This is the first chapter for a book I am writing (What Sinners Dare Not Dream). I am attempting to tell the Gospel, from creation to where we are supposed to be. This chapter simply focuses on the purpose for creation and how it was done. I welcome any critiques or comments. I especially welcome anyone who notices major grammatical errors (keep in mind that this is casual writing; though it irks me to begin a sentence with “and” or “but,” it is preferred in casual writing).
God Creates
Into the darkness, the vast void of nonexistence, the Lord spoke and the material world began its existence. It is impossible for us mere humans to fathom what nothingness is, a place – if nothingness can even be a place – where there is no light, no feeling, no vacuum of space, no warm or cold, no real darkness; nothingness. Yet, God chose to fill the void and create something. But why would God create anything?
Did God create the material and spiritual worlds because He needed to create? Did He do so because He was lonely? Perhaps He just wanted to see if He could actually do it, like a child that climbs a rope just to say he reached the top. If God needed to create, than He was not God prior to creation because He had not fulfilled His purpose – and this begs the question, who or what gave Him that purpose to begin with? If God had to create because He was lonely, then He is not Trinitarian. If we are merely God’s attempt at self-satisfaction in His own power, to see if He could accomplish something, then our purpose is really purposelessness, as He has seen what He can do and has now abandoned us. Thankfully, none of the above scenarios are true.
The Bible makes it clear that God created for three reasons: His own pleasure, to display His glory, and to display His love. God created to gain enjoyment out of His creation, but also so intelligent beings within His creation could see how glorious He is and how much He loves His creation.
The first and primary reason God created all things was for His pleasure. Revelation 4:11 (KJV) states, “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.” All the things that we can see and observe were created for the pleasure of God. All things in the spiritual realm were likewise created for His pleasure.
What does the Bible mean when it says “pleasure” though? Are we simply pawns God uses in order to gain selfish enjoyment? No, this is not what Scripture means, for such a god would be contrary to the God of Scriptures, such actions would go against His loving nature. Rather, the Greek word used in Revelation 4 is thelema, which refers to a purposeful pleasure. That is, all things were created to fulfill the purpose God had for humankind. In short, God created all things in order to fulfill a purpose.
What an astonishing thought about creation that is often ignored. God takes enjoyment out of creation; He created in order to enjoy it through fulfilling a purpose. Creation alone is not sufficient for fulfilling God’s purposes – the sacrifice of Christ is also necessary, as shall be seen in later chapters – but it is a necessary component. In order for God to display His purpose with creature (namely, humans), He must first create.
