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In this chapter we will consider a fundamental matter: the meaning of the universe. We often hear of people who do not know the meaning of the universe or the value of human life. What is the meaning of the universe? This universe was created by God and has a meaning that is related to the gospel. The gospel preached in Christianity is not high enough. This gospel includes merely being forgiven of sins, going to heaven, and enjoying eternal blessings. However, according to the Bible, the gospel of God is not this low. The gospel unveils the meaning of the universe. The gospel is not simply that the Lord Jesus was crucified to shed His blood and die for us. The entire Bible, from Genesis 1 through Revelation 22, is a book of the gospel. The entire Bible is a gospel message.
The gospel of God saves us out of a human life that is without meaning into the meaning of the universe. Salvation involves being saved from a human life that otherwise would be meaningless. We have been saved from a human life void of meaning into the meaning of the universe. God created a man who had great meaning and purpose. Regrettably, man fell, and the meaning of his life was lost. This means that man lost his original purpose. With His salvation, God rescues us and brings us back to our original purpose. When man fell, he lost the meaning of his existence, but now that we are saved by God, we have been brought back to our purpose, which is the meaning of the universe.
We can find the meaning of the universe in the following verses. Ephesians 1:4-5 says, “Even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world to be holy and without blemish before Him in love, predestinating us unto sonship through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will.” Genesis 1:26-28 says, “God said, Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of heaven and over the cattle and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth. And God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. And God blessed them; and God said to them, Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of heaven and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.” Next, Romans 8:29-30 says, “Those whom He foreknew, He also predestinated to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the Firstborn among many brothers; and those whom He predestinated, these He also called; and those whom He called, these He also justified; and those whom He justified, these He also glorified.”
The above verses speak of God’s good pleasure. This good pleasure was not an afterthought; it was present before the foundation of the world. Before the creation of heaven and earth and even before time began, God had a good pleasure. According to this good pleasure, this delight, God designed a plan. God planned the universe with the heavens, the earth, and a large variety and number of organisms. Not only so, God also planned to create man. God’s purpose in creating man was for man to express God and represent Him, that is, for man to be His expression and His representation. Hence, God created man in His image and according to His likeness. The heavens and the earth and all the things in the universe were created according to God’s will.
Scientists and physicists study God’s creation, but their studies are like a small grain in a field that is as expansive as the universe. Even though we are in the space age, human beings have traveled only from the earth to the moon, and we still have a rather limited knowledge of the universe. Astronomers say that the distance from the earth to the center of our galaxy is at least sixty-four million times farther than the distance between the earth and the moon. The vastness of the universe cannot be fully comprehended by the human mind. God is too great. The things that He created are too vast and too numerous to count. Nevertheless, the Bible clearly tells us that the meaning of the universe is related to God’s desire to gain a group of people to be His expression and representation.
We should never think that the presence of human beings on the earth is a coincidence. Before any man landed on the moon, scientists conducted many studies and had many theories about life on the moon. On the one hand, they were developing the technology needed to land on the moon, and on the other hand, they were speculating whether any organisms were living on the moon. At that time, I was not sure that technology would enable men to go into space or land on the moon, but I was certain that no organisms would be found on the moon. Now technology has advanced to the point that humans have landed on the moon, and this same technology has proven that there are no organisms on the moon. The moon is not a suitable place for man to live. It is not a coincidence that we live on the earth. If the earth were slightly nearer to the sun, we would be burned. If the earth were slightly farther from the sun, we would be frozen. The distance between the earth and the sun is just right. It is not too far and not too near; hence, the temperature on earth is suitable for man’s existence. These facts are not a coincidence. They speak to the mystery and the meaning of God’s creation of the universe.
God has an intention for this universe. He desires to gain a group of people to be His expression. God created the heavens, the earth, all things, and human beings because He desires to work Himself into a group of people so that they would not only express Him but also represent Him. We must express God in order to represent God. A dog cannot represent you. No matter how much you love your dog, it cannot represent you. A dog can bark, but a dog can never represent you. Hence, it is not a matter of whether you are willing to let a dog represent you. The fact is that a dog is unable to represent you. Some people love their dog very much; they even let their dog sleep on their bed. Nevertheless, no matter how much they love their dog or even train their dog, their dog cannot represent them.
The position of man in the universe is very noble. It is so noble that man can be God’s expression and representation. Man is qualified and capable of representing God, because this is God’s delight; God created us for this purpose. However, there may be a big question mark within us concerning how we can represent God. Let us consider the example of a dog. First, dogs are not qualified to represent us, because they are not of our species. It is an insult to say that a person is a dog. Second, dogs are not able to represent us, because they have neither human consciousness nor a discerning ability to represent man. Are we qualified to represent God? Yes, we are qualified because we are like God. We were created in His image. No other organism or animal can represent God, because they were not created in God’s image. Neither can any organism represent man, because they do not have the human life.
We should never regard human beings as just another animal. The animal life is the animal life; it is not the human life. The Bible says that in the universe there is God’s life, human life, animal life, and plant life. Although many animals are beautiful, they cannot be compared to man. The record concerning God’s creation is less than two chapters in Genesis. Creation may appear to be very simple; however, the mystery in it is difficult to clearly explain. No matter how many discoveries there are in science, they cannot explain the record in Genesis. There is no other record in the world that tells us that man was created by God and created in God’s image. Only the Bible says this. Not only does the Bible say that man was created by God; it also says that man was created in God’s image. In other words, God created us with Himself as the mold, the pattern. We were created to be the same as God (1:26).
The record in Genesis 1 concerning creation is very simple. On the first day God spoke a simple sentence: “Let there be light; and there was light” (v. 3). On the second day God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters” (v. 6). Thus, air was created. On the third day God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear...And God said, Let the earth sprout grass, herbs yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit...and it was so” (vv. 9, 11). Thus, the plant life was generated. On the fourth day God created the heavenly bodies to rule over the day and the night (vv. 14-18). On the fifth day God created the creatures in the waters and the birds to fly above the earth (vv. 20-21). On the sixth day God created the animals on the earth (vv. 24-25). After all these things were created, God created man. However, the record concerning God’s creation of man is not as simple as that of His creation of other living things or the heavenly bodies. God did not create man by simply speaking. Before God created man, there was a council. “God said, Let Us make man in Our image” (v. 26). God used the pronouns Us and Our in reference to Himself.
We should consider God’s reference to Himself as “Us” and “Our” before He created man. We probably understand that God is triune. Even though we know the doctrine of the trinity, no one can clearly explain what it means for God to be three yet one. Genesis 1:26 says, “God said, Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness.” In this verse Us refers to God, who is three yet one. He is the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. Matthew 28:19 says, “Go therefore and disciple all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” By considering these two verses together, we see that God said “Us” and “Our” when He created man because it involved His economy and arrangement. The mystery of the three-yet-one God — the Father, the Son, and the Spirit — is not a doctrine; it is for Him to work Himself into us.
When God created man, He referred to Himself as “Us” and “Our” because the Father, the Son, and the Spirit were involved. The Father as the Creator and Inaugurator of all things is God being invisible, the Son is God being manifested, and the Spirit is God indwelling us. The Father is the source, the Son is the expression, and the Spirit is God entering into us. Hence, the Father planned, the Son accomplished what the Father planned, and the Spirit enters into us to apply to us all that the Father planned and the Son accomplished. Hence, after the Lord Jesus came into the world, He died on the cross and was resurrected from the dead to become the Spirit. After His resurrection, the Lord charged His disciples to go and disciple all the nations, baptizing them into the Father, the Son, and the Spirit so that His believers may be completely one with the Triune God — the Father, the Son, and the Spirit.
In Genesis 1:26 God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness.” However, 1 Timothy 1:17 says that God is invisible. Since God is invisible, how could He have an image? Is this contradictory? Speaking of the Son, Colossians 1:15 says, “Who is the image of the invisible God.” God is invisible, but the Son of His love is the image of the invisible God. God cannot be seen, but one day Jesus Christ, who was the image of God, came. Hence, when God said, “Let Us make man in Our image,” that image referred to the Lord Jesus. God created man in the image of the Lord Jesus. We all were created in the image of the Lord Jesus.
Let us consider a suit as an example. My suit has two sleeves; hence, we can be sure that it was made according to my two arms. If another person were to wear this suit, it would not fit him, because it was not sewn according to his measurements. However, the suit fits me because it was sewn according to my measurements. If the suit is left in the closet, it will not have any meaning. If the suit had feelings, it would feel empty and bored. When I wear the suit, it has meaning; it fulfills its purpose.
We were created in the image of the Lord Jesus. This means we were created in a way that matches Him so that He can enter into us. This is the meaning of the universe. The meaning of the universe is for God to be expressed. Wherever God is expressed, the universe has meaning. God gains His expression in a subjective way, not in an objective way. Since God desires to enter into man and be expressed through man, God created man in His image. This is very special. Every light bulb emits light for the sole purpose of expressing electricity. However, if electricity is not transmitted into the light bulb, the light bulb loses its meaning of existence. The meaning of our human life is for God to enter into us and be expressed through us. The meaning of the universe is for a group of people to receive God into them to be their content. Hence, to be saved means to be rescued by God out of a human life that is void of meaning into a life that is full of meaning. Now that we are saved, we have the meaning of our human life. Our life is meaningful because the Lord Jesus is in us.
We should not think that man needs salvation merely because he is sinful. Even if man did not have sin, he would still need to believe in the Lord Jesus. Man needs to believe in Jesus not mainly because he has sins but because without Him man has no meaning in life. This is just like a suit that needs to be worn in order to be meaningful. Man needs to believe in Jesus not merely because man is sinful. Even if man were not sinful, he would still need Jesus, because man was created in God’s image to express God, and thus, he needs to receive God. Adam and Eve were created in the image of God, but they did not receive God’s life into them. Even if they had not sinned, they still needed to receive the life of God.
This also applies to us. It is not until we believe in the Lord Jesus and He comes into us that our human life becomes meaningful. The Bible uses the expression believe into (John 1:12; 3:16), meaning that we believe into the Lord Jesus. When we believe into the Lord Jesus, we also receive Him into us. Thus, we not only have His image but also His life. Not only so, He operates within us to transform and renew us so that we are conformed to the image of the Son of God. We all are in this process of conformation. The Lord Jesus in us is the meaning of our human life.
In my youth I heard educated and learned men say that they do not need Jesus. They said that only sinners, the poor and pitiful people, need Jesus, but people who are highly educated and have a high social status do not need Jesus. They said this because they did not know what it means to believe in Jesus. From now on we need to preach a high gospel. Everyone needs this gospel. We must go and tell people that they were created in God’s image in order to express God. Man was created in the image of the Lord Jesus. Man is an empty vessel and needs to receive the Lord Jesus into him to be his content. Only then can man find real meaning and satisfaction in his human life in this universe.
