned after his way of living. If we obey these commandments, we receive blessings; if we disobey, we receive consequences.

Because God has given us our moral agency, we have the unrestricted right to make choices. But because we are yet imperfect we make some choices that are not always aligned with God’s laws. Every broken law carries a penalty that must be paid by someone. Either Christ or we must pay the penalty attached to each broken law. Full repentance, which includes godly sorrow, confession to priesthood authority, abandonment of sin, restitution, and righteous living, are always a portion of that penalty.

Part of our mortal testing is to see if we will fully repent and take responsibility for our sins by choosing to embrace Jesus Christ and his atonement. When we fully repent, Jesus agrees to pay--overpay--the remaining balance of the penalty of our sins, which remaining balance we do not have the ability to pay. Jesus' payment is so great that it eventually eliminates the memory of the pain of our sins. 12

Of the far-reaching effects of his atonement, Jesus said, “For behold, I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent…which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit….” If we choose not to accept Jesus’ atonement the penalty of our sins falls to us and our “sufferings be sore--how sore you know not, how exquisite you know not, yea, how hard to bear you know not.” 13

Only through Jesus Christ can we hope to overcome the effects and penalties of sin, be made perfect by his merits, become reconciled to God and qualify for the blessings of eternal life. This is a purpose of life and why we are here.

To gain experience is a purpose of life and why we are here

Part of our mortal test is to have experiences that bring us happiness and sorrow. We are to feel life’s extremes: light and darkness, health and sickness, pleasure and pain, problems with relationships and finances and illness. Why? Because we need to learn to feel as deeply as God feels; we need the refining and shaping that only facing and overcoming adversity can achieve.

From the furnace of experience and affliction dross is burned away and gold emerges, purified and infinitely valuable. 14

The Prophet Joseph Smith said, “I am like a huge, rough stone rolling down from a high mountain; and the only polishing I get is when some corner gets rubbed off by coming in contact with something else…a corner here and a corner there. Thus I will become a smooth and polished shall in the quiver of the Almighty.” 15

Questions about 'Why are we here? What is the purpose of life?'

• Why we are here is to become as is God and know what?
• A purpose of life is to qualify to receive "the greatest of all the gifts of God." What is it?
• Why we are here is to gain 'eternal life.' What does that mean, and what does that mean for husbands and wives and thier children?
• Because why we are here is to become like God, what supernal gift does he give us as a home for our immortal spirit?
• A purpose of life is to be tested to see if we will keep the commandments of God. Why does he give us commandments?
• Why we are here is to repent. If we repent as much as we can, what will Jesus Christ do for us? What happens if we refuse to repent?
• Why we are here is to gain experience, which includes extreme difficulties. For what eternal benefit would God create an environment of such harsh conditions as a fundamental purpose of life?
• What is God trying to make of us and prepare us for that we cannot fully appreciate? Does understanding this help you to trust him and answer 'Why are we here, and what is the purpose of life?'

References for 'Why are we here? What is the purpose of life?'

1. (Genesis 3:5)
2. (D&C 14:7)
3. (The Promised Messiah, p. 130)
4. (Genesis 13:16)
5. (D&C 132:30)
6. (Elder Rudger Clawson, Conference Report, April 1937, Afternoon Meeting, p.76)
7. (Alvin R. Dyer, Who Am I?, p.188)
8. (D&C 130:22)
9. (1 Cor. 15:53-54; Mosiah 16:10; Alma 12:12; Alma 41:4) – For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal [must] put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. (1 Cor. 15:53-54) Even this mortal shall put on immortality, and this corruption shall put on incorruption, and shall be brought to stand before the bar of God, to be judged of him according to their works whether they be good or whether they be evil-(Mosiah 16:10) And Amulek hath spoken plainly concerning death, and being raised from this mortality to a state of immortality, and being brought before the bar of God, to be judged according to our works. (Alma 12:12) And if their works are evil they shall be restored unto them for evil. Therefore, all things shall be restored to their proper order, every thing to its natural frame—mortality raised to immortality, corruption to incorruption—raised to endless happiness to inherit the kingdom of God, or to endless misery to inherit the kingdom of the devil, the one on one hand, the other on the other—(Alma 41:4)
10. (Mormon Doctrine, 2d ed., p.514)
11. (Abraham 3:25) – And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them.
12. (D&C 58:42) – Behold, he who has repented of his sins, the same is forgiven, and I, the Lord, remember them no more.
13. (D&C 19:15-19)
14. (Job 23:10) – But he knoweth the way that I take: [when] he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.
15. (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 1940 edition, p. 304.)