God's View On Personal Interests And Creations
God's View on Personal Interests and Creations
The biblical account of creation establishes that God is the creator of all things, including humanity, and that His creative acts are motivated by His own purposes and pleasure [1, 4]. Genesis 1:27 states that "God created man in his own image," indicating a personal interest in humanity. The creation narrative also highlights God's satisfaction with His creations, as He "saw that it was good" [2].
The concept of God's personal interests and creations is further explored in the patristic tradition. John of Damascus writes that God "did not find satisfaction in self-contemplation, but in His exceeding goodness wished certain things to come into existence which would enjoy His benefits and share in His goodness" [5]. This understanding is echoed in the Reformed tradition, where Charles Hodge notes that God's decree to create the world was motivated by a desire to reveal His own glory [8].
The biblical account also suggests that God's creations are made for His pleasure. Proverbs 16:4 and Revelation 4:11 indicate that God's purpose in creation is to bring about things that will enjoy His benefits and share in His goodness [4]. This idea is developed in the Catholic tradition by Thomas Aquinas, who argues that God's knowledge and will are the cause of all things, and that He knows infinite things [9].
The relationship between God's personal interests and human creations is also a subject of theological reflection. In the Methodist tradition, Adam Clarke comments on Philippians 2:4, noting that believers should not be driven by self-interest, but rather should labor for God's glory and the salvation of men [6]. Similarly, Athanasius of Alexandria writes that God's creation is a revelation of Himself, and that the order and harmony of the universe demonstrate His wisdom and power [7].
The biblical account of creation also establishes that humanity is made in God's image, and that this image is reflected in human creativity and productivity. Genesis 1:26-27 and 2:19-20 indicate that humanity is given dominion over the earth and is tasked with naming the animals [1, 2]. This understanding is developed in the Puritan tradition by Matthew Henry, who notes that humanity is "fearfully and wonderfully made" and that God's creative work in humanity is a source of wonder and awe [10].
The theological traditions represented in the sources also reflect on the nature of God's knowledge and will. Aquinas argues that God's knowledge is not limited to actual things, but also extends to possible things, and that He knows infinite things [9]. This understanding is echoed in the Reformed tradition, where Charles Hodge notes that God's decree is eternal, unchangeable, and sovereign, and that it comprehends all things that ever were or will be [3, 8].
Sources
- Genesis “God created man in his own image. In God’s image he created him; male and female he created them. -- Genesis 1:27”
- Genesis “God made the animals of the earth after their kind, and the livestock after their kind, and everything that creeps on the ground after its kind. God saw that it was good. -- Genesis 1:25”
- Easton's Bible Dictionary “Easton's Bible Dictionary: Decrees of God — "The decrees of God are his eternal, unchangeable, holy, wise, and sovereign purpose, comprehending at once all things that ever were or will be in their causes, conditions, successions, and relations, and determining their certain futurition. The several contents of this one eternal purpose are, because of the limitation of our faculties, necessarily conceived of by us in partial aspects, and in logical relations, and are therefore styled Decrees." The decree being the act of an infinite, absolute, eternal, unchangeable, and sovereign Person, compre”
- Torrey's Topical Textbook “Torrey's Topical Textbook: Creation — The formation of things which had no previous existence -- Ro 4:17; Heb 11:3. Effected By God. -- Ge 1:1; 2:4,5; Pr 26:10. By Christ. -- Joh 1:3,10; Col 1:16. By the Holy Spirit. -- Job 26:13; Ps 104:30. By the command of God. -- Ps 33:9; Heb 11:3. In the beginning. -- Ge 1:1; Mt 24:21. In six normal days. -- Ex 20:11; 31:17. According to God's purpose. -- Ps 135:6. For God's pleasure. -- Pr 16:4; Re 4:11. For Christ. -- Col 1:16. By faith we believe, to be God's work -- Heb 11:3. Order of First day, making light and dividing it from darkness. -- Ge 1:3-5;”
- CCEL (Eastern Orthodox) “John of Damascus, An Exact Exposition of the Orthodox Faith, section 17: Chapter II .— Concerning the creation. Since, then, God, Who is good and more than good, did not find satisfaction in self-contemplation, but in His exceeding goodness wished certain things to come into existence which would enjoy His benefits and share in His goodness, He brought all things out of nothing into being and created them, both what is invisible and what is visible. Yea, even man, who is a compound of the visible and the invisible. And it is by thought that He creates, and thought is the basis of the work, the”
- Philippians (Methodist/Wesleyan) “Adam Clarke on Philippians 2:4: Look not every man on his own things - Do nothing through self-interest in the things of God; nor arrogate to yourselves gifts, graces, and fruits, which belong to others; ye are all called to promote God's glory and the salvation of men. Labor for this, and every one shall receive the honor that comes from God; and let each rejoice to see another, whom God may be pleased to use in a special way, acquiring much reputation by the successful application of his talents to the great work.”
- CCEL (Patristic) “Athanasius of Alexandria, Select Works and Letters, section 82: Part III. §35. Creation a revelation of God; especially in the order and harmony pervading the whole . For God, being good and loving to mankind, and caring for the souls made by Him,—since He is by nature invisible and incomprehensible, having His being beyond all created existence 153 153 Cf. below, 40. 2. , for which reason the race of mankind was likely to miss the way to the knowledge of Him, since they are made out of nothing while He is unmade,—for this cause God by His own Word gave the Universe the Order it has, in order ”
- CCEL (Reformed (Old Princeton)) “Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology, Vol. 2, section 61: § 3. Infralapsarianism. According to the infralapsarian doctrine, God, with the design to reveal his own glory, that is, the perfections of his own nature, determined to create the world, secondly, to permit the fall of 320 man; thirdly, to elect from the mass of fallen men a multitude whom no man could number as “vessels of mercy;” fourthly, to send his Son for their redemption; and, fifthly, to leave the residue of mankind, as He left the fallen angels, to suffer the just punishment of their sins. The arguments in favour of this view of”
- theology (Catholic (Scholastic)) “Aquinas, Summa Theologica, First Part (Prima Pars), Of God's Knowledge, Art. 12: Article: Whether God can know infinite things? I answer that, Since God knows not only things actual but also things possible to Himself or to created things, as shown above (Article [9]), and as these must be infinite, it must be held that He knows infinite things. Although the knowledge of vision which has relation only to things that are, or will be, or were, is not of infinite things, as some say, for we do not say that the world is eternal, nor that generation and movement will go on for ever, so that individ”
- Psalms (Nonconformist/Puritan) “Matthew Henry on Psalms 119:73: Here, 1. David adores God as the God of nature and the author of his being: Thy hands have made me and fashioned me, Job 10:8. Every man is as truly the work of God's hands as the first man was, Psa 139:15, Psa 139:16. "Thy hands have not only made me, and given me a being, otherwise I should never have been, but fashioned me, and given me this being, this noble and excellent being, endued with these powers and faculties;" and we must own that we are fearfully and wonderfully made. 2. He addresses himself to God as the God of grace, and begs he will be the autho”