Saturday, February 25, 2012

The Good News is that God Does Not Need Us!

On a particularly existential day we may wonder about why it is God made humanity.  I know I have found myself contemplating this.  And the answer I have often heard given is that God made us because He needed us or was lonely or something to that effect.  This sentiment is usually well intended, but the truth is that God does not need us.   However weird this may seem, it is some of the best news ever.

One of the many beautiful facets of Trinity is that it disproves this idea that God is isolated.  With Trinity God is His own best friend on levels that a finite being as myself will never comprehend.  If God gets lonely He hangs out with Himself.  God also is perfect which means He does not need anything.  We cannot contribute to God's independence.  So why is this good news?  It is kind of like eating.

Now I like food and I enjoy eating.  But I also frequently find myself eating merely out of metabolic necessity, and on those occasions there is no enjoyment in eating.  Here food merely serves a utilitarian purpose.

And this is an example of why it is so awesome that God does not need us.  If God needed us like I need food, then it means we serve some utilitarian purpose.  But because God does not need us, we can be confident that God is free then to want us.  We are not filling some void in a perfect and independent God, we exist as the overflow of His love.  In His goodness and perfection of love God created us.  That is why we exist.  And that is really cool.