Christians believe (and know) that God purposefully (or purposively, i.e., not at random or by chance or happenstance) created all of his creations with the motive that is love. Love as God is and has desires to bestow upon his creation the free gift that is truly good and perfect.
We can easily understand this motive by considering who God is. By definition God is all sufficient. Since he is self-sufficient, he has no reason whatsoever to make creations. Yet he did it. Why? The only logical explanation is that he did it to serve NOT his own good, but the good of his creation. Since he is already good in every sense of the word 'good' he is not in need of adding something else to make himself 'more' benefited. The only motive he has then is to benefit his creation particularly men, the crown of his creation. And the benefit he had in mind reflects his own nature, that is his infinite goodness and perfection. What then would "that" benefit be? You guess it right: God himself.
Speaking of this truth, John says, "God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."
Understanding the motive and purpose of God's creation is the key to understanding the creation itself.
Lately at the age of 64 my wife started learning piano. She bought a used piano. She has been practicing it for last six months. She is still on a beginner of beginners' level. This morning she played something on the piano. Did I enjoy what she played? Yes, I did. Of course there is no harmony. Her skill is so poor that the sound she is making is not the sound of "music" but of "noise". Yet, I still love it, for I know she is a noble woman. So all she does is good to me.
The Apostle Paul says, "[E]verything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving." 1Ti 4:4
What does 'everything' mean? Everything means everything - even Satan, darkness, evil, antichrist, false prophets, or all that you call "bad". What does nothing mean? Nothing means nothing, none of the creation he made, even Satan, darkness, evil, antichrist, false prophets, spirit of falsehood, you name it. Alluding to the same truth is it written, "I form the light and create darkness; I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the Lord, do all these things." Isa 45:7 Or the Apostle Peter says to the saints that all sorts of trials come their ways for a good purpose that is to prove that their faith is genuine, resulting in thanks and praise to God. 1Pe 1:6-7
In today's daily bread passage (1John 4) the Apostle John talks about the spirit of falsehood. So we are to receive them with thanks for without these wicked bunch (Satan aka Devil, spirit of falsehood, falso prophets, antichrists, and false everything), how can we know what is truly good? Where there is no evil, how can one perceive good as good? When the whole world is filled with gold or diamond, who will covet for gold or diamond?
The piano music is good even if the sound borders on being nuisance. Even if the sound is offensive to my ears, it is still to be received with many thanks for through it I am reminded of the Lord who ennobles life with the sound of music. And my wife is beautiful, more beautiful than Julie Andrew not just in terms of physical form but in terms of the inner beauty: her purity and nobility is peerless.
We can easily understand this motive by considering who God is. By definition God is all sufficient. Since he is self-sufficient, he has no reason whatsoever to make creations. Yet he did it. Why? The only logical explanation is that he did it to serve NOT his own good, but the good of his creation. Since he is already good in every sense of the word 'good' he is not in need of adding something else to make himself 'more' benefited. The only motive he has then is to benefit his creation particularly men, the crown of his creation. And the benefit he had in mind reflects his own nature, that is his infinite goodness and perfection. What then would "that" benefit be? You guess it right: God himself.
Speaking of this truth, John says, "God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."
Understanding the motive and purpose of God's creation is the key to understanding the creation itself.
Lately at the age of 64 my wife started learning piano. She bought a used piano. She has been practicing it for last six months. She is still on a beginner of beginners' level. This morning she played something on the piano. Did I enjoy what she played? Yes, I did. Of course there is no harmony. Her skill is so poor that the sound she is making is not the sound of "music" but of "noise". Yet, I still love it, for I know she is a noble woman. So all she does is good to me.
The Apostle Paul says, "[E]verything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving." 1Ti 4:4
What does 'everything' mean? Everything means everything - even Satan, darkness, evil, antichrist, false prophets, or all that you call "bad". What does nothing mean? Nothing means nothing, none of the creation he made, even Satan, darkness, evil, antichrist, false prophets, spirit of falsehood, you name it. Alluding to the same truth is it written, "I form the light and create darkness; I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the Lord, do all these things." Isa 45:7 Or the Apostle Peter says to the saints that all sorts of trials come their ways for a good purpose that is to prove that their faith is genuine, resulting in thanks and praise to God. 1Pe 1:6-7
In today's daily bread passage (1John 4) the Apostle John talks about the spirit of falsehood. So we are to receive them with thanks for without these wicked bunch (Satan aka Devil, spirit of falsehood, falso prophets, antichrists, and false everything), how can we know what is truly good? Where there is no evil, how can one perceive good as good? When the whole world is filled with gold or diamond, who will covet for gold or diamond?
The piano music is good even if the sound borders on being nuisance. Even if the sound is offensive to my ears, it is still to be received with many thanks for through it I am reminded of the Lord who ennobles life with the sound of music. And my wife is beautiful, more beautiful than Julie Andrew not just in terms of physical form but in terms of the inner beauty: her purity and nobility is peerless.
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