Did God have a design when he created mankind?
I believe that He did.
According to God’s story, mankind was created to know God, to enjoy Him, and to reflect His goodness back to Him and His created beings; filling the earth with people who believe Him.
Was God’s plan thwarted when people began going their own way and rejecting God’s statements about what is good?
No, God’s plan is still in action.
So what on earth is God doing?
I believe that God is going to fill the earth with people who believe Him, obey Him, and reflect back to Him the glory of His goodness.
What does God’s plan have to do with you and me?
God’s normal method of communicating His message about reality, about life, death, and eternity to come, is through the people do believe Him telling the people who, as yet, do not. Some don’t believe Him because they have not heard, others because they have not yet understood, and still more, because of their hard hearts, just don’t want to hear.
God doesn’t want pre-programmed robots. He wants willing-hearted people who choose to believe Him, to recognize the glory of His goodness, and to intentionally pass on the goodness we have received to other people. He wants us to live like we know Him and are accountable to Him to be good. He wants us to act intentionally to reflect His goodness in the way that we live, while we sacrifice even our own lives to lovingly lead other people into His fellowship.
God’s design is still to fill the earth with people who believe Him.
Without faith (believing Him) it is impossible to please him… Hebrews 11:6
Faith comes by hearing the word of God which is spoken by messenger’s who are sent. Romans 10:13-17
So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Romans 10:17
God’s designed delivery system is through people believing Him enough to tell other people that they may have the opportunity to believe Him. See 2 Corinthians 5:18-20
“For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it.” Mark 8:35 KJV