As creatures, human beings are created with a purpose that is determined not by themselves but by their Creator. This understanding is particularly well understood in the monotheistic religions, which recognize that God's purpose for creating human beings is to find those creatures who would recognize, serve, glorify, and love Him. Therefore, human beings can find fulfillment in the service of God.

In the Jewish tradition and in some new religions, the loving God Himself rejoices when He is glorified and adored by human beings reflecting His image; thus we can speak of the purpose of life as fulfilled in returning joy to God. God's love for humankind blossoms into divine ecstasy as that love is multiplied and happiness spreads throughout the human race. (On the other side of divine passion, namely God's sorrow over the evil plight of mankind, see God's Grief, pp. 457-62.) Analogously, in Mahayana Buddhist texts the Buddha rejoices as sentient beings are enlightened by the Dharma. In Hinduism the embodied Self within stands as the Enjoyer of all phenomena. The joy of God may be recognized as the divine counterpart to the quest for human happiness described in the previous section.

On the other hand, in religious conceptions which lack a personal God, or which stress God's absolute sovereignty, Ultimate Reality is already perfect, beyond desiring, impassible, and without need of anything. In Islam, God is often conceived of as the Sovereign Lord, high above the world and unilaterally enforcing His will on mankind. In Hindu Vedanta, God's apparent motivation for activity in the world and among human beings is nothing but lila, divine play. Several passages teaching the divine impassibility are given at the conclusion of this section.

I have created the jinn and humankind only that they might serve Me.

1. Islam. Qur'an 51.56

How then to bec