Education has made tremendous achievements in other aspects of creation. But little has been on purpose of Man’s creation. The deficiency of this information is unquestionably the cause of all troubles on earth. While the answer is revealed in Jesus, it seems education considers Jesus as too sacred to engage in ordinary studies? The study of Jesus, though calling Himself the son of Man, has therefore been preserved in the province of Theology, where no ordinary person is expected to access.
Theology is the study of God in History and in the affairs of man. But there is reason why Jesus called Himself the son of Man. The unraveling of the mystery of Man’s purpose of creation, also simplifies the understanding of Jesus’ purpose on earth and His crucifixion.
The definition of purpose, answers the why part of any question of anything. One of the indisputable truths is that God never created anything without purpose. But not every purpose of creation is readily known to humanity. Without knowing the purpose, there is possibility of abuse of that, whose purpose is not fully understood.
For instance, if an iPad is given to a person without knowledge of its purpose and value, chances are that the person is going to abuse that gadget. The person may treat it as a toy, or simply not give it the caring attention that the gadget deserves. It may appear as unreasonable to criminalize the careless behavior, displayed by a person without knowledge of handling the gadget.
But, ignorance is the most dangerous enemy harassing humanity. The person may not escape consequences of abusing something, due to not knowing the purpose for which it was manufactured. This explains why, even God revealed that people are destroyed for lack of knowledge (Hosea 4:6).
While partial knowledge can be figured out by natural intelligence, detailed understanding, for handling and effectively using the gadget is still necessary. That knowledge cannot be obtained from anywhere else, except from the manufacturer who designed the product. Such gadgets are normally provided with user manual, with necessary information concerning usage and handling.
In this world, other created species do not have the potential to understand God’s purpose of creation. They are equipped with instinct that limits them within the purpose for which they were created. The purpose of their creation can potentially be understood by human beings, as God created nothing without purpose.
Currently, science holds partial understanding, considering that they now appreciate that all creation exists with wisdom revealed in what they call ecosystem in natural environment. This, therefore, implies that scientific studies cannot be taken lightly. Knowledge is extremely necessary towards appreciating and effectively utilizing everything that God created.
But what is extremely necessary in pursuance of knowledge is that you cannot obtain knowledge from any other source except from the originator. It can only be foolishness to assume that information about a Mazda vehicle can be obtained from the Mercedes Benz manufacturers. Common sense dictates that you go to the Mazda vehicle manufacturers for any problem with the Mazda vehicle, even though a Mercedes Benz is considered superior to a Mazda.
It, therefore, goes without saying that a human being, as the only created species with intellectual capabilities, has the potential to solve all problems of the world. The starting point, when pursuing the understanding of God’s creation, is therefore, understanding the purpose of human creation.
God, as creator, is the originator of humanity. We have to go to Him, to obtain this valuable information. The Old Testament carries what I consider to be the most important passage of scripture in the entire Bible. I am baffled, though, when observing that this is not taken as such, in our educational system?
“Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’ So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them” (Genesis 1:26-27) (ESV).
With this datum I, therefore, understand that every human being that I see in my vicinity, whether crippled, insane or appearing as superior to others, is in God’s image. They may not be comparable to each other, but are in God’s image. It can only be foolishness on my part, when comparing them in terms of my own evaluation. God is perfect, so that His creation is perfect, even though beyond my understanding at any given time.
My illusory eyes may entice me to suppose that God created some people to be more or less perfect than others. But that would be a result of lacking information highlighted in Genesis 1:26-27. The truth is that the basic personality in each of those people is God’s image.
The most important data, is that without knowledge of God’s purpose, at my disposal, I can easily abuse those people, one way or the other. However, God, in whose image all people were created, is not physical, as humans are known to be physical. Humans are therefore spiritual, just as God is spirit. The physical appearance, with humanity is not God’s image, necessarily. Details of human qualities can be accessed on the following posts [here] and also [here].
The story of Adam and Eve, reveals only one side, showing reason why humanity is riddled with relational problems. That story doesn’t provide sufficient reasons why God created humanity, in the first place. Yet God created humanity for a special reason, other than just for religious purposes.
Any human being, regardless of how educated or uneducated; religious or not, has the potential to understand created things, more than any other species. The incident at the Garden of Eden, obviously, served to reduce humanity’s capabilities. Humans lost their identity with God. Without information about their origin, humans, systematically, declared unilateral independence.
Therefore, without reason for their existence, obviously, their independence was headed towards calamitous problems. This is why, even today, countries aim for independence, appearing as the only way to solve actual or imagined problems.
However, I suppose some countries, like Zimbabwe, have stories showing that independence does not necessarily provide the eagerly sought after components—love, peace, prosperity and happiness. Something remains amiss.
But the most unbearable discomfort lies in the knowledge that most of those people interred in grave yards died without ever realizing their potential. God had special reasons for their creation. And those reasons could have been beyond anyone’s imagination. But the same people never knew about them.
They may have evaluated themselves according to themselves, or according to what other people in their surrounding said of them. Some of them may have appreciated that God created them in His own image, but without ever knowing the actual reason why God created them that way.
The most suppressive element that Satan has been using in this world, ever since, is authoritarianism. Children are expected to believe and adopt anything said by parents without question. They are also expected to adopt knowledge through the educational authorities, or else they would be deemed uneducated.
Because there is semblance of freedom in controlling other people, everyone desires education in accordance with what satisfies the academic authorities. Such obedience guarantees them with qualification certificates. Without certification, one remains in the dungeons of being controlled by other people, and therefore, supposing that he/she lacks freedom.
This is why others, actually, bribe those in echelons of education, in order to acquire the needed certification, granting the feeling of achievement. However, the reason why the person was created cannot be found from anywhere else, except from the one who created the individual concerned. This is common sense which, unfortunately, is not common even to our renowned educators.
In His first message to His own people Jesus declared:
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Luke 4:18-19) (ESV).
This passage, being prophesy quoted from Isaiah, was referring to Jesus. However, the mere mention that it referred to a despised person like Jesus, caused offense among people who knew His poor background. Instead of celebrating, they were offended. Why and where did the offense come from? The answer is in that Jesus had mentioned the unthinkable; leaving them asking questions like: Who does Jesus think he is, to assume knowledge ahead of those in authority?
The system that puts other people in authority over others and therefore making them superior is characterized in the status quo. It emanates from Satan the architect of the current civilization. What offended those people was actually; either driven by the devil’s influence or the devil was actually using those people to oppose the reversal of his influence on humanity.
Every human being needs liberty. But every human being seeks to oppose any other human being who seeks to attain their own liberty. It seems humans carry the assumption that their own liberties are possible, as long as there would be others considered inferior to them. While abnormal, this is unbelievably a sobering reality that characterizes humanity, today.
The academic authorities seek to crash anyone attempting to attain knowledge without their approval. They may be clear in knowing that God holds the purpose of creating those they despise. But they seek to unashamedly invalidate their intention to attend to their calling without approval from them.
Education is used here, only as an example. But education is not the only system that practices suppression. Parents do it to their own children. Governments do it to their own people. Unbelievably, such practice is horrendously found to be worst among Christians. The pastor or the Bishop is the only one accorded respect, not ordinary church attendees.
Traditional Christianity is actually the very opposite of what Jesus taught, regardless of its popularity in the entire religious world. Christ preached and encouraged His disciples to preach the gospel of God’s Kingdom. However, Christians, as known today, preach different gospels, as they do not even know what God’s Kingdom is all about.
Some preach the gospel of grace. Others preach the gospel of healing, while others preach the gospel of prosperity. That behavior points at individual salvation, without concern for other people. Innocent Christians love such gospels, making them better and more special than the despised unbelievers. [See personal salvation vs. God’s Kingdom].
The gospel of God’s Kingdom enables people to discover their potential in value addition, without Church attendance, necessarily. Those discovering it attain true liberty. They no longer need supervision towards attaining goals. When supervised by others, it is in terms of their own liberties, as clear of reason for engaging in such activities.
The purpose of Man’s creation is to exercise dominion over everything that God created, except fellow humans. Each person holds specific purpose that is different from other fellow human beings. This is just as all creatures are different from each other, with each fulfilling a specific purpose for which God created it.
A banana cannot be likened to a mango, and a lion cannot be likened to a horse. A bee cannot be a fly etc. The same applies to human beings, each was created for a specific purpose that makes no sense for others to aim at copying, leaving theirs unattended. We are all created with different abilities, accomplishing purposes for which the creator designed us to be.
Jeremiah’s parents and those surrounding him were obviously not aware of the potential that God had created him to accomplish:
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations” (Jeremiah 1:5) ESV).
The same applies to Mary the mother of Jesus, including each and every one of us. Paul also stressed this point in Ephesians 1:3-5, showing that God predestined us to become God’s children. One cannot be God’s child and yet answerable to other people.
Nevertheless, I am aware that authoritarians will probably gnash their teeth when discovering this knowledge as coming from someone without approvable credentials. In vain they will seek to invalidate everything said here. But this is the truth that cannot be disputed, as coming from the Bible.
Only a few will find sense in what is covered in this article. The rest will struggle with it, as having no liberty to buy into what is not approved by their authorities. They consider such behavior as submitting to God’s authority, without realizing that Jesus actually came to give them freedom from that kind of mentality.
The indisputable fact is that God created each and every one of us with purpose known only by God. Those discovering the purpose of their creation seek to engage themselves wholeheartedly with it, than occupying themselves with activities that have got nothing to do with God’s purposes in their own lives.
Andrew Masuku is the author of Dimensions of a New Civilization, laying down standards for uplifting Zimbabwe from current state of economic depression into a model for other nations worldwide. A decaying tree provides an opportunity for a blossoming sprout. Written from a Christian perspective, the book is a product of inspiration, bringing reliefs to those having witnessed strings of unworkable solutions––leading to the current economic and social decay. In a simple conversational tone, most Zimbabweans should find the book as a long awaited providential oasis of hope.
The Print copy is now available at Amazon.com for $13.99
Also available as an e-copy at Lulu.com for $6.99