The Purpose for the Creation of the Universe
Lesson Objective: Understand that God’s purpose for creation was to have a relationship of love that produces joy.
Divine Principle Reading:
To understand more precisely the issues concerning God’s purpose of creation, let us first examine how joy is produced. Joy is not produced by an individual alone. Joy arises when we have an object partner in which our internal nature and external form are reflected and developed. Our object partner helps us to feel our own internal nature and external form through the stimulation it gives. This object partner may be intangible or it may be substantial. For example, an artist’s object partner may be an idea in his mind, or the finished painting or sculpture which substantiates that idea. When he visualizes his idea or beholds his work, he is stimulated to feel his own internal nature and external form reflected in it and feels joy and satisfaction. When his idea alone is the object partner, it is not as stimulating, nor is the joy that it brings as profound, as that from a finished work. This nature of human beings originates in God’s nature. In like manner, God feels the fullness of joy when He is stimulated by His substantial object partners to feel His original internal nature and original external form through them.
Activity: How is Joy Produced?
1. Explain:
- Joy cannot be produced by yourself; you need an object partner to have give and take action with.
- The same is true for God. God created the universe so that he could give and experience joy.
2. To demonstrate the idea that joy is produced through give and take action, ask the youth to play Rock, Paper Scissors:
- First have them play on their own
- Then have them play with a partner
3. Discuss: Share an experience that made you feel truly happy.
- What was it about that experience that made you feel so happy?
- Who or what was your object partner that brought you so much joy?
Concluding Point: Joy can only be produced through a relationship; God created the universe so that he could have a relationship to give and experience joy.
Activity: God of Love
1. Read these Bible verses about God’s Love as a group:
- Isaiah 41:10 Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
- Jeremiah 31:3 I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.
- Revelation 21:4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes… neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.
- Isaiah 41:13 For I, the Lord your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, “Fear not, I am the one who helps you.”
- Matthew 28:20 And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.
- Matthew 11:29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
2. Explain:
- Just as these Bible verses show, God truly loves us and wants to take care of us. God wanted to have a love relationship with us.
- The Cheon Seong Gyeong says:
God did not intend to simply create something and leave it alone; He wanted an eternal relationship with His creation. God intended an ideal of total oneness, an inseparable relationship that no one could break, that even He Himself could not break. Therefore, from the time the first human beings were created, God and human beings were meant to be together, not separate. From that starting point, God and we human beings were meant to stay together for eternity.
3. Ask the youth to write a message of encouragement and appreciation to someone in their life that they love and care about. The message should be about 1 paragraph in length.
4. After everyone has written their letter, ask the youth to now read that letter to themselves as if it was a love letter from God.
Concluding Point: God’s motivation for creation was love and He desires to have a loving relationship with us, His children.