What was the purpose of God in the creation of man? God Himself has told us in Genesis chapter one. There we see that man was a distinctive creation. Before his creation God said: "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth" (verse 26). This was God's design. God then proceeded to create man according to His design - "And God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them: and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth" (27,28).
God wanted a man: God wanted a man to have dominion: God wanted a man to have dominion on the earth.
And God wanted man to be like Himself. This clearly shows that man has a unique place in the creation. Of all created things man alone was made in the image of God. The man of God's desire was to be totally different from every other created thing.
God sought to meet His own need through man. His creation called for someone to exercise control, and God chose man to be that one. God wanted man to govern, and He wanted man to govern in a specific realm - "upon the earth." The earth was to be the sphere of man's dominion. "And God said unto them ... replenish the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion ... upon the earth."
But man sinned and came under the dominion of Satan. It seemed then as though all was at an end. Apparently Satan had triumphed and God had been defeated.
Psalm 8 shows that the purpose of God is unchanging. After the Fall, God's will for man and His requirements of man remained as they had been before the Fall. Though man had fallen, the Psalmist could still sing his song of praise, because he had not lost sight of Genesis 1. And God had not forgotten Genesis 1. Let us look at the content of this psalm.
"O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!" (verse 1). Despite the fact that some men were blaspheming the name of the Lord and others were rejecting His name, the Psalmist cries aloud: "How excellent is thy name in all the earth!" He does not say, "Thy name is excellent," as though he could express its worth; he says in effect - Though I am a poet, I cannot utter its worth, I can only say, "How excellent!" And it is not only inexpressibly excellent, it is so "in all the earth." That corresponds to Genesis 1. If we saw the purpose of God, our hearts would be stirred every time we read the word "man" and every time we read the word "earth."
The second verse reads: "Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou established strength, because of thine adversaries, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger. " The Lord Jesus quotes the verse thus: "Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise" (Matt. 21:16). Even if the enemy should do his worst, God need not deal with him; a praising people can "still the enemy."
Verses 3-6 read: "When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; what is man, that thou are mindful of him? And the son of man, that thou visitest him? For thou hast made him but little lower than the angels, and crownest him with glory and honor. Thou madest him to have dominion over the work of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet." If we bad been writing the psalm we should probably have added a parenthesis such as this -(Alas! man fell: he sinned and had to be driven out of the garden of Eden, so he failed to reach the goal.) But, thank God, there was no such thought in the heart of the Psalmist. So he tells the old story, completely ignoring the interlude of Genesis 3. That is the distinctive feature of Psalm 8.
The last verse reads like the first: "O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!" The Psalmist concludes his song as though he had not so much as noted the fall of man. Adam could sin and Eve could sin, but Adam's sin and Eve's sin could not reverse the will of God. God's purpose for man was as it had ever been. Oh, God is eternally the same! There is no deviation in His ways: they go straight forward.
Genesis 1 speaks of God's will at the time of the creation of man; Psalm 8 speaks of God's will after the fall of man; Hebrews 2 speaks of God's will in the redemption of man. Let us now look at Hebrews 2.
"For not unto angels did he subject the world to come whereof we speak. But one hath somewhere testified, saying, What is man, that thou art mindful of him? Or the son of man, that thou visitest him? Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; thou crownedst him with glory and honour, and didst set him over the work of thy hands: thou didst put all things in subjection under his feet" (5-8a). That was as God originally intended. "But now we see not yet all things subjected to him. But we behold him who hath been made a little lower than the angels, even Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honour." In Psalm 8 it says that God made man a little lower than the- angels, whereas here the writer substitutes "Jesus" for "man," i.e., he interprets the term "man" as applying to Jesus. It is at this point that redemption comes in. The passage continues: "that by the grace of God he should taste death for every man." God's original intention was that man should have dominion. The Lord Jesus is that Man. Hallelujah! that Man has already overthrown the power of Satan. In that Man God's desire is realized. And that Man is related to us.
"For it became him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the author of their salvation perfect through sufferings" (verse 10). Thank God! His purpose has not altered. As it was at the time of creation, so it was still after man's fall, and so it remains in the day of redemption. God still intends to secure a company of men after the image of His Son. As He is, so they too will be; and as He has entered into the glory, so will they.
But how can such a thing be? "For both he that sanctifieth and they that are sanctified are all of one" (verse 11). Who is "he that sanctifieth"? The Lord Jesus. And who are "they that are sanctified"? We! We might read the sentence thus: "The Lord Jesus who sanctifies, and we who are sanctified, are all of one." The Lord Jesus, and we who have been sanctified by Him, have proceeded from the one Source; we are partakers of the one Life; we are indwelt by the one Spirit; one God is His Father and our Father, "for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren" (11b).
Rest comes after work. And rest is only possible when the work is accomplished, and when it is accomplished to a point of satisfaction. If a piece of work is not completely finished, or if it does not meet with approval, there is no possibility of rest.
Let us not think it was a small matter that God rested after those six days of creation. Something must have been secured for Him to be able to rest. It must have taken a tremendous power to cause God - this God of purpose, this God of abounding life - to come to rest. How could He? Genesis 1:31 gives the reason. "God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good."
God rested on the seventh day. Before the seventh day He worked. And before He set to work He had an objective. Ephesians refers to it as "the mystery of his will," "his good pleasure," "what he foreordained." God is not only a God of action, He is a God of purpose. He does things because He wants to do them. His outward acts are the result of inward desire. God came to rest because He had done things to His satisfaction. If we want to understand God's heart desire, His plan, His good pleasure, we only need to see what it was that could cause Him to rest. If we see God coming into rest in relation to anything, then we know that thing was what He was after originally. No man can rest in relation to what does not satisfy him. Man must have what he wants before he can rest. This matter of rest is of great significance. Throughout the six days God could not rest. Rest did not come till the seventh day. He could rest then because He had accomplished the thing that was dear to His heart. God's rest proclaimed His approval; it proclaimed the attainment of His goal; it proclaimed that His good pleasure was realized to a point beyond which there could be no fuller realization. God is a God who must be satisfied. And God is a God who can secure His satisfaction. He has secured what He wanted; therefore He has entered into rest.
But what was it that caused God to find rest? What was it that provided His satisfaction? Let us read Genesis 1:27-28 once again: "And God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them: and God said unto them, Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth." Then follow these words: "And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it Was very good" (verse 31). "And God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it: because that in it he rested from all his work which God had created and made" (Gen. 2:3).
God's purpose was to have a man: to have a man who could exercise dominion: to have a man who could exercise dominion on the earth. On the sixth day of the creation God's purpose was attained; therefore on the seventh day "he rested from all his work."
This work was originally published without copyright by The Stream Publishers.
