THE ULTIMATE PURPOSE OF THE WORLD

God made all things for His own sake (Prov. 16:4: “The Lord hath made all things for Himself”) or for His glory (Psalm 104: The work of creation shows how “very great” He is, “clothed with honor and majesty”). Therefore not only men (Ps. 104:1 ff.), but also the irrational creatures are called on to praise God (Psalm 148). Scripture mentions particularly the glory of His power (Ps. 115:3: “Our God is in the heavens; He hath done whatsoever He hath pleased”); of His wisdom (Ps. 104:24, and Ps. 136:5, ); and of His goodness (Psalm 136, with the refrain: “for His mercy endureth forever”). The idea that it would be ascribing selfishness to God to declare that God made all things for Himself and for His praise is (1) unscientific, since it applies human standards to the majestic God, and (2) atheistic, since it assigns to creatures an independent existence alongside God.