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20101029_a_fairy_tale_by_temporary_peace“For the glory” is a slogan for this crazy race where I live, where people dress up and compete for silly titles, like “Most Mediocre.” It’s kind of fun to watch. Needless to say, every time I hear, “for the glory” my mind is filled with visions of that race, a rather undignified affair, “the glory” being not all that glamorous.

Recently there have been some discussions with atheists about, “why?” Why in the repetitive way children sometimes ask questions, not stopping long enough to actually listen to the answer. Why did God create man? What is the purpose of the creation? Why?

For God’s glory! That is the purpose of creation. That is our purpose too, to glorify God. That’s the big answer, the formal answer. From there on down, creation and people too, have lesser missions, individual purposes, roles to play in the story.

To ask “why” in that kind of analytical voice, as if we should now provide the precise specs and God’s written mission statement and bylaws on the purpose of His creation, is about as silly as asking “why” about that race I spoke of. Why? Why not? For the glory!

It’s too much like trying to download watermelon ideas into a pea brain.

I have heard another aspect of the creation story however,one that will satisfy absolutely no one, but I do love to celebrate critical thinking, people reading scripture and imagining scenarios, pondering things we have no way of really knowing conclusively.

The concept suggests that satan fell to the earth at the start of Genesis, that he was banished from heaven when the earth was void and formless, dark and chaotic. That is the essence of who he is, designed for the glory of God, designed for worship, but he actually wanted to be God, so he is a fallen angel, as in literally he fell to earth, now formless, dark, and chaotic.

For some people that helps to explain what they see as a discrepancy in Genesis, a formless void, earth that seems to exist before it is actually created. I do not share that observation, I find the first few chapters of Genesis to be presented in a literary format that makes perfect sense to me. But other people, some who are pretty smart and have studied such things, speculate that satan is on the earth first, which explains why he is also in the garden on that unfortunate day.

Perhaps, not unlike we see in the book of Job, satan is testing God, challenging Him, asking who will worship you, who will sing your praises now that I have fallen to earth? And perhaps God simply reached down, scooped up some dirt, and formed Adam.

He will, this man of dirt I have made in my image.

From what we read in John 1:1, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God,” God knows exactly what He is doing, He has a plan, He is the author and finisher of our faith. Nothing is happening in haste or outside of God’s control.

I have no idea exactly how it all played out, but I like the concept because the earth is formless, dark, a void lacking life. Satan cannot create anything ex nihilo, he can only pervert what is already there. I like the idea of God coming along and simply speaking to the darkness, let there be light. Let there be water in the dry land and seas teeming with life.

And let this scoop of dirt become a man made in my image, for my glory.

Some think “glory” means “vanity,” It does not. It means to take pride or pleasure in, it means to bestow with honor, it means magnificence and great beauty. “Woman is the glory of man” and man is the glory of God, meaning His treasure, His masterpiece. We give glory to God because He is good, because He first gave glory to us. We were not created in an act of vanity anymore then an artist might paint a picture in an act of vanity. Our existence brings glory to God, not unlike women’s existence brings glory to man.

The question really should not be “why,” but why do you object?

 

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