God’s Purpose
It is a
sad fact that the vast majority of Christians are ignorant of God’s ultimate
purpose for His creation. This is due mainly to Christendom’s leaders’ false
teaching concerning the present evil in the world, and the future punishment of
the lost. It is the failure to recognize God’s complete control over ALL
circumstances in His universe that has led to a belief in “dualism”. This was
the belief of an ancient Iranian religion founded in the 6th century
BC, Zoroastrianism. Its founder, Zoroaster, imagined a universe in which an all
good Spirit created the pleasant things in the world, while another powerful,
all evil Spirit, created destructive counterparts, such as snakes, flies, and
other noxious things to combat the good Spirit’s creation.
It is the
concept of two “Gods” battling for control and victory over the created
universe that Christian leaders have unwittingly portrayed to those in varied
denominational assemblies worldwide. According to their dogmas, Satan is the
evil god that has successfully overthrown the true God’s purpose of perfection
for His creation. By ruining His original pristine universe, Satan has forced
God to resort to a “Plan B”. In this scenario, an impotent creator, frustrated
by the “free will” of mankind that follows Satan in his rebellion, is
feverishly working to counteract Satan’s devices in order to convince mankind
to follow Him.
However,
because Satan’s widespread Evil is more desirable than God’s Good, God will
lose the vast majority of mankind to Satan, and must placate Himself with the
rescue of a small minority of the billions of men and women created in His
image. By Satan’s subtle intrigue, God, because He is holy, will be forced to
banish most of mankind to eternal torture in Hell and then the Lake
of Fire.
God will ultimately neutralize Satan by imprisoning him for 1000 years, and
finally confine him to the fiery Lake,
at which time He will declare victory. But what a costly and hollow victory
that will be! Satan will have claimed the lion’s share of souls that will
remain forever hostile to their Creator. Evil will not only continue to exist,
but will thrive and multiply as the realm of the damned is filled with curses
for God eternally!
Thankfully,
although the above scenario is the popular religious teaching today, it is
completely contradicted by Scripture. A view of all world events gives the
impression that the creation is a giant, slow-motion train wreck, having veered
off the tracks of God’s purpose and headed for certain and final destruction.
However,
Satan is a created being, and as such, his power is limited to that invested to
him by his Creator. The Adversary does not make policy for the universe, nor
does he devise any plan of his own in order to thwart God’s purpose. He is
merely God’s agent of evil, a pawn in the hands of the all-wise Creator.
Although he certainly thinks he is free and autonomous, (just as men believe
themselves to be free moral agents), all of his ways were known beforehand, and
ordained by God to accomplish His mysterious purpose.
But,
doesn’t this make God the Author of sin? No. God is the Author of evil. Evil is
not sin. Sin is a mistake, an error, something God is incapable of. Evil is the
counterpart of Good. God created Evil in order to reveal Good. Good would have
no meaning without Evil, just as Darkness is essential to understand Light.
Evil is a temporary tool of contrast being used by The Master Craftsman of the
universe to reveal Himself to all His creatures. At the consummation, after
God’s purpose is realized, evil will be discarded forever.
The
purpose for God planting the Tree of The Knowledge of Good and Evil in Eden’s
Garden is puzzling to many students of Scripture. Why would God deliberately
place it centrally in His garden of perfection? Why would He not place cherubim
to guard it from Adam as He did afterward for The Tree Of Life? Why was Satan
given free access to God’s Garden to spread his rebellion and infect humanity?
Why were there not two trees, one of Good and another of Evil, but conflicting
things in one tree.
The answer
is that Adam did not know Evil before he ate of its fruit, but NEITHER DID HE
KNOW GOOD! The Garden with all its wondrous delights, the delicious fruit, the
perfect climate, the harmless animals, the daily walks with his Creator-Father
was to Adam just “another day in Paradise”.
He knew no other scenario. All these wonders were taken mundanely as a matter
of normal life. The only way he could really appreciate Good, and therefore his
Creator, was to be shown its opposite, Evil. The contents of the fruit did not
infect Adam & Eve with sin; that came from their disobedience to the
commandment to abstain from eating it.
It is
surprising to many that God knew Evil before Adam. He confirmed this fact after
Adam sinned: “And the Lord God said, “The man has now become like one of us,
knowing good and evil.” {Gen. 3:22}
Man’s
first sin, which Christendom teaches began the eternal doom of most of Adam’s
progeny, was in fact the first essential lesson for an immature creature that
his Creator was teaching him. This painful lesson was given in order to
enlighten him to God’s essential Goodness. Adam now had the ability to compare
Good with Evil, and therefore could enter the gateway of appreciation for his
Father’s Goodness and Love. If this was not God’s purpose for Adam; if He
created him with the determination of perpetual perfection, then God failed, He
missed His mark, God sinned. This is our only recourse if we believe that God’s
plans for Adam failed. If The Creator is reacting to man’s free will, and
constantly adjusting His Plan in order to accomplish His purpose, then who is
really in control? Free will makes man into God, and God into less than
omnipotent.
But the
Scriptures assure us that God is not adjusting to man’s decisions, and is in
complete control. Neither are there two “Gods” battling for control of events.
“That they may know from the rising of the sun, and
from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the Lord, and there is none
else.I form the light, and create darkness: I MAKE PEACE, AND CREATE EVIL: I THE LORD, DO ALL THESE THINGS.” {Isa. 45:6,7}
God has a
reason for all events in His universe, a definite purpose toward accomplishment
of His ultimate goal. This goal is the revelation of Himself, and afterward,
taking up residence in ALL His creatures. He will realize that goal in due
course, and cannot be thwarted. He is The Almighty!
“Remember this, keep it in mind, take it to heart,
you rebels.
Remember the former things, those of long ago;
I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is none like me.
I make known the end from the beginning,
from ancient times, what is still to come.
I say, ‘MY PURPOSE WILL STAND,
AND I WILL DO ALL THAT I PLEASE.’ {Isa. 46:8-10}
Remember the former things, those of long ago;
I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is none like me.
I make known the end from the beginning,
from ancient times, what is still to come.
I say, ‘MY PURPOSE WILL STAND,
AND I WILL DO ALL THAT I PLEASE.’ {Isa. 46:8-10}
In order
for man to exercise his “free will”, he would have to be totally free. But the
Scriptures declare that man is not free at all, but is completely enslaved to
sin, as is Satan. Satan and mankind make choices according to their limited
knowledge and ability. They choose to do one thing or another only from what
has been decreed concerning them or revealed to them.
We have no “free will” options concerning our
time or place of birth, our genetic make up, our family, our aging, inherited
diseases, our involuntary bodily functions, etc. I cannot jump over my house or
lift 10,000 pounds even if I freely choose to do so. Our choices are also
limited by our lack of knowledge of the future. I cannot confidently “will” to
be a millionaire or a professional athlete, for even if I have an iron will and
determination to accomplish these goals, tomorrow may bring an unforeseen
bankruptcy or a debilitating injury making such things impossible.
Only God has
“free will”, for He alone is omnipotent. He alone is able to accomplish any and
all goals He has determined. The creature not only does not fathom his Creator,
he does not understand himself! A careful assessment of all known factors in a
situation does not insure a man of the desired outcome of any decisive action.
He cannot contemplate or make choices in things that he does not even
comprehend! Scientific discovery is constantly amazing man about himself and
his surroundings, things which his Creator determined and ordained to be there
and function as He designed them according to His Free Will and Purpose.
Men are
responsible only for God’s REVEALED WILL. Adam erred in his failure to obey his
Father’s revealed will. This is the determining factor in God’s judgment of any
person’s works. How faithful were we to the light we received? However, God had
a SECRET WILL known only to Himself. His Secret Will determined that Adam’s
disobedience would, instead of derailing God’s Plan for perfection, act as an
essential step in revealing Himself to man. This is how God wields His tool of
Evil in order to bring about His Good purpose.
Take the
example of Joseph in his trials. After his own brothers, because of their
jealous hatred of him, sold him into slavery, we can only imagine the pain and
despair of his broken spirit. However, through this great family tragedy,
Joseph was eventually to rise to the position of ruler over all Egypt,
under Pharaoh alone. God had a Secret Will concerning Joseph known only to Him.
God ordained these circumstances in order to accomplish His purpose. Listen to
Joseph’s assessment of all that befell him:
“His brothers then came and threw themselves down
before him. “We are your slaves,” they said. But Joseph
said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? YOU INTENDED IT FOR
EVIL, BUT GOD INTENDED IT FOR GOOD to accomplish what is now being done, the
saving of many lives. So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your
children.” And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them.” {Gen. 50:18-21}
The
greatest Evil ever to occur was perpetrated on God’s own Son. When Satan
entered Judas to betray The Savior, did he not think he was acting autonomously
in devising this plan of evil? When the Jewish leaders had Jesus arrested and
brought to trial, did they not think they were acting on their own? When the
crowd, worked into a frenzy, screamed “Crucify Him!”, or Pilate condemned Him
to an excruciating death on a cross, or the soldiers cast lots for His robe and
mocked Him, and the scourging, and crucifixion.
Did not
all these individuals believe they were doing exactly as they determined to do?
And yet, they were only acting out what The Father had predetermined concerning
His Son. The prophet Isaiah had foretold these things hundreds of years before
any of these actors were born:
“Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause
him to suffer,
and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin,
he will see his offspring and prolong his days,
and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand. After he has suffered,
he will see the light of life and be satisfied;
by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many,
and he will bear their iniquities (sins).” {Isa. 53:10,11}
and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin,
he will see his offspring and prolong his days,
and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand. After he has suffered,
he will see the light of life and be satisfied;
by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many,
and he will bear their iniquities (sins).” {Isa. 53:10,11}
A glaring
error of men is to confuse God’s process with His goal. There used to be an
artist that painted nature scenes on canvas on a weekly television program.
With broad strokes of his brush he would spread paint on his blank canvas in a
seemingly haphazard manner. Mixing colors on his hand held block, he continued
smearing and blending colors without any apparent order or sense of urgency to
finish his work. Just when I began to see some order, he would partially cover
a recognizable object with more broad strokes of his brush. Only when the
program was near its end, did the awe-inspiring scene emerge from the seeming
chaos of colors. The master painter knew exactly what he was painting, I did not.
In the end, I could appreciate the perfectly placed brush strokes and the
beautiful scene they produced.
It is this
way with God. Although there seems to be raging chaos at work in our world, the
universe’s Master is methodically bringing order out of the seeming disorder.
In the end, He will reveal a masterpiece produced by His marvelous Love and
Grace, made possible by Calvary’s
Cross.
God’s
purpose was to use man’s Evil hatred of His Son to pay the sin guilt of all
creation! The Father’s love for all His creatures drove Him to it. Pure love
knows no other way but self-giving sacrifice for the beloved. Jesus willingly
yielded to His Father’s Will, knowing that man’s supreme Evil would result in
The Father’s supreme Good, salvation and deliverance of His lost possession.
Contrary to religion’s doctrines concerning damnation and eternal torment, The
Cross of Christ accomplished God’s purpose and goal, to save each and every one
of God’s beloved creatures. His suffering assured the ultimate rescue of all
the lost.
Although
limited future punishment awaits much of mankind, it is for the purpose of
discipline and restoration, not perpetual torment. Mankind’s alienation from
his Creator was necessary for him to appreciate his reconciliation to Him.
God’s message for mankind today is one of reconciliation. He implores us to
accept His Son’s sacrifice on our behalf, and to abandon any prideful attempts
to gain His acceptance through our own religious works. A gift cannot be
earned, it can only be accepted. Any attempt to earn it nullifies it as a gift.
Christ alone earned it for humanity. When God reveals Himself to His creatures,
all will humbly worship Him and ultimately respond to His love that conquers
even the hardest heart. Then God will take His place in each of His creatures
and become ALL in All!
“The Son
is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For
in Him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and
invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have
been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things,
and in Him all things hold together. And He is the head of the
body, the church; He is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so
that in everything He might have the supremacy. For God was
pleased to have all his fullness dwell in Him, and through Him TO
RECONCILE TO HIMSELF ALL THINGS, whether things on earth or things
in heaven, by making peace through His blood, shed on the cross.” {Col. 1:15-20}
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