CHAPTER TWO
THE MEANING OF THE UNIVERSE
GOD’S SALVATION BRINGING MAN BACK TO
THE MEANING OF THE UNIVERSE
In this chapter we will consider a fundamental matter: the meaning of the universe. We often hear of people who do not know the meaning of the universe or the value of human life. What is the meaning of the universe? This universe was created by God and has a meaning that is related to the gospel. The gospel preached in Christianity is not high enough. This gospel includes merely being forgiven of sins, going to heaven, and enjoying eternal blessings. However, according to the Bible, the gospel of God is not this low. The gospel unveils the meaning of the universe. The gospel is not simply that the Lord Jesus was crucified to shed His blood and die for us. The entire Bible, from Genesis 1 through Revelation 22, is a book of the gospel. The entire Bible is a gospel message.
The gospel of God saves us out of a human life that is without meaning into the meaning of the universe. Salvation involves being saved from a human life that otherwise would be meaningless. We have been saved from a human life void of meaning into the meaning of the universe. God created a man who had great meaning and purpose. Regrettably, man fell, and the meaning of his life was lost. This means that man lost his original purpose. With His salvation, God rescues us and brings us back to our original purpose. When man fell, he lost the meaning of his existence, but now that we are saved by God, we have been brought back to our purpose, which is the meaning of the universe.
THE MEANING OF THE UNIVERSE
We can find the meaning of the universe in the following verses. Ephesians 1:4-5 says, “Even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world to be holy and without blemish before Him in love, predestinating us unto sonship through Jesus Christ to Himself, [138] according to the good pleasure of His will.” Genesis 1:26-28 says, “God said, Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of heaven and over the cattle and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth. And God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. And God blessed them; and God said to them, Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of heaven and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.” Next, Romans 8:29-30 says, “Those whom He foreknew, He also predestinated to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the Firstborn among many brothers; and those whom He predestinated, these He also called; and those whom He called, these He also justified; and those whom He justified, these He also glorified.”
The Creation of the Universe Originating
in God’s Good Pleasure
The above verses speak of God’s good pleasure. This good pleasure was not an afterthought; it was present before the foundation of the world. Before the creation of heaven and earth and even before time began, God had a good pleasure. According to this good pleasure, this delight, God designed a plan. God planned the universe with the heavens, the earth, and a large variety and number of organisms. Not only so, God also planned to create man. God’s purpose in creating man was for man to express God and represent Him, that is, for man to be His expression and His representation. Hence, God created man in His image and according to His likeness. The heavens and the earth and all the things in the universe were created according to God’s will.
God Desiring to Gain Man
as His Expression and Representation
Scientists and physicists study God’s creation, but their studies are like a small grain in a field that is as expansive as the universe. Even though we are in the space age, human beings have traveled only from the earth to the moon, and we still have a rather limited knowledge of the universe. Astronomers say that the distance from [139] the earth to the center of our galaxy is at least sixty-four million times farther than the distance between the earth and the moon. The vastness of the universe cannot be fully comprehended by the human mind. God is too great. The things that He created are too vast and too numerous to count. Nevertheless, the Bible clearly tells us that the meaning of the universe is related to God’s desire to gain a group of people to be His expression and representation.
THE EARTH BEING SUITABLE FOR MAN’S EXISTENCE
We should never think that the presence of human beings on the earth is a coincidence. Before any man landed on the moon, scientists conducted many studies and had many theories about life on the moon. On the one hand, they were developing the technology needed to land on the moon, and on the other hand, they were speculating whether any organisms were living on the moon. At that time, I was not sure that technology would enable men to go into space or land on the moon, but I was certain that no organisms would be found on the moon. Now technology has advanced to the point that humans have landed on the moon, and this same technology has proven that there are no organisms on the moon. The moon is not a suitable place for man to live. It is not a coincidence that we live on the earth. If the earth were slightly nearer to the sun, we would be burned. If the earth were slightly farther from the sun, we would be frozen. The distance between the earth and the sun is just right. It is not too far and not too near; hence, the temperature on earth is suitable for man’s existence. These facts are not a coincidence. They speak to the mystery and the meaning of God’s creation of the universe.
MAN HAVING A NOBLE POSITION
IN ORDER TO REPRESENT GOD
God has an intention for this universe. He desires to gain a group of people to be His expression. God created the heavens, the earth, all things, and human beings because He desires to work Himself into a group of people so that they would not only express Him but also represent Him. We must express God in order to represent God. A dog cannot represent you. No matter how much you love your dog, it cannot represent you. A dog can bark, but a dog can never represent you. Hence, it is not a matter of whether you are [140] willing to let a dog represent you. The fact is that a dog is unable to represent you. Some people love their dog very much; they even let their dog sleep on their bed. Nevertheless, no matter how much they love their dog or even train their dog, their dog cannot represent them.
The position of man in the universe is very noble. It is so noble that man can be God’s expression and representation. Man is qualified and capable of representing God, because this is God’s delight; God created us for this purpose. However, there may be a big question mark within us concerning how we can represent God. Let us consider the example of a dog. First, dogs are not qualified to represent us, because they are not of our species. It is an insult to say that a person is a dog. Second, dogs are not able to represent us, because they have neither human consciousness nor a discerning ability to represent man. Are we qualified to represent God? Yes, we are qualified because we are like God. We were created in His image. No other organism or animal can represent God, because they were not created in God’s image. Neither can any organism represent man, because they do not have the human life.