Why Am I Here?

Part 3 of 3 - The Doctrine of Man

Finally, let us ask, what is God's purpose for man? We have seen man's origin, and man's basic composition.. but why is he here in the first place? It should come as no surprise that God has a divine reason for everything He does. He moves with definite purpose: "I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it" (Isa 46:11). We read in Scripture that God has "saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began" (2 Tim 1:9). What then is this purpose?

Relationship. Primarily, God's purposes with man involve relationship. Throughout Scripture, God's desire for genuine fellowship is revealed. From the time that God sought Adam "in the garden, in the cool of the day" God has been seeking fellowship with man (Gen 3:8). However, the goal of sin is to halt this relationship, even as it caused Adam to hide from God: "your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you" (Isa 59:1-2). It's only through the blood of the New Covenant that this relationship can be fully realized. By the precious blood of Jesus, God is made able to indwell each believer, making fellowship constantly available: "And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also. At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you... If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him" (Jn 14:16-20).

Character. Secondly, God created man to reproduce His character and nature. He wants us to bear the family "image and likeness" (Gen 1:26). Jesus is said to be the "express image" of His Father's person (Heb 1:3). Likewise, we too are to partake of His divine nature: "Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity" (2 Pet 1:4-7). We too are to overcome sin and become the "sons of God" (Jn 1:12), fully conformed to the image of King Jesus (Rom 8:28-29; 2 Cor 3:18; 4:4), bearing the divine family image, nature and virtue.

Function. Furthermore, God wants man to share in His function of rule. Man is not only to become something (character), but also to do something (function). In short, God wants mankind to share in His dominion (Gen 1:26). To do this, man must subdue an enemy (Gen 1:28). In man's first encounter with his enemy (sin), he lost (Gen 3). Man lost his dominion and came under bondage to Satan, sin, sickness and death. Now, through the Lord Jesus, who has conquered all, man's dominion and function can be restored, even as his nature and character are restored.

Reproduction. Finally, God wants mankind to reproduce "after our kind". This is of course a natural truth, but also a spiritual one. The seed of sin in Adam was reproduced in his children. Adam's seed were tainted with sin, after Adam's image rather than God's: "And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image" (Gen 5:3). This necessitates a new spiritual birth in which those who have been "born again" and have become the children of God by redemption, reproduce "after their kind". Thus, the New Testament exhorts us to "be fruitful" (Col 1:10; Jn 15:16), and records that the disciples of Jesus "multiplied" (Acts 6:1, 7). When relationship, character, and function are operating as they should, reproduction will be the natural result.

And thus we see the origin of man, the composition of man, and the purpose and function of man.. He was created by divine might, composed of divine faculties, and given a divine purpose for existence, and a divine function in his existence... God's entire purpose with creation revolves around His church: "to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ: To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God, According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Eph 3:9-11). Are you grateful today? "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose" (Rom 8:28). Amen.