Why Did God Create Man?
The Omega Letter Intelligence Digest
Vol: 160 Issue: 28 - Wednesday, January 28, 2015
The Omega Letter
Why Did God Create Man?
The Bible tells us that it is the Lord Jesus Christ Who is the Creator of all things, including the heavens, the earth, and even hell. This mystery is revealed in the first chapter of the Book of John.
John takes us back to creation, saying,
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." (1:1)
In John's Gospel, the 'Word' (logos) is capitalized as a proper noun, since it is used in the sense of a title.
"The same was in the beginning with God." John also reveals that, "All things were made by Him; and without Him was not any thing made that was made." (John 1:2-3)
That John is referring to Jesus is made clear when he writes,
"He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not. He came unto his own, and His own received Him not." (10-11)
That can only be describing Jesus Christ, Who came first to the Jews, as Jesus told the 'woman of Caanan'. (Matthew 15:24-28)
So, following the logic that Jesus is the Creator of all things, we must also conclude that He created Hell. This presents what appears to be an impossible theological conundrum.
Jesus describes hell as a place of eternal torment, describing it three times as the place;
"Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched." (Mark 9:44,46,48)
The conundrum arises when one tries to solve the apparent contradiction between a compassionate Christ Who shed His Blood to provide a way for me to avoid the horrors of hell and the Creator of Hell Who knew at the time He was creating it that there would be some who would go there.
Assessment:
Jesus says that it would be better not to have ever been born than to end up in hell. So, why create man in the first place, then? The Bible answers that question, but, to the skeptic, the answer only prompts more questions.
According to Revelation 4:11, we were created for God's pleasure.
"Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were created."
So, if man was created for God's pleasure, but a significant majority of mankind is destined to go to hell, does that mean God takes pleasure in sending people there? The Scriptures say no.
"For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord GOD: wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye." (Ezekiel 33:11)
"Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?" (Ezekiel 33:11)
Jesus says in Matthew 25:41 that hell wasn't created for man, but rather was "prepared for the devil and his angels."
But that still doesn't fully address the question. IF the place of 'everlasting fire' Jesus is referring to was 'prepared for the devil and his angels', and if man was created for God's pleasure, AND, if God is all-knowing, then He knew some of His creation would end up there.
AND, if it would be better for man to never have been born than to end up in hell, then WHY create us in the first place?
The universe is considerably more than just man, and while the salvation of man is an integral part of God's program, we are not the only part of God's program.
Eons before man was created, God's anointed angel, Lucifer, rebelled against a decision of God's (most likely over the creation of man himself).
In describing Jesus' decision to take on human form, the writer of Hebrews says that Jesus "was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death." (2:9)
Psalms 91:11 tells us that,
"He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways."
But Paul writes to the Corinthians,
"Know ye not that we shall judge angels?" (1st Corinthians 6:3)
One can imagine Satan rebelling against the concept of the creation of a new, puny, human spiritual being, made 'lower than the angels', that God decreed angels (including Satan and his followers) would serve in this life, and then be judged by in the next.
Isaiah outlines Satan's rebellion as a series of five "I wills".
"For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit." (Isaiah 14:13-15)
When God cast the rebels out, it was incumbent upon Him to prove Himself just in His decision to those angels who remained loyal. After all, eternity is a long time, and hell is a terrible place. Wasn't God being a bit hard on them?
So, in a sense, humanity serves as a kind of living courtroom in which angels can observe the consequences of unchecked sin on the natural order of the universe.
Hebrews 12:1 tells us we are "compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses." (the angelic hosts).
God created man initially with only one rule: avoid the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. To the astonishment of the angels, man broke that rule, introducing sin into the world. Then God allowed man to ruled by his conscience.
(That worked out so well that it took a world-wide flood to repair the damage.)
So God went to Abraham and spoke with him directly. The angels must have been dumbfounded to witness Abraham's sin with Hagar, knowing that Abraham KNEW better. God told him so directly. They also saw the consequences of sin beginning to pile up, embodied by the ongoing conflict between Abraham's descendants, Ishmael and Isaac.
To further prove God's judgement of sin was just and fair, God set aside a Chosen Nation, gave them ten little rules to follow, and allowed the scenario to play out before the heavenly jury.
What began as ten rules for living in harmony for God resulted in the development of a religious system so corrupt that Jesus came to earth Personally to replace it with an even easier method of reconciliation with God -- trusting in the shed Blood of Christ alone for salvation.
Remember, the angels who are witnessing all this have seen sin go from a bite of fruit to the horrors of Adolph Hitler, Josef Stalin and Saddam Hussein. Knowing first-hand what an unimaginable Gift was extended mankind from the Cross, can you imagine their astonishment when that Gift was almost universally rejected by what is now a sin-sodden world.
Finally, the Bible says, Jesus Christ returns at the end of the Tribulation Period, binds Satan for a thousand years, sets up a physical Kingdom in Jerusalem from which He personally rules the earth.
During that time, Scripture says, man will live in perfect harmony with nature, as God had originally intended in the Garden of Eden. Isaiah says that a person who dies during the Millennial Kingdom at age 100 would be mourned as one who died in his youth.
Lions will lay down with lambs, little kids will be able to play with deadly snakes, men will beat their swords into plowshares and war will be abolished.
Scripture then says that, when the thousand years are finished, Satan will be loosed for 'a season' to tempt those human beings who KNOW Jesus, have lived a THOUSAND YEARS under His Personal governance, and are perfectly certain of His Power and Authority.
"And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog, and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea." (Revelation 20:7-8)
At this point, the angelic jury is convinced, and the prosecution rests.
"And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them." (Revelation 20:9)
Then comes the judgement.
"And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever." (20:10)
Why did God create man if He knew that some would choose hell? Because He also knew that some would choose Heaven.
And in any case, it is man's choice to make. As declared the citizens in the parable of the nobleman in Luke 19:14,
"We will not have Him to reign over us."
When such people are cast in hell, it is literally what they asked for.
God has a purpose for every detail of our creation.
"For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts." (Isaiah 55:8-9)
God created mankind to prove His justice. He created mankind for His pleasure. And He created mankind so He could save them.
But He also created mankind so we could CHOOSE to love Him. There cannot be a choice without an alternative.
"I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:" (Deuteronomy 30:19)
Originally Published: September 29, 2004
Featured Commentary: The Prophecy of Caiaphas ~ Lea Sylvester
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