Return to BibleToday Homepage

Chapter Three The Purposes and Reasonings Behind Creation

Table of Contents

led.gif (978 bytes)Messengers to the Church
led.gif (978 bytes)Unresolved Questions
led.gif (978 bytes)Gods Plan
led.gif (978 bytes)Decisions in Making Man
led.gif (978 bytes)The Nature of Freedom
led.gif (978 bytes)Why Die for Eating an Apple
led.gif (978 bytes)How We Learn
led.gif (978 bytes)Has Creation Failed
led.gif (978 bytes)Meanwhile, A New Creation
led.gif (978 bytes)The Scriptural Summary

Messengers to the Church

One of the greatest aids to Bible study is the help received from teachers which God has used from time to time. (Ephesians 4:11; 1 Corinthians 12:28; Revelation 2:1, 8, 12, 18; 3:1, 7, 14) Among these are such men as Arius, Waldo, Wycliffe, Luther, and Russell. Each brought to light at least one Scripturally-documented major truth.-Ephesians 4:8, 11, 12 Excellent teachers are an asset, and the student who profits from the teachers' experiences can avoid much stumbling through the Bible. This does not, of course, relieve each individual of the responsibility of proving all things (1 Thessalonians 5:21) with careful and complete study techniques such as are outlined in this chapter of the booklet. Because good teachers are an asset, the next chapter purposes to present an in-a-nutshell summary of the best thoughts of these teachers. This summary is in the form of an explanation of what God started out to do, what He is now doing, and what will be the ultimate result of His plan for man. This epitome of the contents of the Bible is in harmony with the results of careful study as previously outlined. Detailed explanations of this plan and its parts are available in the book The Divine Plan of the Ages, available from this web site.

Unresolved Questions

In the second chapter of this booklet, samples of study subjects have been used to illustrate study techniques. These samples may have caused questions to arise in the mind of the reader. Some of the conclusions have been: -- there is no eternal torment -- the earth will not burn to a cinder, but be forever inhabited -- the judgment day lasts 1,000 years -- the unbelievers will have a "second chance" - actually their first real chance These conclusions are as startling as they are wonderful. They reflect a God who has a character well worth worshipping. Since these conclusions have been somewhat disconnected and abstract in the second chapter of this booklet, it is the purpose of this third chapter to create a unified word-picture of the implications of these various conclusions.

God's Plan

The Bible begins with the words, "In the beginning God created." Many have asked WHY God created? - WHY he ever bothered? The answer to this question is fundamental to an understanding of the Scriptures. "God is love." (1 John 4:16) This thought is the key to God's purpose in creation. If love is characterized by any one attribute, that attribute is the desire and necessity of giving. God is love; God must give. But God was alone in the universe! There was no one to whom He could give anything! Thus was born both the concept and the need for creation. God would create so that He could give. God's creation, according to Scripture, involves more than the earthly realm. Nevertheless, man is an important part of that creation and has a special place and purpose in God's design. This chapter will concentrate primarily on God's dealings with men, as the Scriptures concentrate primarily in this area.

Decisions in Making Man

The decisions in creation were based much on God's attribute of love. When the creation of man was due, God's initial decision involved a problem something like this: "Will I make man like a machine - programmed so that he cannot make a mistake? Or will I make man with freedom of will and choice?" The answer to this initial question was readily dictated by God's love. If man were a robot, a machine, he could not receive God's love. Machines don't experience love. For man to be the appreciative recipient of God's love, he must be free, not programmed. God knew the dangers of creating beings with the freedom of exercising their own wills, but there was no legitimate alternative. God would, indeed, create man with the freedom of choice.

The Nature of Freedom

Freedom is a strange word. Freedom cannot exist without limits. If one man's freedom infringes upon the freedom of another man, freedom no longer exists. Freedom by its own inherent definition must contain limits. But who shall define the limits of freedom? It seems manifest that God, who created man in the first place, is best equipped to tell man his limits. Thus it was. God created man in His own image - free to reason and choose. And God informed man that he was free with only one certain limitation.

Why Die for Eating an Apple?

Of all possible restrictions to freedom, why did God tell Adam that he could not eat the fruit of a certain tree? (There is no evidence that it was an apple.) It seems God could have chosen a better limitation to freedom than that! Not so! This choice was excellent for one compelling reason: God wanted man to learn the lesson of obedience. Obedience: The Key to a Peaceful Universe

Had God told Adam that he could not kill Eve, the inherent moral power of that command would have been obvious. Adam would not have known, however, that obedience even when he doesn't understand is what God wants. Therefore God gave man a simple test of obedience - one in which, on the surface, man could not clearly perceive evil. God knows that disobedience anywhere in His creation will cause chaos in the universe. God reserves the right, therefore, to extinguish the life of any creature who disobeys. This was the point which He wanted to make: Disobedience results ultimately in death; only this will preserve order in the universe.

How We Learn

God knew that His creatures (since they were not programmed machines) could learn in only three ways: by information, by observation, or by experience. Thus the lesson which all of God's creatures had to learn (obedience) must be learned by one or all of these three methods. God is a good instructor; He uses all three. God gave Adam instruction by information; He warned Adam of the consequences of disobedience. God, of course, was sufficiently far-sighted to know that a free, inexperienced being would not learn from information alone. Adam sinned; and subsequently he died. God's justice is as strict and unchanging as His love is broad. He had to make His point: disobedience will cause death (no exceptions)! So man is now learning by experience. The angels and other orders of creation are learning by observation. All creation is learning. The lesson is being forcibly impressed upon us all: disobedience will cause death - even disobedience in the simplest, seemingly innocent matter of eating a piece of fruit.

Has Creation Failed?

It was shown that God, out of love, desired to create free beings upon whom He could shower blessings. It was also shown that the nature of freedom requires the practice of obedience to God's directions, and that God permitted evil (disobedience) to enter His universe as being the only method by which free beings can learn. But man is dead! God purposed to have a perfect earth populated with perfect men - men who would love Him because they respect Him. God's word never returns unto Him void. His original purpose will, indeed, be accomplished. Once the earth's population has reached the size God determines to be correct, the learning experience with evil will be terminated. Man will cease to die. Man will be resurrected - his original sin paid for (not excused) by the sacrifice of "the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world."

Meanwhile, A New Creation

Through the Scriptures God tells us that His creative effort would include the creation of a special group of beings - an intimate family of His own. This family would be like Him in that they would be indestructible. The Scriptures clearly differentiate between mortal beings and immortal beings. At one time, only God was immortal. Immortality is that condition where death is an absolute impossibility. (John 5:26) It is this quality which God wants to give to His special creation, His intimate family. All other beings will be mortal - not dying, but subject to extinction by God, should they ever disobey. As God contemplated this immortal, intimate family of His own, He fully realized that to create immortal free beings without some safeguard would be to invite the possibility of eternal disobedience in the universe - a possibility which God could not accept. But God saw a great opportunity in the affairs of the earth. He determined that He could deal with some people while they were exposed to the terrible influences of evil and thus test their characters and obedience fully. If He could find people who would be fully obedient under evil circumstances, He could trust them under all circumstances. God decided He would make His New Creation, His intimate family, from the human race. Thus in the Scriptures is an offer to men to follow Christ and to seek immortality. God is calling out of the earth the few people who will be His New Creation. He calls them His church. (This is from the Greek word ekklesia which means "a calling out.") In this process God saw another advantage. Since His church, once glorified as spirit beings, will have been human, they will be very sympathetic toward the experiences of mankind. The church will be well suited for the purpose of helping mankind - raising them from the dead, instructing them up the highway of holiness (Isaiah 35:8-10), and dealing with every problem as the effects of evil are washed away. It is for this purpose that God determined that His church would rule with Christ during the thousand years of the Kingdom (Revelation 20:6). How much greater now is the significance of 1 Timothy 4:10? "God is the Savior of all men, specially (with immortality) of those that believe." How much greater now is the significance of Matthew 6:10? "Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven."

The Scriptural Summary

Yes, God intended, and will have as the result of creation, a perfect earth populated with perfect, ever-living men who will worship Him because they love and understand Him. He will also have an intimate, personal, immortal family of spirit beings like Himself, taken from among men where they will have been fully tested for their immortal inheritance. What a Plan! What a God! The Apostle Paul summarizes this entire matter in just two verses of Scripture (Ephesians 1:9, 10). We quote from Dr. Weymouth's Modern Speech translation:

". . . He made known to us the secret of His will . . . God's merciful purpose for the government of the world when the times are ripe for it - the purpose which He has cherished in His own mind of restoring the whole creation to find its one Head in Christ; yes, things in heaven and things on earth, to find their one Head in Him. Amen."

-- Where Are The Dead? This 105-page book examines every Scripture in the Old and New Testaments that contain the word "hell." It teaches the reader how to use the Exhaustive Topical Examination method for comprehensive Bible Study.

-- The Divine Plan of the Ages This 360-page book examines: Why God Permits Evil, Our Lord's Return, the Day of Judgment, the Kingdoms of this World, the Kingdom of Christ, the distinction between the human and angelic natures, and more. Features a pull-out chart outlining the time periods defined in the Scriptures.

For these books, as well as a more extensive list of Bible Students' publications and videos, click here