Did God make man because He was lonely?

Man may feel lonely but God won't. Pixabay

There are some today who think that God created man out of loneliness. They argue that God must've felt lonely because He knew it wasn't "good for man to be alone." They attribute man's being alone to God's being alone. Thus, they think God made man in order to have company.

This man-centered thinking fails to consider that God was, is, and will always be complete and perfect in Himself. He doesn't need us, and neither does He feel lonely without us. When God created man, it wasn't to "fill the gap in His heart." Rather, it was for something else:

His glory.

We were made for His glory

The Bible tells us that everything that was made was made by Him for His own glory. There's nothing exempted from this; everything that was created, whether seen or unseen, was created by Him for Him. Colossians 1:16 says,

"For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him."

One of God's creations, in fact the only one that He literally breathed with His own breath, is man - us. Genesis 1:26 tells us the reason why God made us:

"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.""

Made in His likeness

That very verse states that we were made in God's likeness. In order for us to understand this better, we've got to look at God Himself.

The Bible tells us that God eternally existed in three different persons. The Godhead is composed of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Sean McDowell, assistant professor of Christian Apologetics at Biola University, says of this wonderful fact about God,

"Consisting as he does of three persons, he has existed eternally as relationship. A continuous cycle of perfect relationships has been eternally experienced within the Godhead of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit."

We know that God's three persons are in perfect harmony, perfect relationship with each other. And God graciously shared to us His likeness in the sense that we could have a perfect relationship with Him, too. We were made to have a relationship with Him.

Not only that, we were made to glorify Him by reflecting His character and creativity:

"Then God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth."" (Genesis 1:28)

So why did God create man?

Friends, God didn't create man out of loneliness. Rather, He created us in His goodness to glorify Him. We were made to exalt God, to glorify Him, to praise and worship Him. We weren't made to give God company because He's already complete in Himself. We were made to give Him glory in reflecting His character, and enjoying a relationship with Him.

News
King Charles attends Royal Maundy service in Wales
King Charles attends Royal Maundy service in Wales

Hundreds of people gathered at St Asaph Cathedral on Thursday for the annual Royal Maundy service, held in Wales for only the second time in the service's 800-year history.

Welsh church to hear full bell ring for first time at Easter service
Welsh church to hear full bell ring for first time at Easter service

Over 150 years since a north Wales church was built with plans for a full ring of bells, the sound long intended for its tower is finally set to be heard at an Easter service.

'Gordon Brown: Power with Purpose', by James Macintyre
'Gordon Brown: Power with Purpose', by James Macintyre

'Gordon Brown: Power with Purpose' is beautifully written, with an unusually nuanced approach to political matters.

MPs reminded of impact of Christian faith in politics with book gift
MPs reminded of impact of Christian faith in politics with book gift

Alastair Campbell famously declared "We don't do God."