Why Did God Create Us? (Part 3)

We've been carefully tracking down the question of why God created us, asking several key questions in order to find the answer to the big question. So far, our exploratory questions have been:

1. How did God make man different than the animals?
2. How does the penalty of sin drive us away from our purpose?
3. What is the end result of redemption?
4. What is the goal of our mission?

Refer to the previous posts to see how these questions contribute the answer.

There are two more questions that drive us toward an answer to the question of the ages.

First, was there an important story before man was created? If there was a significant story that existed before man was created, then we can speculate that man was created in order to fit into a larger story. Therefore, our purpose can be derived from how we fit into this larger story.

There was, in fact, a story before man was created. We are part of a much larger narrative. The angels were created by God long before man existed, and they were all created good. They were also created with enough free will to be able to sin. At some point in time, that's exactly what happened - Satan and some large number of followers rebelled against God.

There was no grace offered to the rebels. The angels who remained loyal to God appear to be completely confirmed in their position with God, and the angels (now demons) who rebelled are clearly confirmed in their position against God. There is no evidence any where that God has extended a saving grace to the demons - no chance to be forgiven and come back to God.

This larger narrative between good and evil existed long before man was created. When God created us, He created us in His image, which we damaged through sin. However, unlike with the angels, God did not confirm Adam and Eve and their descendants to a fallen state. Since the first day of sin, God has made grace available to us in ways angels never received. He made provision in the Old Testament sacrifice, and ultimately makes provision in the Cross for saving grace to be extended to sinful rebels to allow them to come back into God's family.

Jude 6 and 1 Peter 1:10-12 reveal that angels are anxiously looking down onto the story of mankind, basically to see how it turns out. They are watching to see how this plan of grace will play out. In other words, we were created as just a piece of the larger story of God's universe and the rebellion against Him.

Our purpose somehow comes from our place in the larger narrative. (Don't worry - we're going to be bringing all these strings of thought together next week.)

Second, what is the ultimate purpose of Christ taking on a human nature (the "incarnation")? The purpose of mankind has got to be revealed in large part by the fact that Jesus took on a human nature. Our purpose must be discernible from the one perfect human, and the purpose of the incarnation should clue us in on the reason God created us.

Jesus came to take on a fully human nature while maintaining perfection. In other words, to perfectly bear the image of God (imago Dei). Remember from question 1 that the image of God in us is what distinguishes us from the animals. Our purpose is found in bearing that image, and the incarnation of Christ was for Him to perfectly bear the image of God. Only by perfectly bearing that image can Jesus be a perfect sacrifice for us on the Cross. If He is a flawed image bearer, then His sacrifice on the Cross cannot be adequate for us, and thus we would be without hope for forgiveness.

The pieces are starting to fit together. Next week, we'll bring all 6 questions together and explore how they combine to reveal our purpose as a race. On the following week, we'll then discuss how to discover our individual purposes as members of the human race.

I remind you that these are questions that we have been wrestling with in the Youth Group on Wednesday nights. Yes, we have our fun in the Youth Group, but we dig into Truth in some significant ways. (Thanks to Betty Ann for all her leadership in bringing all the pieces of the youth program together.)