For Man’s Benefit
A few years ago I wrote a book
about how God intended for relationships to work. I based everything around the
idea that we were created for relationship – first with God and second with
each other. Actually, I went on to argue that relationship with each other is a
byproduct of our original purpose in creation – not the original purpose
itself. However, I stated that since God is interested in relationship with
people then He is also interested in people having relationship with other people.
That makes sense, right? God wants us to experience the best and if He enjoys
relationship with people then wouldn’t (or shouldn’t) we?
I have decided to post a series of
excerpts from this book to talk about relationships. This first one talks about
God’s intention in the creation of man – the start of relationship. I have
friends that have really enjoyed a recent series on television that talks about
the creation of the world and origin of life based on the theory of a “Big
Bang” and evolutionary devices. As a Christian, I see the world as more
intentional than that – not because science proves the intentionality of the
world, but because my faith in God leads me to believe that I am lovely and
special; intentionally.
So, below is an excerpt that deals
with one reason for God creating man (and the world).
------
God created man in his own image; man
was created for the reason of fellowship with God. Not so much because God was
bored, but rather because he knew it would be good for us. This is hard for us
to grasp because we create things for the good of us, not for the good of the
item.
You could maybe compare this to
planting a tree (but still this doesn’t do it justice). When you put tree seeds
in the ground and start to water them, you are doing this for the good of them.
You don’t really gain much from the growing of these trees. You do gain some,
whether it be fruit from it in future years, or shade while you read a book. If
you are like Kelly and I, you did it because you wanted to get your landscaping
deposit back from the neighborhood association.
-we create pizzas because we want to eat them.
-we create kids because we want kids.
-we create computers to make our lives easier.
That illustration doesn’t even do
it justice, because God doesn’t really gain anything, because the nature of God
is that he lacks nothing. So he chose to do something that we could never do,
and frankly would never choose to do. God created man for man’s benefit.
Wrapping
your mind around that would take an eternity, which is appropriate since that
is what we all have.
------
What does
this mean as we pursue relationships with other people?
Does our
purpose for relationships change when we consider this purpose of God’s?
How does
this idea shape your understanding of God’s love for you?
