Section 5

Life Has a Grand Purpose

1, 2. How can we tell that God cares about us, and where should we turn for answers to life’s questions?

¹ The way the earth and its living things were made shows that their Creator is a God of love who really cares. And his Word, the Bible, shows that he cares; it gives us the ultimate answers regarding the questions: Why are we here on earth? and, Where are we going?

² We need to search the Bible for those answers. God’s Word says: “If you search for him, he will let himself be found by you, but if you leave him he will leave you.” (2 Chronicles 15:2) So then, what does a search of God’s Word reveal about his purpose for us?

Why God Created Humans

3. Why did God create the earth?

³ The Bible shows that God prepared the earth especially with humans in mind. Isaiah 45:18 says regarding the earth that God “did not create it simply for nothing [but] formed it even to be inhabited.” And he provided the earth with everything that people would need, not just to exist, but to enjoy life to the full.—Genesis, chapters 1 and 2.

4. Why did God create the first humans?

⁴ In his Word, God tells of creating the first humans, Adam and Eve, and reveals what he had in mind for the human family. He said: “Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness, and let them have in subjection the fish of the sea and the flying creatures of the heavens and the domestic animals and all the earth and every moving animal that is moving upon the earth.” (Genesis 1:26) Humans were to have oversight of “all the earth” and its animal creation.

5. Where were the first humans placed?

⁵ God made a large, parklike garden in an area called Eden, located in the Middle East. Then he “proceeded to take the man and settle him in the garden of Eden to cultivate it and to take care of it.” It was a paradise that contained all that the first humans would need to eat. And it included “every tree desirable to one’s sight and good for food,” as well as other vegetation and the many interesting kinds of animal life.—Genesis 2:7-9, 15.

6. With what mental and physical qualities were humans created?

⁶ The bodies of the first humans were created perfect, so they would not get sick, grow old, or die. They were also endowed with other qualities, such as that of free choice. The way they were made is explained at Genesis 1:27: “God proceeded to create the man in his image, in God’s image he created him; male and female he created them.” Since we are created in God’s image, we were given not only physical and mental attributes but also moral and spiritual aspects, and these must be satisfied if we are to be truly happy. God would provide the means for filling those needs as well as the need for food, water, and air. As Jesus Christ said, “man must live, not on bread alone, but on every utterance coming forth through Jehovah’s mouth.”—Matthew 4:4.

7. What mandate was the first pair given?

⁷ Moreover, God gave a wonderful mandate to the first pair while they were in Eden: “Be fruitful and become many and fill the earth.” (Genesis 1:28) So they would be able to reproduce  and bring forth perfect children. And as the human population increased, they would have the delightful work of expanding the boundaries of the original parklike, paradise area of Eden. Ultimately, the entire earth would be developed into a paradise, inhabited by perfect, happy people who could live forever. The Bible informs us that after setting all of this in motion, “God saw everything he had made and, look! it was very good.”—Genesis 1:31; see also Psalm 118:17.

8. How were humans to care for the earth?

⁸ It is evident that humans were to use the subdued earth for their benefit. But this was to be done in a responsible way. Humans were to be respectful stewards of the earth, not the despoilers of it. The destruction of the earth that we witness today is against God’s will, and those who share in it are going contrary to the purpose of life on earth. They will have to pay the penalty for that, for the Bible says that God will “bring to ruin those ruining the earth.”—Revelation 11:18.

Still God’s Purpose

9. Why are we confident that God’s purpose will be fulfilled?

⁹ Thus, from the beginning it was God’s purpose for a perfect human family to dwell on earth forever in a paradise. And it is still his purpose! Without fail, that purpose will be fulfilled. The Bible states: “Jehovah of armies has sworn, saying: ‘Surely just as I have figured, so it must occur; and just as I have counseled, that is what will come true.’” “I have even spoken it; I shall also bring it in. I have formed it, I shall also do it.”—Isaiah 14:24; 46:11.

10, 11. How did Jesus, Peter, and the psalmist David speak of Paradise?

¹⁰ Jesus Christ spoke about God’s purpose to restore a paradise on earth when he told a certain man who wanted hope for the future: “You will be with me in Paradise.” (Luke 23:43) The apostle Peter too spoke of the coming new world when he foretold: “There are new  heavens [a new governmental arrangement ruling from heaven] and a new earth [a new earthly society] that we are awaiting according to [God’s] promise, and in these righteousness is to dwell.”—2 Peter 3:13.

¹¹ The psalmist David also wrote about the incoming new world and how long it would endure. He foretold: “The righteous themselves will possess the earth, and they will reside forever upon it.” (Psalm 37:29) That is why Jesus promised: “Happy are the mild-tempered ones, since they will inherit the earth.”—Matthew 5:5.

12, 13. Summarize God’s grand purpose for mankind.

¹² What a grand prospect that is, living forever on a paradise earth free from all wickedness, crime, sickness, sorrow, and pain! In the final book of the Bible, God’s prophetic Word summarizes this grand purpose by declaring: “[God] will wipe out every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more, neither will mourning nor outcry nor pain be anymore. The former things have passed away.” It adds: “And the One seated on the throne said: ‘Look! I am making all things new.’ Also, he says: ‘Write, because these words are faithful and true.’”—Revelation 21:4, 5.

¹³ Yes, God has a grand purpose in mind. It will be a new world of righteousness, an eternal paradise, foretold by the One who can and will do what he promises, for his “words are faithful and true.”

[Study Questions]

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God purposed that humans live forever on a paradise earth. That is still his purpose

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The owner can call to account tenants who ruin his house