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An impossible question to answer, I know, but I wanted to hear your theories. I was just thinking about it, and I realized that, once you strip away absolutely everything in this life, all we're doing is living to serve God. But why do you think God allowed us to live at all? Do you think he needs us? Was he just bored and wanted a world to rule over (a perfectly reasonable reason)? I've actually never, ever heard any Christian question this, so I was wondering what the more "experienced" Christians thought about it, or if they had ver thought about it at all.

I've heard it that God wanted someone to worship Him. Yes, the angels worship Him, but He wanted someone to worship Him by choice. He wanted to have an actual relationship with someone and us to love Him.

I've understood it that God created us because he wanted to share His glory and love with us, and for us to know Him and appreciate Him for who He is.

Why do you think, gabbygirl, that God wanted someone to worship him? Do you think that once he realized he was the only living thing in the universe, he decided to take advantage of the opportunity and create beings created for the sole purpose of worshipping him? Wouldn't that technically be pride on God's part? And why do you think he created laws (things that you shouldn't and should do) and sin at all? If he loves us so much, why would he want to create something that sets us apart from him forever? And if he knew that Satan would go rogue, why did he let him live at all? Did he want people to be tempted by Satan? Was Satan beyond his control? Do morals and ethics mean anything at all, or are they just a way for God to play with humans? Do you think that God created sin? If not, who did? If God knows who will go to Heaven, why does he allow the humans who will be condemned to Hell, since he apparently loves them so much? Do you think that the ability to have free will is in the long run better than going to Hell?

Please don't be offended by any of these questions. A couple of them are impossible, a couple I don't know and am wondering about, a couple I think I do know but am wondering about your thoughts on them, and a couple are super easy and obvious. This is actually quite a fascinating subject that isn't brought up nearly enough.

ArnoldtheRubberDucky wrote:Why do you think, gabbygirl, that God wanted someone to worship him? Do you think that once he realized he was the only living thing in the universe, he decided to take advantage of the opportunity and create beings created for the sole purpose of worshipping him? Wouldn't that technically be pride on God's part? And why do you think he created laws (things that you shouldn't and should do) and sin at all? If he loves us so much, why would he want to create something that sets us apart from him forever? And if he knew that Satan would go rogue, why did he let him live at all? Did he want people to be tempted by Satan? Was Satan beyond his control? Do morals and ethics mean anything at all, or are they just a way for God to play with humans? Do you think that God created sin? If not, who did? If God knows who will go to Heaven, why does he allow the humans who will be condemned to Hell, since he apparently loves them so much? Do you think that the ability to have free will is in the long run better than going to Hell?

Please don't be offended by any of these questions. A couple of them are impossible, a couple I don't know and am wondering about, a couple I think I do know but am wondering about your thoughts on them, and a couple are super easy and obvious. This is actually quite a fascinating subject that isn't brought up nearly enough.

These are my thoughts on the questions above.

1.God wanted too. He doesn't have to have a reason. He is complete without us.
2. No
3. No
4. God didn't create sin. He created free will which allows us to choose whether to love God or not to love God.
5. He didn't create it. He created us originally to be in complete communion with him. I heard an analogy for sin that made a lot of sense. Just as the sun can only produce heat and light God can only produce goodness, truth and love. Just because something gets in the way of that does not mean God put it there.
6. Satan was jealous of God, he served his purpose as an angel and then wanted to be God. God din't create him just for that but that is how it happened.
7. He didn't want anyone to be tempted but he allowed the temptation because of his respect for our free will.
8. Satan was not beyond God's control. The thing is God had so much respect for us and for Lucifer that he did not destroy but rather made him live with what he chose.
9. Morals and ethics are God's invisible law written on our hearts that are written into our being. Not just a toy for God to use.
10. Answered above
11. No one created sin rather sin is the absence of the love God caused by our free will.
12. God knows but he doesn't cause the condemnation to hell. Just like you know the past you didn't necesarrily cause the it. In the same way God lets us live and make our own decisions because of his love for us. If he didn't let us choose we couldn't really love him. God does not condemn anyone to hell. We condemn ourselves to hell by not choosing the love of God.
13. Yes. Without freewill we are just machines. We cannot love and cannot even be. God created us to love him, without free will there is no love and therefore no purpose to our creation.

Okay, thank you. I agree with all your answers, and I must admit that I had never really thought about your answers to 5 or 8 before.

I want to second everything jehoshaphat said and expand a bit on point one. God created us to share His love with us, He was complete without us the Trinity is perfect but He loved us so much that He created us.

cold is the absense of heat, darkness is the absense of light, sin is the absense of God. if we're looking at literal angle. Though even in absense, the result is a real, created thing. It's created by actions, though. If it's our actions via freewill that causes such, does that mean we created sin? but God created us so, again, if you want to look at it from a literal point, doesn't it point back to him? I know God/faith isn't typically literal, but I'm just throwing a point out there for the sake of discussion. I guess I'm playing devil's advocate, but this topic interests me and I enjoy throwing wrenches in the road just for the sake of response/reaction. Thus, my comment. Everything technically points to God. He created Lucifer, us, free will; it's reactions/results were known and obviously planned because Christ's death was foretold ages before, so. Meh, I think I sound cynical, but it's late so I can't be blamed. I just want to hear thoughts.

Sin is a reality caused by our choosing our own wants instead of what God wants. Sin is a distortion of the love a God and the misuse of the freewill that God gave us. Ultimately everything points to God, but that doesn't mean that God is the cause of everything. And I wouldn't say sin is a real tangible but rather the missing of something, the disorder of love. Heat is a real thing, cold I would not say is. Cold is just the word we use for less heat.

Yes, but who created the concept of sinning? I mean, who decided what was a sin and what wasn't? God had to decide this, unless the rules for morality were somehow in place before God, which I highly doubt.

Originally there was no sin. There was temptation but no sin. The only thing Adam and Eve couldn't do was eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. God created a moral law which is on our hearts but it wasn't known until after the first sin.

Sin is anything that separates us from God, it does not have an existence in of itself but is a corruption of good. Adam and Eve corrupted good when they disobeyed God and then when they lied to Him. Satan corrupted good when he rebelled against God. These are all things that separated them from God. God created everything that is good, we are given that good and decide what to do with it.

Okay... so what you're saying is that God created the rules of morality, and sin is basically just the opposite of that. God didn't create sin, he created goodness, and sin is just what happens when we rebel against the goodness. Is that about right? I suppose that's fairly obvious, but I was thinking of it from a different angle originally.

Yup Arnold.
Humans are a totally different creation which is why God made us. (This is why I don't agree with Calvanism).
We were made to have free will and imagination unlike anything else God created.

Interesting topic! i think God created us to bring HIM pleasure and to glorify Him.

Yes, but as Sixth Doctor so rightly pointed out in the Atheist Q and A topic, doesn't that make God a bit of an egomaniac authoritarian? If God was perfect to begin with, why does he need us? Just as a way to confirm his own omnipotence to himself by watching us give glory to him? In the end, what does it all mean? The way everyone's making it sound, it would seem we're just God's little toys, there only to obey his every command (commands that an all-powerful God could easily carry out himself) and amuse him when he's bored.

Hmm, I believe we were created for God's pleasure, but he gave huge allowances to us. We are the most special of his creations. We can't comprehend God because I mean if we were solely for his pleasure, he wouldn't die for us.

I would agree that that's the most logical stance you could take on this issue, and I'm pleased to see you didn't berate me for my somewhat shocking questions (though I don't know about how some of the other users, including Mandy, will react).

I am a level headed person. That comes from years of debating.

Ugh! now everyone thinks i'm this hotheaded know it all! should i even continue in this nice interesting discussions or does everyone want me to stay away from the Soda Shop? :'(