The aim of the following study is to give the reader an understanding as to why God created man.
For a dog to be completely happy with its life it needs three things:
o Food
o Make him feel good
o Give him a cat to feel powerful and also to provide him with excitement
If we are satisfied with only these three things in our lives, it is no better than a dog’s life!
- How did God create all things?
Psalms 33:6, 9 by the word of the Lord were the heavens made and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth…He spake and it was done, He commanded and it stood fast.
Genesis 1:1,3 in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth…and God said let there be light and there was light
Psalms 148:5 let them praise the name of the Lord for He commanded and they were created
Hebrews 11:3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power
Isaiah 55:11 So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
Note: God created all things through His word and his word is powerful. It is able to call something into existence out of nothing.
- What do words express?
Psalms 49:3 my mouth shall speak of wisdom and the meditation of my heart shall be of understanding
The mouth speaks what the heart dwells upon. Therefore when the heart is meditating on understanding, what shall the mouth speak? Wisdom
o Our words express our minds/thoughts
o Our words are a reflection of our hearts/our feelings
o When you put thoughts and feeling together you have character
o When you have a thought or a feeling those two things are expressed in words or actions
o When you repeat these words and actions these form your habits
o And when you repeat these habits these habits impress/form our character
o The words that come out of our mouths express our character
o God creates through His word and His words are an expression of His character/His mind
o When God created a flower that is an expression of God’s thoughts and feelings, His character
o By looking at God’s creative works we are able to understand Him more
o Through them He is trying to tell us who He is
Proverbs 16:23 the heart of the wise teacheth his mouth and addeth learning to his lips
- Teaches his mouth. Therefore the heart directs the words !
Notice these texts:
Matthew 12:34 O generation of vipers, how can ye being evil speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh
Proverbs 23:7 as a man thinketh in his heart so is he, eat and drink saith he unto thee but his heart is not with thee
Your heart is your character and the words express that character. What is the charater made up of? Character is made up of thoughts and feelings (Proverbs 23:7 – as a man thinketh in his heart so is he).
- So who is man? Why was He created?
Psalms 8:4-5 what is man that thou art mindful of him and the son of man that thou visitest him? For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels and hast crowned him with glory and honor
[Little lower? See also Hebrews 2:7; Little lower means little while inferior to; man was made lower than the angels for a little while.We were created with the capacity to grow and reflect God’s character more fully brighter and brighter. Lucifer might have known about this and this led him to jealousy (Read Patriarchs and Prophets). Through the fall, Satan was trying to destroy the purpose of God in creating man. We were created for a special purpose, even to reveal the glory of God continually through out eternal ages. And now, through Christ, we are brought higher than if we had never sinned. ]
When do you crown somebody? When man was crowned, that shows us that the creation of man was the best part of the whole of creation.
What was man crowned with? Glory and honor.
- For whose glory?
Isaiah 43:7 even every one that is called by my name for I have created him for my glory yea I have formed him yea I have made him
We were created for God’s glory! Notice:
Genesis 1:27 so God created man in His own image in the image of God created he him male and female created he them
This verse tells us that we were made to reflect God image. An image is the reflection of the original.
Why is the creation of man the best part of the whole of creation?
o Because it says that man was crowned with glory and honour
o Which means that God made man for His glory
o Man was the crowing act of creation, made for God’s glory
- What is God’s glory?
Exodus 33:18-19 and he said I beseech thee show me thy glory and he said I will make all my goodness pass before thee and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious and ill show mercy on whom I will show mercy
What did Moses ask of God?
Show me thy glory!
What was God’s response?
I will make all my goodness pass before thee
And I will proclaim the name of the Lord
And I will be gracious on whom I will be gracious
And show mercy on whom I will show mercy
What is God describing here? His character. Did the Lord proclaim his character to Moses?
Exodus 34:5-6 –and the Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there and proclaimed the name of the Lord and the Lord passed by before him and proclaimed the Lord, the Lord God merciful and gracious longsuffering and abundant in goodness and truth
Note: God created man for His glory, for His character. This is where Genesis 1:27 makes complete sense, because we were made in His image, for the sole purpose of reflecting His glory. Words cannot describe the fullness of what God seeks to accomplish in each one of us!
- What is God? Is He love?
1 John 4:8 he that loveth not knoweth not God for God is love
- What is love?
1 Corinthians 13:4-8 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.
Note:
Love suffers long and is kind
Love does not envy
Love does not boast and is not proud
Is not badly behaved
Is not self seeking
Is not easily provoked
Does not think evil
Does not rejoice in iniquity but rejoices in the truth
Bears all things, believes all things, hopes all tings, endures all things
Love never fails
- What’s the difference between man and other created things?
A flower can reflect God’s character but it is limited and one dimensional. Man can reflect God’s character multi dimensionally because man has the capability of development and growth. We have the capacity to reason and absorb and grow. Therefore, man is to reveal God to the entire watching universe. We are God’s workmanship.
- What has God called us to?
1 peter 5:10 but the God of all grace who hath called us unto His eternal glory by Christ Jesus after that ye have suffered a while make you perfect and stablish, strengthen and settle you
- His eternal glory
- What is His glory?
His character. We are the continual creation of God. God sees us with infinite possibilities and we are special to Him because He made us with infinite possibilities
- How was man created?
Genesis 2:7 – and the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul
Romans 9:20 But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? ‘‘Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’
Deuteronomy 32:18 You deserted the Rock, who fathered you; you forgot the God who gave you birth.
Isaiah 44:24 ‘This is what the LORD says— your Redeemer, who formed you in the womb:
In order to form something out of dust you have to add water. God took time to form man. Every part of man’s body was touched by God. Touch is intimate. Touch brings about connection. Throughout our lives we need be touched by God.
- What does it mean that God formed us in our mother’s womb?
Every finger and toe was formed by Him. He knows me! Every atom and chromosome that makes up my body was brought into existence by Him.
- Is it easy to form something out of dust?
Genesis 2:7 and the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul
Remember that all other things were created by the word of his power. He said and they stood. But God formed man! The word form implies a lot of touching. What does it mean in this world when we touch someone? We show that we care about them and we love them. When God formed man, he took special care to form us so that we would be very close to Him.
People are sad because they have lost their intimacy with God and they are no longer touched by Him. When you have to have things to be happy or another person to be happy, then that is a counterfeit happiness. It is God’s presence in your life that makes you happy and that gives you purpose.
- What did God breathed into Adam?
God breathed into Adam the breath of life; the life of God. God shared part of Himself with us. We are connected to Him because we share His breath.
Why is it breath? How did God do this? Were they far apart? God put His face right in front of Adam’s face and breaths into Him the breath of life. And then the man became a living soul. The first face Adam saw was God’s face. God wants you to know that as much as you cannot live without air you cannot live without Him
How do you feel when you don’t have breath?
Desperate? That’s right! God wants us to want Him that much! God made me for a relationship with Him. Therefore I need time to get to know Him. And I need time with Him!
- How did God create woman?
Genesis 2:18-22 - and the Lord God said it is not good that man should be alone, I will make him an help meet for him and out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every fowl of the air and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them and whatsoever Adam called every living creature that was the name thereof and Adam gave names to all the cattle and to all the fowl of the air and to every beast of the field but for Adam was not found an help meet for him and the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam and he slept and he took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh instead thereof and the rib which the Lord God had taken from man made he a woman and brought her unto the man
- God made Eve so that the experience of Love could be complete among humanity. Self sacrificing love is a two way thing . God desired to create an helper suited to Adam and Eve was created to be a helper. The word in the original language is neged (H5048) which means a counterpart. It comes from the root word nagad (H5046) which means to report or to tell.
Eve was to be a counterpart. That is, one who was to stand opposite Adam and help him. She was created to be a watchman for him.
Notice that before creating Eve, God first caused Adam to name the animals. This caused Adam to feel his need of companionship. Eve was made to complete the experience of Love for Adam, because love is two ways ( Eccles. 4:9). Eve was made so that Adam could live out the principle of Self Sacrificing love. Self sacrificing love begins in the home, between the husband and wife. This is where God designed it to begin when He created Eve for Adam.
Notice also, first God established a relationship between Adam and Himself and then God made Eve; Eve was made out of Adam’s rib. Therefore, first, there must be a conversion of the heart towards God before there is a partner.
- What does this mean to me today?
Psalm 51:10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
God created man for His glory/Character
So that man might reflect the thoughts and the feelings of God
And reflect the character of God
And every day we are more and more able to reflect the character of God more fully. When we are touched by God and receiving the breath of life from Him day by day only, then are we complete and happy.