Igneous Quill

Either the universe exists on purpose and human life has meaning, or we're a bunch of hopeless, hairless primates using our three pound brains to grasp after answers that do not exist.  Can I make it any plainer?

Sure, there are other possibilities. It could be that the universe exists on purpose, but we're only incidental and therefore just as insignificant as we'd be if the universe had no purpose.  Or, we could try to cheer ourselves up by saying that the universe is just something that happened, and we have the joy of making our own purpose. This latter perspective is short-sighted, given that whatever meaning we give to our own lives depends only on our own perception, and will die with us.

Bertrand Russell, an atheistic philosopher, laid out the meaninglessness of existence in the starkest terms:

“That man is the product of causes which had no prevision of the end they were achieving; that his origin, his growth, his hopes and fears, his loves and his beliefs, are but the outcome of accidental collocations of atoms; that no fire, no heroism, no intensity of thought and feeling, can preserve an individual life beyond the grave; that all the labors of the ages, all the devotion, all the inspiration, all the noonday brightness of human genius, are destined to extinction in the vast death of the solar system, and that the whole temple of man's achievement must inevitably be buried beneath the debris of a universe in ruins – all these things, if not quite beyond dispute, are yet so nearly certain that no philosophy which rejects them can hope to stand. Only within the scaffolding of these truths, only on the firm foundation of unyielding despair, can the soul's salvation henceforth be safely built.“

He's right, except that I can't see any way that "unyielding despair" can provide a "firm foundation" for anyone.  Still, if there is no real, larger meaning in which we participate as sentient beings, why fool ourselves? Why devote time and energy to art, science, love and procreation? Why do anything, except perhaps for the satisfaction of the moment?

The observable reality, however, is that we live in an orderly universe and participate in a world in which love can be experienced and purposes can be conceived. That this cosmos is conducive not only to life but also to the sharing of love and purpose should tell us something.  We can choose either to believe what we can observe, or deny it all and embrace a faith that despite the order of the observable universe and the tendency toward life, love and purpose, it is all without value and for nothing.

If the whole universe has no meaning, we should never have found out that it has no meaning: just as, if there were no light in the universe and therefore no creatures with eyes, we should never know it was dark. Dark would be without meaning. - C.S. Lewis

Beyond general theism, Christianity specifically affirms that not only does mortal human life have value, but that there is a greater purpose for the cosmos and a continued, resurrected life for humanity. This faith gives value to what we do now, affirming that we are not only waiting for better things yet to come, but actually building in tangible and intangible ways for that future.

"Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: 'Death has been swallowed up in victory.' 'Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?' The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain." - 1 Corinthians 15:51-58 NIV