Primary Context
The Reason God Made Mankind is Better Context for Biblical Interpretation
We find the context of creation when we understand why God made mankind in the first place. Then we read Scripture to understand how to apply it to our worldview and the lives we live today. Unfortunately, up until now most people read the Bible with a historical mindset. I do not pretend to minimize the importance of history. However, I believe history as the filter becomes a veil to understanding the deeper truths.
For this reason, it may be a mistake to emphasize history over the hidden spiritual nature of the text. Nevertheless, this is where I believe things need adjustment. It seems Scripture is just as relevant today as when David was hiding from Saul.
I think context is critical, but we must emphasize the best context while we apply secondary and tertiary context. For example, we must first consider why God created the Garden of Eden before we can read Genesis. Likewise, modern Christians must contemplate why God gave us a Bible before considering the audience of a particular writer. Understanding why God created the Garden of Eden informs why the authors wrote the Bible. Also, it clarifies why Paul seems to be speaking to multiple audiences as if he is insane.
Without this, we will never understand how to apply the broader texts. The example of David hiding from Saul in a spiritual sense changes dramatically from the historical or physical sense.
I’ll break this down into several sub-topics so it is easier to follow.
Consider the context of creation
There is a transgression in the heavenly realm requiring the death of the transgressor. God, however, shows mercy. This set off a firestorm, but it was silent. It was grumbling that only God would know. God, however, would not have His righteousness questioned; therefore, He challenged the heavenly host to a duel of sorts. There is nothing more central to the Bible than courts, laws, witnesses, testimony, and judgment. Anyone can call a duel according to the rules of creation.
The Rebellion
Rebellion litters Scripture and the human condition alike. Our pride of ownership and self-righteousness is the perfect canvas to paint a new truth and new creation as lessons learned. Yet, God built this rebellion-rich world as human nature for a reason, and Scripture indicates why.
Ezekiel 28:12-19 does a reasonably good job describing the transgression. Since the authors point to many concepts, people, places, and nations as transgressors, the way Scripture rhymes across the books suggests this is the way of the fall. Israel is the chosen, which does not sound like a lot of fun, by the way. They were chosen to be exiled and taught a lesson, which is fairly well recorded in Deuteronomy 9. Verse 13 tells us that transgression is stubbornness. The reason for God’s anger was Israel’s stubbornness, and resulting harlotry. That’s it. This trait goes hand-in-hand with rebellion, which is the point of what needs to be purified out in God’s furnace of Affliction (Isaiah 48:10).
Stubborn rebellion in heaven leads to accusations (satan means accuser or adversary). The righteous (the elect among us) accuse God of breaking His own rules by being merciful (James 2:13, Romans 9:15, Exodus 33:19, Deut 13:17, etc.). Which is why God says He will have mercy and compassion on whomever He wishes. One of two things happens. Either the accusers act like teenagers and say they can do it better than God. God then gives them a shot at running the show themselves to learn how it would turn out under their watch. Or God does not allow the challenge to go unanswered.
In both cases, God knows they cannot succeed without Him. God then lets them give it a shot; otherwise, God would be self-righteous, not righteous. This leads to why God made mankind. There are rules, but separation is the most important one. Don’t eat from the tree! That would make one become like God. He would know the difference between good and evil. That is the tower, hence the confused languages from Babel.
Separation
Something happens as soon as someone sees God. That person dies of this world, but it is not a bad death. On the contrary, it is salvation because nobody can deny God. This separation is a central requirement for creation to work. God removes himself from our presence. So God departed when the stage was set. Mankind would cause both the fall and the reconstruction through the Son of God.
Ezekiel also explains how this works fairly well, as Jesus would turn the corner and build everyone back up. This became like a mirror to see how we would behave without God’s overt presence.
A New Creation
God made mankind for this purpose. Could you imagine watching how you would behave without God? Then you wake up one day and realize how stupid we all looked. I think that is what God is doing through Christ since only God is good. Jesus came to divide, not to unify, and the division will make the house fall (Luke 12:51-2, Luke 11:17). That is the point of creation, to equalize everyone (Eph 2:9).
Separation Through Circumcision
Only a sharp knife can divide us (Hebrews 4:12, Joshua 5:2-3, Exodus 4:25). We are cut off from ourselves and literally divorced from and blinded to the truth. Our other half would not be, but this is what I call the trial of life that I will touch on in another post. This separation is the meaning of circumcision. Spiritual circumcision is different from physical circumcision, but implies a similar thing. Today this is a token meaning, but spiritual application is very important to this day.
Look at your neighbor as potentially interconnecting to you spiritually. We are, after all, the body of Christ. We just don’t know how effective Jesus was when He said we would all eat His flesh and drink His blood to become reconciled with Him.
The Reason for Mankind is a Better Context
With this context, can we imagine another way to contemplate difficult passages such as Matthew 7:22? Jesus’ perfection forms through this separation (Luke 2:52). He would not have known the ones who cast out the demons. They were free to do what they wished, and they were freed because of it. The parable of the Unrighteous Steward tells us to forgive in our state of unrighteousness. Jesus says that is the only way another would trust us with righteousness. This is a better answer for why God made mankind.
