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Why
do we exist? If God is so great, how can humans with all their
weaknesses be his greatest creation? Surely He could have done better
than to create a being so capable of hatred, selfishness, greed, and
immorality.
Some
would say that the reason God created us is to tell others about Him.
But that cannot be the reason He created humans in the first place.
After all, if He had never created humans at all, there would be no
possibility of telling them about Him. We ought to tell others about
Jesus, but telling others is not the reason God created Adam and Eve in
the first place.
Others might say that He created us to do good things. Once again, that
cannot be the real reason that He created us. If He had never created
humans, there would be no one to do good things for. Doing good is
wonderful, but it is not the primary reason that we are here on earth.
Some
may say that He created humans in order to care for the rest of
creation. I believe God does expect us to take good care of His
creation. Christians ought to be concerned about the environment. We
ought not to litter. We should treat animals with respect. But the
Bible is clear that we were not created just to take care of God’s
creation. The rest of creation was made for humans, not humans for the
rest of creation. If our primary reason for existence is to be good
environmentalists then God must have done a sloppy job when he created
us humans. People, not animals, plants, or nature, cause most of the
world’s environmental problems.
Telling others about God, doing good to others, and taking care of the
world around us are all good things, but they cannot be the reasons that
God created people in the first place. So why are we here?
I
believe that God created human beings because He wanted to have a loving
relationship with someone. God cannot go out and create another god.
He is supreme. The Bible says that there is no creation like Him. So
he made Adam and Eve in His image. That doesn’t mean that they looked
like Him as much as it means that they had his ability to love.
The
problem is, any creation with the ability to love also has the ability
to hate. A bee can sting you, but you probably would not say that the
bee had an evil temper, just that it was angry because someone stirred
up its nest. A bee has no capacity to either love or hate.
But
a dog is a higher form of creation. A dog can bite you just because it
has a mean disposition, and it can love you just because it has a sweet
disposition. A dog can even learn loyalty, but it can also learn to be
prejudice against a certain race or language group.
Humans, being the highest form of creation, have the greatest capacity
to love, but they also have the greatest capacity to hate. Humans can
do the greatest unselfish acts of love, but they are also capable of
doing the most hideous acts of selfishness.
When
humans commit terrible crimes, it is easy to wonder why God would ever
create such imperfect beings. But if God wanted a loving relationship,
He had to allow for a man’s sinful nature as well. Love is a choice we
make, not a feeling we have. God could have created people as always
loving, never sinning, always righteous beings, but then we would be no
different than the angels who never sinned. We would be good, but we
would not be loving. We would be loyal, but it would be a loyalty that
had nothing to do with our choice. We would be like pre-programmed
robots.
And
so God created us to love Him. Those in love always express their love
in some way. God expresses His love through His creation, through His
loving acts, but most of all through the sacrifice of His Son on the
cross. If we love God we will express it in some way – through our
praise to Him, through our service to others, and through the management
of the possessions He gives us.
It
is impossible to love God without wanting to spend time with Him – in
reading His Word, in speaking to Him in prayer, and in worshipping
together with other believers. People who ignore God have a certain
emptiness to life because they miss the real reason for which they were
created.
Paul Jetter, Upper Valley Community Church |
