GOD'S PURPOSE IN CREATING MAN.
By John Nevins Andrews
THERE was a time when the human race had no existence. But when it seemed good to God, he called man into being from the dust of the earth. The gift of life was conferred by Him who is the source and fountain of life. Without doubt, there was a special purpose in the mind of the Creator. He did not create man because he was under the necessity of doing it; and he certainly did not do it without thought, or in an accidental manner. He had reasons of the noblest, purest, holiest character. The four and twenty elders in the act of worshiping before the throne of God state the object of the Creator in these words: "Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created." Rev. 4:10, 11. The pleasure of God in the work of his hands was the object which he purposed to accomplish in the creation. God is a being of infinite perfections. His benevolence has connected his own pleasure with man's highest well-being. His purity forbids that he should take pleasure in wickedness. His justice demands that sin shall be adequately punished. God cannot take pleasure in wickedness, neither shall evil dwell with him. Ps. 5:4. To sinful men, God says: "Oh, do not this abominable thing that I hate." Jer. 44:4. These statements being acknowledged, it is certain that the majority of mankind in all ages have failed to answer the end of their existence. Adam and Eve, though created in uprightness, did shortly afterward rebel against their Creator. Cain, their first-born, was a murderer. Only one family was worthy to escape the diluge. From Noah's time till our own, truth and righteousness have been in a minority, and wickedness has borne rule in the earth. And our days are, as predicted by Christ, like the days which were before the flood, when violence filled the earth, and all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. Gen. 6; Matt. 24. Persistent rebellion fills up the lives of the greater part of mankind. Now, God did not create man for such an existence as this. He can take no pleasure in such men. The end of their creation is not answered in the lives which they lead. And yet, without doubt, God foresaw that mankind in general would make this deplorable failure. To answer the end of their existence, it was necessary that men should be subjected to trial. God saw that while the most would refuse salvation, there would still be, as the final result out of all generations, a sufficient number of the redeemed to fill his house. These persons alone will fill the purpose of the Creator, for they will glorify him forever, and he will take pleasure in them to all eternity. And now what shall we say of those who would not be redeemed by the blood of Christ? They certainly have not in their lives of sin fulfilled hitherto the pleasure of the Creator, though it was for this purpose that he created them. God's work in the creation of the race is not a failure, for he secures out of the vast host of mankind a sufficient number of overcomers to people the new earth. But there are just as many more human beings than there would have been had man never sinned, as there are in number of the finally impenitent. These persons, by their own fault, have rendered the Creator's work in their individual cases a failure. They have persisted in rebellion, and have absolutely refused to fulfill his gracious pleasure concerning them. And now what shall we say respecting them? The gospel of Christ having failed to change their sinful nature, there is no remedy that can reach their cases. They were created for the pleasure of God. They have never answered the end of their existence. They never can answer that end, after having once passed their day of grace. Now what shall we say concerning the endless existence of the lost? Must those exist forever who only dishonor Him who created them? Manifestly, everything depends on the action of the Creator when he gave existence to the human race. If he then gave to man the possession of absolute immortality, or if he, by fixed decree, determined that man should live to all eternity, then he did, so to speak, tie his own hands. For though God gave to man existence for a certain determinate purpose, and though the lost have absolutely failed to fulfill that purpose, and can never in all the ages to come fulfill it, yet God must still suffer them to continue in their immortality of wickedness. But is it not a plain truth of inspiration that God put man upon trial to see whether he would answer the end for which he gave him existence? Is it reasonable to assert, what the Scriptures certainly never do assert, that God gave to man an absolutely endless existence when he created him, and then put him on trial to see whether he would answer the object for which he was created? We cannot charge God with folly, and certainly if tried by any principles which man can comprehend, such action on his part would be in the highest degree absurd. We must conclude that He who created, can, if he see fit, uncreate; and that He who gave to man existence for a certain object, can take away that existence if that object be not gained. Not one who acknowledges the Bible can doubt that God foresaw that a very large part of mankind would, as the result of their trial, form sinful and rebellious characters. Now shall we claim, as do some, that God gave immortality to all these before their trial, and so, whether he can take pleasure in them or not, has bidden them exist to all eternity? Or shall we say that God first waits, that he may see who will glorify him, and then gives endless existence to these and to no others? Is not immortality precisely in place as God's gift to men when they have been proved with respect to his pleasure? And is it not best that this should be withheld until that trial is past? What say the Scriptures respecting this?