Dear Friends in Faith,
     Below is a very abbreviated form of the tract “God’s Purpose in Creation.” Please write us for a free copy of the complete tract.

     Did God bring the creation into being to fulfill a predetermined purpose and plan, or was the creation brought into being without aim or plan? The fact that God had a definite purpose in creating is clearly revealed in His Word. It is an all-inclusive and glorious purpose worthy of a loving, wise, righteous and all-powerful God. Exactly what is God’s purpose for all His creatures?
     Notice what is revealed about this in the following passage of Scripture. The Son of God’s love “is the Image of the invisible God, Firstborn of every creature, for in Him is all created, that in the heavens and that on the earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones, or lordships, or sovereignties, or authorities, all is created through Him and for Him, and He is before all, and all has its cohesion in Him” (Col.1:15-17).
     Four outstanding facts are revealed in this passage concerning the entire creation: (1) all was created in the Son; (2) all was created through the Son; (3) all was created for the Son; (4) all creation has its cohesion in the Son. Three different Greek words are used to distinguish the facts set forth about the creation in these verses: all was created (1) “in” (en), (2) “through” (dia), and (3) “for” (eis) the Son. Eis, as used in this passage indicates “purpose, the final cause.” (cf Greek-English Lexicon by J.H. Thayer, D.D.).
     The fact that all was created for the Son raises the question: In what sense is all to be for the Son, and how will this be brought about? The answer is: (1) in the sense that God’s Son is to be “enjoyer of the allotment of all” and so will possess all; “. . . of old, God, speaking to the fathers in the prophets, in the last of these days speaks to us in a Son,Whom He appoints enjoyer of the allotment of all” (Heb.1:1,2). (2) in the sense that all will be subjected to the Son; “For He subjects all under His feet. Now whenever He may be saying that all is subject, it is evident that it is outside of Him Who subjects all to Him. Now, whenever all may be subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also shall be subjected to Him Who subjects all to Him, that God may be All in all” (1 Cor.15:27,28). (3) in the sense that all will be conformed to the Son; These are referred to as the ones who love God and are “called according to the purpose that, whom He foreknew, He designates beforehand, also, to be conformed to the image of His Son, for Him to be Firstborn among many brethren” (cf Rom.8:28-30).
     But those who believe now are not the only ones who will be conformed to God’s Son. In due time the whole creation will experience this completion of God’s salvation.
     To teach that many of God’s creatures will be endlessly lost, is to teach either that such an end is according to His plan, or that God has been frustrated or defeated in His plan and that His purpose in creation has failed. Thank God that neither of these concepts is true, and that, through Jesus Christ, there is victory over death for all.
     When the truth is understood about the purpose of God to become All in all through the sacrifice of His Christ, it becomes clear that all of God’s dealings with His creatures contribute something to the realization of His loving, wise, and glorious purpose.
     To know the true and living God “out of Whom all is” (1 Cor.8:6), is to recognize that His purpose for His creatures can only be loving, wise, righteous, and good. To know Jesus Christ, “through Whom all is” (1 Cor.8:6), is to know that God’s purpose cannot fail.