The Original Purpose of God in the Creation of Earth
To know the original purpose of God in the creation of earth we have to turn back to the ‘Creator’s Manual’ in order to find it. As we know only the creator knows the purpose of His creation. And anything that is written in the Creator’s Manual is the only truth that can truly reveal the purpose for which it is created. This is the reason God’s instruction Manual is called ‘the Bible’ which means ‘the Book’. In other words it is not to be considered as a book among other books, but it in the only unique book that in itself has authority to defend itself because of the One who wrote it through His appointed scribes [i.e. one who copies and writes things]. In this way the Creator’s Manual has been written by God ordained men who have been inspired and instructed word for word by God who has given it for us, to learn more about the purpose of the creation of earth and all that is in it, especially in relation to the Creator Himself (2 Tim 3:16-17). Thus the more we come to understand the original intent of God for creating the earth and its legal inhabitants [i.e. We humans], the more we will be able to identify our self with the original purpose, which will not only give meaning to our lives but also make us more productive, efficient and enjoy our lives now as long as we live in this planet earth.
Why God created the earth?
The Creator Himself is answering in His Manual saying “18 For thus says the LORD, Who created the heavens, Who is God, Who formed the earth and made it, Who has established it, Who did not create it in vain, Who formed it to be inhabited:” I am the LORD, and there is no other.”” (Isaiah 45:18). Here the Hebrew word for ‘inhabited’ is ‘yashab’ Let the peace of God rule in your heart which is the root key word which gives the following meanings such as ‘1) to dwell, remain, sit, abide a) (Qal) 1) to sit, sit down 2) to be set 3) to remain, stay 4) to dwell, have one’s abode b) (Niphal) to be inhabited c) (Piel) to set, place d) (Hiphil) 1) to cause to sit 2) to cause to abide, set 3) to cause to dwell 4) to cause (cities) to be inhabited 5) to marry (give an dwelling to) e) (Hophal) 1) to be inhabited 2) to make to dwell’. Thus the word ‘inhabitate’ means ‘to dwell, abide, to remain, stay, have one’s abode, to continue to dwell forever in a set way’. Here God Himself affirms that the reason He created the earth is to dwell in it forever. This is the original purpose of God in creating the earth.
When God created the earth to inhabit, He set the legal entities which are to inhabit the earth and set a man in charge ‘to tend [cultivate] and keep it’ (Gen 1:15). Man was given absolute dominion. It is described in the first act of creation when God began to create the whole order of earth. The scenario during the creation is described in Genesis 1:26-27, “26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” Here the most important thing that we must notice here is,
1) God said, ” Let Us make man in Our image…Our likeness….let them have dominion over….”. From the preceding verse we can understand that God wanted man to be made with a dominion image of Himself [To know more about the dominion image of God, read the following article ‘Dominion-Image of God in Man’]. In other words God wanted to replicate a Spiritual image of Himself [God’s image is a Spiritual image because God is the Spirit in essence and material (2 Cor 3:17)] in man who will rule and take care of earth as God rules from heaven, that is the reason the Lord God formed a dust body from the earth and breathed in to his nostrils the breath of life which is from heaven [i.e. the Spirit which supports life of the spirit to exist in the dust body of man]. From this we understand that the dust of the earth [material-physical man] and ‘the breath of life [non-material spirit man]’ from God who is in heaven meets through the living being [i.e. a individual conscious personality of soul that connects both the spirit and body realm].Once the Spirit of God entered the dust body of man, he became a living being [i.e. a Soul (Ps 104:29-30)] which can relate both to the Spirit world of God and the physical world of man. This indicates that the original purpose of God’s design was for man to be able to connect to the Spirit world of God and be a co-regent with Him over the earth. This connection was set up by God in his spirit man through the Spirit of God. He expected the conscious man to willingly submit to Him and by that connection rule over the earth.
2) God created man in His own image when He said “Let Us make man in our image…”. Then after that He did not say ‘let us have dominion’, But He said, “…let them [i.e. male and female] have dominion…” If He had said ‘let us have dominion’, then God would have put himself in dominion position over the earth along with man. But He did not. Instead He has given to man His delegated authority of dominion over all the earth. To have dominion over something is to rule over it. Man’s original purpose of creation is to rule over the earth [note: not over the heaven]. This is God’s eternal purpose and it will not fail.
3) The extent of man’s dominion is “…over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” Notice here that dominion is not over other human beings but over the earth and its environment. Man was not designed to be ruled over and be dictated by other human being in the original design of creation. So only we naturally resist when someone tries to rule over us. Actually every human [i.e. male and female] have an innate desire to rule from the moment they are born in this earth. It is perfectly according to God’s design that it is present in human beings. This desire cannot be achieved without the God-connection in our spirit man, which is the source of our dominion power. In other words the moment we learn to hear a command from our ‘King of kings’ who is seated on the throne of heaven and start to execute it on the earth according to our original design (Rom 10:17; Luke 22:69), the kingdom power will start to manifest through us because as the Bible says the “Where the word of a king is, there is power;…” (Eccl 8:4).
Thus once dominion agenda for man has been set, then God began to execute His original purpose for man. When the original purpose has been set in place, then God blessed man [i.e. both male and female] saying “…Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” (Gen 1:28). What does it imply to us? If we start to put our focus to the God’s original purpose of creation and start to live it in our lives by renewing our minds through the Creator’s Manual for living [i.e. God’s Word], then God’s blessing [i.e. empowerment] to be fruitful and multiplying, to fill the earth and rule over it, to have dominion over the environment that surrounds us will come in to activation in our lives as the sons and daughters of God (Galatians 4:4-7; Rom 8:14). Don’t think wrongly in unbelief that it cannot happen today as in the days when Jesus walked on this earth when He drove demons out of people, healed the sick, walked on the water, multiplied food for the multitudes, flowed in all the gifts of the Spirit…. The Apostles modeled their lives after Jesus and the result was tremendous which turned the world upside down (1 Cor 11:1; Acts 17:6).
We must also model our lives after the life of Jesus who is our perfect example to live the kingdom life on earth. Only then this original blessing of God which was released during the creation will come and empower us to be successful in this world for the glory of God which will make us be a living witness of Jesus Christ (Acts 1:8). This is the true kingdom living that is the need of the hour. Too many people desire to ‘fly to heaven and sing about it’. But God has not kept the kingdom citizens on earth to be powerless and weak, longing to escape to heaven. Do not continue to live with an escapist attitude, but rather be a warrior. Heaven is just a transitory lounge to keep us until Jesus comes back again to establish the original plan of the kingdom of God on earth during His second coming (Rev 19:14-16; 20:4-6).
