What Would Life Be Like If God Hadn't Created Man?

 “In him was life, and the life was the light of men.” (cf. John 1:4). If you’re saying we had evolved apart from being created, man would not be in the image of God obviously because things would be without God in the equation. But God is life and breathed in Adam the breath of life and he became a living soul as Genesis depicts. God created all 11 million known lifeforms on earth and He would be the same and His life also, even had He never created mankind. It seems like nature gets along quite well without us in the picture. Without God in the metric, we are but grown-up blue-green pond scum that deserves no respect!

This is what that bleak outlook looks like: no purpose or meaning in life, no hope of eternal life, no dignity or sanctity of life, and no fulfillment in life itself. We would be mere animals in heat, seeking pleasure and avoiding pain, driven by instinct. Instead o life being the deliberate act of God, it would be by chance, spontaneous generation, and evolution. We came from nothing, are here for no reason, or nothing, and going to nothing or nowhere; a brief episode between two oblivions.

But mankind was meant to bring glory to God (per Isaiah 43:7) and to be a lifeform in the image of God that He could have fellowship with, know, and love God. With no humans in the biblical sense on which to bestow His love, it would be a loveless world for God cannot express His love adequately through mere beasts. No lifeform would be moral or even spiritual to know right and wrong and to God Himself. Lifeforms would certainly not be intelligent for we are homo sapiens or wise humans. We alone are rational and have a volition that can go either for or against God.

No animal rebels against God and sins but acts according to instinct like self-preservation and procreation, satisfying its appetites. Animals are oblivious to God and do not build chapels! “Where is He who makes us wiser than the beasts?”

Man, The Religious Creature

"I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance" (Luke 5:32, HCSB).
"... God have mercy on me, the sinner!"  (Luke 18:13, NASB--the sinner's prayer). 
"...But I am not ashamed, because I know the One I have believed in ..." (2 Tim. 1:12, HCSB).
"... My goal is to know Him and the power of His resurrection..." (Phil. 3:10, HCSB).
"If only I knew how to find Him..." (Job 23:2, HCSB). 
"Yes, You are a God who hides Himself..." (Isa. 45:15, HCSB).

Kids are taught in the schools they are animals, and is it any wonder they act like them?  But we are not animals!  Have you ever observed an ape building a chapel?  Man is incurably religious in his core being and nature and if he doesn't worship God, he'll worship something in its place: himself, fame, fortune, power, celebrities, heroes, an engrossing hobby, a sport or sports team, you name it!  Mankind is hard-wired for worship and religion--it's his nature!  Religion dates back to the Garden of Eden when Adam and Even made themselves aprons of fig leaves--Operation Fig Leaf!  Mankind has been termed Homo religiosus or the religious being.  He's also been called Homo divinus, or the divine being.  It is really obvious that man has a spiritual dimension and inclination, which in itself is a sort of proof of God's existence, as when one feels the tug of a kite, knowing it's there.  We feel pulled toward God as if gravitating in His direction.  Man has always been on the quest to find Him but God hides Himself (cf. Isa. 45:15) only to be found by the diligent (cf. Heb. 11:6) and not triflers. He will authenticate Himself if searched for!

The answer though is that we cannot find Him unless He reveals Himself and He has in Christ. But a poll was once taken in the UK and they found out that a certain percentage of people actually believe in "the Force," of Star Wars fame, though it's fictional!  People grasp at each passing straw hoping for hope and light at the end of the tunnel.  And George Lucas, the producer of the Star Wars saga, said that he's come to the conclusion that all religions are right!  This is impossible due to the inherent contradictions of beliefs, but it is logically possible they all could be wrong!

As Pascal said, "There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every man which only God can fill through His Son, Jesus Christ." Augustine said that our hearts are restless until they find their rest in God.  We are empty, unfulfilled beings without God in the picture.  We need God to find meaning, purpose, and fulfillment in our life.  Without God, life makes no sense--it's a useless passion.   The ontological proof of God is that He is worshiped in some manner in every culture around the globe.  All culture, it's been claimed, is shaped by religion.  The stability of society depends upon religion as the guiding light and principle of moral principle.  In fact, George Bernard Shaw, quoted by William Barclay, said that "no nation has survived the loss of its gods."

As a matter of fact, we are all inclined to think we can gain the approbation of God in many ways:  religion, morality, good deeds, philosophy, or ritual!  We aren't called to become do-gooders or goody-goodies or even Goody-Two-shoes!  Our good deeds or do-goodery amount to naught in God's eyes, even as filthy rage according to Isa. 64:6!  We must do all to the glory of God (cf. Col. 3:17, 23) and in the Spirit of God, not by might nor by power (cf. Zech. 4:6).  Religiosity accounts for zilch in God's economy and the way up is down, it's a matter of how low we can go, not how high we can attain on our own merit.  We all like to compare ourselves with others (cf. 2 Cor. 10:12) and think we are more "religious," righteous, or holy (cf. Isa. 65:5) than others, but God doesn't grade on a curve and we are all in the same boat--God has leveled the playing field.  We are all justly condemned apart from grace and fall short of God's glorious ideal and standard of holiness (cf. Rom. 3:23).

But God has not called us to a to-do list; He's called us to a to-know list instead. The bottom line is that man is incurably addicted to doing something for his salvation and wants to give himself some credit.  We don't need a to-do list and Christianity is not a catalog of rules or list of dos and don'ts, but it's a list of to-knows!  We need to know God, know we are saved, know the will of God, know Jesus as personal Lord and Savior, know the Word, know the gospel, know our enemy, know our calling, know Christian ethics, know sound doctrine, and to know the Lord first-hand not second-hand, and even to know ourselves for who we are, etc. But don't forget, in knowing, we must apply what we know!  Christianity is a religion of knowledge and we know that we know--we don't conjecture or surmise, but know by the testimony of the Word itself with certitude.  There are basically three ways of knowing something:  experience (the empirical), revelation, and rational thought processes and reasoning faculties--we have the revealed Word of God.

Christianity is a revealed religion, not one of religious imagination or concoction.  It's the only faith that is based on facts, history, and evidence and we can know for sure of what we are talking about or believing.  Many religions are referred to as "faiths," but only Christianity stresses this as the instrumental means of salvation--faith is stressed as the goal and primary virtue!  But note that it's the object of the faith that saves, not faith per se--we don't have faith in faith, but faith in Jesus!  Jesus is the only Savior!  We don't just acquiesce or agree to a creed or recitations, we know a person!  Christianity isn't selling some good work or philosophy of life, but freely offering the gift of salvation to all!  But note that Christianity has nothing to say to those who don't realize they are lost and in sin.  The prerequisite is being lost before being found!

But fortunately, Christ doesn't call us to religion!  The Bible even frowns upon the term itself and prefers to call our religion a "faith" or the Way.  We know the way to eternal life!  What we are called to specifically is a life of holiness, righteousness, good works, and fellowship with God.  We are called to walk in the light and be lights.  To be the salt and light of the world at large.  Our righteousness is as filthy rags and all our good deeds don't benefit God--He just turns everything to His glory, even making the wrath of men to praise Him (cf. Psa. 76:10).  Our righteousness, then, is God's gift to us--not our gift to God!  We have nothing to boast of, and nothing that we didn't receive (cf. 1 Cor. 4:7).

Man naturally wants to do something for his salvation and must receive it by grace as the free gift of God, unearned, and unmerited.  Salvation is much more than the offer of forgiveness for our past, but the power to live in the present, and hope for the future.  Only Christianity promises and delivers on that promise from the power of sin and also the freedom from its bondage.  We cannot pay it back nor do we deserve it--or it wouldn't be grace.  God owes no one salvation and didn't have to save anyone (or it would be justice), but freely chose to save those whom He foreknew according to His favor and will or purposes (cf. Eph. 1:5). As a result, we are all called to a life of walking with Christ in fellowship and getting to know Him personally and spreading this message--to know Him and make Him known as the marching orders.

Salvation is open to all and offered freely to all (cf. Titus 2:11) who realize their sinfulness and deem themselves unqualified and sinners by nature, birth, and choice, i.e., born in sin and a slave to it.  In fact, the only qualification is to recognize one's not being qualified!  We all need grace and no one is any more righteous than another--we cannot claim holier than thou type (cf. Isa. 65:5) attitudes.  The fact is, that we are never good enough to be saved and cannot do any so-called presalvation work to qualify--but we are bad enough to need salvation.  God has judged all under sin, that the gift of grace may be offered to all.  God doesn't grade on a curve and no one gets in automatically, we all go through the turnstile of salvation one at a time via the same formula:  by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, and God alone getting the glory, while the Scriptures alone are the rule of faith and authority.

Christianity is more than a religion or philosophy--it's a more abundant way of life with Christ, knowing Him personally and putting this faith into action.  It was originally called the Way!  The phenomenon of Christianity is "changed lives" that cannot be attributed to anything but the work of God's transforming power.  And subsequently to translate creeds into deeds.  It would be an insult to tell a Christian that he has "found religion," when he has found the Lord! In principle, religion is based on human achievement, not a divine accomplishment; what we do, not what God has done!  Religion is man reaching out to God, not God reaching out to man. Religion is basically a do-it-yourself proposition and a lift-yourself-up-by-your-own-bootstraps undertaking.  Viva la difference!  

Finally, there is no caste system, no elite, neither are there any spiritual classes to be conscious of (there's no class warfare!)--we are all saints and children of the King and members of the royal family of God as brethren of Christ. We're all one in Christ (cf. Gal. 3:28; Col. 3:11).  We are all family in Christ!  (A word to the wise:  pure religion, as described in James 1:27, won't save; only Christ saves through faith by the grace of God.)   Soli Deo Gloria!

Man: One Of A Kind!

"Where is the one who makes us smarter than the animals..?" (Job 35:11, NLT).
"Do you think we are mere animals?  Do you think we are stupid?"  (Job 18:3, NLT).
"There is something about the way God is that is like the way we are."--J. P. Moreland, Scott Rae

It is vital to know that mankind is not some grown-up ape or descended from any species of the animal kingdom; he's the climax of creation and the special creation of God, in His image or imago Dei, i.e., he has a spirit, soul, mind, heart, and will to know God.   Mankind is the magnum opus of God's creation--His ultimate expression and woman is the finishing touch!  What makes us so unique though? Our DNA is actually closer to pigs though!   There are similarities with the apes on a superficial level, but most evolutionists are inclined to believe we're apes or animals because they don't want to be responsible and want to act like animals with no accountability (cf. Psalm 10:4).

Animals communicate on a limited level, but mankind knows that he communicates; e.g., dogs bark, but don't bark about barking; i.e., they don't argue, have conversations, or communicate with their barking!  We learn through dialogue.  Animals may be conscious, but we're self-conscious!  We alone have a developed language and are intelligent beings with the ability to reason.   We increase our knowledge and pass it on to the next generation; we don't start from scratch with each generation but have a legacy.  Mankind alone is conscious of God and has the volition to obey God, the heart to love God, and the intellect to know God--to communicate with God.  Animals are oblivious to God's presence and have no appreciation nor awareness of Him, while mankind has eternity in his heart and feels the tug towards God, and a yearning to know Him and have a relationship.

Mankind alone has meaning, purpose, dignity, and fulfillment in life beyond himself or his kin.  He lives for something bigger than himself, and something that will outlast him. Most live in light of eternity not for the here and now.   All the senses of mankind, hearing, taste, tactile, vision, olfactory, and even balance are at a much higher level of awareness than that of the animals.  We know that we taste, smell, see, hear, etc. We alone see all the colors and appreciate art that uses them.  We appreciate good tasting food with discrimination and are creative in our cooking beyond what is instinct, we appreciate with our vision fine art and beauty, we fall in and out of love, we have a love for music, we have a sense of humor, and the ability to laugh, we love to have conversations and dialogue, and we love to smell fine aromas and scents.

We know that we have these senses and can communicate about them and appreciate them with pleasure animals don't know.  For instance, we see all the colors and animals don't!  God made us so that we would see beauty and things from His perspective, appreciating the beauty!  We are highly discriminating in our tastes and know it.  Mankind also has the unique ability to fall in love and to stay in love, and even to fall out of love, romantic love is unique, even though some animals have a courtship, they aren't creative, but go by instinct.  It is said that elephants mourn their dead and eagles mate for life as similarities, but we know we do and get closure, resolution, meaning, or satisfaction!

Mankind is no animal!  God placed us as stewards of the earth and to rule over it and subdue it with responsibility  We are at the top of the food chain!  Mankind alone has a sense of time and a consciousness of past and present, but this is to his detriment when misused:  he tends to worry about the future and regret the past and anticipate the future while living in the past!  Animals clearly live for the here and now!  Mankind alone plans for the future, and not just storing nuts for the winter!  Indeed, man is so creative that God said that if He let us be, we could do anything (referring to the tower of Babel). Have you ever observed an animal building a chapel?

The reason we are in the image of God is so that we can communicate with God and relate to Him; there's something about us that God is like--everything a person is, except sin and evil, God is! God is more and not less than we are and our Creator, so he knows our needs and desires.  In fact, God is able to satisfy the desires of all creatures, and as creatures, and we have the inherent duty to obey God, whether rewarded or not.  Animals have no choice to obey God as creatures, but God gave us the choice to choose Him and to obey Him willingly, not of coercion from some outside force.

In the image of God, we are spiritual, rational, emotional, humorous, musical, communicative, and moral beings (according to scholar Mark Fackler). Mankind senses the moral code or compass of God, and has a conscience to guide behavior, knowing fair play, decency, good faith, unselfishness, justice, good works in progress, whereby we become conformed to His image from glory to glory.   Being in the image of God, we were made to know God (cf. John 17:3) and there is no greater thrill than sportsmanship, altruism, courage, bravery, integrity, honesty, truthfulness, fair play, straightforwardness, and all known fifty-two known virtues, (all biblical) that are from our image of God.  We have this image so we can bring praise to God in a meaningful relationship and enjoy Him to the max forever.   We alone are created for God's glory (cf. Isa. 43:7).  We wonder at the image of Christ becoming manifest in our lives as God finding us.  Per contra, animals don't build cathedrals!

God has searched us and knows us (cf. Psalm 139:1).  "He made [our] hearts, so he understands everything [we] do"  (Psalm 33:15, NLT).  We not only know God, but He knows us (cf. Gal. 4:9).  Not only do we relate to God, but He also relates to us and since Jesus became a man in the incarnation, God feels our pain and is in a position to understand us and what we go through (would you worship a God who knew nothing of pain and suffering?).  We are to find out about the Lord's goodness on our own ("Taste and see that the LORD is good..." cf. Psalm 34:8).  We wouldn't know what crooked was, unless we had an understanding of what straight is!   Soli Deo Gloria!