Introduction
The Reason for Creation

  In Genesis 1:26 we read that man was created in the image of God. We also note that he was God's underuler and was given dominion over the whole earth. Coming from the hand of God, made in the image of God, man possessed an intellect of such capacity to name all the animal creation (Genesis 2:19) to rule the earth (Genesis 1:26, Psalm 8:3-9) and to fellowship deity (Genesis 3:8).
  The immensity of the earth, compared with man is staggering, as expressed in Psalm 8. When we lift our eyes to the stellar heavens, aided by the telescope and the spectroscope and endeavor to span the magnitude of the boundless spaces which are filled with millions upon millions of luminaries (stars, planets and universes) we are staggered with the awesome immensity. With the psalmist we say: "When I consider the heavens, the work of thy fingers the moon and the stars which thou has ordained, what is man, that thou art mindful of him?"
  It is only as we remember that man was created by his creator in the image of the Creator, that size and quantity are not nearly so important as God's reason and purpose for man's existence.
  The earth when compared to the stellar heavens is so small, that it has been likened by some astronomers as a "bit of star dust." Were it not inhabited by man created in the image of God it would be unworthy of consideration. On the other hand, the immensity of the stellar universe, with its numerous luminaries exist according to God's word -- "for signs and seasons for days and years, and to give light upon the earth" (Genesis 1:14-15). Without the function of the moon there would be no rise or fall of the ocean tides. Without the sun there would be neither seasons nor vegetable or animal life. It is thus obvious that the reason for the immense stellar universe is the earth. In accordance with God's word the stellar universe focalizes its influence upon the earth to make it habitable for man. Read again Genesis 1:14-15.
  We may now ask: "If the reason for the stellar heavens is the earth: What is the reason for the earth?"

The Reason for the Earth
  The Word of God has the answer to our question. In Isaiah 45:18, the reason for the earth is man. "For thus says the Lord who created the heavens he is the God who formed the earth and made it, he did not create it a chaos he formed it for a dwelling place" (Goodspeed translation).
  This concept is strengthened when we refer to Genesis 2:8-15, here we read "God planted a garden eastward in Eden -- and the Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to till it and to keep it." It seems evident, when we accept the Word of God, that the reason for the creation of the earth is man.
  If the reason for the stellar heavens is the earth, and the reason for the earth is man, what is the reason for man?
  To answer this question we probe the very heart-throb of the Creator! We have a clue in Luke 3:36 wherein Adam is called the Son of God. We also note that Jesus Christ is called the "Son of God" (Luke 1:35). There can be no son without a father!

The Reason for Creation
  As we read the Gospels, we become aware that Christ addressed God as "Father." The Lord's prayer (Matthew 6:9-15) God is addressed as "Our father who art in heaven" -- also Christ's prayer in John 17:5, "and now Father glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the World was." Thus we see that the first man fresh from the hand of God, (Gen. 2:7, Luke 3:38) was a Son of God. The Creator who formed him is called "Father."
  St. Paul in his writings concurs with this great truth in saying: "For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named" (Ephesians 3:13-14). Thus we see that God is a father, and man is his child. Here is the reason for creation.
  If human parents have a right to give birth to children - this too is a right God has reserved for himself. God is a father and perhaps his desire for children is the real reason for creation. Read again Ephesians 3:13-14 and note the words "father" and "family." Read also Revelations 4:11 "For thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created."
  The creator who created us is omniscient, omnipotent, eternal immutable omnipresent altogether perfect in righteousness and holiness. More important to human beings is the fact that He is our heavenly Father, He loves the human family and counts no sacrifice too great to redeem his child after he fell into sin. This is what this study in redemption is all about.

     Forward
  Back in 1939, where we pastored our first church in Kamloops, British Columbia, we began preparing a series of Bible studies for our Thursday evening Bible class. These studies majored in the plan of Redemption as it is in Christ.
  Being young in experience we read and studied everything that could be found on the subject. Most important were the writings of Premier Aberhart, Dr. C.J. Scofield, E.W. Kenyon, Oscar Lowery and others.
  The Bible studies met with enthusiastic response in the church. Later were used in local evangelistic services as well as in citywide meetings in Canada, USA and in Europe and the Near East. Matter of fact, our life style and ministry became colored as these truths grew and developed by further study of the Word of God.
  The themes of this volume have been outlined as sermon material through the years, worked over, revised, rewritten and while ministering in Germany in 1952, were outlined in the German language!
  The truths presented are not new - they are as old as Christendom. We have simply restated old truths in a new way to capture the mind and thinking of the modern man. The language is not theological. It is written for the layperson, as well as the high schooler beginning serious study of great Christian themes. It is not designed to be read as a novel - the contents are meant to be studied and each scripture reference read and pondered
  To rethink and reword these grand Christian themes has been a delight. We trust that the Holy Spirit will make the study of this great theme a joy to the reader.

  Joseph E. Wilderman
  August 7, 1971

     Dedication
  No system of study prepared by any author is entirely the writer's origin. In like manner, I am indebted to the Holy Spirit, the many noble men and women who shared with me the finest of the wheat! Last, but not least my wife, who from the beginning of my ministry to the present has been a most valued help and counselor.
  A word of thanks is in order to Mrs. Twila Springer, and Carolinda, my daughter-in-law who shared in the work of typing the material. There were others who would read what I had drafted in long hand and make suggestions - to these I say thank you!
  Finally, I wish to dedicate this study to the hundreds of students who have sat in the classrooms in three colleges where I have taught. Their searching questions often drove me to more thorough study. God bless this work to their edification.

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