In 2008 I started to wonder why God created the human race.
Does the Bible states the reason of our existence? For sure God had a purpose in mind when He created the Universe and all within.
I found no convenient answer and joined the first Bible forum that Google showed, asked the question but got no satisfying answers except 1) for His glory and 2) for His good pleasure.
Gen 1:31 - 31 And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
Oooh the meaning of life!
Yeah good luck with that one.
Seriously, does there have to be?
Isn’t creation enough?
One thing I am certain is that it is not just some sort of trial for the next one.
When I read the Bible the reason why I see God creating us is for a few reasons. The first is that God is a god of life and love. Creating living things to love and be loved by may not be necessary for his existence but seems to be what best fits his desires.
The other is that to me it seems like God wanted to call Adam out of the world and create a place for him and to have a special remnant of his creation. He does that several times.
I also think a major reason why is because he wanted us to co-rule this earth with him.
Genesis 1:26-31 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” 29 Then God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you; 30 and to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to every thing that moves on the earth which has life, I have given every green plant for food”; and it was so. 31 God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
In the same way that he uses angels to battle satan and uses angels to bring messages to humanity.
The ultimate answer, as with all things God created and all things he does, is for his glory. But our purpose is also related to our being made in God’s image which, in my opinion, primarily has to do with being made for the task of representing God and ruling over his creation. At least that’s how I’d answer your question
Well, in science the most important question is: WHY ?
Answers gives you insight to understand the world you are living in.
Likewise when God said - Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. the WHY question (IMO) is a crucial one. If I know the answer I (IMO) surely will understand the Scriptures better.
Did God really say that or is that just human vanity.
Humanity cannot rule itself let alone creation. King Canute tried… what good did it do? Ecclesiastes: There is a season… the whole point is that creation is autonomous.
We would like to think that we are here to “rule” but it would appear that we are much better at destroying and killing.
I think the phrase is… Try again. I do not think you will find the answer in Scripture. There is too much human influence in it. (Oh dear that disputes the more recent traditional meaning of 2 Tim 3, never mind)
This is indeed a crucial question and I think that rather than making the answer to this revolve around things about God we already decided are true (which could be nothing but fantasies), it the other things about God which should revolve around the answer to this one.
I think so.
It’s right there. That is the essence of parenting – making something capable of growing up to be like you. Only in the case of an infinite God this would require an eternity. And this is the meaning of eternal life.
Great answer for those worshiping a needy self-absorbed self-seeking deity. Not a good answer for those worshiping a God who is perfect and without a need of any kind.
Indeed! But for completion we should go back to Gen 1:25 where before the creation of man it says, “God saw that it was good.” So it was already fitting the purpose for which God created and with the creation of man it was even better.
Children. You don’t create in your own image if the purpose is to make tools – something made for an end. You go for children when you want something as an end in itself, which grows, learns, and makes decisions about the meaning of their own life. After all it is only natural that we who are finite and limited in our capacities should choose among all the endless possibilities available to us, whether to be artists, scientists, teachers, doctors, or (heaven help us) lawyers.
Only if we overlook the details. An image is not a replica. The image differs from the original in many ways. Not only is it limited to 2 dimensions but it is turned around and in some sense opposite. Thus we reflect the infinite actuality of God in our infinite potential which we really only have because of a relationship with Him – God ready to give of Himself to us without end and we have the potential to receive what He can give. But possibilities are not a guarantee because our learning requires effort. That effort is the essence of life and when we choose not to learn then we reject life and turn towards death instead.
Not without the guidance of God. It is natural for children to want to be like their parent. But this should motivate them to learn from Him rather than simply pretending to His authority. And that has been plague of history where people have decide to ignore information God sends to us from the earth and sky and think they can speak for God themselves.
Exactly! If you are going to have children then you should expect crying, whining, and poopy diapers that stink to the high heavens. If not then do the world a favor and play video games instead.
I think that we should not begin with humanity. We need to begin with the universe. Why did God create the universe, because God’s purpose for us is to be God’s helper in governing the universe. Interestingly enough science has come to this conclusion.
“The anthropic principle is a philosophical consideration that observations of the universe must be compatible with the conscious and sapient life that observes it, and that there is hence a survivorship bias. Proponents of the anthropic principle reason that it explains why this universe has the age and the fundamental physical constants necessary to accommodate conscious life. As a result, they believe it is unremarkable that this universe has fundamental constants that happen to fall within the narrow range thought to be compatible with life. The strong anthropic principle (SAP), as explained by John D. Barrow and Frank Tipler, states that this is all the case because the universe is in some sense compelled to eventually have conscious and sapient life emerge within it.” Wikipedia
Humans are rational because they evolved in a rational universe, created by a rational Creator. The universe demands a rational observer because it would have no meaning without an observer. Time, knowledge, and moral order are required to complete our rational universe.
God is relational. That means that God enjoys relating to others including Godself. It also would seem to mean that God enjoys giving the universe life and sharing our relationships. Life is good. God gives us life, so God is good.
