Why did God create us if He is self sufficient?
Many different answers have been offered
to this question
and I think that the real answer is a composite of
biblical themes revolving around love, sacrifice, and fellowship.
Certainly, God is self-sufficient so there is no lack in Him, no void
that must be filled. In 1
John 4:8 it says that God is
love. In John 3:16 it says that "God so loved
the world that He gave His only begotten Son..." We
can see that the
nature of love is to give. Furthermore, in John
15:13 Jesus said, "No greater love has anyone than that he lay his
life down for a friend." In addition, 1 Cor. 1:9
states that we are called into fellowship with the Son of God, Jesus
Christ.
Quite simply, it seems that God desired to create us in
order that He might be able to simply love us. I think this is
evidence in the way creation was begun. God walked with Adam and
Eve in the Garden. We see that after their sin, it was the
Lord who came looking for them (Gen.
3). They are the ones who hid themselves. God sought them out. He
desired to be with them and love them. Therefore, He set up the sacrificial system by
covering Adam and Eve with animal skins. Of course, this was a
representation of the sacrifice of Christ to come by while Christians
are covered and redeemed. God's desire to
fellowship and love us is not a weakness in Him, but a manifestation
of His character of love.
Love does not focus on itself,
but on others. God merely created the universe as a
natural manifestation of His love and populated it with us
for whom He could express the greatest act of love, which
is self-sacrifice, and with whom He could give the
greatest thing in the universe: fellowship with Him.
In this, He is glorified.
If God had never created us, it
would not lessen Him at all. He didn't need to
create us due to any lack in Him. Rather, He merely
desires to love us and fellowship with us.
Return to Questions
about God
|