Expert: Phillip Senn - 5/7/2005

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Phillip,

I liked your efforts in answering my earlier questions, so I have another.  This one may be a little tougher.

Before Adam and Eve partook of the forbidden fruit, what was God's plan for us?
Answer -
Genesis 1:26-28 spells out God's intent for us. He also had plans before the foundation of the world to bring us back into fellowship with Him through the sacrifice of His only begotten Son,having foreknowlege that we would sin, and had even created us with the capability to sin, but He didn't want us to sin (see Romans 8:20).

He called upon us to subdue and have dominion over His creation, yet He knew we would fail in that. But the greater glory is not our dominion over creation, but rather His dominion over ALL. He is able, even in spite of our failure, to glorify Himself through His Grace and Mercy being shown to us through His Son Jesus Christ. And that is what He did. He is soooo good.

With Love In Christ,
Phillip Senn

Phillip,

Another good answer.  It sounds to me that what you are saying is that God set it all up so that we could have the experience of living in a sinful world and suffer from sin ourselves.  If  He truly loves us, this whole thing would have to benefit us in some way.  How does it?   Why couldn't we have all just lived in a blissful state in a Garden of Eden setting?
Answer -
Romans 8:20 tells us why God chose to do things the way He did. That the whole of creation would be subjected to Him, who deserves all of the glory and the honor. We, who have come to faith in Christ Jesus have a wonderful opportunity to be used of Him to bring glory unto His matchless name through being in subjection to Him. He alone is worthy of all praise and glory and honor. When we are not in subjection to Him, He deals with us as His children, bringing us into subjection for His glory and honor, and for our well being. He is the author and finisher of our faith, and as such, gets all of the credit for the glory that is afforded to His Name. That ultimately is His goal in all of creation. As I had said earlier, "It is all about Him".

With Love In Christ,
Phillip Senn

Phillip,

I think I must be missing something.  It sounds like you are saying that the only reason God created us was to bring glory and honor to Himself.  That makes God sound like an egotistical maniac who is insecure and unsure about himself.  Why would a perfect being need to prove to anyone how glorious he is?  This doesn't sound like the loving God of the Bible at all.  I realize that everything we accomplish is because of Him and that we need to give Him all the credit.  But that does not answer the question of why He created us and what His ultimate plan for us is.  Do you know the answer?  It has to be more than just giving God glory.  Romans 8:20 only says that He had a reason, but doesn't explain what the reason was.  Don't you think it would help us give glory to God if we knew the reason He created us and His purpose for our existance?

Answer
The ultimate purpose of God is to glorify His name. If that makes Him seem like an egotistical maniac to you, apparently you have little understanding of God. Read Isaiah 43 to see what this King of Kings and Lord of Lords says concerning Himself and His glory. He says in His Word, "I am a jealous God". Again He says, "For mine own sake, even for mine own sake, will I do it: for how should my name be polluted? and I will not give my glory unto another"(Isaiah 48:11).

It is one thing to say you don't understand something about God... I don't fully comprehend all there is to know about Him. It is a much different thing to say that the attributes of that person (in this case the Lord) make Him seem like an egotistical maniac.

Perhaps you think more highly of yourself than you should. Should the vessel say unto the potter, "Why hath thou made me thus?" It is one thing to question the Lord about something. It is another thing to rudely assume that you know God better than He knows Himself and declares Himself to be.