Why did God create humanity?

from the old testament

• God demonstrated His creative genius in making not only the universe, but also its highest personal being, man (Genesis 1:26–28).
• God reinforced this powerful truth through the prophet Isaiah, who said for Him, "bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the end of the earth, everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made" (Isaiah 43:6–7).
• God intentionally created humanity and said that it was good. Since God is perfect in His goodness, His love, His righteousness, and His wisdom, we can be certain that He created humanity for purposes that He alone fully understands, and these purposes are very good. So, when He finished creating the cosmos, the world, and man, God could honestly say, "It [is] very good" (Genesis 1:31).
• God also wanted man to help Him care for the beautiful world that He had created as the place for these special people to live: "And God said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over [watch over, or care for] the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.'" (Genesis 1:28) "The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it" (Genesis 2:15 [NIV]).
• Part of God's image of goodness and love that He put into man's heart gives us the senses by which to know God (Psalm 139:14). He gave us abilities with which to serve Him. God enjoyed creating a race of beings who are enough like Him that we have the capacities to give Him the pleasure of our company while we enjoy the pleasure of His company.

from the new testament

• The New Testament confirms that God created everything, including humanity, because it pleased Him to create for His glory (Romans 11:36; Revelation 4:11).
• A New Testament statement affirms that God created humanity for His glory: "all things were created through him and for him" (Colossians 1:16). Everything was created to reflect who He is, the fullness of truth, goodness, love, justice, and all of His attributes.
• Acts 17:26–28 tells us that we were created to know and find God. It says that God “made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, for ‘In him we live and move and have our being.’”
• God gave us the capacity to love Him and to worship Him. Jesus encouraged His disciples with this truth when He said, "No longer do I call you servants…but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you" (John 15:15).
• Matthew 28:19–20 calls us to share God’s message, the gospel—the good news of salvation offered to all humanity—“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

implications for today

God created humanity with the profound purpose of glorifying Him and reflecting His character to the world. By living out His love, justice, and righteousness, humans serve as living testimonies of God's character. Additionally, humanity was entrusted with the stewardship of creation, tasked with nurturing and caring for the world as caretakers of God's handiwork. This dual-purpose highlights both our role in magnifying God's glory and our responsibility to manage and preserve the creation He has entrusted to us. Through this calling, we align with God's intentions, contributing to a world that honors and mirrors His attributes. How amazing it is to be creatures who are "crowned with…[the] glory and honor" (Psalm 8:5) of bearing and multiplying God's great name and His likeness.

God did not create people as equals with Himself. He is still Creator, and we are creatures who utterly depend on Him for everything. "In Him we live and move and have our being" (Acts 17:28). "And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together" (Colossians 1:17). It always will be true that "the LORD is God; there is no other besides him" (Deuteronomy 4:35). As we live, recognizing the truth that He is God and we are not, and as we abide in Him (John 15), trusting Him with our lives and growing in relationship with Him, we can live out the purposes for why God created humanity.