What Was The Purpose Of Creating Mankind According To The Bible?

Why did God create mankind? What was His purpose behind it according to the Scriptures?

Created for God’s Glory

Whether you recognize it or not, we were created for God’s glory and to give God glory. Isaiah writes that the Holy One of Israel (Isaiah 43:3) says “Everyone who is called by My name, Whom I have created for My glory. I have formed him, yes, I have made him” (Isaiah 43:7) was all for the glory of God. Since we were made to glorify God we should glorify Christ in our bodies since “you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body” (1st Cor 6:20). The creation also glorifies God as the psalmist writes, “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork” (Psalm 19:1). An astronomer knows just how vast and seemingly endless the universe is. The size is hard to put into a manageable scale. The heavens really do declare or make a declaration to everyone that God is above His creation and His creation glorifies Him. Even “the heavens proclaim his righteousness, for he is a God of justice” (Psalm 50:6) and “The heavens praise your wonders” O “LORD” (Psalm 89:5). We were made for God’s glory but the creation glorifies God as well and certainly, “The heavens proclaim his righteousness, and all peoples see his glory” (Psalm 97:6), whether they suppress this knowledge or not (Rom 1:18). In the end, it really doesn’t matter because they have no excuse (Rom 1:20).

Glory from Redemption

God deserves all glory for saving us because it “by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Eph 2:8-9) so we should “Sing for joy, you heavens, for the LORD has done this; shout aloud, you earth beneath. Burst into song, you mountains, you forests and all your trees, for the LORD has redeemed Jacob, he displays his glory in Israel” (Isaiah 44:23) and the redeemed should seek to have God display His glory in them. God tells Zion, “The nations will see your vindication, and all kings your glory; you will be called by a new name that the mouth of the LORD will bestow” (Isaiah 62:2). After the Just Judge of the Universe has judged the world in righteousness, they will not look at the redeemed and say who are they? They will look at the redeemed and ask, “Who was their Redeemer?” The redeemed will be given new names and will continue to give the Redeemer all the glory in praise and thanksgiving, forever and ever.

To Have Dominion

When God created mankind, He gave him dominion over the earth. That didn’t mean he could abuse it or rape it though, even though that’s what has happened. Genesis 1:26 says “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.” That was God’s original plan and even though mankind fell after sinning in the Garden of Eden, man still dominates the planet more than has dominion over it. God continued by saying telling Adam and Eve to “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 all 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” (Gen 1:28-30). That dominion covers all the creation but it doesn’t give mankind permission to exploit the creation.

To Glorify God

Paul admonishes the church at Philippi to be “filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God” (Phil 1:11) for only “to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever” (Eph 3:21). God has saved us for this purpose; “in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory” (Rom 9:23) and the vessels of mercy are those who have received mercy by repentance and faith. These “vessels of mercy” were “prepared beforehand for glory” from before the foundation of the world (Eph 1) and so “To him be glory forever. Amen” (Rom 11:36b). Doesn’t our being declared righteous in God’s sight glorify Christ (2nd Cor 5:21)? Surely our redemption glorifies God because it comes only from the Redeemer.

Conclusion

In time, “every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil 2:11) and then “the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God” (Rom 9:21) but only thanks to the Redeemer and the gospel of Jesus Christ. Even the gospel is called “the gospel of the glory of Christ” (2nd Cor 4:3) in several places in the New Testament. The conclusion is that the creation declares God’s glory (Psalm 19:1), we were created for God’s glory (Isaiah 43:7), and our redemption gives God glory and more specifically, it glorifies our Redeemer.

Article by Jack Wellman

Jack Wellman is Pastor of the Mulvane Brethren church in Mulvane Kansas. Jack is also the Senior Writer at What Christians Want To Know whose mission is to equip, encourage, and energize Christians and to address questions about the believer’s daily walk with God and the Bible. You can follow Jack on Google Plus or check out his book Teaching Children the Gospel available on Amazon.