All right, friends, let's go ahead and begin.
Let me say a prayer as we dive in this morning.
Father, thank you for this morning.
Thank you that we can be here in your house, gathered as your people,
!
to consider all of what you've revealed about yourself and your word,
so that we might know you, so that we might love you,
and so that we might find our deepest joy in you.
God, we pray for your help this morning as we conclude our class on the doctrine of creation.
Would you be magnified and glorified as we bring this class to its fitting conclusion?
We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.
All right, well, it is fitting that here we are at the last week on our class about the doctrine of creation,
and we're taking up the topic of the purpose or the goal of creation.
In other words, what is the end for which God created the world?
Why did God create all things?
You know, we've spent a lot of time talking about the details and the how
and the sort of relationship between the creation narratives and science
and between different interpretations.
We've talked about the doctrine of humanity and bearing God's image.
Now we're taking a step back and asking,
what was God's grand design and aim in doing this thing that we've been talking about,
creating us in all things?
Now before we look at what Scripture has to say about this topic,
I thought it might be worthwhile to consider first,
why is that question even important or worthwhile?
Does it really matter whether we can articulate the purpose or the goal of creation,
or is that just kind of like, you know, curious speculation that you do on a Sunday morning at nine o'clock
when you don't have anything better to do, you know, and you've made it here despite the road race?
So it's like, oh, let's pontificate.
Well, I would suggest that knowing the purpose or the goal of God's work of creation is very,
very utterly vital for a life of flourishing in this created world.
You know, imagine being handed the keys to a beautiful new car,
but having no idea about the purpose or the goal of what a car is, right?
So rather than driving the car and enjoying kind of going down the highway with the windows down
and your hair blowing in the breeze,
which is something I've not experienced in a long time,
you know,
you say, wow, that's a nice, you know, object with space in it.
I think I'll use it to, you know, store some old papers and clothes.
My closet's a little full, so I'll just put them in that car thing, right?
What a loss! What a loss!
And in the same way, knowing the purpose of creation,
the goal of creation,
God's intended end for creation,
it will help us live in creation well.
But even more importantly,
as we've been talking about the last two weeks,
as we've considered the doctrine of humanity,
what have we seen?
That we humans, we don't just live in and among God's creation,
we also are God's creatures, right?
So knowing the purpose or the goal of creation
is to know what it means not just to live a flourishing life in God's creation,
but as God's creation.
To know the purpose or goal of creation
is to begin to see how to live with the grain, as it were,
of your very existence, right?
Are there any woodworkers here?
None.
Okay, so a piece of wood, right,
has a grain to it, right?
And if you're trying to create something out of that piece of wood
and you try to cut it or sand it or shape it against the grain of that wood,
it's very difficult.
In fact, the whole project can be botched if you try to do that.
Rather, if you're a very talented woodworker,
you try to work with the grain of the wood.
And knowing the goal or the purpose of creation
is to know the very grain of our existence
so that we can live in line with it
and live a life of beauty.
So I think this topic then isn't just sort of curious speculation.
It's about finding our deepest purpose as humans
in the world that God has made.
So with that being said,
as we consider the purpose or the goal or the end of creation,
I think the first thing we want to consider
as we approach this topic is this.
One, the triune God
created the world
in freedom.
The triune God created the world in freedom.
You know, we might ask the question,
was the creation of the world a necessity for God?
Did God have to create?
Now, outside of Christianity,
that is often taken to be true.
That the world is somehow necessary for God.
That God needs to create the world,
whatever we understand God to be.
And usually when that kind of thinking is afoot,
two options or two possibilities have often come up.
In the first, you know,
well, I won't list them here because they're not true.
In the first kind of way of seeing creation as necessary,
God is sort of pictured as so,
so kind of super abundantly full and rich
that he just can't contain himself, right?
He lacks power over his own being
so that the world just sort of has to flow out of him,
like a stream from a source
or like sort of water spilling over the edge
of an overfull picture, right?
So that's one way of thinking about the creation
sort of being necessary,
that God had to do it.
The other way is actually kind of the opposite,
that God has to create the world
because in himself,
God is so empty.
God is so poor, right?
He brings the world into existence
to supply something for himself
because he lacks something, right?
You know, a popular way of putting that
is that God is lonely
and needs the world
to sort of express his goodness and love.
Maybe a more philosophical way of putting that
is that without the world,
God is only sort of potentiality, right?
And in order to be actual,
God has to create the world
and become fully God
through some sort of process
with that which is not God.
Now, either of those views
fall short of what the Bible teaches us.
Neither of those views
is a biblical view of God
and God's creation.
According to the Bible,
creation is not sort of a spontaneous,
uncontrolled overflow or emanation of God,
nor did God have to create
out of a lack or loneliness.
In fact, according to the Bible,
God didn't have to create at all.
Consider who the Bible presents God to be.
How does God reveal himself in Scripture?
Well, God reveals himself as the triune God, right?
Father, Son, and Spirit from all eternity.
That is his very nature.
One God, eternally existing in three persons,
Father, Son, and Spirit.
And the three persons of the Trinity
relate with perfect love,
perfect joy,
and perfect bliss from all eternity.
There's no lack in God.
There's no need for a world
apart from the triune God
to make God more God, right?
God is perfect love in God's self
without the world
as the Father and the Son and the Spirit
exist in perfect love, right?
So God doesn't need the world
to be a loving God
or to express his love.
Yeah, Ivor, did you have a question there?
When do the angels come in?
Yeah, that's a really good question.
Luke, you're the expert on Genesis 1.
When do the angels come in?
Well, they are...
It depends on who you ask.
So somebody like Augustine
would say that
he takes the creation of the light
of day one
to be referring to the creation of the angels.
And that's a pretty popular view
in the early church.
But I think most
modern commentators
and others would say
it just is not mentioned.
Yeah, Genesis 1 doesn't mention it.
Yeah, that's right.
But when Genesis 1 says
God created the heaven and the earth,
it's talking about
all of created existence,
both that which we can see
and that which we cannot see.
And then as Genesis 1,
as Luke said,
kind of narrows in
on sort of telling us
what we need to know
about that creation week,
whether that's taken literally,
metaphorically,
figurative, or whatever,
it sort of zooms in
on what we kind of...
what the author of Genesis
wants us to know
about the orderliness
and the fullness of creation.
Yeah, that's right.
But the point is
that even without the angels,
God is perfectly complete
in himself.
Perfect joy,
perfect bliss.
God is the fullness
of life and goodness,
utterly independent of the world.
He doesn't need the world
to be God.
And the world
adds nothing
to God.
Huh?
Right?
You know,
imagine walking up to
someone who's just
fabulously wealthy,
right,
and handing them
like a sugar packet.
What has that added
to their wealth,
right?
Give Jeff Bezos $10.
What has that added
to his wealth?
Nothing.
Absolutely nothing.
I mean,
you know,
he would blow his nose
on $100 bills.
You know,
it doesn't matter to him,
right?
Now,
so given that God is,
the triune God,
is perfect love
and joy in life
in God's self,
does this mean
that creation then
is the kind of
spontaneous,
uncontrolled overflow
of God?
God.
Sometimes Christians
can actually speak
that way.
But does
the triune God
necessarily
kind of
emanate
the creation
like water
spilling over the top
of an overfull glass?
Well,
think about it.
If that were the case,
then
what would be true
of creation?
It will have had
to exist
from all eternity,
right?
Because if God
is just overflowing,
then creation
must have always
been overflowing.
But scripture
is very clear
that the world
had a definite
beginning.
In the beginning,
God created.
And regardless
of where Christians
fall,
when it comes
to the age
of the earth
or the age
of the universe,
all Christians
believe that the
universe is not
eternal,
that God brought
it into being
deliberately
and consciously.
Besides,
I mean,
consider,
the God of the
Bible is not
ever subject
to accidents
or uncontrolled
consequences,
right?
We humans
might lose control.
We might spill
over in anger
or in happiness
or in sadness.
But God,
in perfect love,
joy,
and bliss,
is also perfect
in power
and wisdom
and righteousness.
Psalm 115.3
says,
Our God
is in the heavens.
He does
all that
He pleases.
Right?
Or Psalm 135.6,
Whatever the Lord
pleases,
He does.
In heaven
and on earth,
in the seas
and all the deeps.
In other words,
we,
humans,
along with the
entire created order,
are not
the sort of
accident
of God's overflow,
but we are
the freely
and deliberately
chosen
act of God's
will.
The triune God
created us
in freedom.
Now,
we see this
truth affirmed
again and again
in Scripture
when it speaks
of God
creating all
things according
to His will,
according to
His good pleasure.
Consider a verse
like Romans,
sorry,
Revelation 4,
verse 11.
Revelation 4,
11 says,
Worthy are you,
our Lord and God,
to receive honor
and glory
and power,
for you created
all things,
and by your
will
they existed
and were created.
Or Psalm 33,
6 says,
By the word
of the Lord
the heavens
were made
and by the
breath of His mouth
all their hosts.
Or Psalm 33,
8 through 9,
Let all the earth
fear the Lord,
let all the inhabitants
of the world
stand in awe
of Him,
for He spoke
and it came to be.
He commanded
and it stood firm.
Or again,
Jeremiah 10,
verse 12,
It is He
who made
the earth
by His power,
who established
the world
by His wisdom
and by His
understanding
stretched out
the heavens.
Or one
from the New Testament,
Ephesians 1,
11,
Paul says that
God is the one
who works
all things
according to
what?
The whims
of His necessity.
No,
according to
the counsel
of His will.
So,
consider first then
as we think about
the purpose
or goal of creation
that God
did not
have to
create us.
Our being
is not necessary
and it's not forced.
Which means
that we
are
and everything
is
completely
contingent,
completely
dependent,
utterly
upon God's
own freedom
and God's
own will.
Acts 17,
24 through 25
says,
The God
who made the world
and everything
in it,
being Lord
of heaven
and earth,
does not live
in temples
made by man,
nor is He
served by human
hands as though
He needed anything
since He
Himself
gives to
all mankind
life
and breath
and everything.
But,
if this means
that we
didn't have
to exist,
right?
If it was
part of God's
own free
good pleasure
that He
bring the world
into existence
out of no
necessity,
that also means
not just are we
totally dependent
upon God,
but it means
that we are not
an accident,
right?
that we are
the free creation
of the deliberate
will of God.
We are the work
of His own
good pleasure.
When we say
that God did not
have to create,
but rather that God
created simply
out of His own will,
His own counsel,
His own good pleasure,
that is not to say
that God's act
of creation
was arbitrary
or indifferent,
right?
It's not as if
God's sort of
walking along His way,
eh, whatever,
I guess I'll create today.
And then He sort of
walks away,
right?
No, no.
God's will to create,
though it is exercised
in perfect freedom,
it's not arbitrary.
It's not sort of
an afterthought
or an indifferent act,
right?
Remember how in
Genesis 1,
God purposefully
speaks all of
the created order
into existence,
right?
Genesis 1
speaks of an
ordering,
a harmony,
and an intentionality
to God's creative work.
And at the climax
of that story,
when God creates
humanity,
the triune God
explicitly
deliberates,
right?
Let us make man
in our own image.
Purpose,
intentionality,
love,
goodness
expressed
in this act.
Psalm 104,
24 says,
O Lord,
how manifold
are your works.
In wisdom
have you made
them all.
The earth is full
of your creatures.
And of course,
when we turn to
the New Testament,
the deliberate
wisdom of God's
work in creation
is even more unveiled
when we see
that God the Father
made all things
through his Son
by his Spirit.
That creation
is a work
of the triune God,
right?
Genesis,
sorry,
John 1,
1 through 3,
in the beginning
was the Word,
and the Word
was with God,
and the Word
was God.
He was in the
beginning with God.
All things were
made through him,
and without him
was not anything
made that was made.
That the bringing
of creation
into existence
out of God's
freedom
is a complete
and intentional
act of the
triune God.
So the triune God
creates freely
by the counsel
of his own will
and his own
sovereign good pleasure.
Okay.
So then,
we're led to ask,
well,
what goal did
God have in mind
then as he did
this free act
of his own
good pleasure?
And that brings us
to our second point
then.
That the triune God
created
the world
in freedom
for his own
glory.
That the triune God
created the world
in freedom
for his own
glory.
So,
in other words,
the purpose
or the goal
or the end
of creation
is for God's
own glory
to resound
and redound.
God's glory
is for God's
Now,
what is God's glory?
Well,
you know,
we might say
that God's glory
is his knowledge,
his love,
and his joy.
To have
that
which is
not God
resound
and reverberate
with the knowledge
of God,
the love of God,
and the joy
of God,
for the manifold
perfection of God
to be reflected
back to God
for God's
own sake
because God
is supremely
worthy.
That
is the purpose
of creation.
That's your purpose
and that's my purpose.
Listen to Psalm 19,
verse 1.
The heavens
declare
the glory
of God.
The sky above
proclaims
his handiwork.
What are
the heavens?
And by extension,
the rest of the
created order.
Ultimately,
they are the
symphony
of God's glory
declaring
and radiating
God's infinite
majesty
and worth.
Every star,
a string,
in the symphony
of God's glory.
Okay,
but what about us?
What about human beings?
Well, Isaiah 43,
6-7,
talking about
God's redeemed people,
but of course,
by extension,
all of humanity,
he says,
I will say to the north,
give up,
and to the south,
do not withhold,
bring my sons from afar
and my daughters
from the ends of the earth,
everyone who is called
by my name,
who I created
for my glory,
whom I formed
and made.
God created you
for his glory.
Which means that
you and I
are not
the center
of creation's
story.
God doesn't exist
for our sake.
Right?
We exist
for his sake.
God is the center.
He's the reason.
In other words,
God doesn't sort of exist
to make much of us.
Right?
We exist
to make much
of God.
In that regard,
consider Psalm 8,
which expresses
kind of the exalted
place that we humans
have in the created order.
But listen to how
that psalm begins
and ends,
and I'll read
the whole psalm.
Psalm 8 says,
O Lord,
our Lord,
how majestic
is your name
in all the earth.
You have set
your glory
above the heavens.
Out of the mouth
of babies and infants
you've established
strength because of
your foes to still
the enemy and the avenger.
When I look at
the heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars
which you have set
in place,
what is man
that you are mindful
of him
and the son of man
that you care for him?
Yet,
you have made him
a little lower
than the heavenly beings
and crowned him
with glory and honor.
You have given him
dominion over the works
of your hands.
You've put all things
under his feet,
all sheep and oxen
and also the beasts
of the field,
the birds of the heavens
and the fish of the sea,
whatever passes along
the paths of the sea.
O Lord,
our Lord,
how majestic
is your name
in all the earth.
You see,
the psalm begins
in worship and wonder
at God's majesty
and then sort of utters
almost surprise
and sort of humble praise
for putting humanity
in such an exalted position
and then it ends
where it began,
praising God
for his majesty.
That whatever glory
we have
is meant to
resound
and reflect
back to an even
greater degree
the glory
that God is.
Turning to the New Testament,
Romans 11, 36 says,
for from him
and through him
and to him
are all things.
To him
be glory
forever.
Amen.
God's not just
the beginning
or the origin
of creation.
Not only are all things
from him
and through him,
but God is also
the goal
and the end
of creation.
All things
are to him.
Everything exists
to find its end
and goal
and him
for his end,
for his purpose
to display
God's manifold
perfections.
His goodness
and love.
His righteousness
and holiness.
His wisdom
and power.
But you know
the New Testament
puts an even finer
point on it
than this.
Just as the Father
created all things
through the Son
by the Spirit,
so all things
exist
for the sake
of the Son.
Listen to Colossians
1.16
which speaks
of the eternal Son
who became flesh
in the incarnation,
Jesus Christ
our Lord.
It says,
for by him
all things
were created
in heaven
and on earth,
visible and invisible,
whether thrones
or dominions
or rulers
or authorities.
There's those
heavenly beings
that we were
talking about earlier.
God created
all them
through the agency
of the Son.
The Father
created all those
things through
the Son.
All things,
Paul goes on
to say in verse 16
of Colossians 1,
all things
were created
through him
and for him.
All things
were created
through him
and for him.
You were created
for Jesus Christ,
the second person
of the Trinity,
the eternal Son
of the Father.
You exist
for him.
Your purpose
is to magnify
the glory
and beauty
of who he is
and all
that he has
done.
Now,
it's natural
when we consider
scripture
continuing to tell us
that over and over
and over again,
right?
It's natural
to raise a few
questions,
isn't it?
When we hear
scripture say
over and over
that the purpose
and end of creation
is not ultimately
our glory
or our exaltation
or our happiness,
right?
But ultimately
God's glory
and God's supreme
delight in himself
and his perfection,
we kind of think
at first,
wait a minute,
right?
I thought we just
spent a whole point
saying that God
didn't need anything,
right?
That he didn't need
creation for anything
but here it sounds
like God's kind of
hungry for his own
glory,
right?
It sounds like he
needs us to glorify him,
that he needs us
to make him seem great,
like he kind of forgot,
you know?
But again,
God's purpose
in glorifying himself
in creation
is not because
he lacks
this glory
in himself.
Listen to what
Jesus says
in John 17,
verse 5.
Jesus is looking
ahead to his death,
resurrection,
ascension,
his return to the
Father,
and he says,
and now,
Father,
glorify me
in your own
presence
with the glory
that I had with you
before the world
existed.
God doesn't need
the world
or you or me
for his glory
to be perfectly
and utterly
known and loved
and rejoiced in.
In fact,
if you think about it,
only God
can glorify God
fully.
Why?
Because only God
really knows
God in fullness.
Jesus says
in Matthew 11
that only the Father
truly knows the Son
and only the Son
truly knows the Father.
And in 1 Corinthians 2,
we're told that
no one comprehends
the thoughts of God
except the Spirit of God.
So only Father,
Son,
and Spirit
can possibly
know,
love,
and rejoice
in one another
fully.
and that is
exactly what
God has done
and will do
from and for
all eternity.
Father,
glorify me
in your own
presence
with the glory
that I had
with you
before the world
existed.
So we must not
think that God's
creation of the world
for his own glory
means that God
is some insecure,
ego-hungry deity
in need of a little
boost,
right?
No,
God's utterly
resplendent
in knowledge
and love
and joy
and glory.
So then the
second question
comes,
the second
maybe objection
even comes,
that when we say
that God creates
all things
for his glory,
it sort of
sounds like
it kind of
devalues us
as his creatures.
Does this
emphasis on
God's glory,
this radical
God-centeredness
of the purpose
of creation
this emphasis
on God's glory
is the final
goal of all
creatures?
Does that mean
that we have
lost our
dignity?
Does it mean
that we as humans
are just kind of
some means
to an end?
And yet,
what greater
end
could there be
for us
as God's
creatures?
that we
would grasp
through God's
self-revelation
something of
the knowledge
of God
who is
truth itself.
To behold
through God's
self-giving
the holiness
and love
of God
that is to be
drawn into
the one
who is
goodness
itself
and to find
our deepest
delight and
praise there.
And what
finally could be
greater to
experience again
through God's
own self-giving
to us
the very
joy of
God?
What greater
end could
there be?
Right?
If we are
to be means
to an end,
I'd take that
end.
Wouldn't you?
The fact
that God
called us
into existence
so that we
could,
in our
creaturely way,
reflect his
infinite
perfections back
to him
and enjoy
the communication
and communion
of his
supreme
worth?
Oh,
how could
we question
that?
At the end
of the day,
finally,
our greatest
good.
What greater
end is worth
living for?
If your
life and my
life reflect
something of
the majesty
of Jesus,
the one who
all the heavenly
hosts adore,
the one who
called all
things into
being out of
nothing,
if our
lives reflect
some of
that glory
back to
God from
whom it
came,
if we
experience
that,
would that
not be the
highest and
most satisfying
way to
live?
Are you
really telling
me that
building a
giant bank
account and
crushing it
at work and
having everyone
bow at your
feet is better
than experiencing
eternal joy,
exploding communion
with the
trying God
and reflecting
his glory back
to him?
I think the
fact that we
wrestle with
this, and I
wrestle with
it too, it's
just evidence
of how small
our thoughts
are of God
and how much
we need God
to continue to
show himself to
us in his
grace.
Now, lest we
think that this
purpose in
creation to
glorify God
means somehow
a devaluing of
creation, right?
Well, how do we
go about glorifying
God, right?
I mean, listen
though, listen to
what God says
in Genesis
1.31.
God saw
everything that
he made,
and behold,
it was very
good.
We have to
continue to
keep in our
view the
very goodness
of creation.
God has
pronounced the
created order
very good,
which means that
our glorifying
God, right,
is not detached
or removed
from
participation in
this material
creation.
creation, the
enjoyment of
what God has
made, the
proper use and
cultivation of
creation, like
we talked about
last week when
John took us
through a
biblical theology
of culture.
These things
are all central
and vital to
glorifying God.
Glorifying God
does not mean
escaping or
rejecting or
removing ourselves
from all this
created order, but
enjoying it and
experiencing it and
rejoicing in it and
glorifying God with
it fully.
in 1 Timothy 4,
3-5, Paul says
that at some
point some people
will come along
who, as he says
there in verse 3,
who forbid marriage
and require abstinence
from foods that God
created to be received
with thanksgiving by
those who believe and
know the truth, right?
It's very easy to
think, well, if we're
meant to glorify God,
then we have to just
abstain from everything
down here, right?
Because all this
murky, evil, created
stuff is bad.
No, Paul says.
He says,
that sort of
rejection of
created goods is
not the way to
honor and glorify
God, our creator.
He says in verse 4,
for everything
created by God
is good.
Nothing is to be
rejected if it is
received with
thanksgiving, for it
is made holy by the
word of God in
prayer.
And the word of
God there is most
likely referring back
to that word that
God spoke in Genesis
1, declaring creation
very good.
So it's this
fact that God
created the world
for his own glory
does not lead
to a kind of
asceticism or a
kind of rejection
of the created
world, but a full
enjoyment and
embrace of it.
Yes, a proper
use of it.
There are improper
ways we can go about
enjoying the created
order, of course.
But we are meant to
receive it with
thanksgiving, as
Paul says.
Now, later in that
same letter, Paul's
going to warn
against just
amassing material
things for their
own end.
In 1 Timothy
6, verse 17, he
says,
As for the rich in
this present age,
charge them not to
be haughty, nor to
set their hopes on
the uncertainty of
riches, but on
God.
Okay, that's right,
right?
Lest we set our
hopes on the created
things of this world,
we need to be
reminded, no, set
your hopes on the
triune God.
But then Paul says
this, who richly
provides us with
everything to enjoy.
There's that same
note again.
God richly provides
us with everything to
enjoy.
We're meant to
receive God's good
gifts and enjoy them
with thanksgiving and
gladness in our hearts
towards Him.
Do you remember that
passage in Acts 2 that
describes the early
church?
They broke bread in
their homes with joy
and gladness in their
hearts, receiving those
good creaturely gifts
gifts and praise to
their Creator.
So part of glorifying
God our Creator is
agreeing with God that
even though sin has
entered the world,
creation itself remains
good and treating
creation as if it is
good and receiving and
caring for it and
cultivating it and
stewarding it with
thanksgiving and honor
towards the Creator.
So what is the end for
which God created the
world?
It's His own glory.
God creates for
Himself.
And rather than that
being a purpose that
diminishes or degrades
us, it's just the
opposite.
It's the highest form of
privilege to behold and
reflect the glory of God.
And by the grace of
Christ, we who have
fallen short of the
glory of God through
sin, through the grace
of Christ can be
reconciled to God.
And by the Spirit we can
fulfill this calling to
reflect His glory once
again.
And you know, this
calling to magnify God
and to enjoy God for
all that God is and to
exalt Him as God through
that, that calling is
never going to reach its
end.
You know, there's never
going to be a day, even
in the new heavens and
new earth, even when sin
and death are no more in
the created order, even
when we see God face to
face, there's never going
to be a day when we will
say that we have finally
glorified God for all He
is.
Right?
You know, have you ever
listened to a piece of
music that you really
love?
And then you listen to it
and listen to it and
listen to it and listen to
it and then finally you're
sort of like, I think I'm
done.
Right?
You know?
I think I've digested the
whole thing.
You know?
I'm ready to move on.
You know?
But, in communion with the
infinite, eternal, triune God
of freedom and love, there
will always be more to know,
always be more to love,
always be more to enjoy.
There will always be a
further up and a farther in,
as Lewis said at the end of
the Chronicles of Narnia.
And this life will just be
the cover and title page.
Or as Jonathan Edwards said
at the end of his
dissertation concerning the
end for which God created
the world, he said,
let the most perfect union
with God be represented by
something at an infinite
height above us.
And the eternally increasing
union of the saints with God
by something that is
ascending constantly towards
that infinite height,
moving upwards with a
given velocity.
You have to love how they
spoke in the 18th century,
right?
And that is to continue
thus to move to all
eternity, he says.
That like infinite lines
approaching each other,
we'll never fully be able
to plumb the depths of God
in God's majesty and
greatness and beauty.
What a gift that God has
made us for that.
That we would have the
privilege as utterly
dependent contingent
creatures on him to get
to glorify him forever.
Okay, let's pause there.
We have a little extra time
for questions this morning.
So feel free, we can talk
about the end for which God
created the world, or we can
kind of talk about anything
in this class.
Luke's here, thankfully, so he
can answer all the hard
questions.
But what comments or
questions or thoughts do you
have as we kind of wrap up
this class on the doctrine
of creation?
We can spend the next 10,
15 minutes just talking.
Yeah, Beth?
Where does suffering fit in
this picture?
Yeah, where does suffering
fit in this picture?
Right.
Yeah, well, I think Scripture
says a couple things about
suffering, doesn't it?
You know, one, it does admit
that suffering is part of the
fall, right?
But that even suffering
doesn't fall outside of God's
purposes of glorifying himself
and us glorifying God, right?
I think this is the beauty of
the biblical worldview, that even
suffering doesn't sort of negate,
right, the ultimate purpose for
which God created the world.
Because God will ultimately
redeem even those things for his
glory, right?
I wonder if it's related, but I'm
thinking, you know, if you're
talking to a non-believer, right?
Yeah.
And he's near, he says, you know,
hey, what's the purpose?
Why are we here?
Yeah.
And you say, point two, well,
it's, you know, God's glory.
That would need some translation,
wouldn't it?
Right.
Yeah.
And a non-believer saying, are you
getting to look around?
Yeah.
Things are awful.
Yeah.
Right.
So, what's your response to that?
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I think that's really good.
I think people seeing the
brokenness of the world is such a
good entree into understanding
the scriptural storyline, right?
Because what suffering tells us,
what evil tells us, right, is that
our relationship with God is
deeply broken and needs to be
fixed, right?
It just screams that, that
something is broken and needs to be
fixed, that somehow we're
separated from God and need to be
united to him.
And that is exactly what
Christianity is all about, that God
was willing to come into a world of
suffering and pain and brokenness and
to actually bear that into himself so
that we can be brought back to him
without our own suffering and
wickedness.
All the ways in which we
contribute to that, God's willing to
come and bear the consequences that
for us so that we can be reunited to
him, so we can start to live in new
communities where we kind of push back
the darkness, right?
Which is kind of what we're meant to be
doing as the church.
But it's also a promise, right?
What we see in Jesus is also a promise
that the suffering and evil of the world
won't last forever, that it will come to
an end one day.
That God's purpose in creation isn't
going to be stopped.
But it is.
You know, the problem of suffering is
one of those, I mean, it's probably one
of the top, like, three questions,
right, that we have when talking to
non-believers.
But I have found that just, even in my
own heart, thinking of it that way,
that, man, when I see evil and
brokenness in the world, is that not a
sign that our relationship with this
God has been fractured deeply.
In a very, in a deep way we probably
don't even really understand the depths
of.
And yet God is acting and has acted
supremely to bridge that chasm for us.
Yeah.
Yeah, Susan.
So I have observed in this
short lifetime that when I refuse to
accept reality, I, when I concoct an
alternate reality, even over a small
thing, smaller thing, I do myself
hard.
If I get laid off from a job that I refuse
to accept that I've been laid off, and I
don't do anything to look for the next
job, or I keep going to that place when
I've been locked out of it.
So if it is true that there's a
created a fraud, coming to live God,
who's actively described in the Bible,
it's in my own self-interest to
conform my life to that reality.
I'm just fighting my time, dooming
myself.
Yeah.
If I don't come and choose sin.
Yeah.
And isn't this sort of like cascading of
brokenness in the world, like, okay,
there are natural disasters in the
world, granted, right?
But, I mean, I would posit that 99.9%
of the real suffering in the world is
due to human beings trying to glorify
themselves and live for their own glory
and not live for the glory of God,
which has to then cascade out into the
love of others, right?
The reason why there's suffering and
poverty in so many parts of the world
today is because evil, selfish human
beings are glorifying themselves and not
taking their responsibility as humans or as
leaders, thankfully.
You know?
Yeah.
Because we're part of the system, right?
Exactly.
Even so come, Lord Jesus.
Yeah, exactly.
Yeah, Luke, go ahead.
I've thought about this problem of, like,
this feeling, this intuition that we have
that for God, the purpose of creation for God,
for it to be God's own glory, that intuition
that we have is like, oh, it's kind of selfish.
Yeah.
Is there a selfishness there?
But I think what's helped me is I think about,
so I think about, hey, what would I rather it be?
Yeah.
What would the alternative be?
Yeah.
What would I want God to, you know, like,
what do I want a good person to do?
I want them to be, I want them to serve justice
and love and, you know, maybe you ask somebody
else in the world, like, okay, if the purpose
of life isn't glorify God, what is the purpose
of life?
It's like to be a good person, like, in that sense,
serve immorality or whatever.
But I think one of the issues is when we think
of God as being on our level, we think of things
like morality and justice and love as being
some kind of standard above which God himself
must submit, when in reality, God is the love.
God is the justice.
God is the goodness.
So it's like anything that anybody else can come
up with, a good thing about the creative world
that is a worthy thing that we should submit
our life to or whatever, it's only just one part
of what God is in himself.
So it's like, it's not enough that you serve justice
as the ideal of your life.
Justice is a person and that person is also love
and goodness and everything else.
So by glorifying God, you're not only glorifying
those things that we naturally feel like,
oh, we should live for, but also everything else
that's good and the wrong get bundled up and it's not
even, you know, it's just a portion of what,
you know, I don't care about the same portion,
but, you know, it's only a little taste of what God is
in itself, right?
Yeah.
So I think that's been helpful for me.
Yeah, that's really helpful, Luke.
Thanks.
Yeah.
Let's see, Matt, you had your hand up
and then we'll go over here.
I don't know what Chris meant when he asked
this question.
Yeah.
What I thought that Chris asked this question was,
if somebody, you know, asks, you know,
the big question or what sounds like a big question,
if I don't feel comfortable handling that,
you know, if I wrestle with, oh, the purpose
and everything is, you know, the glory of God,
what I could say is, you know,
there are some things that are beyond me,
you know, and I'm not sure how to answer that question,
but here is what I do understand.
And then taking it down to, you know,
given evil, you know, how can God use that for good?
And I think of Romans 8, 29 or so.
Sure, sure.
What is God's purpose in salvation?
That Jesus would be the firstborn among many brethren.
That's right.
That, you know, my purpose here is to become more like God
and serve the purpose of having dominion
that God originally intended.
That's good, man.
Yeah, that's good.
So all of that clearly shows that a lot of things are beyond me.
But focusing on what I think by God's grace I do understand,
you may actually get more accurately what people were talking to.
Sure.
Yeah, that's helpful, Matt.
Thanks.
Yeah, let's go over here.
How would you respond to other Christians
who claim that certain nations suffer,
or that God intentionally makes certain nations suffer more than others
due to the sins of the people from that nation?
I don't know if I'm phrasing it correctly,
but like other Christians,
other people who claim that God is intentionally choosing
to make certain nations suffer,
because they claim that the people kind of,
I don't know,
like they claim that the people turned away from God.
Sure.
And so this is,
their suffering is as a result of their own actions.
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah, how would we respond as Christians
if someone, a fellow Christian says like,
well, those people over there,
that nation over there,
they're suffering because they're particularly bad sinners.
Right?
Yeah.
It's interesting that there was a moment in Jesus's life
when people came to him and said,
oh, did you hear about the tower that fell
on all those people and they died?
Did you hear about that?
And Jesus says,
do you think that those people are worse sinners
because they died in that accident?
And then he says,
I tell you, unless you repent,
the same thing will happen to you.
So Jesus himself does not kind of play the game
of like, who's the worst sinner
and that's why bad things are happening to them.
In fact, Jesus will even look at the man born blind
and said, this wasn't because of his sin
or his parents' sin.
He was born blind so that I could get the glory
in healing him.
Right?
So the reality is,
is that according to the Bible,
we're all sinners in desperate need of salvation
and that none of us is in the place of God
to say why certain historical events
are or are not happening.
With that being said,
you know, we do reap what we sow, right?
Like if there is a nation
where the leader of that nation
decides to like slaughter its own people,
right?
Is that because those people were sinners?
No, it's because that person
is doing something that's wicked.
Wicked, right?
That's clear, right?
And God is against that wickedness, right?
But I just think we need to be very careful
to sort of look at another group of people
or another nation state
that's undergoing duress or trial or suffering
and sort of draw a direct line between that
and particular sins that we might see, right?
I think the scriptures would have us look
more towards ourself and our own communities
and say, how do we need to be repenting?
And then how do we need to be loving them well
even if there are quote unquote enemies?
Yeah.
Matt, did you want to jump in on that?
I think everything you said is right,
but I think it's helpful
if somebody's thinking in that way
to acknowledge that at times
the Bible, you know, reveals historically
that yes, the reason why these people were punished
was because of their sin.
Yeah, sure.
That's true.
Yeah.
But the Bible revealed that directly.
Mm.
And then...
Very well said, yeah.
On the other hand,
as we look at a situation today
to acknowledge we're not,
just like you said, we're not God.
Yeah, that's right.
That's right.
Yeah, there are instances in the Old Testament
where God does send judgment on nations,
but, you know.
And revelation saying...
That's correct.
That's right.
Yeah, that's right.
Good.
Thank you, Matt.
That's good.
Javani, yeah.
Yeah, so there are some traditions,
some Christian traditions
that emphasize a lot
the role of creation,
like the goal of creation
as being united with God
as its final...
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah, sure.
Sure, sure, sure.
Yeah.
And I was thinking, like,
what is the green thing
and also the danger
of taking this, like,
union with God
as the final...
Yeah.
...goal?
Yeah.
I feel like that
merks a little bit
the distinction between...
It can.
...creator,
but it's also a beautiful...
It is.
Yeah, yeah.
Peter says this.
Peter says this much,
that we're meant to be
partakers of the divine nature.
Yeah.
Yeah, well, I think you've landed
right upon the danger of that,
that one would need
to be careful of
in picking up
that biblical thread
to not blur
the distinction
between creator
and creature.
And Eastern Orthodoxy
does not actually blur
that distinction,
or at least in its best forms,
in its actual, like,
canonical dogmatic statements
does not blur that distinction.
It's not saying that we become
literally the triune God, right?
So in the West,
we found other ways
of talking about that, right?
But the benefit, I think,
of talking about union with God,
not just that it's a biblical theme,
but also, I think,
isn't it,
it's just a wonderful thing
to think that our communion
with God
is going to be so intimate,
so permanent,
that it,
Jesus himself says
that the Spirit
will come and live in us,
that he will come
and dwell in us,
that the Father
will come and make
his home in us, right?
That we do have
this union with God
that is intimate,
that is real,
that is deep,
that is transformative, right?
And I think it actually,
you know,
when you press into
some of these themes,
you find that a lot of times
theologians and traditions
are oftentimes saying
a lot of the same things,
just kind of coming at it
from different angles.
Because if one were to ask
someone like Edwards
in the Western tradition,
well,
how does God glorify himself?
He's going to start to talk
a lot about our union
and communion with God, right?
If you ask someone
in the Eastern tradition,
well,
towards what goal
is that union and communion?
It's going to be
for our own good,
for our own joy,
but ultimately
for the glory of God, right?
We're going to start
talking about the same things,
I think.
There are differences.
I don't want to collapse
all of the distinct
Christian traditions
into one thing,
but I do think
a lot of times
we end up
in some similar places
and can learn from each other
and how we speak
about those things, yeah.
Beth, yeah,
back to you.
I actually,
Luke's comment,
and Drew Boney's comment,
kind of,
or my thoughts were as well,
that like,
what you were teaching
teaching it
for a dhamdhamme
that like,
to be creative
with the capacity
to be in relationship
with God
or to be in union
with God.
We actually have to live
in the tension
between autonomy
and dependency.
Yeah.
And it's not just
the ability
to like,
choose sin
or choose God
or choose to be
our own God
or to choose God,
but to have a capacity
to engage
with God's otherness.
We have to be able
to,
at minimum,
imagine the idea
of otherness
and yet imagine
the idea
of like,
being like,
this self-contained
being.
And I think
that living
in that tension
is almost this like,
building capacity
to be a sinner.
And to be broken,
right?
But it's also
that same capacity
that allows us
to be
identifiers of God
and to actually
in union with God.
That's right.
Yeah, that's right.
Yeah.
We wouldn't want to say
that creation
is sort of
preloaded
or predetermined
to sin,
right?
But the fact
that we are
distinct from
and yet dependent
on God,
God did create
Adam and Eve
with the freedom
to not obey,
right?
And they actually
took that path,
right?
But how much more
will God be glorified
in redeeming us
from that
so that we can
then live
that dependent
freedom
that we have
in God
to his glory,
right?
You know,
why did God
allow the fall?
Augustine will say
because God
wanted to be glorified
not just as creator
but as redeemer.
Right.
Yeah.
Okay, friends,
we should close there.
Next week,
bring your friends.
We're going to be
talking about work
on your day off.
No,
we're going to,
isn't it great
that,
you know,
we just started
to touch on this theme
of being made
in God's image,
being culture bearers.
For the next eight weeks,
we're going to talk
about work
and vocation
and the gospel
and how the gospel
can help inform
and shape
how we go about
these vocations
and callings
and tasks
and labors
that we have.
So let me pray quickly
and then we'll go.
Father,
we praise you
as our creator.
We confess
with the church
of all ages
that we believe
in God,
the Father almighty,
creator of heaven
and earth
and that brings us
great joy
and confidence,
happiness in you,
God.
Lord,
help us to rest
in you,
our creator,
this week
and give you
much praise.
Amen.