Q: What is the significance of understanding humans as created beings?
Millions of men and women live on this earth today without an understanding of their meaning or purpose in life, largely due to their ignorance in recognising that they have been masterfully created by a loving God. This essay will seek to explore the significance of understanding humans as created beings by considering three key implications that result from this understanding.
Understanding humans as created beings leads to the obvious conclusion that there is a Creator. This is the first key implication that results from this understanding. Being made by a Creator is a foundational Christian principle. The Bible is clear in proclaiming that there is a God who is the Creator of all things (Gen. 1:1; Is. 40:28, 42:5, 44:24; Acts 17:24)1 and of all mankind (Gen. 1:26-27, 2:7; Mal. 2:10; Matt. 19:4). What does it mean for God to be the Creator? It means that God can be accredited with a number of character traits fitting for a Creator. For example, the notion of a Creator God means that God is the source of all existing things.
God being the source of all things immediately implies that he is the sovereign Lord over all of creation, including over all mankind. Indeed, the Bible emphasises God’s sovereignty in the way his people continuously address him as “sovereign Lord” (Gen. 15:2; Deut. 3:24; Jer. 32:17 etc.) and also in the way they recognise his rule and ownership over the whole earth (1 Chron. 29:11; Ps. 89:11). God is ruler and king2 with everything under heaven belonging to him (Job 41:11), and is therefore worthy to be praised and to receive all glory, honour and power (Rev. 4:11).
There are additional characteristics that can be attributed to a God who created mankind. The Bible speaks of the creation of man in Genesis 1:26-28 and 2:5-25. Reymond suggests that the creation of man was the climax of God’s creation activity. Further, he maintains that everything God had created prior to this event was in preparation for mankind.3 This implies that God is a purposeful God and that he created mankind for a purpose. There is a reason behind man’s existence and all things that exist find their meaning and interpretation only in relation to God.4 Hendry asserts that being created is not accidental and man is given meaning because he exists.5 Erickson agrees that there is a reason for man’s existence because he was created through a “conscious, purposeful act by God”.6 The purpose of mankind will be discussed further, later.
From the creation account of man in Genesis 1:26-28, God gives mankind a number of commands as his created beings. He asks them to be fruitful and to fill the earth. He also commands them to subdue the earth and to rule over all living creatures. Fretheim believes this shows that God is a “power-sharing God”7 who allows man to participate in using power.8 As Creator, God has authority over man however man has authority under God over the rest of creation. God therefore, delegates authority to mankind.9
Mankind is thus accountable to God as their Creator. However, man is given a freedom which allows him to accept God as Creator or to deny him.10 The Bible tells us that as a result of sin entering the world, man ignores God as Creator and does not seek him (Rom. 3:10-12). In the redemption of man through the death of Jesus, God can therefore be known as a gracious and merciful God who allows mankind to once again approach him in rightful worship. Hoekema maintains it is only through God’s sovereign intervention on the behalf of man that man can know redemption from sin.11
Knowledge of a Creator God is integral to the way in which all of creation is to view God and relate to him. The second major implication from understanding humans as created beings is to consider what this means for man and his responsibilities in relating to God as a created being. Being created means humans do not independently exist.12 If the source of existence is from God and not from man, Hendry suggests that the created being cannot be egocentric because everyone and everything that exists cannot exist apart from God. 13 Man cannot breathe another breath without it being given by God (Is. 42:5; Acts 17:25; Gen. 2:7). We therefore owe our very existence to a Creator.
Humanity’s immediate response to God should consequently be one of praise and gratitude for the provision of life and God’s continuous preserving of it. God’s role as one who sustains life means that man is dependent on God for provision of all things. Jesus tells his disciples not to worry about what to eat or drink because it is the Father who is the provider of all things and knows what we need (Matt. 6:25-34).
As aforementioned, God is sovereign over the earth and is worthy of all praise, honour and glory (Rev. 4:11). Humanity has a responsibility to submit to the lordship of God and to be the creatures who give God this praise. Man must not seek glory for himself but give the glory to God who is deserving of it.14 Humans must realise that as creatures, we are not God. We are finite, revealing that there are limitations to what we are able to do.15 This knowledge should change the way in which we approach God. We should strive to come before him in humility fitting for a creature before his Creator. We do have value and worth as created beings but this value is given to us by a Creator.16 Men and women have been ignorant in their understanding of being created beings but God now commands all to repent of this ignorance and to seek after him (Acts 17:27-30).
Due to creation being a deliberate act of God17 one can assume that man was created for a purpose and that we have a reason for existence. Being created for a purpose has implications to how we should live, specifically, that we should live according to that purpose. The Scriptural account of the creation of man can perhaps give the reader an idea of the intent of God in this act. Genesis 1:26-27 speaks of God making man in his image and likeness. There is much debate as to what being made in the image of God might mean.
Blocher describes mankind as a “created representation of his Creator”.18 T.C. Hammond and others believe that it is characteristics such as the ability to have abstract thought and a limited type of dominion over creation that make up the image of God.19 Wilkinson however, asserts that while it is important to acknowledge such insights of what the image of God might comprise, they cannot be the core defining characteristics of the image of God.20 Further, he states that the significance of what it means to be made in the image of God is caught up in the idea that God has made us sufficiently like him in order for us to have a relationship with him.21 We are made for relationship, to love God and to be loved by him.
Purpose of life is only found in relationship with our Creator God.22 Grudem asserts that God’s purpose in creating man is so that man can glorify him,23 which appears to be aligned with what God says in Isaiah 43:7 as he speaks of his children whom he created for his glory. Macquarrie claims that God’s purpose in creation was for him to be in a personal relationship with man.24 Erickson essentially draws these two thoughts together by suggesting that man is created as capable of having a personal relationship with God and as such can respond to him in love, worship and obedience.25Hoekema develops this idea of relationship by pointing the reader to Christ, who the Scriptures tell us is the complete image of God (2 Cor. 4:4; Col. 1:15).26 Christ’s life was revolved around his love for God and for man (Jn 15:9; 1 Jn 3:16; Eph. 5:1-2) and therefore central to the image of God is love.27
There is some question as to whether as humans we have still retained this image of God even after sin has entered the world as a result of man’s disobedience (Rom. 5:12). The image of God may have been distorted as a result of sin but the Bible tells us that the idea of man being made in the image of God still stands (Gen. 9:6; 1 Cor. 11:7; Jas 3:9). It is through the redeeming work of God through Christ that man can become like Christ and be restored into the full image of God.28
The third and final key implication addressed by this essay concerns the way in which humans are to relate to creation and treat each other as created beings. Because God created every living creature, man is not solitary in his existence29 and therefore must consider how to live with other creatures. Erickson purports that there exists a “universal brotherhood”30 which should impact the way in which we are concerned and empathetic for other humans.31 For example, we should be greatly troubled by the inequality that we see around us in environments such as that of slavery or political oppression. Since all humans are created equally in the image of God before the same Creator, all individuals have the right to the same dignity.32 Just as importantly, as all gifts are given to man by God (Eph. 4:11; 1 Cor. 12:4), worshipping or the idolising of other humans is also wrong especially as God is the sole Creator who deserves all glory.33 Thus, it is important to emphasise that the love humans have for God is primary followed by the love humans have for their neighbour.34
Being created also has an impact on the way we evangelise to others, keeping in mind that they too are created. Evangelism should thus include the story of creation, establishing God as the Creator and sovereign Lord who has a right to demand a response from his creation.35
There also exists a kinship between humanity and other creatures because of our status as created beings.36 We are thus required to treat creation in a humane way and should be concerned for their welfare as God is.37 This has an impact on how humans should react when faced with issues such as animal cruelty and environmental problems. As humans who have been given the role of stewards over the earth (Gen. 1:26, 2:15), we must consider the way in which we are treating God’s creation.
The understanding of humans as created beings has great implications in the life of man. As a created being, man will recognise that there must exist a sovereign Creator God who he is accountable to. In addition, he will realise that he was created for a purpose, essentially, that he is to live in relationship to God where he can love and glorify him. Finally, being created means treating humans and other creatures as part of creation. Ultimately, if true meaning of life is only found in God, then one must understand man as a created being answerable to a Creator God.
1 All Bible references and quotes in this essay are from the New International Version (NIV) of the Holy Bible.
2C.H. Pinnock, ‘God’s Sovereignty in Today’s World’, Theology Today, 53 (1996) 15-21.
3 R. Reymond, A New Systematic Theology of the Christian Faith (2nd ed. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1998) 416.
4 C. Colson, N. Pearcey, How Now Shall We Live? (Wheaton: Tyndale House, 1999) 98.
5 G. S. Hendry, ‘On Being a Creature’, Theology Today, 38 (1981) 60-72.
6 M. Erickson, Christian Theology (2nd ed. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1998) 493.
7 T. Fretheim, God and World in the Old Testament: A Relational Theology of Creation (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2005) 49.
8 Fretheim, God and World, 49
9 T.M. Kitwood, What is Human? (London: Inter-Varsity Press, 1971) 97.
10 D. McKim, ‘Doctrine of Creation’ in W. Elwell (ed.) Evangelical Dictionary of Theology (2nd ed. Grand Rapids: Paternoster, 2001) 305.
11 A. Hoekema, Created in God’s Image (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans, 1986) 7.
12 Erickson, Christian, 510
13 Hendry, ‘On Being a Creature’, 62
14 W. Grudem, Systematic Theology (Leicester: Inter-Varsity Press, 1994) 442.
15 Erickson, Christian, 515
16 Colson and Pearcey, How Now, 128
17 Colson and Pearcey, How Now, 55
18 H. Blocher, In the Beginning: The Opening Chapters of Genesis (Leicester: Inter-Varsity Press, 1984) 85.
19 T.C. Hammond. In Understanding Be Men: A Handbook of Christian Doctrine (6th ed. Leicester: Inter-Varsity Press, 1968) 72.
20 D. Wilkinson, The Message of Creation (Leicester: Inter-Varsity Press, 2002) 35.
21 Wilkinson, Message, 36
22 Wilkinson, Message, 39
23 Grudem, Systematic, 440
24 J. Macquarrie, ‘What is the Purpose of Life?’, Living Pulpit 4 (1995) 9.
25 Erickson, Christian, 494
26 Hoekema, Created, 22
27 Hoekema, Created, 22
28 Colson and Pearcey, How Now, 23
29 Hendry, ‘On Being a Creature’, 64
30 Erickson, Christian, 513
31 Erickson, Christian, 513
32 Colson and Pearcey, How Now, 131
33McKim, ‘Doctrine of Creation’, 305
34 Erickson, Christian, 513
35 Colson and Pearcey, How Now, 98
36 Erickson, Christian, 512
37 Erickson, Christian, 512
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