Why was I created? Why am I here on Earth?
Have you ever asked that question? If yes, you are not alone. I believe every person will ask this question at some point in their life, whether they care to admit it or not. It’s a human question to ask. People have an innate desire to seek purpose and meaning. Animals don’t. They live by instinct. People on the other hand think and wonder and analyze. Better yet, people have the ability to think about thinking; have you ever done that? I just did it.
Life becomes confusing when you don’t know the reason for your creation. It’s like a clock ticking but not knowing that it was created to tell time. Similarly, not knowing why you were created is the recipe for a purposeless life. But before we get into it, let’s first look at what scripture says about who God is.
We know that God is infinite, and our brains are certainly not big enough to grasp Him fully; however, there is a particular attribute of God that is core to understanding why He created us. And that attribute is none other than, love.
God is Love
In 1 John 4:8, the apostle John states: “Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.” Note that the scripture doesn’t say that God is capable of loving, but that God is love. It’s not only something He can do, but it’s also who He is. So what does that tell us about Him? Well, it means that God’s love is unconditional. He loves all the time, not only when we have “good” behaviour, as if we can earn God’s love by our performance. But that brings us to the question at hand: why did God create humans?
Did He create us simply so we can serve Him? you’d be surprised how many people believe that God’s primary purpose for creating us is so that we can serve Him. Although God does call us to serve, I don’t believe that was the primary purpose of our creation. Again, God is self-sufficient. He doesn’t need someone to serve Him; in fact, I believe God calls us to serve because it’s good for our hearts, keeps us humble, and it’s a way to express our love for Him and for others.
Did God create us because he was bored? Or lonely? Come on now. We are talking about God here! He doesn’t need people to satisfy some emotional need. Again, He is self-sufficient as mentioned earlier. But here’s the beauty of creation: He didn’t create us because he needed us; he created us because he wanted to. Hold on, wanted to what? Wanted to share his unconditional love with us.
God Created us to be Loved
If God is love, doesn’t it make sense that He created us to share in His love? Of course! God is a relational being, a God who has existed in an eternal love relationship with the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. This is the same God that created humanity in his own image to share in that perfect and selfless love.
It’s true that all human beings will choose to turn away from God at some point in their lives. It’s a part of the fallen nature we inherited from Adam and Eve, but God’s love for us never changes, no matter how far we feel we’ve drifted from Him. All through the Bible we see the recurring theme of God passionately pursuing people with the goal of restoring them back to Him.
In the old testament God made a covenant with Abraham that He would bless all people through his offspring. And that offspring is none other than Jesus Christ, the son of God who laid down his life on the cross as God’s ultimate act of love towards sinful humanity.
“6 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” – John 3:16
it doesn’t get any clearer than that. God loves people unconditionally and wants to share His love with them for eternity. God created us to be loved.
God Created us to Love
Now if God is love, and He created us in His image, that also means that God created us to love. Humans are personal, relational beings, with the ability to feel empathy, to seek purpose, to love deeply. But let’s be honest: Loving people is easier said than done!
People are imperfect.
People hurt us.
We would even go far enough to say that some people are just well…unlovable. I personally find it difficult to love certain people, and I’m sure I’m not the only one. But one thing we must understand is that our concept of love is much different that God’s. Human love in its rawest form is conditional, meaning that our love often depends on the other person’s behaviour, what we think of them, or how they treat us. Human love is self-serving. Instead of asking, “how can I do what’s best for this person?” we often ask, “what can I get from this person or relationship?”
God’s love on the other hand is about doing what’s best for the other person regardless of who they are and what they’ve done. Let’s look at what the apostle John shared about how we should love one another.
“Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.” – 1 John 4:11-12
What I find compelling about this scripture is the primacy of God’s love for us. If God can love sinful, broken people like you and I, forgive us for all our sins, who are we not to love others? God’s unconditional love for us should inspire us to love one another. The defining mark of a true believer is seen in the way they love others. That’s something you simply can’t fake. The love that comes from God is a supernatural one, a type of love that is only possible through regeneration, through the power of the Holy Spirit transforming us to be more like Christ.
Am I saying that someone someone should remain in an abusive or toxic relationship in the name of “loving that person”? Not at all! There’s a difference between loving a person and enabling a person to take advantage of you. In certain situations you need to set boundaries, end a friendship, or create distance for healing if the relationship is causing harm physically, emotionally, or spiritually.
God Created us in His Image
“So God created mankind in his own image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.” – Genesis 1:27
God does not say this about any other creature. Humans alone, both male and female were created in the image of God. We have the ability to reason, to love, to create, to seek meaning and purpose in life, characteristics that are unique to us, characteristics that can only come from being made in His image. God created us to reflect His character and glory on the Earth. Humans are like “statues” of God with the role of representing Him in every aspect of life: the way live, worship, rule, and care for one another and for the planet.
So why did God create humans?
- To be loved by Him.
- To love like Him.
- To bear His image and represent Him on the Earth.
Stamped and Approved 