Why Did God Create Us?

The fact that God created the universe, and human beings in particular, is one of the greatest evidences of his goodness and generosity. Perhaps the best short answer we could give to this question is that God chose to create humanity out of the overflowing abundance of his love.

The first thing to notice from that explanation is that God chose to create. There was nothing lacking in him that compelled him to create. God has eternally existed in a perfect bond of love as Father, Son and Holy Spirit, so he did not create humans to satisfy a need for relationship. He was already perfectly fulfilled within himself. Neither, as some of the ancients believed, did he need humans to provide something for him, like food, or even worship. The apostle Paul made this clear in his address in Athens when he said, “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else” (Acts 17:24-25).

So, God did not create humans because of anything he lacked. Rather, he created out of the abundance of himself. As the embodiment of perfect love, it is God’s nature to give of himself, and God chose to create so that there might be others with which he could share the goodness and joy of himself. In this regard, human beings occupy a special place in creation. Scripture tells us that God determined to create humans in his own image (Gen. 1:26-27). This is remarkable because it tells us that God was not content to only create a universe in which creation could share in the goodness of life and enjoy the wonder of participating in the glory of all that he had created, though this in itself would be a tremendously generous thing. But God determined to share even more than that. In fact, He was not content until he had shared with his creation the most wonderful and precious thing he had to share—the joy and wonder of himself. So, he created humans in his image so that he could invite them in, to share in the perfect relationship he enjoys as Father, Son and Spirit. What more precious gift could he give than to give himself, and to share with humanity the privilege of entering into a relationship of intimacy and love with him! Considering these things, David marveled, “What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?” (Ps. 8:4). How reassuring to know that we exist because God loves us and has determined to share himself with us! Surely, he is worthy of all glory and all praise!

Pastor Jon Enright

Share this Post

Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Email
WhatsApp