Jesus and Human Destiny - Discovery Website

           Jesus and Human Destiny

Beautiful fruit-bearing trees .... oceans teeming with life .... the skies thronging with birds .... the land rich with a great profusion and diversity of animal life .... it reads like the perfect travel guide! Thus we discover in the opening chapter of the Bible a picture of what seems to be a perfect world.

So why did God go on to create human beings, only to see all his wonderful artwork spoiled as a result? Surely, with everything set up in such perfect balance, it would have been much better to have left us out of the equation?

Did God, in fact, make a big mistake in creating mankind?

Whatever our personal opinion may be on this matter, the clear answer of the Bible is "NO!". On the contrary, we are told that everything God put on the earth - the sea, the air, the plants, the birds, the fish, and the rest of the animal kingdom - was intended for our benefit.

Indeed, the Bible even poses the staggering possibility that the entire universe was created for the human race alone (see Genesis 1:14-18; Deuteronomy 4:19; Jeremiah 31:35) and that ultimately its fate is totally bound up with ours (Romans 8:19-22). (If this seems completely beyond the realms of credibility, it is worth noting that the so-called ‘strong anthropic principle’ proposed by some scientists actually suggests something very similar!)

Is this possible? Could we really be that important?

Psalm 8 says,

When I consider your heavens,
  the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
  which you have set in place,
what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
  human beings that you care for them?

Yet it goes on to add,

You made them a little lower than the angels
  and crowned them with glory and honour.
You made them rulers over the works of your hands;
  you put everything under their feet.

The Bible is clear that, whether we deserve it or not, we are of overwhelming value in God’s eyes. He could, of course, have made the planet for dolphins or for whales or for tigers; he could have made a universe for the benefit of any number of other extra-terrestrial species; but as far as Scripture is concerned, He chose to make it for us - and that means you and me.
                                                          
Why? What makes us so special?

Made in the Image of God

To answer this question, we need to understand that when God made human beings, he did something quite unique. Though we may be animals biologically, we are as distinct in spiritual terms from the animal kingdom as living things are from non-living things. This is because, in making mankind, God wanted to make beings who would not be merely another rung in an evolutionary chain, but who would possess one of the most precious and distinct aspects of his own nature - that of free will.

In other words, far from being driven merely by the forces of ‘nature’, ‘biology’ or ‘instinct’, we would carry a self-awareness within us that would allow us to make free and independent choices: a freedom to create, a freedom to think, a freedom to love, a freedom to give. We were, in other words, created ‘in the image of God’: set apart completely from the rest of the created order, to be, in a unique sense, his beloved children.

However, this freedom also carries a cost. If it is truly to be freedom at all, it must also inevitably involve the freedom to reject, the freedom to hurt, the freedom to disobey, the freedom to destroy. And in this lies many of the problems that have dogged human history ever since. Like rebellious teenagers, we simply cannot handle the freedom we have been given!

But why, when he clearly knew all the dangers involved, did God take such a huge risk in creating the human race at all?  Surely it would have been better to have left us out of the masterpiece of his creation, or at least to have provided us with radically different natures?

Let us, however, consider the most obvious alternative. God could, after all, so easily have made a race of ‘robots’ or ‘computers’ who would completely fulfil his will and instantly obey his every command. And undoubtedly, the effect on the planet as a whole would have been far less damaging!

But, in the end, what purpose would this have served? What pleasure, for example, could a father derive from a child which loved and obeyed him merely because it was ‘programmed’ to do so? God made us not merely to be pawns on the chessboard of creation, but that we might enjoy a real, living relationship with Him.  

However, a relationship is only real when it is based on choice; our love and our devotion are only meaningful because we choose to offer them freely, from the depths of our being.

And this, ultimately, is the kind of relationship that God wants with each one of us - not the blind obedience which exists between a slave and his master, but the kind of deep intimacy and communion that might exist between two lovers, or between a mother and her new-born child.

Are we ready to experience God’s love at this degree of intensity? The Bible is clear that, if we have missed out on this, we have missed out on him completely. Indeed, it warns us of a force within each of us that is actively drawing us away from him - that of sin or the misuse of our own God-given freedom for selfish ends. Since sin is totally foreign to God’s own nature, it has to be dealt with completely, if we are ever to be in a position to receive his love or return it to him freely.

However, the Bible goes on to tell us that God cared for each one of us so deeply that he sent his own Son, Jesus Christ, to take the results of our sin upon himself upon the cross, breaking its power once and for all. It is now up to each one of us to turn away from our sin and accept Jesus as our Lord and Saviour, returning to God as long-lost children, in order to experience the depths of that love for ourselves. Only then can we enjoy the unique and intimate relationship with our heavenly Father that He intended as the very purpose of our existence, a relationship that will, through trusting Jesus, last us throughout eternity.

Are we willing to take up the challenge?  According to Romans 8:19-22, the whole of creation is waiting for our decision!  Now, indeed, could be the very moment for which we were brought into existence! Through Jesus Christ God has provided the answer to our every shortcoming and the fulfilment of our every need. In Jesus we see the perfect model of everything that mankind was intended to be. Let us come to Him now, find out who we really are, and discover the very purpose for which we were made. We will certainly not be disappointed!

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A reflection and a prayer|