Why Were We Created?
by David J. Stewart
This is a good question. Why were we created? Look at us--dust. We are made up of the elements of the earth: hydrogen, oxygen, etc. We are composed of dirt. What could we possibly offer God Almighty? Solomon said that the heaven of heavens cannot contain God--He's too big, too awesome, too fantastic to be contained. We are like grasshoppers in His sight. Yet He loves us.
"When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour." (Psalm 8:3-5)
Who am I that a King should bleed and die for?
Our answer lies in the Bible, which is God's word. Let Him explain why He created us:
"...thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created." (Revelation 4:11)
We were created for God's pleasure! Don't you know that God loves you and wants you? It was His whole purpose in creating you.
Why Did Jesus Die on the Cross?
Now I'm going to surprise you. Do you know why Jesus died on the cross, was buried and rose up again?
"For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living." (Romans 14:9)
Man had sinned. Mankind was doomed to hell for all eternity. Sin had rightful claim to us. We were under the condemnation of God's Law. Jesus was not the Lord of our life, death was.
"Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him." (Romans 6:9)
"Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years." (Revelation 20:6)
God in His love devised a redemption plan for humanity; a way of escape. This plan was through the sacrifice of God's only Son, Jesus.
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3:16)
No person has an excuse to reject Christ as Savior--no one! You have been warned friend! If you go to Hell, it will be no one's fault but your own. The price has been paid.
Jesus paid a debt that He did not owe, because we owed a debt that we could not pay!
Oh, listen friend!
Christ died on the cross to redeem us from the powers of sins and death!!!
Whereas sin used to be our Lord, Jesus said He died on the cross so He could be our Lord instead.
Do you want to please God my friend? Then turn to Jesus Christ for salvation.
By the way, I am totally against the concept of "Lordship salvation." This is the false teaching that a person cannot be saved unless they are willing to make Jesus the "Lord of their life." It all depends upon what you define "Lord" as.
If you mean that a person must be willing to forsake the sins in their life to be saved, I totally disagree. God never asks us to give up anything to be saved friend; on the contrary, He offers a free salvation with NO string attached. The only thing you need to give up to be saved is UNBELIEF. This is the only sin which can prevent you from being saved. If you don't believe on Jesus "just enough" to come to Him for forgiveness of sins, then you are well nigh hopeless.
If on the other hand you mean "Lord" to refer to the fact that Jesus is "Almighty God"--then I agree 100%. Someone once asked Bob Jones Sr. if he believed a saved person could deny the virgin birth. His response was that a saved person WILL believe the virgin birth.
Likewise I say to you, if you are truly a born-again believe upon Jesus Christ, you WILL believe that Jesus is Almighty God. You may not have known this truth at the time you accepted Christ into your heart, but you readily accepted this truth once you learned it from God's Word. If you deny that Jesus is Almighty God, then you are NOT saved! (John 8:24).
Hebrews 11:6 says,
"But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him."
We have been created by God for His pleasure, not our own (Revelation 4:11)
Faith is the only thing that pleases God (Hebrews 11:6)
Sin and death reign as lord over the unsaved (Romans 5:21)
Jesus died, was buried and rose again so He could have power over us, not sin and death (Romans 14:9)
God did this because He loves us (Romans 5:8)
Mankind has been created as the object of God's love. Jesus could have merely spoke man into existence, but He rather chose to hand-craft us with His own hands. God loves us and wants to be the Master (Lord) over us. If we refuse, then sin and death are the alternatives. God's demand for justice would have prevented redemption had Jesus not died in our place on the cross. Sin had to be paid for. God loves people friend.
Jesus Our Lord
Jesus automatically becomes our Lord at salvation (Acts 9:4-6)! He has "ownership rights." When we accept Jesus into our heart, God owns us, not only by creation, but also by redemption; we are adopted into the family of God. So Jesus becomes our "Lord" in the sense that sin and death no longer have power over us. I am against the idea that a person has to grow spiritually to the point where Jesus become the Lord of their life. If this be true, then at what point in the process does Christ become our Lord? No, Jesus will never be in complete control of this old sinful body! The greatest Christians fall sometimes. King David was a "man after God's own heart" and yet he sinned. The Christian life is an ongoing lifetime process.
The word "Lord" in the Greek (Kurios) means" supreme in authority." Jesus couldn't be supreme in authority if sin and death had claims to us. I want you to notice something here:
"That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Philippians 2:11).
There will come a time in the future when every single soul WILL bow in acknowledgement to the fact that Jesus Christ is God Almighty, Supreme ruler of the universe. However, that does NOT necessarily mean that Jesus will be their Lord. For example: James 2:19 tells us that the demons believe in God; however, they are not believing upon Jesus Christ. Likewise, Jesus is only your Lord if you have been saved. If you die in your sins, you will have sin and death to be your lord in hell-fire for all eternity.
Praise God for Calvary where Jesus died! Thank God that Jesus is the Lord of EVERY born-again Believer. You don't have to give up anything to be saved friend, only your stubborn unbelief. Remember, salvation is of the heart. Turn to Christ in faith from your heart and sincerely ask Him to forgive you. The only person who ever left Jesus empty-handed was he who was full of himself.
GIVE GOD YOUR HEART AND HE'LL COMB THE KINKS OUT OF YOUR HEAD!!!
But What About Hell?
"Know ye not that hell was not created for people? God tells us who it was created for:
"...everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels" (Matthew 25:41).
Hell was created for the devil and his angels. It was not created for man! God doesn't want anybody to go there, it was not His purpose for men to go there. God knew that we would sin so He made provision for us by coming to this earth in the form of a man and paying the penalty for our sins with His own blood.
Nonetheless, humans do indeed go there because many say (as the citizens in the parable of the nobleman in Luke 19), "We will not have Him to reign over us." When such people are cast in hell, it is literally what they asked for. Nonetheless, God is not pleased that they should perish:
"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end."
--Jeremiah 29:11
"As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die...?"
--Ezekiel 33:11
The Lord is...not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
--2 Peter 3:9
But Was It Fair To Create Us?
It would not have been fair for Him NOT to create us. God knew that many people would be cast in hellfire for their rebellion towards Him, but He also knew that there would be a multitude that would bask in His glory and love Him and want to be with Him forever.
Would it have been fair for me to miss out on knowing Jesus Christ because of the actions of the wicked? Would it have been fair for me to have been aborted of the opportunity to know my God and His pleasures forevermore? Would it have been fair for me to not have known God's love and bliss?
I say a resounding NO!!!! If God, in His Sovereignty had said, "There are going to be too many evil people, so I will not create man," He would have been overcome with evil! Evil would have dictated what He was going to do, would have denied life to the righteous and it would have stripped Him of His power as Lord of the Universe. Read what the scriptures say:
"Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good" (Romans 12:21).
If God had not created us, He would have been overcome with evil, for it would have dictated that the righteous would never have an opportunity to love and be loved by the One who is everlasting and full of pleasures forevermore. If the righteous were to miss out on the Magnificent God, would that be fair? That would be folly.
The
Original Purpose of Prayer
(by Dr. Jack Hyles)