The Omega Letter Intelligence Digest

Vol: 36 Issue: 29 - Wednesday, September 29, 2004

Why Did God Create Man?
by Jack Kinsella

The Bible tells us that it is the Lord Jesus Christ Who is the Creator of all
things, including the heavens, the earth, and even hell.  This mystery is
revealed in the first chapter of the Book of John.

John takes us back to creation, saying, "In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." (1:1)  In John's Gospel,
the 'Word' (logos) is capitalized as a proper noun, since it is used in
the sense of a title.

"The same was in the beginning with God."  John also reveals that, "All
things were made by Him; and without Him was not any thing made that was
made." (John 1:2-3)

That John is referring to Jesus is made clear when he writes, "He was in
the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not. He
came unto his own, and His own received Him not." (10-11)

That can only be describing Jesus Christ, Who came first to the Jews, as
Jesus told the 'woman of Caanan'. (Matthew 15:24-28)

So, following the logic that Jesus is the Creator of all things, we must
also conclude that He created Hell.  This presents what appears to be an
impossible theological conundrum.

Jesus describes hell as a place of eternal torment, describing it three
times as the place; "Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not
quenched." (Mark 9:44,46,48)

The conundrum arises when one tries to solve the apparent contradiction
between a compassionate Christ Who shed His Blood to provide a way for me
to avoid the horrors of hell and the Creator of Hell Who knew at the time
He was creating it that there would be some who would go there.

Jesus says that it would be better not to have ever been born than to end
up in hell. So, why create man in the first place, then?  The Bible
answers that question, but, to the skeptic, the answer only prompts more
questions.

According to Revelation 4:11, we were created for God's pleasure.

("Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were
created.")

So, if man was created for God's pleasure, but a significant majority of
mankind is destined to go to hell, does that mean God takes pleasure in
sending people there?  The Scriptures say no.

"For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord
GOD: wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye." (Ezekiel 33:11)

"Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the
death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn
ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?"
(Ezekiel 33:11)

Jesus says in Matthew 25:41 that hell wasn't created for man, but rather
was "prepared for the devil and his angels."

But that still doesn't fully address the question.  IF the place of
'everlasting fire' Jesus is referring to was 'prepared for the devil and
his angels',  and if man was created for God's pleasure, AND, if God is
all-knowing, then He knew some of his Creation would end up there.

AND, if it would be better for man to never have been born than to end up
in hell, then WHY create us in the first place?

The universe is considerably more than just man, and while the salvation
of man is an integral part of God's program, we are not the only part of
God's program.

Eons before man was created, God's anointed angel, Lucifer, rebelled
against a decision of God's (most likely over the creation of man
himself).

In describing Jesus' decision to take on human form,  the writer of
Hebrews says that Jesus "was made a little lower than the angels for the
suffering of death." (2:9)

Psalms 91:11 tells us that, "He shall give his angels charge over thee, to
keep thee in all thy ways.  But Paul writes to the Corinthians, "Know ye
not that we shall judge angels?" (2nd Corinthians 6:3)

One can imagine Satan rebelling against the concept of the creation of a
new, puny,  human spiritual being, made 'lower than the angels', that God
decreed angels (including Satan and his followers) would serve in this
life, and then be judged by in the next.

Isaiah outlines Satan's rebellion as a series of five "I wills".

"For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will
exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of
the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the
heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Yet thou shalt be
brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit." (Isaiah 14:13-15)

When God cast the rebels out, it was incumbent upon Him to prove Himself
just in His decision to those angels who remained loyal.  After all,
eternity is a long time, and hell is a terrible place.  Wasn't God being a
bit hard on them?

So, in a sense, humanity serves as a kind of living courtroom in which
angels can observe the consequences of unchecked sin on the natural order
of the universe.

Hebrews 12:1 tells us we are "compassed about with so great a cloud of
witnesses." [the angelic hosts].

God created man initially with only one rule: avoid the fruit of the Tree
of Knowledge.  To the astonishment of the angels, man broke that rule,
introducing sin into the world.  Then God allowed man to be ruled by his
conscience.

(That worked out so well that it took a world-wide flood to repair the
damage.)

So God went to Abraham and spoke with him directly.  The angels must have
been dumbfounded to witness Abraham's sin with Hagar, knowing that Abraham
KNEW better. God told him so directly. They also saw the consequences of
sin beginning to pile up, embodied by the ongoing conflict between
Abraham's descendants, Ishmael and Isaac.

To further prove God's judgement of sin was just and fair, God set aside a
Chosen Nation, gave them ten little rules to follow, and allowed the
scenario to play out before the heavenly jury.

What began as ten rules for living in harmony for God resulted in the
development of a religious system so corrupt that Jesus came to earth
Personally to replace it with an even easier method of reconciliation with
God -- trusting in the shed Blood of Christ alone for salvation.

Remember, the angels who are witnessing all this have seen sin go from a
bite of fruit to the horrors of Adolph Hitler, Josef Stalin and Saddam
Hussein.  Knowing first-hand what a unimaginable Gift was extended mankind
from the Cross, can you imagine their astonishment when that Gift was
almost universally rejected by what is now a sin-sodden world?

Finally, the Bible says, Jesus Christ returns at the end of the
Tribulation Period, binds Satan for a thousand years, sets up a physical
Kingdom in Jerusalem from which He personally rules the earth.

During that time, Scripture says, man will live in perfect harmony with
nature, as God had originally intended in the Garden of Eden.  Isaiah says
that a person who dies during the Millennial Kingdom at age 100 would be
mourned as one who died in his youth.

Lions will lay down with lambs, little kids will be able to play with
deadly snakes, men will beat their swords into plowshares and war will be
abolished.

Scripture then says that, when the thousand years are finished, Satan will
be loosed for 'a season' to tempt those human beings who KNOW Jesus, have
lived a THOUSAND YEARS under His Personal governance, and are perfectly
certain of His Power and Authority.

"And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his
prison, And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four
quarters of the earth, Gog, and Magog, to gather them together to battle:
the number of whom is as the sand of the sea." (Revelation 20:8-9)

At this point, the angelic jury is convinced, and the prosecution rests.

"And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of
the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of
heaven, and devoured them." (Revelation 20:9)

Then comes the judgement.  "And the devil that deceived them was cast into
the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are,
and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever." (20:10)

Why did God create man if He knew that some would choose hell?  Because He
also knew that some would choose Heaven.

And in any case, it is man's choice to make. As declared the citizens in
the parable of the nobleman in Luke 19: "We will not have Him to reign
over us." When such people are cast in hell, it is literally what they
asked for.

God has a purpose for every detail of our creation.  "For My thoughts are
not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, saith the LORD. For as
the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your
ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts." (Isaiah 55:8-9)

God created mankind to prove His justice.  He created mankind for His
pleasure. And He created mankind so He could save them.

But He also created mankind so we could CHOOSE to love Him.  There cannot
be a choice without an alternative.

"I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set
before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life,
that both thou and thy seed may live:" (Deuteronomy 30:19)