JAYNE looked at me amazed!

We had been talking about creation. I had pointed out that God made everything for His own pleasure. Jayne had obviously not thought about that before because she suddenly stopped dead in her tracks.
Did I really mean to say that we are only here to please God?

I replied that I thought that was the purpose in our being created. Somehow Jayne could not quite come to terms with that. I suppose she is fairly typical of a lot of people. It has just never occurred to them that we may not be alive to please ourselves.

To most people life is just for us. Its aim is to find happiness, to live well, to look after self. If, on the way, we may do a good turn for others as well, then many will be glad to do that. But for Mr. Average, life is for him.

No wonder, then, that it is something of a shock to find that life is not about ME after all! So what is life about? What is its purpose? Why are we here?

This is a very basic question. It is surprising that it needs to be asked. It is even more surprising that so few appear able to answer it.

The Secret of True Happiness?
I once heard that a brains trust were asked what was the secret of true happiness, and were stumped! Think of it! Some of the best brains in the country, able to answer the most amazing things, but beaten by something as important and elementary as this.

If we want to know why anything has been made it is sensible to ask the one who made it. Nothing is created without a reason. From a cake to a car or a pot to a palace, there is reason behind its manufacture.
Someone once said that we should have nothing in our homes which we do not "know to be useful or believe to be beautiful". That may, or may not, be good advice. Most of the things we make, however, fall into one of those two categories. They are made either to be useful in some way. Or they are made as objects of admiration and beauty.

And to serve either of those two purposes, things have to be designed. There has to be thought. Planning goes into their creation or construction. Materials are prepared. Work is done in a particular order. Mistakes will spoil the end product. If it is neither useful nor beautiful when finished, we shall not want it. The chances are it will be broken up or thrown away.

The Bible speaks of God making man in this way:-
"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.'"
(Genesis 1:26)

Both things we have mentioned are involved here. First, God wanted to make man in His image. That means He wanted man to be like Him in some way. Today we speak of being "Godly". The word has been shortened and means God-like.

Why God Created Man
God wanted men to be like Him. That would give Him pleasure. It gives all fathers pleasure to see a son following in their footsteps. God wanted His children to honour Him.

Secondly, man was created to be useful. God was to give him dominion over everything else He had made. Man was to have a satisfying role in charge of God's creation.

When man was put to the test, however, he failed. There was nothing wrong in his make-up. God made everything "very good". Man was well designed and fitted for his work. Yet he was not willing to co-operate with God.

The test was a very simple one. God gave man abilities that no other created thing had. He gave him the power to reason. He gave him the ability to love and He gave him the freedom to choose. God wished the man to be like Him, but He wished the man to do this out of love.

God would feel honoured if man chose to copy Him. There would be no satisfaction in man's obedience if he had no choice. He would become a mere puppet with God pulling the strings. A simple commandment was given and the man was put on trial.

Man considered other suggestions. He reasoned. He did not consult God. He made his choice. He did not love God sufficiently to obey Him completely. Man disobeyed. God did not allow Himself to force the man to love Him. Today we cannot force people to love us if they do not. And man did not. He pleased himself rather than God.

The result of this was that man was no longer God-like. He had been made in the image of God, but he had spoilt that image. It had been marred by sin, shame and guilt. Sin had made man different from God. It had driven them apart. In addition man was now deprived of his true function. He lost his dominion over creation. He rules it now only with difficulty. He rules it with weapons and force.

That is the point at which most of us would have given up. We would have destroyed what we had made. God is different. He is full of love. He began at once to seek to save men rather than destroy them. It was right that man should be punished. God condemned him to death as He had warned man He would. He also gave him first the opportunity to be sorry and make amends.

God's Plan For Salvation
God's plan to save man involved Jesus Christ. He was in the image of God being born the Son of God. He was also God-like in his way of life. In this way he regained the privileges and responsibilities that man had lost. He is over all creation. We may ultimately share the dominion that God intended man to have, through Jesus Christ.

Now when Jayne stopped in her tracks that evening, it was because all this was new to her. She had been talking about her job which she did not find very satisfying. She was anxious to fulfil herself in terms of her ability. Yet she was missing what life is really all about.

Real "job satisfaction" can only be felt when we understand why we were made. It is no use using a garden spade to cut bread or a spoon to dig a field. The bath isn't going to get me into town and the bus won't make my lunch. We shall only find true happiness when we are doing what God created us for.

The purpose of life does not lie in private ambition or selfish gain. It lies in being Godly. 