He Knew!

January 2 (Genesis 4)

There seems to be a thought among the detractors of God and Christianity, that God must be some sort of sicko to create everything that he did, knowing full well that it was going to flounder and fail. 

It is true, that God could have created a bunch of robots.  He could have left off half-way through day-six, complete with all the animals and creeping things, doing their thing with no thought of tomorrow or care for anything other than a meal and a mate. The circle of life would go round and round, and God would have enjoyed it about as much as a mindless computer addict wearing a virtual reality headset playing games for eternity.

Why do people have children, given the ugliness of the world we live in? Sure, we can retire to the workshop and build furniture or quilt blankets, but something about producing honest-to-goodness, real life is worth the downside. The joys outweigh the negatives. Yes, God knew we would mess up even before he created us. But to create something that really had the potential of possessing aspects of his own image, and that had the potential of loving in return was worth it. 

God created humans for his glory, not out of some sort of ego trip to prove to everyone that he is boss, but to share his glory with something that could actually have the potential of enjoying that glory and being part OF that glory, which rocks, plants and animals cannot. So yes, he knew we would flounder and fail. That’s why, before he even hit the “create’ button, he planned out an exit strategy for us to be able to escape the mess we would find ourselves in because of our sin. That’s why he allowed physical death to be our lot, so that we would not be stuck on a fallen planet with no way off.  

An Irishman named Jim McGuiggan once wrote a book entitled, “Celebrating the Wrath of God,” which addresses the question of why a God we claim is worthy of following would allow such a messed-up planet to exist. True, there aren’t a lot of easy answers. But we might come to see suffering in a new way if we understood there is a purpose behind it … a purpose related to the future glory for those of us with faith to believe it.   

“He chose us in him before the foundation of the world.”  Ephesians 1:4