Kyle A. King

Watching my favorite movie, Lord of the Rings, my heart was once again captured by the life of the “hobbits.” Though hobbits love food, ale and a good time, there is something greater in their hearts that defines them as creatures. Bilbo Baggins, the most famous of Hobbits, states, “Where are our hearts truly lie is in peace and quiet and good tilled earth.” A match is lit in the chambers of my heart every time I hear that line! Peace. Harmony. Contentment. Could it be that all people long for these things?

Even during the most ancient of times, not in “Middle Earth” but in a place called the “Middle East,” a group of nomad people had a word for this type of peace. It was called “shalom.” Shalom “occurs 52x in the OT,” and the word “covers well-being in the widest sense of the word; prosperity…; bodily health; contentedness on going to sleep and at death; good relations between nations and people, and salvation” (NIDNTT 165). The idea of shalom was ingrained in the whole society of these people, and they were not alone. I just recently listened to a CD about colonization in North America. Apparently, even the Cherokee Indians had these “principles of shalom” and “just about every one of the Native American tribes had these ideas” (Mclaren). Peace with one another. Peace with our environment. Peace with God—it is what all societies want worldwide, yet it is these things that they are the furthest from. Could it be that the “cry of our hearts” is something that God wants for us to be found in our purpose for living—to pursue peace and live in harmony? Only by grace has God interrupted our lives in order to tell of His intended purpose for us through His word. From beginning to end, the Scriptures testify that the highest purpose for humanity is this: to simply live in harmonious community together while enjoying one another, enjoying God, and enjoying His creation. This is worship and all of redemptive and salvation history exists to bring this purpose about (Piper 17).

We were made to live in a community where people enjoy other people. Our use of language, facial expression, and physical touch give evidence that we were meant to live in some kind of social setting. God takes our speculations a step further when He says that Adam is not complete or “good” unless living in the context of another person (Genesis 2:18 NIV). Though sin, the “destructor of community,” entered into the world, God’s purpose for community continued through the nation of Israel and possibly with other nations (Grenz 115) (Amos 9:7). When Jesus came, he began a work of reconciliation not just within the nation of Israel, but also between Israel and other nations. This work of restoration between nations was and is being continued by the church. Revelation 7:1-17 describes the end result as “every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages” worshipping God together. All of these “acts of God” in history is a resulting overflow of God’s heart for community (Grenz 115).

We were made to be in a community where ceaseless communion occurs with its Creator. Without the presence of God in community, it cannot exist, because “in Him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:25 ESV). All of human history is about trying to establish community and achieve peace without God, but this is an impossible task, because it is only in our peaceful relationship with God that we are enabled to love one another. The Apostle John writes, “Let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God” (1 Jn 4:7 NIV). People must be rescued from their bondage in sin before they can experience an authentic relationship with God in community. This truth is echoed in the story of the Exodus when God declares to Pharaoh, “Let my people go, so that they may worship me” (Ex. 8:1 NIV). Knowing God and worshipping Him ceaselessly is the anchor of community. To be consumed with the ultimate purpose for life is to be consumed with the Creator of heaven and earth relationally.

We were made to be people in community who cherish and rule over the elements of creation. Dallas Willard writes that God created humankind in order to “to reflect” His nature “to creation” (Willard 48). We are God’s hands and feet to His creation. The Psalmist reflects on the meaning of humanity’s high place in the created order:

“Thou hast made him a little less than a god, crowning him with glory and honour. Thou makest him master over all thy creatures; thou has put everything under his feet.” (Psalm 8:5-6 NEB)

This idea of humanity’s intended purpose begins with Genesis 2:15 which states, “The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it” (Gen 2:15 NIV). One purpose that God put humankind into the world was “to work it.” God loves culture, and this is the first hint in the Scriptures that God intends man to create it. Though this purpose is hinted at in the beginning of history, it is finally realized in Revelation when God calls all the kings and nations of the earth to bring their cultures into the “New Jerusalem” at the end of the age (Revelation 21:24-26).

The second purpose for humankind was to “take care of” creation. Not only does God want us to create culture, but He wants us to cherish and sustain the rest of creation. This purpose for humankind is especially important today, because it has simply been ignored. God desires that we create our own communities of culture, but He also wants them to be in harmony with the created community that He established when the world was made.

We all know that the world is not the way it is meant to be, and because of this, it is very difficult to conclude what we are meant to be. Yet through all the brokenness and confusion of this world, we can still manage to see “dim reflections” of what our highest calling might be (Willard 45). Our need for one another is reflected in the tribes and nations we live among. Our need for a God is reflected in the religions that we create. Our need to rule over creation is reflected in the cultures that we form and the animals that we domesticate (Willard 45). Could it be that satisfying these deep-inner needs correlates to living out our ultimate purpose for life? God answers that question emphatically saying “Yes! But you must look to Me to meet those needs.” He paints a perfect picture of this in Revelation 22:1-3)