Creation

Why are we here?

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” (Genesis 1:1)

“In the beginning…”

The beginning of time?  Of the universe?  Of the creation?  Those of us who accept the Bible as God’s Word understand that God is eternal, that is, he had no beginning. It seems reasonable then to understand that this phrase is describing the beginning of the creation process, which would also include the beginning of time and the beginning of the universe.

A look back through history indicates that we human beings, whether religious or not, have been searching for our beginning, searching for an explanation of where we came from and why we are here. To illustrate this point I would like you to consider the movie Star Trek: The Motion Picture that was released in 1979. The story takes place in the 23rd century. A giant energy cloud is moving toward earth destroying everything in its path. The “Star Trek” space ship, the Enterprise, is sent to investigate. They discover at the center of the energy cloud an old space probe but all that is left on its outer surface is a partial name: “V….ger”.  It turns out to be the Voyager 6 space probe that was launched in the 20th century but was later lost in space. It came in contact with an alien race of living machines that interpreted its programming as instructions to learn all that can be learned and return that information to its creator and they upgraded it to fulfill its mission and sent it on its way.  It gathered so much knowledge that it gained consciousness but it lacked the ability to give itself purpose other than its original mission. After learning all that it could, it found its existence meaningless, so all it could do was search for its creator to complete its mission.  Its “creator”, of course, is human beings on the earth but it has become so massive and powerful that contact with its creators on earth will destroy the earth. One human being agrees to sacrifice himself to “merge” with the machine and therefore save the earth.

This seems like a good allegory that describes human beings today who are trying to find purpose and meaning in life. They are searching for “the beginning” through secular science without allowing for God. They are searching for the origin (beginning) of the universe and scientists who believe the “Big Bang” theory of the beginning of the universe are now admitting that matter and energy (the things that make up the universe) had a beginning, that is, that there was a time when nothing existed. These scientists are now suggesting “natural” ways in which matter and energy could have come from nothing by random chance. Also, for several centuries now human beings have been attempting to explain how life could come from non-life through “natural” processes (without an intelligent creator - God)

In the beginning God…”

The Bible, God’s message to us human beings, offers an answer to these questions: God is responsible for the existence of the universe and of life. Before exploring this further I would like to describe four different concepts of God that have existed probably as long as human beings have been searching for “god”.

The human search for God

• Polytheism: many different gods based on physical things
• The ancient “nature” gods and “idols”
• Greek and Roman gods
• They tended to have human characteristics
• They were gods based on physical things
• Pantheism: a universal “life force” derived from all living things in the universe
• Eastern religions
• Buddhism
• Confucianism
• “The force” in the Star Wars movies
• Humanism
• There is nothing beyond physical life.
• Death is the end of existence.
• There is no “God”
• Because there is no “God”, that is, no external intelligence or moral guide, human beings themselves are responsible for establishing moral and ethical standards

God reveals himself to us

• Monotheism: There is one eternal, personal God who created everything else.
• Judaism
• Christianity
• Islam

“In the beginning God created…”

Other religions, as a rule, view matter (physical existence, physical things) as being “eternal” and gods as being derived from those physical things. Judaism and Christianity, on the other hand, understand that there is only one sovereign God, that He is eternal, and that he created all finite physical and living things. We understand that He has revealed himself to us.

The Hebrew word translated with various forms of the English word “create” “always describes the divine activity of fashioning something new, fresh, and perfect.” (Net Bible translation notes, Genesis 1:1)

Unlike the “big bang theory” and the theory of naturalistic evolution, which suggest that the universe and life arose by chance through random natural events, the Bible clearly describes thoughtful design by an intelligent being (God).

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”

In this statement, I do not believe that “the heavens” refers to the spiritual place where God resides. Rather, I believe the phrase “the heavens and the earth” refers  to the totality of physical existence, the “universe”. But I would like to pose a question: Why does God choose to mention the earth separately? Why didn’t he simply say, “In the beginning God created the universe”? Or, “In the beginning God created all physical things”? I believe the answer is that the earth is specifically mentioned because it is the center of God’s activity in the universe. It is where God chose to create life and human beings. It is where God chose to make himself known, first through patriarchs and prophets, and then through His Son Jesus. Even though the earth may not be at the physical center of the physical universe, it is the spiritual center of the universe.

In his book Core 52, Mark Moore asks the question: Why did God create the world? He answers that question by citing the fact that human beings can also “be creative”, that is, we can make or invent new and fresh things from the materials God has provided us. With that in mind he makes this statement:

“God created for the same reason we do: for others’ pleasure and for our own praise.”

I believe he is saying that God created the world for our pleasure and enjoyment, and so that we could give him praise. I would like to expand a little on the concept of praising God.

• Praising God is voluntary, growing out of gratitude for what he has done for us.
• NOT because he “needs” praise.
• NOT because he selfishly “wants” praise.
• BUT because praising God is good for US.
• AND praising God helps us look outside of ourselves.
• AND praising God helps us in our relationships with others.

Finally I would like to suggest one other related answer to the question: Why did God create the world and us?

He did it to share his love with us.

• NOT because he needed to.
• BUT because it wanted to.
• Love by definition includes sharing that love with others.

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation, for all things in heaven and on earth were created in him — all things, whether visible or invisible, whether thrones or dominions, whether principalities or powers — all things were created through him and for him. He himself is before all things and all things are held together in him. He is the head of the body, the church, as well as the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he himself may become first in all things. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in the Son and through him to reconcile all things to himself by making peace through the blood of his cross—through him, whether things on earth or things in heaven.
Colossians 1:15-20 (NET)

So then, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; what is old has passed away—look, what is new has come!
2 Corinthians 5:17 (NET)

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Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NET) are from the NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2016 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.

This post is the result of my studies based on the book by Mark E. Moore, Core 52: A Fifteen-Minute Daily Guide to Building your Bible IQ in a Year, published by WaterBook (Penguin Random House)

Trade Paperback ISBN 978-0-525-65325-7

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