P18: In The Beginning

The one question that every human faces at some point is “Why are we here?” Religion in general tries to answer that. Leaving it unanswered is typically not possible; eventually, we come to wrestle with it. Atheists usually become a little unnerved and drop the question. For others, they oftentimes have been given a generic answer. Still, that question provides a basic foundation upon which we build and shape all of our beliefs about Scripture, so we’d better get it right. If we don’t, it leaves the door wide open for all kinds of misunderstandings about Scripture and the character of God.

The standard Christian answer that I was given, taught from the pulpit, and believed for years is that we were created to praise God. Although praising God is something I know we all should do, because He deserves our praise, that is not the primary reason we were created. That depicts God as a power-hungry, selfish dictator, which He is not, even though you can cherry-pick a lot of Scripture trying to prove so. Let’s set that viewpoint aside and examine God from the perspective of Genesis and what He actually did.

God created all of creation and the animals first, and then finally humans. But there was something different – Genesis 1:26 “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; …” Something that God did that He did not do with the rest of the animal world. Now, some animals resemble humans, so God’s phrase here does not exactly mean we are to look like Him physically; even angels can resemble us, so they also share a resemblance to God. God even showed Adam all the animal kingdom, and none were found to be a suitable companion. (Genesis 2:20) So, what is it that God had to create man for, if He can create as many angels as He wants to sing praise to Him? (Isaiah 6:3, Revelation 4:8) What is the one thing that God had to create that He did not already have?

That would be relationship, love in its truest sense. He had to create a being that had not just intelligence, as there are plenty of animals and spiritual beings that have great intelligence, but a being that had reason and free will to experience and demonstrate true relationship and love. That cannot be done with beings that lack the qualities or gifts of reason and free will. Those are qualities that God has, and the qualities He refers to in Genesis 1:26.

So, the full answer to the question asked at the beginning is: we were created for relationships, with God foremost, and with each other. In the beginning, God had a direct relationship with both Adam and Eve, and would even walk and talk with them. (Genesis 3:8) However, due to the free will nature of that relationship, it was severed. God wants those days of relationship back, so Scripture is a story of how He has done that. (Leviticus 26:11)

As we somewhat understand it, God is three persons. We see this evident throughout Scripture, most notably in Matthew 3, Luke 3, and John 1, though our human limitations the concept is something we cannot fully understand. Being that God is three persons, it would also mean we would have three different types of relationships. We have a unique situation in which we can have three different relationships with God, yet He remains the same person. The one relationship, with Jesus Christ the Son, I have covered in detail already as a covenant relationship after which marriage has been modeled. It’s all over the New Testament and hard to miss that Christ is our bridegroom and we are His bride, but that is not the same relationship we have with God the Father and the Holy Spirit.

For the Holy Spirit, we have a mentoring relationship, similar to a teacher or a guide. Jesus Himself referred to the Holy Spirit as a “Helper” (John 15:26) or “paraklētos” in Greek. That translates to someone who is a teacher, advocate, comforter, aide, assistant, and intercessor. All roles that a mentor relationship would fulfill. That is different from the covenant relationship we have with Christ. You will find that the Holy Spirit throughout Scripture came “upon” many people in the Old and New Testaments, and was the promised gift that He will always be with us in need. (John 14:16)

It is also quite evident that God the Father would be a parent/child relationship, hence the “Father” part of calling Him God the Father. God the Father’s interaction with humans in Scripture is not always direct (John 1:18), it would appear that when talking with Moses on Mount Sinai (and the burning bush), and in Job, God the Father Himself interacted with humanity, although some of the other interactions like with Abraham and Sara (Genesis 18) it is believed to be God the Son instead as He appears as a man. We are also commonly referred to as the “children” of God. (John 1:12-13) When examining the overall interaction between humanity and God, you also observe the parent/child relationship. Why is that important? Well, that is the next section….