Humanity's Place in God's Cosmic Plan and Purpose
Humanity's place in God's cosmic plan is rooted in creation, where humans were made in God's image and likeness [2]. This foundational act establishes humanity's unique relationship with God and their role within the broader divine purpose. God's purpose in creation was completed by making humanity [2].
The Bible indicates that God's plan is eternal and comprehensive, encompassing "all things that ever were or will be" [5]. This eternal purpose, often referred to as God's decrees, determines the "certain futurition" of events [5]. The Apostle Paul speaks of God's plan for "the fullness of time, to bring all things in heaven and on earth together in Christ" (Ephesians 1:10) [1]. This suggests a grand unifying purpose centered on Christ.
Humanity was created by God, through Christ, and by the Holy Spirit, reflecting a Trinitarian consultation in Genesis 1:26 [2]. This creation was "in the image of God" and "after the likeness of God" (Genesis 1:26-27) [2]. This divine image implies a capacity for relationship with God and a unique position within creation. While humanity cannot profit God (Job 22:2), they were made for God (Proverbs 16:4) [2].
The wisdom of God, which governs the world, is unfathomable to humanity, yet a key aspect of it relates to and can be understood by humanity [6]. This divine wisdom is identified with Jesus Christ, the "Almighty Word" [6]. The indwelling of Christ's essential life in humanity is seen as the "great theater and medium of divine display" for both life-giving and judgment [11].
The church plays a significant role in God's cosmic plan, serving to "showcase to the entire universe God’s wisdom in its rich variety, as expressed in his plan of redemption" [8]. This display is intended for "unseen rulers and authorities in the heavenly places" [8]. The entire scheme of salvation, which demonstrates God's great wisdom, is in accordance with God's eternal purpose [7]. This purpose includes Christ's incarnation, sufferings, death, and the appointment of individuals for salvation [7].
Humanity's ultimate destiny involves being transformed to be like Christ, the "heavenly man," experiencing the Kingdom of God in resurrection bodies [9]. This transformation moves beyond the physical bodies inherited from Adam [9]. God's presence is not only everywhere by His power but also dwells in a special way in the human nature of Christ, where "all the fulness of the Godhead bodily" resides [10].
The overarching goal of God's plan, as expressed in scripture, is that "all the peoples of the earth may know that the LORD is God. There is no other!" (1 Kings 8:60) [4]. This universal recognition of God's sovereignty and uniqueness is a central theme in the divine purpose. God "inhabits eternity" and "the praises of Israel," dwelling among those praises and continually surrounded by them [3].
Sources
- Ephesians “Ephesians 1:10 (BSB) — as a plan for the fullness of time, to bring all things in heaven and on earth together in Christ.”
- Torrey's Topical Textbook “Torrey's Topical Textbook: Man — Made for God -- Pr 16:4; Re 4:11. God's purpose in creation completed by making -- Ge 2:5,7. Cannot profit God -- Job 22:2; Ps 16:2. Unworthy of God's favour -- Job 7:17; Ps 8:4. Created By God. -- Ge 1:27; Isa 45:12. By Christ. -- Joh 1:3; Col 1:16. By the Holy Spirit. -- Job 33:4. After consultation, by the Trinity. -- Ge 1:26. On the sixth day. -- Ge 1:31. Upon the earth. -- De 4:32; Job 20:4. From the dust. -- Ge 2:7; Job 33:6. In the image of God. -- Ge 1:26,27; 1Co 11:7. After the likeness of God. -- Ge 1:26; Jas 3:9. Male and female. -- Ge 1:27; 5:2. A l”
- Easton's Bible Dictionary “Easton's Bible Dictionary: Habitation — God is the habitation of his people, who find rest and safety in him (Ps. 71:3; 91:9). Justice and judgment are the habitation of God's throne (Ps. 89:14, Heb. mekhon, "foundation"), because all his acts are founded on justice and judgment. (See Ps. 132:5, 13; Eph. 2:22, of Canaan, Jerusalem, and the temple as God's habitation.) God inhabits eternity (Isa. 57:15), i.e., dwells not only among men, but in eternity, where time is unknown; and "the praises of Israel" (Ps. 22:3), i.e., he dwells among those praises and is continually surrounded by them.”
- I Kings “I Kings 8:60 (BSB) — so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the LORD is God. There is no other!”
- 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”
- Job (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on Job 28:12: Can man discover the Divine Wisdom by which the world is governed, as he can the treasures hidden in the earth? Certainly not. Divine Wisdom is conceived as a person (Job 28:12-27) distinct from God (Job 28:23; also in Pro 8:23, Pro 8:27). The Almighty Word, Jesus Christ, we know now, is that Wisdom. The order of the world was originated and is maintained by the breathing forth (Spirit) of Wisdom, unfathomable and unpurchasable by man. In Job 28:28, the only aspect of it, which relates to, and may be understood by, man, is stated. understanding--insigh”
- Ephesians (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Ephesians 3:11: According to the eternal purpose,.... The whole of salvation, in which is displayed the great wisdom of God, is according to a purpose of his; the scheme of it is fixed in the council of peace; the thing itself is effected in pursuance of it; Christ, the Redeemer, was set forth in it; his incarnation, the time of his coming into the world, his sufferings and death, with all their circumstances, were decreed by God; and the persons for whom Christ became incarnate, suffered, and died, were appointed unto salvation by him; and the application of it to them is accordi”
- Ephesians (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on Ephesians 3:10: 3:10 The church is meant to showcase to the entire universe God’s wisdom in its rich variety, as expressed in his plan of redemption (see Rom 11:33-36). • the unseen rulers and authorities in the heavenly places: See Eph 1:21 and corresponding study note.”
- 1 Corinthians (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on 1 Corinthians 15:49: 15:49 Like the earthly man, Adam, we have physical bodies in this life. But we will someday be like Christ, the heavenly man, experiencing the Kingdom of God in resurrection bodies (cp. Rom 6:4-14).”
- Colossians (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Colossians 2:9: For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. This is to be understood, not of the doctrine, or Gospel of Christ, as being a perfect revelation of the will of God; but of Christ, and particularly of his human nature, as consisting of a true body and a reasonable soul, in which the Godhead dwells in a most eminent manner: God indeed is everywhere by his powerful presence, was in the tabernacle and temple in a very singular manner, and dwells in the saints in a way of special grace; but resides in the human nature of Christ, in the highest and most exalt”
- John (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on John 5:27: because he is the Son of man--This seems to confirm the last remark, that what Christ had properly in view was the indwelling of the Son's essential life in humanity as the great theater and medium of divine display, in both the great departments of His work--life-giving and judgment. The appointment of a Judge in our own nature is one of the most beautiful arrangements of divine wisdom in redemption.”