God's Purpose for Mankind and the Earth



There is a lot of talk about people becoming Angel's in Heaven (capitalized only in order to differentiate “the” Heaven from the heavens) and watching over us after they die.



I personally believe that the largest part of this is due to a great misunderstanding of the Bible and what it says.



I know it is a very popular theory and used to console many people after the death of a loved one and this article is not meant in any way to extend the grief or suffering of anyone, but only to encourage people to read the Bible and see what it says.



One of the biggest contributions to what I believe is a fallacy. is a complete lack of understanding regarding God's purpose for the earth and for mankind.



In the beginning was nothing but God, then came the angels and later on, he created the earth and ultimately, mankind.



Again, and perhaps as a side note, these articles are generally only good for people who already have a belief in God and are looking to study their Bibles.



If you do not have any faith in the Bible or in God than I doubt I will be able to sway you one way or the other, though you are certainly welcome to come read my studies and I will even debate the issues with you should you desire an actual debate and not somebody simply willing to sit and listen to you vent your frustrations.



Still, that being said, I do believe that there is a great difference between most people's perception of what God's initial purpose and what it really was.



I am not a Biblical scholar of any account and I do not profess to be correct all the time, but this is my understanding of the Bible as I have read it.



When God created the earth and ultimately, mankind, he gave him a perfect eternal life in a perfect world.



There was never any talk about “Hey, after forever here, if you do really well, we will make you an Angel in Heaven.” and I do not think this ever was the plan for the earth or mankind.



Had it been God's purpose, it seems he would have told us that we were only here for a while and when we were done here, if we were good children that we would be admitted through the pearly gates and given a harp and a set of wings.



Remember, there is none good but the Father and all humans fall short of the glory of God.



It was only after we allowed sin into the world that death came to us as a part of our life here.



Before that, the sole command was to multiply and take dominion of the earth giving honor and praise to God as we did so.



I have read my Bible through and through and I do not see anywhere that it is written that God had a change of heart or even made a change of plans.



In fact, I personally believe that God knew we were going to mess up and I think he knew the angels were going to mess up … long before he ever created any of us.



Now you may say that seeing that it was going to happen and still creating us, he must allow for sin in our lives and many people will use this in order to justify a life of sin but that is another topic for another article.



What I believe is that God knew we were going to mess up but regardless of that fact, he knew that many of us would retain our faith and believe in him and praise and glorify him and his name as we are commanded to do.



He knew that many of us would endure the trials and tribulations and despite our shortcomings, we would be faithful to God in faith, if not in spirit and body.



He also knew (And this is purely supposition) that when it was all said and done, nobody could rightfully question his reign or his sovereignty and thus, we are offered eternal life and not immortality … right here on this good old earth … or at least on the new earth as it is written in Revelations … which I also think is where a lot of the confusion comes from.



One of the passages in Revelations talks about the creation of new heavens and a new earth.



Now I do not know what you read into that or think about it, but I question why there would be any need for a new earth if everybody was going to be flying around in Heaven while strumming their harps.



Not to make light of a very serious topic, but do you see how odd that looks when you say it like that?



Why would heaven need roads if we all had wings?



Why would there be any need for a new earth if we were all going to be in heaven already?



But there is something in Revelations that I think leads a lot of people into this confusion.



There is also a mention of the 144,000 who will live forever ruling with Christ.



Now every Biblical scholar I have read has concluded that this is an actual number and while all have their own reasons for saying so, I have no reason or knowledge sufficient to counter their claims.



I think for me at least, that the key is that these will be people ruling with Christ.



Are they going to be ruling the animals here on earth or ruling the angels in heaven?



While I suppose that is certainly a possibility, it does not seem very probable.



What I personally believe is that these will be the overseers who rule over the rest of mankind with Christ.



If there are only going to be a literal 144,000 people in Heaven, then it has got to be overfull already and if not, then what is the number supposed to signify.



I have seen the influence of the church in many of my study Bibles and seen all of the references to ancient Rome but I doubt that this is all that there is to it.



There are far too many spiritual references and repeats in the Bible for me to believe that the Revelation that was given to the Apostle John should have been so narrow as to only encompass the current affairs of the day.



I firmly believe that this is truly representative of what will happen in the end days … and in fact … I believe personally that we are in the end days now.



As in so much regarding this current system, the right answer is not always the most popular one.



Look at John the Baptist.



Do you think he was warmly welcomed by the masses in his days or do you think that perhaps his oath had effectively ostracized him from much of society?



Christ himself was considered a blasphemer by many of the religious “leaders” of the day because he did not confom to their idea of a Messiah.



Think about ancient Israel and how it was representative of the Church today.



Think about the book of Job and here it gets even more interesting … as Job was likely prophetic of the world today and was not given the truth by the elders but rather a young man from his “Church” or temple.



Is it possible that we need to read the Bible on our own, seek out God on our own terms and see how he opens our hearts individually?



Very few things get me more excited than talking about God and the Bible but I have yet to find a church that would encourage reading and studying the Bible on anything other than their terms.



I may be wrong, but then again, perhaps that is just how God has opened my heart so that I can play some small (miniscule?) role in fulfilling his purpose.



Still, in order to do that, we have to do more than just have faith.



We have two commandments that are given to us as believers and one of those is to preach the good news of the Kingdom of God.



I am not a preacher and I am not a teacher but I do love reading the Bible and my only real hope here is that you will read yours as well and allow God to open your heart as he sees fit.



After all, the only time that God's will is mentioned at all is in Timothy where it says that it his will (Or desire in some translations) that all men come to an accurate knowledge of the truth and through that, find salvation.



I can make no claim to knowing how God thinks, feels or works but I can say without any doubt that no matter what his ultimate purpose is, we all have to seek him out on our own terms through his Word.



Personally, I think it will be heaven right here on earth when his purpose is fulfilled.

Ward Tipton

Professional Author, Editor and Freelance Writer

Your Complete Online Writing Resource