The soul’s deepest thirst is for God Himself, who has made us so that we can never be satisfied without Him.
That perfection of God which we call faithfulness, or His inclination to fulfill His promises to His creatures, could not properly be what moved Him to create the world, nor could such a fulfillment of His promises to His creatures be His last end in giving the creatures being.
The End for which God Created the World, Works, 8:412, by Permission of Banner of Truth Trust, Carlisle, PA
God created man for nothing else but happiness. He created him only that He might communicate happiness to him.
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth (Gen. 1:1). …When these words were first written, they presented a challenge to all religions of the world. They made a claim for the God of Israel, the God of the Bible: He alone is God; He alone is the Creator. Ever since, they have challenged the philosophies and world views of mankind, and continue to do so today. They affirm, without reservation, that the universe in which we live is not an accident, not the chance result of “nature” or “evolution.” It is the handiwork of the living God.
A Heart for God, 1987, p. 24, by permission Banner of Truth, Carlisle, PA.
Creation of the world was not a necessary act that God undertook to overcome loneliness…(and) God certainly did not create the world in order to become more glorious (Jn. 17:5). …(On the contrary, God created the world) because He looked forward to the greater blessings that would be His as His glory and goodness met real needs in the lives of people whom He would create, who would depend on Him for joy and fulfillment. …God’s ultimate purpose is to increase His joy by sharing the blessing of the Trinity in creation.
The Unity of the Bible, Zondervan, 1992, p. 121, 129, 136. Get this book!
Just because creation gives God great delight, we cannot say that He is worshipping it; rather, He is worshipping Himself as He sees His goodness bringing such blessing to people that they give their heartfelt thanks and praise to Him for the benefits He imparts.
The Unity of the Bible, Zondervan, 1992, p. 136. Get this book!
Indeed, the existence of fellowship within the Trinity (John 17:23-24) makes it evident that the creation of mankind was not intended to meet some deficiency in God. God was not lonely, bored, or incomplete before he created humanity. God is perfect in Himself, happy in the fellowship and love that exist from all eternity between the Father, Son, and Spirit. Thus, rather than being an attempt to make up for a lack within the Trinity, God created mankind simply because he delights in sharing Himself as an expression of his overflowing self-sufficiency.
The God of Promise and the Life of Faith, Crossway Books, 2001, p. 32.
We have been made to mirror God’s holiness and righteousness back to God, not so we may benefit (though there are immeasurable benefits to personal godliness), but so God will be glorified in beholding Himself in His creatures.
To God be the Glory, Crossway, 2000, p. 24.
God’s chief end in the creation could not have been the creation itself, because the world would then have to have been eternal and equal with God. Since the world is not eternal but an effect caused by the power of God, it could not be the ultimate end of itself. This would lift an effect into the realm of pure cause; a cause that we know is God alone. It would be making a secondary cause into a final cause.
To God be the Glory, Crossway, 2000, p. 16.
It is illogical to think that an all-sufficient God created the world because of some personal need or internal inadequacy. There is no inadequacy in God. God is perfect in all His being and in all His ways. He is infinitely glorious and unchangeably happy. He has no need of improvement. God could not better His own perfection or see a need to. It would mean that God was not perfect before He did so.
To God be the Glory, Crossway, 2000, p. 17.
God created the world to reveal Himself. There is, then, a property in God’s being that not only delights in Himself but longs to show Himself. We might say that there is a divine self-love in God. But unlike the display of narcissism in God’s creatures, this self-love is not sinful, for God’s delight in Himself is not a vain misconception. It is just and right.
To God be the Glory, Crossway, 2000, p. 18.
Whenever I am afield or outdoors, there steals over me the acute consciousness that I am confronted on every hand by the superb workmanship of my Father. It is as if every tree, rock, river, flower, mountain, bird, or blade of grass had stamped upon it the indelible label, "Made by God." Is it any wonder that in a simple yet sublime sense of devotion, respect, and reverence for all life, Christ longed for His Father’s name to be hallowed throughout the earth?
If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.
Mere Christianity, Macmillan, 1960, p. 119.
God was under no constraint, no obligation, no necessity to create. That He chose to do so was purely a sovereign act on His part, caused by nothing outside Himself, determined by nothing but His own mere good pleasure.
The Attributes of God.
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The proper understanding of everything in life begins with God. No one will ever understand the necessity of conversion who does not know why God created us. He created us “in His image” so that we would image forth his glory in the world. We were made to be prisms refracting the light of God’s glory into all of life. Why God should want to give us a share in shining with His glory is a great mystery. Call it grace or mercy or love – it is an unspeakable wonder. Once we were not. Then we existed – for the glory of God!
Desiring God, 1996, p. 55, copyright Bethlehem Baptist Church, used by permission, www.desiringGOD.org. Get this book!
Since God made man like Himself, man’s dominion over the world and his filling the world is a display-an imaging forth-of God. God’s aim, therefore, was that man would so act that he mirror forth God, who has ultimate dominion. Man is given the exalted status of image-bearer not so he would become arrogant and autonomous (as he tried to do in the fall), but so he would reflect the glory of His Maker whose image he bears. God’s purpose in creation, therefore, was to fill the earth with his own glory. This is made clear, for example, in Numbers 14:21, where the Lord says, “All the earth shall be full of the glory of the Lord,” and in Isaiah 43:7, where the Lord refers to his people as those “whom I created for my glory.”
Desiring God, 1996, p. 256, copyright Bethlehem Baptist Church, used by permission, www.desiringGOD.org.
The impulse to create the world was not from weakness, as though God were lacking in some perfection which creation could supply.
If God has no need, why did He create and redeem? The answer is simple: God created to glorify His goodness. He created a context to display and exercise His moral perfections. We exist for God’s glory. We exist because God’s goodness is constantly overflowing, and He wants to display it and share it.
God’s Passion for His Glory, Crossway, 1988.
God has given us creation not to ignore it or to worship it. Rather, God has given us creation to reveal, Romans 1, “His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature.” Creation is a means to display God and to behold His glory. Creation leads us to worship of God, praising Him for His greatness, beauty, order and design, just to name a few.
I’m Sticking with Jesus, Psalm 104:31-35, May 31, 2020.
Creation, as done often in Scripture, is personified as always responding rightly to God. Verse 13 and 28 of Psalm 104 talk about creation being satisfied, creation obeying God (verse 19) and creation waiting on God (verse 27). Verse 32, “He looks at the earth, and it trembles; He touches the mountains, and they smoke.” This speaks of a reverent response from creation simply due to a look or touch from its Creator. Obviously, creation does not think for itself, but the point is that God has hardwired creation to bring Him glory. And that not only shines light on God’s glory but is also casts shame on the human race. Reason being is because we have been created above the rest of creation with the ability to think for ourselves and for the distinct purpose of glorifying God. And while inanimate creation is satisfied with God, obeys God, waits on God and respects God, quite often humans, who should be first in line for the aforementioned do exactly the opposite (cf. Gen. 6:6).
I’m Sticking with Jesus, Psalm 104:31-35, May 31, 2020.
God created sound and creation glorifies the Lord by the noise that it makes from the beautiful singing of a bird to the loud roar of a lion. This is about created purpose whereby God has created a symphony of praise to Himself. And who should be sitting “first chair,” following the divine conductor with the most specific and most intentional song? The thunderclaps? The raging ocean? It is those whom He has created to enter a personal relationship with Him – humans! Unlike the rest of creation, we have experienced His love. We have received His Word. We have feasted upon His goodness. We have understood His glorious attributes. We have rested in His promises. Our only response to God is to burst into songs of praise.
I’m Sticking with Jesus, Psalm 104:31-35, May 31, 2020.
You weren’t created for boredom or burnout or bondage to sexual lust or greed or ambition but for the incomparable pleasure and matchless joy that knowing Jesus alone can bring. Only then, in Him, will you encounter the life-changing, thirst-quenching, soul-satisfying delight that God, for His glory, created you to experience.
One Thing, Christian Focus, © Enjoying God Ministries, 2004, p.18. www.enjoyinggodministries.com. Used by Permission.
There is a sense in which the human soul has caved in on itself and is now held captive by a fixation with its own states and conditions and concerns. The soul has become parasitic on itself, feeding on its needs and cravings by excessive introspection and elaborate attempts to elevate its sense of self-worth. Your soul was never meant for this. You were designed for something better. You were built for the contemplation of something infinitely more complex, something incomparably more fascinating than your own “self.” You were created for the joyful contemplation of God.
One Thing, Christian Focus, © Enjoying God Ministries, 2004, p.85-86. www.enjoyinggodministries.com. Used by Permission.
God created you for the first and greatest commandment, to be a lover of God.
One Thing, Christian Focus, © Enjoying God Ministries, 2004, p. 151, www.enjoyinggodministries.com. Used by Permission.
God created us so that the joy He has in Himself might be ours. God doesn’t simply think about Himself or talk to Himself. He enjoys Himself! He celebrates with infinite and eternal intensity the beauty of who He is as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And we’ve been created to join the party!
One Thing, Christian Focus, © Enjoying God Ministries, 2004, p.23. www.enjoyinggodministries.com. Used by Permission.
The purpose of existence is the pursuit of enjoyment…in God! Our desires, affections, pursuits, all that we say and do, all that we love or hate, are to be measured by this single criterion and subordinated to this one end: happiness in God.
One Thing, Christian Focus, © Enjoying God Ministries, 2004, p.17. www.enjoyinggodministries.com. Used by Permission.
Why did God choose to create? Certainly not from the anguish born of need, as if creation might supply God what He lacked. God didn’t take inventory and suddenly realize there was a shortage that only you and I could fill up. So what prompted God to act? The source of God’s creative energy was the joy of infinite and eternal abundance! God chose to create from the endless and self-replenishing overflow of delight in Himself… God created us so that the joy He has in Himself might be ours. God doesn’t simply think about Himself or talk to Himself. He enjoys Himself! He celebrates with infinite and eternal intensity the beauty of who He is as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And we’ve been created to join the party!
A Christian Theory of Everything, November 8, 2006, www.enjoyinggodministries.com. Used by Permission.
Creation in its totality exists as a means to the fulfillment of some specific purpose that terminates on and for the sake of Jesus Christ (see Col. 1:16; 2 Tim. 2:19).
Divine Decrees, November 8, 2006, www.enjoyinggodministries.com. Used by Permission.
All creation is meant to be a finger pointing us to ultimate glory, the only glory that can ever satisfy the human heart, the glory of God.
Big Theological Brains and Heart Disease, by Paul David Tripp taken from Dangerous Calling by Paul David Tripp copyright 2012, Crossway Books, a division of Good News Publishers, Wheaton Illinois 60187, www.crosswaybooks.org, p. 49.
There is no doubt that the glories of nature reveal the glory of God (Psm. 19:1-6). He created the world in such magnificent splendor that His creative hand is seen at every turn. The vastness of the ocean (Job 38:16), the beauty of the stars (Psm. 8:1-4), the majesty of the mountains (Psm. 65:5-9), the wonder of the rain (Psm. 147:7-8) – these and so much more point to the awesome handiwork of the Creator.
Grace Community Church Position Paper, Right Thinking in a World Gone Wrong, Grace Community Church, 2009, p. 150.
