THE PURPOSE OF GOD IN HIS CREATION, Part III by Roger Roth Sr.

THE PURPOSE OF GOD IN HIS CREATION, Part III by Roger Roth Sr.

But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, Gal. 1:1516. 

    The Apostle Paul in similar fashion to Isaiah explains that from his birth he was set apart for God’s purpose. When we read of his conversion in Acts chapters 9, 22 and 26 we gain progressive insights as to God’s purpose in him. 

    Notice the process Paul had to go through to discover and walk in God’s purpose. For much of his life he had actually walked contrary to God’s purpose. Paul thinking, he was doing God’s purpose in arresting, torturing and imprisoning Christians was essentially walking in opposition to it. This is further evidence of the need to understand God’s ultimate purpose and the purpose of the Body in order to understand our individual purpose. 

    He has saved us and called us…by His own purpose. His purpose for us and for His world becomes our purpose. He is not just saving us so we can go to heaven, but he is saving us so that we may fulfill His greater purpose in the earth. 

    For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost, Lk 19:10; cp. Mt. chapter 18. The verses in Luke surrounding this passage relate to the story of Zacchaeus and the surprise those with Jesus had that He would speak with and go to supper with a man of his identity. In Matthew, this passage surrounds Jesus’ teaching about becoming as a child to receive the Kingdom. In both, Jesus is trying to adjust our thinking about the way we identify ourselves and the ways we identify others. 

    The scripture does not speak about saving those who are lost but rather that which was lost. What was lost was our identity. We often identify others and ourselves wrongly. Since purpose is always linked to identity, it is impossible to know our purpose without understanding His identity, the identity of the Body and the identity He has given each of us. 

    Let us see then if we can gain a further understanding of His purpose in creation. When God takes me to heaven, He continually asks me questions. It seems He rarely relays information to me without first making various inquiries. He once asked me how an eternal God who is without beginning could begin anything since that would mean there must have been an infinite amount of time before the beginning making a beginning impossible, I hope I am relaying this in an understandable way. 

    This is when He showed me a picture of the original creation. That what we understand as the beginning is also eternal and it only had a beginning in time but not eternity. All things have existed in God eternally, just not in time. So why did God create time and all that exists in time? He must have had a purpose that dealt directly with Himself.

    In Christianity, we are generally told that He created man to love and worship Him. That the tree of Knowledge and death and evil were not part of His greater purpose but in some way, unforeseen consequences of man’s failure to adhere to the rules He made. We should ask ourselves, if man’s failure and his transgression are an unfortunate series of circumstances or were these actually part of God’s original purpose?

    We could speak of free choice and its role in love. We could talk about the operation of love being one of free acceptance and not as a consequence of force or coercion and this would all be very true. We could consider how love can only be realized if it has an object upon which to place itself, that love by itself, limited to one being, has no way of expression. We might even say that God needed His creation to allow for the activation and impartation of love and this we could see may well be at the very heart of God’s purpose in creation.

    If that is central to all He created, it still leaves a void as to why He made this vast creation with its great complexity and wide variation. Would not beings who through free choice chose God be sufficient to solve the requirements of love?

The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil; Pr 16:4 

For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him; Col 1:16

    On closer examination we see that His purpose in His creation was not for man but for Himself. All things exist for Him but through His love He shares all things with us.

    In closing let speak on one more aspect of Gods purpose. God is about family. Mankind (not just some of mankind) but mankind is His family. There are dozens of scriptures of God speaking to man and saying, “I will be their God.”

I will be their God; Gen 17:8

I will dwell among the sons of Israel and will be their God; Ex 29:45

That I might be their God. I am the LORD; Lev 26:45

They will be My people, and I shall be their God,”‘ declares the Lord GOD; Ez 14:11

Thus they will be My people, and I shall be their God; Zech 8:8

They shall be My people, and I will be their God; Jer 32:38

That they may walk in My statutes and keep My ordinances and do them Then they will be My people, and I shall be their God; Ez 11:20

And they will be My people, and I will be their God; Ex 37:23

I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people; Jer 31:33

    Plus, dozens more. When read in context you get an understanding that this is not just a desire of God’s, but this is central to His purpose. So, we could ask, “how is God going to get mankind positioned to make this a reality. We know He will do it because He said He would but how will this be accomplished. What does this have to do with our purpose?

    Finally, I would like to look at some New Testament counterparts to these Old Testament occurrences. 

    He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son; Rev 21:7. Do you think this is speaking individually or corporately? 

    AFTER THOSE DAYS, SAYS THE LORD: I WILL PUT MY LAWS INTO THEIR MINDS, AND I WILL WRITE THEM ON THEIR HEARTS. AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE; Heb 8:10. Notice He will put His laws in our mindsand write them on our hearts. This speaks of a spiritual impartation where we take on His nature and become what He is. 

    Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, Rev 21:3. The tabernacle of God is with men. We were told to pray for the awakening of the spiritual tabernacle of God. This is what is happening, this is what we are doing and the realization of this will be God dwelling in us. 

    For ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people; 2 Cor 6:16. We become a temple (a permanent dwelling place). We being many become one. Individual parts of a greater whole. He will dwell in us and walk in us! We become His hands and eyes and vessel through which He experiences His creation as He lives in love with us and we with Him. 

    This is central to His purpose for creation. Whatever our purpose is, it must be incorporated into this more expansive purpose. Can we comprehend in greater measure the significance of our church family and the significance of becoming one and becoming the Body? 

    What is written above is not the definitive purpose of God in His creation but rather to stimulate us into thinking beyond religious limitations and expanding our understanding of His purpose. This is an exhaustive topic and one which provides much direction. There are deeper and more expansive understandings of His purpose for us to discuss and indeed to discover. 

    The points above provide a staging area for the discussion of His purpose which is necessary to understand the Body’s purpose and our individual purpose in Him. Can we expand our vision to include a greater vision of His purpose? May we find grace to leave (not discard but go on from) the limitations of religious concepts of purpose to become instruments to bring forth the purpose of our Body.

From them we should be able to describe three things more fully. 

Roger Roth Sr. is a ministry son of Dr. Mark Hanby. Together with his wife Karen, they are the set ministry of a local church in Northeastern Wisconsin, and oversee the Bloodline Network Newsletter. They consider it an honor to work with Dr. Hanby for many years, helping to oversee the ministry of Papa Mark’s extended family—”The Father’s Heart”