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This is
Not
Doctrine
Often, people will
deduce an understanding of something (correctly or
incorrectly) and will attempt to impose it on others
as a "Doctrine" that must be accepted.
Scripture is not clear
on this matter of why God decided to create man, so
this essay is by no means to be
considered a "Doctrine" nor an article of faith.
Whether we understand this or not, the Gospel of
Christ and our responsibility to God remain unchanged,
regardless of the actual resolution of this question.
This essay is about a
clue, a possible insight, into the Divine realm. Right
or wrong, it has no bearing on our
individual responsibility to confess our sins, repent,
comply with God's Law, and rejoice in His salvation
granted to us as a free gift of God to all who believe
and accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior... a
salvation that is granted to us on the basis of faith
alone, not by works of the Law. |
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This is a very difficult question
which has plagued mankind from the beginning.
Is there an answer to this question?
I think so, though it may be just
beyond our ability to fully comprehend (thus it is
a MYSTERY).
There is an order to existence,
planes (if you will) of existence. There are multiple levels of
"reality" stretching between the Infinite and what we see as the
finite. I am not sure we can understand all of this since we,
being finite, struggle with the concept of infinity.
I see the various levels of
existence as extending beyond what we perceive within the limits
of space, time, matter, and energy. The Divine level of
existence is what we call God and the Divine has revealed itself
to us as ONE (that is, perfect unity, perfection in all
aspects). Thus we know there is "one" God, revealing Itself (in
the masculine form of language as "He") as three personalities
projected upon the finite:
The Divine is infinite and perfect
in all things: eternal, outside of time and space, perfect
presence, perfect power, perfect love, perfect justice. We have
no other revelation regarding the Divine level of existence.
The next level (or possibly levels)
of existence is the Angelic. This level is revealed as (possibly
multiple levels, if naming convention is an indicator)
everlasting, bound to a plane of time and space beyond the
physical world we know, self-determining, limited in power and
presence.
The next major level is the
physical universe that we can see and understand, and the
sub-levels of existence within this level includes the highest
form of existence: Man. Below man are animal, vegetable, and
matter. As for man, this level is everlasting, limited by time
and space, self-determining, and very limited in power and
presence.
| Explanation of Self-Determinism v.
Calvinism As I mentioned above, sometimes human
beings will arrive at a deduction of logic (as they
have understood something) and will then make that a
matter of "Doctrine". This is what has happened with
Calvinism and the question of Free Will vs.
Determinism.
Calvinism is a significant error in thinking, and
by making it a "Doctrine" (i.e. an article of faith),
those who do so impose upon humanity something that
is, in fact, an error.
...a full analysis will be forthcoming here...
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More of this philosophical tangent
(levels of existence) can be pursued in another essay, but for
this essay the question is "Why did God create man?" The broader
question of why create anything at all (such as the Angelic) is
beyond our ability to grasp, for since we are finite it is
impossible to comprehend the infinite.
Yet there is, I believe, a clue in
scripture regarding the answer to the question of why God
created man. Paul, remember, refers to his being exposed to a
realm beyond this world. He wrote:
I will go on
to visions and revelations of the Lord. I know a man in Christ
who fourteen years ago—whether in the body I do not know, or out
of the body I do not know, God knows—such a man was caught up to
the third heaven. And I know how such a man—whether in the body
or apart from the body I do not know, God knows— was caught up
into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which a man is not
permitted to speak. 2 Corinthians
12:1-4
I believe that Paul, in his
exposure to the Glory of the Lord, briefly grasped what is to us
incomprehensible. I believe that he also included, in his
writings to the Christians at Rome, a clue to God's purpose in
creating this world. This clue is found here:
God presented Jesus
as a propitiation through faith in His blood to demonstrate His
righteousness, because in His restraint God passed over the sins
previously committed. God presented Him to demonstrate His
righteousness at the present time, so that He would be righteous
and declare righteous the one who has faith in Jesus.
Romans 3:26
What clue is here in these words? A
few clues actually.
- First, "in
His restraint God passed over the sins previously committed",
seems to me to have a dual meaning.
- A temporary "stay of
execution", so to speak, regarding the revolt of Angels, and
- A delay in human affairs in
satisfying the requirements of Law prior to the propitiation
achieved in Jesus Christ at the Cross.
- Second, "to
demonstrate His righteousness at the present time"
- Third, "so
that He would be righteous and declare righteous"
As for the question of this essay,
this is what I think the clue tells us. I believe God created
man (and Romans 3:26 provides some insight) to prove Himself as
righteous to the Angelic host. My reasoning is as follows:
God created the Angelic for
whatever reason (certainly beyond our ability to comprehend
because we are finite) and the Angelic level of existence is
beyond our comprehension due to our own limitations. Sometime
after creating the Angelic, a revolt occurred against God, led
by him who was closest to his Creator (Satan, the Light Bearer
of God). Faced with God's perfect justice, Satan blamed God for
his choice to revolt saying something like "You made me this
way! So how can you justify judging me?" (Sound
familiar?) God's perfect love had already been
satisfied by having the created being in His very presence, full
of infinite love.
Thus with Satan's revolt against
God's perfect love, God in His perfect justice cast Satan out of
heaven but Satan cried "Foul". Satan accused God of NOT
being just, blaming God for "creating me this way!" Therefore
God (because of His perfect love), in order to demonstrate His
righteousness to His creation (the Angelic), restrained Himself
temporarily, passing over the sins previously committed, and
created a world where beings would NOT be directly
in His Glorious Presence, yet still would choose God's Law over
the lawlessness of Satan.
Knowing that man would choose God,
yet also knowing that man would fail to perfectly conform to
God's Law (even that Law written on the heart, the conscience
violated) and thus would have to suffer judgment, a propitiation
for sin would provide a means of forgiveness for us who fail to
achieve the perfection of God at this distance from His Glorious
Presence. This propitiation would prove God righteous by
satisfying the requirement of punishment for sin, which He
Himself would endure on our behalf, while simultaneously
satisfying the forgiveness demanded by His own perfect love.
Thus God can BE righteous while DECLARING
sinners as righteous for their faith in the propitiation
achieved by Jesus Christ.
In doing this, God not only is
perfectly just in His judgment against Satan who revolted
against God's perfect love while directly in His Glorious
Presence, He is further perfectly loving and perfectly just to
His "more distant" creation who chooses freely to seek God's
Glorious Presence and desires God's perfect love instead of the
lawlessness of Satan. His perfect justice is demonstrated in
punishing all sin for all time, and His perfect love is
demonstrated in His own choice to be the sacrifice allowing for
His perfect love to forgive us.
What loving father would not step
in front of a bullet for his own child, to save that child from
death? How much greater is God's perfect love for us in that He
"took the bullet for us"? So in taking on the requirements of
His own justice, He can demonstrate He is just and
simultaneously He can demonstrate He is love.
In summary, the clue I believe
tells us that God is proving Himself both loving and just in His
judgment of Satan who already had God's perfect love but
rejected it. Since we, not in the direct Presence of His Glory,
would still choose love and God's Law, God is just in casting
out Satan for rejecting God's love and Law when in the very
Presence of God's Glory.
As for the larger question of "Why
create at all?" I don't know. I don't believe we can understand
it because to fully comprehend it would require that we have not
the confines of time and space.
What do we tell our children when
they ask "Why are we here?" Well, it seems to me that we simply
say that God is proving His love to the Angels by loving us and
them. Beyond that, I don't know what else to say.
As I said at the beginning (in
column at right), this is a logical deduction in my mind, and
thus I would never make it a "Doctrine" nor an article of faith.
It simply makes sense to me and seems to be consistent with much
of what we find throughout scripture.
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