The Chief End

What is the chief end of man? I know the party line, and I don't disagree with the principle. But I've found a slightly different spin in Scripture. Take Genesis 1, for example. Humanity is introduced by God with a very specific distinction:

Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

In case you missed it, God created man in his image. Of course, man promptly turned and desecrated that image. Indeed, to whatever extent fallen man bears that image today, he twists and perverts it. But that's not the end of the story.

What amazes me is that this theme of bearing God's image is picked up on again in the New Testament message of salvation. God speaks of his elect as those whom he has destined to be "conformed to the image of his Son" (Romans 8:29)! This was God's plan from the start, and no human fall is going to foil him in it. =)

But what does it mean to bear the image of God? That is a wonderful question, and I'm convinced that the reality is as gloriously multifacted as God himself is to us. However, to prove that I really don't disagree with the classic Reformed perspective, I must say that it seems relationship is an essential aspect. God reveals himself as a Trinity - one God co-existing in three persons - persons clearly distinguished as Scripture narrates the interactions (relationships) within the Godhead. Even so, humans are social creatures - relating among ourselves, and (much more significantly) capable of interaction with God himself! The great, sad moment of the Fall was when God came to the garden to walk with Adam and Eve, and they felt compelled to hide. The great joy of eternal blessedness - indeed, Christ's definition of 'eternal life' - is to know God (John 17:3).

Thus, I must admit that the Westminster theologians really weren't far afield to assert that the chief end of man is "to glorify God and enjoy him forever".