God’s Purpose in Creation

Long may he live;

     may gold of Sheba be given to him!

May prayer be made for him continually,

     and blessings invoked for him all the day! 

May there be abundance of grain in the land;

     on the tops of the mountains may it wave;

     may its fruit be like Lebanon;

and may people blossom in the cities

     like the grass of the field! 

May his name endure forever,

     his fame continue as long as the sun! 

May people be blessed in him, 

     all nations call him blessed! 

Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel,

     who alone does wondrous things.

Blessed be his glorious name forever;

     may the whole earth be filled with his glory! 

Amen and Amen! 

The prayers of David, the son of Jesse, are ended (Psalm 72:15-20).

God did not need us, but he chose to use us! God created us in his image and likeness so that we would glorify his name and enjoy him forever. Sin always seeks to attack the glory of God. Yet God is still undefeated. The kingdom of God is made up of people who glorify Jesus and invite others to share in this reality of justice and righteousness. The church was never meant to be isolated from the world.

Those of us in Christ are called to be a city on a hill, and a light to the world. Therefore, if our relationship with Christ becomes something isolated, we’ve failed to obey the commands of Christ. He saved us not simply for our own benefit, but for the benefit of others to share in glorifying his name. The church is meant to be the tangible picture of the glory of God as it spreads across the whole earth.

The question remains, “How are we to do this rightly?” A wholistic gospel is the only way we can truly display the glory of God to the whole earth. In other words: Jesus didn’t come to simply address our individual sin. As important as this is, we are not the center of God’s plan. The driving purpose of God’s plan is his own glory. When Adam and Even sinned against God, they brought death upon all creation. Humans, animals, the earth, the sea, the heavens, and everything else, was affected by the curse. King Jesus came into the world to restore the glory of God in all creation. The person and work of Jesus was the perfect picture of God’s glory. Therefore, the church of Jesus is meant to be the agent by which God’s glory is spread throughout the whole earth.

This is why is it so critical that we be Christ-like. If Jesus was concerned about God’s glory, we must be concerned about God’s glory. If Jesus was concerned about sinners repenting, we must be concerned about sinners repenting. If Jesus was concerned about the poor and marginalized, we must be concerned about the poor and marginalized. A wholistic gospel is one that brings change in the spiritual as well as the physical. It is not simply individual but also corporate in its work.

The gospel is meant to restore all creation to its proper submission under God’s rule. Revelation 21 and 22 describe what is to come at the second advent of Christ. Those two chapters can be summed up by saying, “The whole earth is filled with God’s glory.”