What is God’s purpose in creating us?
Question:
Good evening,
I, lately, have been struggling with the whole idea of creation. I feel terrible for saying this, as I’m a Christian, but wouldn’t God be selfish for creating us? I just don’t see the purpose.
I was never asked to be born or be created. Honestly, if I had the option and realized the stakes in life, I would never choose to be born. The fact that God created us puts so much unasked responsibility on us. Why would I be punished for something I never even asked for? I have the hardest time comprehending that no matter how much I wish I didn’t have this responsibility, I do. I mean, eternity is on the line!
It’s hard to see God as loving when He, alone, chose to create us just to turn around and judge us to eternal damnation due to violating His commandments.
This has really been challenging me lately. I’m 21 and feeling pressure from all directions in life (especially religiously). In all honestly, it makes me feel depressed (something I’m already struggling with).
So, I guess my request is to please help me understand why. Why would God choose to do this? How do I cope with this? Please pray for me. Thank you and thank you for all the work you do.
Answer:
"Woe to the one who quarrels with his Maker -- an earthenware vessel among the vessels of earth! Will the clay say to the potter, 'What are you doing?' Or the thing you are making say, 'He has no hands'? Woe to him who says to a father, 'What are you begetting?' Or to a woman, 'To what are you giving birth?'" (Isaiah 45:9-10).
It seems to me that your objections are ironic. You can't ask something that doesn't exist if it prefers to exist or not. You have to first exist to have an opinion about the matter but by that time you already exist. No parent asks if his child wishes to exist before having sex.
Do you say that parents are unloving because their child is born into a difficult world? Or do you recognize that they love their child despite the difficulties the child creates for them?
God created you, I, and everyone in the world as righteous beings. "Behold, I have found only this, that God made men upright, but they have sought out many devices" (Ecclesiastes 7:29). It isn't God who rejects men but men who reject God. "But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear" (Isaiah 59:2). Despite this, God does many things to try to restore men to a proper relationship with Him. "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8). The world continues because God hopes to restore a few more. "The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance" (II Peter 3:9).
It isn't a matter of whether we like to exist or not. The simple fact is that we do exist and what many have lost sight of is that we won't cease to exist. We will either live eternally with the God who loves us or we will exist in Hell eternally separated from Him. God's justice requires that sin be punished; yet, God has a way to forgive us of our sins if we trust Him enough to follow His directions.
Why did God choose to make people? I suspect it is a similar motivation that causes parents to want to have children.
Response:
Good evening,
Thank you very much for your email. It has certainly helped me.
I, unfortunately, can get in these “moods” where I overthink things too much and cause myself trouble. I suppose I am just struggling with the fact that I will be judged, and I just don’t want to be on the wrong side of that judgment. It just makes me wonder why, but again, your response helped me a lot. I’ve just got to remember not all my questions will be answered completely, and it won’t change anything anyways. We are here, and responsible no matter what. All I can do is try my best.
Thank you!
