Results 1 - 4 of 4
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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | why did god create the universe? | Gen 1:1 | Brian.g | 195897 | ||
Racheeyy Gen 1:28-30 does tell us that the earth was given to man. However, Scripture does not definitively say why the universe (outside of our world) was created. But, we know that God created man out of love. To suggest that God made man for his own self-glory would be to imply a deficiency of ego within God. It would imply that God needed man's existence (or worship) in order to feel 'complete'. That would imply man's value is so great that God, Himself, must have our affirmation of His greatness. And, we know that it is not so. God does not need man. Nor was God compelled by some outside force to create man. That would imply that there is a force or being in the universe greater than God. Again, we know that is not so. God did not create man to fulfill an internal deficiency, nor was God compelled by an outside force. The only motive which remains is love. However, it is right that everything we do should be done for the glory of God. When man is in full union with God, and we know and experience the fullness of God's love, we have no desire but to glorify God and all of His greatness. Brian |
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2 | why did god create the universe? | Gen 1:1 | DocTrinsograce | 195899 | ||
Dear Brian, Let me address your statement: "To suggest that God made man for his own self-glory would be to imply a deficiency of ego within God." (sic) You are correct that nothing external to God compelled Him to create. God is utterly perfect in every sense, and nothing wanting. Nothing can be added to perfection. God is perfectly happy and completely fulfilled in His self existence. He lacks nothing and never has. However, to deny that God does everything to His own glory is to deny a fundamental tenet of His self-revelation. A doctrine that has been recognized from the earliest days of the church. The question to ask: If God doesn't do everything to His own glory, to whose glory would He do everything? Let me try to explain another way. In the first commandment of the Decalogue God states, "You shall have no other gods before Me." (Exodus 20:3 ESV) To do so is idol worship. Idol worship is imputing the worthiness of God to something other than God. So I ask this question: Does God have any other gods before Himself? Does God have an idol? Of course not! In other words, He imputes worthiness to Himself alone for He is more precious than anything. Indeed, He knows His own worthiness for what it really is: infinitely worthy! God is the best judge of His own value. For Him to deny that value out of some kind of imagined modesty would be a sinful denial of the truth. I like how Lee Shelton IV put it when he wrote, "As human beings, you and I long for that which is good. We want to do what is right. We strive constantly for something that is higher than we are. And there is nothing higher, more right, or more good than God. He is the epitome of purity and perfection. As such, He cannot help but bring glory to Himself. To do anything less would be a sin -- and God does not sin." "I am the LORD [the self-existent, sovereign one]; that is My name; My glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols." (Isaiah 42:8 ESV) "Everyone who is called by My name, whom I created for My glory, whom I formed and made." (Isaiah 43:7 ESV) Once we understand why we were created, we more clearly understand sin. "For all have sinned and fall short of the GLORY OF GOD." (Romans 3:23 ESV) God's greatest passion is for His glory. He created the universe in order to make His glory known. Put another way, God created the universe in order to put on display the infinite worth of His attributes. "They will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His might, when He comes on that day to be glorified in His saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed." (2 Thessalonians 1:9-10a ESV) Finally, as I've pointed out the Word states that man was created for God's glory. It does not state that man was created because of God's love. In Him, Doc |
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3 | why did god create the universe? | Gen 1:1 | Hank | 195912 | ||
This is an engaging topic and I wonder ... would it help us to define "God's glory?" Indeed can we define it in the "baby talk" terms of which Calvin spoke, the terms that we poor mortals can comprehend? --Hank | ||||||
4 | why did god create the universe? | Gen 1:1 | DocTrinsograce | 195915 | ||
Dear Brother Hank, Very good point, sir. It had crossed my mind to provide that definition. However, the idea must have gone on across -- a very short distance -- without lodging itself sufficiently to result in some sort of action. Anyway, I'll do my best. God's glory is the splendor and brightness of the full display of His revealed attributes. Wayne Grudem, in his Systematic Theology, states that "God's glory is something that belongs to Him alone and is the appropriate outward expression of His own excellence." John Piper wrote, "God would be unrighteous (just as we would) if He valued anything more than what is supremely valuable. If He did not take infinite delight in the worth of His own glory He would be unrighteous. For it is right to take delight in a person in proportion to the excellence of that person's glory." And elsewhere, "God is the one Being in the entire universe for whom self-centeredness, or the pursuit of His own glory, is the ultimately loving act." I suppose the most incredible truth of Scripture is that God created us to be mirrors of His glory. We are "image bearers of God." But I suppose that that discussion should be the topic of another day. In Him, Doc |
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