(By Dave, 10-15 min)
Genesis 2:26-31
“Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
And God blessed them. And God said to them, be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth. And God said, “behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food. And it was so. And God saw everything that he had made and behold, it was very good.”
Purpose versus reason
Nowhere in the Genesis creation story does God reveal to us why he made human beings. Like an artist, he pauses to assess his work before concluding that the whole of it is good. He even blesses parts of it. But why he did the work, and more specifically, made something in his image is not revealed.
The reader is left to wonder why God created human beings. This question is easily conflated with another; what is our purpose? A dresser I made for my granddaughter holds her clothes, but I made the dresser because my daughter asked me to which has little to do with holding clothes. Likewise, our purpose for being here is clear in Scripture (e.g. the great commission), but why we are here in the first place—God’s reasons for creating us—is something I wonder about.
God Reasons
Maybe the Internet can help me out. Bible.org argues that God created us because of a conflict with Satan and fallen Angels. People are made in God’s image to counterbalance the previous rule over the earth by fallen Angels. Thus, we are to subdue the earth for God as beings created in the image of God. The problem I see with this is that it just backs the question up a notch. Why create Satan and the Angels only to chase that creation with us? Moreover, it seems a conclusion beyond the Scripture on which it is based. Thus, it leaves me a bit dubious as the actual reason for why God created people.
Another answer from gotquestions.org argues God created us for his pleasure. One Scripture used to support this is Colossians 1:16 which includes the language “all things were created through him and for him.” The implication is God made creation and us because it pleased him to do so. That seems a reasonable answer based on the cited Scripture, and it is consistent with the Genesis Scripture above. God declares his creation good and blesses it indicating he is pleased with it. Perhaps creating us in God’s image was done for God’s own pleasure.
For a perfect being to desire his own pleasure is arguably a good thing because whatever pleases him will be good. Still, it implies God has a need that we fulfill, and this unsettles my theological sensibilities. If God needs us for his pleasure, it’s very easy to look at Mark 12:29-31 and conclude that the intense love Jesus tells us to have for God is because God needs it. The first and greatest commandment then becomes an order to give God what he needs. That it seems to me is inconsistent with the nature of God we see in Jesus. So, I decided to cast a broader net and ask some of my friends.
My Buddy Rick
Rick had a wonderfully insightful answer to my question. He said we have never not existed. Because God’s mind is the source of us and God stands outside of time, then there was no time when we did not exist. There is only that we exist because God exists.
If we exist with God outside of time, then any need God has for us is already satisfied. This notion doesn’t mean that making us incarnate on earth is not pleasing to God. The Genesis citation above says it was pleasing to God to see his creation. All Rick’s insight does is to suggest that God did not create in order to please himself because any pleasure we could bring was already his independent of the creative act.
So why do it?
A story from my graduate school days may illustrate why I think God decided to create us as beings in a physical world bound by time. In graduate school my advisor, Bob, was a critical man. However, once and only once he refused to give his counsel.
If you are unfamiliar, the final written version of a dissertation has many chapters. The most important of these is the Discussion where your contribution to moving science forward is described. It’s challenging as a student because all extant literature must be interpreted in terms of your new contribution to it. I expected the same scrutiny from Bob on this chapter he gave to every other chapter. To my surprise, he refused to read it telling me to write this chapter on my own.
This irritated me because Bob read and heavily critiqued the Discussion from the lab’s senior student, Joe, who just graduated. I argued with Bob knowing I was nowhere near ready to manage this task without his wisdom. I reminded him of Joe’s experience and argued it was part of his responsibility to help me grow this one final step.
No dice. It was up to me, and no other rationale was provided. I figured he was just weary of working with me since I could not write as well as Joe. But, after my oral examination was complete and the dissertation accepted, Bob was driving us to a popular seaside bar to celebrate. He looked over from the driver’s seat and said: “Now you know you can do it on your own”.
There was a major difference between me and Joe. Joe was confident in his thinking and writing while I was timid. Joe needed Bob’s guidance to become a better writer and thinker, but that was all. I needed that and more because I questioned if my interpretations were accurate and sought authorities to confirm them. Bob saw this lack of confidence in me despite the results of his effective tutelage. He knew that if I could not overcome my dependence on others, I would not succeed as an independent scientist. Therefore, he withheld his input.
It clearly pleased him to see me pass, but it wasn’t pleasure that motivated his action. It was his concern for me, I would say his love and dedication to me, that prompted the unique approach he took.
Genesis and Bob
I think God decided to include creation in his plan for the same reason Bob withheld his input on my discussion. By withholding his input, my wise advisor presented me with a choice. Continue in my ways and seek the input he would not give from other professors or use the abilities he so painstakingly taught me. God is giving us a similar choice.
We can be with God outside of time and be loved by him, but that condition is not the wholeness of existence possible. To experience the wholeness of existence, the fullness of life God intends, we must voluntarily choose to return God’s love with all our heart, soul, mind and strength exactly as Jesus advises.
Out of love for us, and I believe no other reason, God created our world. A place where we can choose to genuinely love our Creator uncompelled by any divine force. If we choose to love him in time, then the person who is with God outside of time will be the product of that decision and God will be delighted that another of his created beings is flourishing the way he intended.
Final words
Why did God make us? The answer is because truly loving God in return for his love of us requires free choice. In the created order we have it. Bob created a scenario where I had to choose to flourish and God has done the same thing for us. Only God’s invitation is the most important one we will ever receive and the most important choice we will ever make. A choice that truly affects our eternal life. But all of that can be distilled down to one simple answer: God creates because he loves us.
I hope you enjoyed this commentary or it at least it provoked a few thoughts that are meaningful to you. Have a blessed day everyone,
Dave
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