Why Did God Create Mankind?

This is an interesting question, one that was requested of me to prepare a lesson on.  I don't think there is anyone who has not at some time in their lives during a reflective moment pondered this question.  Why did God make man?  This question has been on the minds of those in a range from devout followers of Christ to those with only a passing familiarity and belief in the existence of a creator.  With so much unrighteousness in the world and so many people who do not live according to the will of God, it is only natural to wonder why God created so many people that He knew He would have to condemn. 

In his letter to Timothy, Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 1:8-9, "Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God; Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began"

The prophet Isaiah wrote by inspiration, "Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me,  Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:"

God knew what was going to happen.  God knew when He created the earth that He would destroy it with a great flood.  God knew before the creation that man would sin and that Jesus Christ would have to die on the cruel cross as a result of that.  God knew Adam and Eve would sin.  And God knew before He ever created the universe that the vast majority of the people He created would be condemned. 

Matthew quoted the words of Jesus Christ in chapter 7, verses 13-14
"Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it."  Later in Matthew, Jesus is quoted as saying, "For many are called , but few are chosen" (Matthew 22:14).

God knew the vast majority of His creation would reject Him and be eternally lost.  So why did God create so many people he knew would be condemned to everlasting destruction? 

The first thing we need to understand is that God has an eternal nature.  He has characteristics that define who He is and these characteristics never change and these characteristics govern God's actions.  God is going to act according to His characteristics and His nature in all things.  Particular to this topic, one of God's eternal characteristics is that He is love.  The apostle John wrote in 1 John 4:8, "He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love."  We can be assured that God's motivation to act in the creation of man stemmed from His great capacity for love. 

Another characteristic of God which pertains to this subject is that God is absolutely righteous. The Psalmist wrote, "The LORD is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works." (Psalms 145:17).  This means that everything God does is right.  God cannot be called into condemnation for anything He has ever done.  So from this we can conclude that God was right to create man.  And everything He has done since man was created has been right.  And everything He will do in the fulfillment of His divine plan will be right.  There will be nothing done from the start to the finish that God can be questioned about or condemned for, including the condemnation of the lost. 

The next characteristic of God that we need to consider is that He cannot lie.  Titus 1:2, "In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began".  The God we serve who cannot lie said in Ezekiel 18:4, "Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die."  First, we need to acknowledge that our eternal souls belong to God.  Secondly there is no distinction between sins.  In God's eyes, all sins are the same and they all bear the same consequence.  Spiritual death. 

So God who knew that man would sin, knew that He would have to condemn all of mankind.  God knew before He ever created man, that His righteous nature would demand that He destroy man from His presence forever. 

Thankfully for us, Another Characteristic or quality of God is that He is merciful.  When giving the law to Moses on Mount Sinai, "the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth" (Exodus 34:6).  God is merciful.  In Ephesians Paul wrote in 3:11, "According to the eternal purpose which He [meaning God] purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord:"  So our merciful God who knew man would fall and be condemned came up with a plan whereby man could be saved from the fate God knew would befall him.  This plan included Him sending Jesus Christ to earth to suffer and offer His life as a substitutionary sacrifice for mankind.

In the garden of Gethsemane on the night Jesus was betrayed, He plead with God to find another way to accomplish His purpose.  There was no other option available.  In order for our merciful God to save us, Jesus had to die.  God's absolutely righteous nature demanded death as the penalty for sin.  Jesus paid that debt so that sinful man could have a hope for life.  That was very merciful and gracious of both God the Father and Jesus Christ to do that for us. 

God must have really wanted man to live in order to do that.  In fact, God wants all men to be saved. He is not willing that any should perish (1 Peter 3:9).  He said by inspiration in 1 Timothy 2:3-4, "For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth."  God does not want any of His creation to perish.  So even though He knew many would perish, it was not His desire that any would.  He wants all of His creation to live, but sadly there are many who will not. 

God gave mankind freewill in the Garden of Eden.  When you love someone, you give them a choice.  If that love is reciprocated, they will make the right choices.  God, who is love, gave mankind a choice.  God gave mankind freewill.  Man could have lived on the face of the earth for ever with every need supplied in a paradise environment.  The earth was created for that purpose.  There was one single solitary negative command given which Adam and Eve both transgressed and sin entered the world.  Along with that sin of disobedience came the knowledge of good and evil which all of accountable mankind since then has violated.  Man was created innocent and with no knowledge of good and evil.  Man made the choice to take hold of that knowledge and with it came the responsibility associated with it and the consequences for mishandling it.  God can not in any way be called into account for the creation of man.  He did it right and man chose to mess it up.  There is not one iota of blame that can be placed on God for the mess we are in today.  It is all the doing of man. 

So the question remains, God who knew all of this was going to happen, created mankind anyway.  Why did He do that?   There are only three possible answers to that question.  If we can eliminate two of those possible answers, then what remains must be the truth.  Then we can expand on that one.  This is called the law of exclusion.  Whenever you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains must be the truth. 

The three options to answer the question of why God created humans are:

1)  He was compelled to create man.
2)  He needed to create man.
3)  He wanted to create man. 

We can discount option 1 immediately.  Our God is self proclaimed as being "almighty"  When He appeared to Abraham He identified Himself with these words, "I am the Almighty God" (Genesis 17:1).  Someone who is almighty is not subject to anything, anywhere, any time. There are dozens and dozens of scriptures that proclaim the supremacy of God.  We have no need to dwell on this one at any length.  Option 1, "He was compelled to create man" is eliminated.  We have only two options left. 

Option 2, He needed to create men for some reason.  Let's look at a passage of scripture in Acts 17:24-25

"God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;"

"As though He needed anything".  The self sufficiency of God is another well documented characteristic of God that we can look to.  God does not need anything.  Some try and argue that God needed to create mankind in order to have someone to shower His love upon.  While it is true that God is love, it cannot be argued that God needed to create man in order to have something or someone to love. 

God sent His Son down here to die at the hands of man for the sins of man.  Before Jesus came down here He was on an equal standing with God the Father, (Philippians 2:6).  To suggest that God needed someone to love is to suggest that God's love for the other members of the Godhead was insufficient for God's needs. 

It is one thing to say that God created mankind because he is a God of love, and it is quite another to suggest that he created mankind because of a need to love. God's love is simply built-in to his nature; “loving” was not a need that would not have gone unfulfilled but for the creation of humankind. The fact is, eternal love prevailed among the members of the sacred Godhead long before man walked the earth. 

Option 2 is eliminated.  God does not need anything.  He is self sufficient.  Which leaves us with option 3.  He wanted to create man.  God wanted to create man and He did.  God wanted to create man to the degree that He was willing to die for mankind in order to save Him from the sin God knew man would commit.  One would have to want something pretty badly in order to put oneself through what God put Himself through in order to achieve what He wanted to achieve in the creation of man.  If we think for a second this was easy for God, then let's direct our attention to the garden of Gethsemane.  Let's think about God, the Son, suffering under the scourge of the Roman officers.  Let's think about God, the Son, hanging naked on a cross, bleeding to death in agony at the hands of those He came to save.  Let's consider the darkness that came upon the land at the death of Jesus on the cross.  Let's consider the trials of Jesus and the hurt of the loving Father as He watched His only begotten son bleed out and die on a cruel cross, being despised and reviled by those of His own creation. 

God didn't need that by any stretch of the imagination.  God wasn't compelled to do that by anything outside Himself.  The only reasonable explanation that can be offered is that He wanted to.  God is love and God wanted to love man to the degree that He was willing to do what He did so that man could have a hope of living with Him forever.  God created man and earth perfect.  Man messed it up and God did not give up even though He could have.  God did not forsake man.  God bore with mankind and has provided man with a means by which he can be saved from himself. 

Which brings us to the final characteristic of God which pertains to this subject.  God is longsuffering.  2 Peter 3:9, "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance."   To be longsuffering is to be suffering for a long time.  God is suffering long in hopes that man whom He loved will come to Him in repentance.  He does not want anybody to perish.  He certainly did not create mankind for that purpose.  He created mankind because He wanted to out of His great love. 

In the word of the Lord recorded by Isaiah concerning the freeing of the Israelites from the Babylonian captivity we can see in these words some of the great love God has for His creation and the reasons why man was created in the first place.

Isaiah 43:1-21

But now, thus says the LORD, who created you, O Jacob, And He who formed you, O Israel: "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are Mine. 2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you.  When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, Nor shall the flame scorch you.

For I am the LORD your God, The Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I gave Egypt for your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in your place.  Since you were precious in My sight, You have been honored, And I have loved you; Therefore I will give men for you, And people for your life.  Fear not, for I am with you; I will bring your descendants from the east, And gather you from the west;

I will say to the north, 'Give them up! 'And to the south, 'Do not keep them back! 'Bring My sons from afar, And My daughters from the ends of the earth.  Everyone who is called by My name, Whom I have created for My glory; I have formed him, yes, I have made him."

Bring out the blind people who have eyes, And the deaf who have ears. Let all the nations be gathered together, And let the people be assembled. Who among them can declare this, And show us former things? Let them bring out their witnesses, that they may be justified; Or let them hear and say, "It is truth."  "You are My witnesses," says the LORD, "And My servant whom I have chosen, That you may know and believe Me, And understand that I am He.  Before Me there was no God formed, Nor shall there be after Me.

I, even I, am the LORD, And besides Me there is no savior. I have declared and saved, I have proclaimed, And there was no foreign god among you; Therefore you are My witnesses, "Says the LORD, "that I am God. Indeed before the day was, I am He; And there is no one who can deliver out of My hand; I work, and who will reverse it?"

Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, The Holy One of Israel: "For your sake I will send to Babylon, And bring them all down as fugitives — The Chaldeans, who rejoice in their ships. I am the LORD, your Holy One, The Creator of Israel, your King."

Thus says the LORD, who makes a way in the sea And a path through the mighty waters, Who brings forth the chariot and horse, The army and the power (They shall lie down together, they shall not rise; They are extinguished, they are quenched like a wick):  "Do not remember the former things, Nor consider the things of old.

Behold, I will do a new thing, Now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness And rivers in the desert. The beast of the field will honor Me, The jackals and the ostriches, Because I give waters in the wilderness And rivers in the desert, To give drink to My people, My chosen. This people I have formed for Myself; They shall declare My praise.
NKJV

Out of His great love, God wanted to create man so He did.  Why?  What does God expect to have out of this when He is finished?  When you love someone and you give them freewill to choose, and then you sacrifice yourself for them, what do you hope for in return?  If you did what God did for man, what would you want in return?  How about to be loved back?  Not by force, but by free will.  Wouldn't you want the love of those you loved back in return?  Wouldn't you want the praise, dedication and devotion of those you dedicated and devoted yourself to?  Wouldn't you want the love you showered on them to be given back in return?  Wouldn't you want the mercy and graciousness you gave in their behalf to be acknowledged and appreciated? 

We are the children of God, 1 John 3:1, "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God".  What do we look for from our earthly children?  Don't we sacrifice for them?  Don't we give of ourselves for them?  When we look down into the eyes of our children what do we want more than anything?  We want their love.  Could we have gone on without it?  Yes.  Did we need their love to fulfill some necessary physical need?  No.  But do we desire it? Do we want it?  Do we yearn for it?  Do we sacrifice ourselves for it?  Yes, we do. 

What do we want out of our children?  We want them to love us, to grow up, be good and righteous souls, and go to heaven.  What does God want from His children?  To love Him, to grow up and be good and righteous souls and to go to heaven.  We want the same thing for our earthly children that God wants for us.  If our children will just listen to us and obey us, they will have much better lives and they will have a better eternity.  We all want what is best for our children and we know that living right and good is the key to their happiness.  Likewise God knows what's best for us and we'll just listen to Him and obey Him, we'll have much better lives and we will have a better eternity.  God knows that living right and good is the key to our happiness. 

We can use this analogy to determine why God wanted to create mankind.  We were created in His image.  We have freewill, we have the capacity for love, we have personal volition and free will, we have the capacity to know right from wrong and we can love and we can desire to be loved by those whom we love.  And we are willing to sacrifice ourselves for the well being of our children.  Why?  because we love them and because we want them to love us.  God sacrificed Himself for us. Why?  Because He loved us and He wants us to love Him back. 

True love isn't love if it's forced.  In order for God to know that we love Him, He has to first give us life, then He has to give us his will, then He has to give us a choice and if we really love Him then we will seek to show Him our love in our actions.  God didn't set back in heaven and say He loved us without doing something for us.  Neither can we set back and claim to love God if we don't do something as well. 

Jesus said as quoted in John 14:23-34, "If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.  He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me".  Jesus says those who claim to love Him but do not obey Him do not love Him in the way that is expected.  If we are going to love in the way that God said to love, then we must live obediently to the will of God.  John also wrote in another place, "My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth" (1 John 3:18).  The scriptures teach that true love towards God is an active, caring, obedient love. 

My kids tell me they love me all the time.  Especially when they want something.  But if they are not obedient to my wishes, I don't feel very loved.  I don't just want to be told I am loved by my children.  I want to be loved, I want to feel loved, and I know they love me when they obey me out of their love for me.  God is no different from us in that regard and has said so in scripture.  he said, "If ye love me, Keep my commandments" (John 14:15).  We were created in His image, so all we have to do is look inside ourselves to see why God did what He did in creation. 

Mankind was created by a loving God who wants to be loved in return.  Mankind was created for God's glory (Isaiah 43:7).  Mankind was created for God's praise (Isaiah 43:21).  Not because God needed any of these things, but because God wanted them and because it was the right thing to do.  Revelation 4:11 reads, "You are worthy, O Lord,  To receive glory and honor and power; For You created all things, And by Your will they exist and were created."

Mankind was created perfect and sinless.  It is true the many many are lost and will suffer an eternity of shame and torment, but that is not in any way God's fault.  God knew man would sin and He made provisions for that so that man did not have to suffer eternal condemnation.  God offered up His own Son as a sacrifice on behalf of sinful man.  What more could He have done?  What more could He have given?  What more could possibly be expected of Him? 

Everybody who has ever lived had a choice.  Everybody today has a choice.  Anybody can choose right now to avoid the fate of the lost and embrace life.  A way out of condemnation is provided and offered freely to all.  There is absolutely no reason whatsoever not to take advantage of God's offer.  And those who leave this life without it have nobody to blame but themselves.  None of us can go back and change our beginnings but if need be, any of us can start from this moment and change our ending.  Romans 6:22, "But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life."

If there is anyone here tonight who is not in the right relationship with God, whether it is to become a Christian by putting the Lord on in baptism or by confessing their sins and asking for forgiveness, now is the accepted time.  Now is the day of salvation.  If you don't want to walk down that aisle in front of the congregation, then see me afterwards.  The Ethiopian Eunuch became a Christian and he responded to the invitation of Christ from a chariot beside a body of water somewhere between Jerusalem and his home.  He didn't walk down an aisle in front of anybody in a worship assembly and he was baptized and became a Christian and went on his way rejoicing.  If you want prayer, if you want study, whatever your need may be, either make it known now or afterwards.

The lesson is yours, let's stand and sing.