Why Did God Create Us?

“When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have ordained, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you visit him?” (Psalm 8:3-4)

I was listening to my pastor talk about God’s interest in having fellowship with us and thought to myself: Was God lonely when he created us?

Being lonely is a state of being sad because we are not around people. It’s important to understand that before he created us, God was not ALONE. He had his son, Jesus, along with angels and other heavenly beings in his presence; nor was he LONELY. The Disciple Luke wrote: “God, who made the world and everything in it, since he is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. Nor is he worshiped with men’s hands, as though he needed anything, since he gives to all life, breath, and all things.” (Acts 17:24-25)

So, if God was not lonely and did not need us, why did he create us?

1. For his pleasure: Clearly, God took great pleasure in his creative work. For example, after God created the earth, the Bible says, “Then God saw everything that he had made, and indeed it was very good.” (Genesis 1:31). The New Testament says that earth and man were created for God’s pleasure. “For by him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through him and for him.” (Colossians 1:16) We were created for God’s pleasure and we have the chance to live lives that will honor him and show his glory and power to others.

2. To have fellowship with him: Saved or unsaved, God desires to have fellowship with everyone. I think the Prophet Zephaniah said it best: “The Lord your God in your midst, the Mighty One, will save. He will rejoice over you with gladness. He will quiet you with his love. He will rejoice over you with singing.” (Zephaniah 3:17) That, my friends, is a true friend and authentic fellowship!

3. To have the opportunity to know him and have eternal life with him: The Apostle John said it this way: “And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his son.” (1 John 5:11)

The Bible is full of stories of the follies of man. God foreknew that he would need to send someone, not only to save us, but to understand who God is and what God is like. That’s why Jesus said, “If you had known me, you would have known my father also; and from now on you know him and have seen him.” (John 14:7)

Unlike other faiths, we do not believe we can earn our way into heaven. Eternal life is a free gift that comes because of Jesus’ death on the Cross, our belief that he died for our sins and rose from the dead so that we could live with him and God in heaven when we die.

Interestingly, God loved us so much he gave us free will. Free will is the right to make our own choices, good or bad. The gift of free will is what makes our relationship so sweet for God – it isn’t forced.

I lived for thirty-eight years before I understood and realized how much God loved me. John 3:16 has no meaning to those who are not saved, or under God’s conviction, but to those of us who know him, it means the world: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life”.

Thank God he knew me when I did not know him, and did not give up on me, in spite of myself!