2. God’s Joy in Human Beings
World Scripture
God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.
Genesis 1.31
I was a secret treasure, and I created the creatures in order that I might be known.
Hadith (Islam)
O Lord of all, hail unto Thee! The Soul of all, causing all acts, Enjoying all, all life art Thou! Lord of all pleasure and delight!
Maitri Upanishad 5.1 (Hinduism)
Happiness is spiritual, born of Truth and Love. It is unselfish; therefore it cannot exist alone, but requires all mankind to share it.
Science and Health, 57 (Christian Science)
As the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.
Isaiah 62.5
When all human beings have accomplished the purification of their minds and come to lead a life full of joy, I, Tsukihi (God), will become cheered up. And when I become cheered up, so will all human beings. When the minds of all the world become cheered up, God and human beings will become altogether cheered up in one accord. O
fudesaki 7.109-111 (Tenrikyo)
What is man that thou art mindful of him, and the son of man that thou dost care for him? Yet thou hast made him little less than God, and dost crown him with glory and honor.
Psalm 8.4-5
Brahma’s creative activity is not undertaken by way of any need on His part, but simply by way of sport.
Vedanta Sutra 2.1.32-33 (Hinduism)
We created not the heaven and the earth and all that is between them in play. If We had wished to find a pastime, We could have found it in Our presence—if We ever did. Nay, but We hurl the true against the false, and it prevails over it, and lo! [the false] vanishes… To Him belongs whosoever is in the heavens and the earth. And those who dwell in His presence are not too proud to worship Him, nor do they weary.
Qur’an 21.16-19
Having created the world and all that lives and moves therein, He, through the direct operation of His unconstrained and sovereign Will, chose to confer upon man the unique distinction and capacity to know Him and to love Him—a capacity that must needs be regarded as the generating impulse and the primary purpose underlying the whole of creation.
Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah 27 (Baha’i Faith)
The Messenger of Allah said: “God says: I have created human beings to win, not for Me be the winner.”
al-Ghazzali, Revival of Religious Science (Islam)
Teachings of Sun Myung Moon
God came to us in order to feel joy through our daily life.
(Way of God’s Will 2.2)
Though God is the Absolute Being, He cannot be happy alone. Adjectives such as “good” and “happy” cannot apply to any being that lives in isolation. They apply only where there is a robust mutual relationship. Imagine a professional singer who finds herself exiled to an uninhabited island. She may sing at the top of her voice, but with no one to listen, will it bring her happiness? In the same way, even the self-existent God absolutely needs a partner to share love with in order to experience joy and be happy.
(September 12, 2005)
God’s creation was a necessary act. The ideal of true love that God is creating cannot be realized by a solitary being. This ideal exists so that God can share with human beings the joy of His exalted and righteous Will. When we understand the God of true love correctly, it is self-evident that this unhappy world of sin and strife was not His original plan.
(400:81, December 27, 2002)
Just as in a family, where the basis of the parents’ happiness is when they have children, it is likewise unmistakable that God’s purpose in searching for humanity is to attain His own happiness through His children. There is no basis for God’s happiness if human beings are excluded. Therefore, God strives to connect with human beings and bring them to Himself, establishing a realm where God and human beings are in unity. Just as we do, God experiences happiness when all the varieties of heart are present in the family.
(32:197, July 15, 1970)
If we were to ask God to tell us why He created this world, He would no doubt answer, “Because I liked it.” Because He liked it. Because it gave Him joy. God created this world to obtain joy. This state of liking, this joy, is obtained through love. God wanted to rejoice; therefore He created this world for the realization of love. God wanted to rejoice over a world of warm and harmonious love, where human beings and all creatures would dwell as one in God’s love. God wanted to rejoice over men and women who would form true conjugal relationships in His love, and then build families, tribes, nations and a world of love; and God would taste the joy of love through the loving oneness of these human beings. This was the very ideal of God’s creation. If human beings had accomplished everything for God exactly as He had envisioned and according to His Will, then God would have become the God of joy, God of glory, and God of happiness.
(113:312)
God did not create human beings as objects for His amusement or as a hobby. It is impossible to express in words how hard God worked and the efforts He devoted to create human beings and establish them as the center of all created beings. In creating human beings, God devoted Himself, making many efforts. He gave them all His heart and soul and the essence of His life. He totally invested His love and affection. He created them to be in a relationship that no force can ever undo or sever. Because God created them in such a way, only when He beholds them [in their original unfallen state] can He finally feel at peace.
(20:207, June 9, 1968)
God created all things in heaven and earth because it pleased Him to behold them. Many Christians today say, “God is the Creator, and we are His creatures. There can be no parity or resemblance between the Creator and His creatures.” This would mean that God is always absolute and alone, in a position without an object partner. Nothing would be greater unhappiness. Consider a man of authority, even the president of a country; his wife has died and he lives alone. Would his son say to him, “Father, you must be so happy to be living alone”? Surely his father would reply, “You rascal. How can I be happy?” Rather the son should say, “Father, would you like me find you a new wife?” That would be a filial son.
(57:247, June 4, 1972)
God’s purpose in creating the universe was to feel joy when He saw the purpose of goodness fulfilled in the Heavenly Kingdom, which the whole creation, including human beings, could have established… The purpose of the universe’s existence centered on human beings is to return joy to God, the Creator.
(Exposition of the Divine Principle, Creation 3.1)