“[God] has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began, but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel” (2 Timothy 1:9-10).
Here, I would like to answer the question the inquisitive mind often asks, “If God knew Satan would rebel, if He knew Adam and Eve would fall, if He knew the cost would be the suffering and death of us all and even His own Son, why did He create at all?” Perhaps you’ve heard it, or have even asked it yourself. Though it’s posed as mere intellectual curiosity—often to stump Christians—it is actually a question of the heart. For when suffering touches us, when we witness evil, when we mourn the brokenness of this world, we might wonder: Was this really worth it? Did God make a mistake?
The short answer is: No. Something I always teach confirmands whenever we get to the First Article of the Creed—where we confess God is our Maker—is that God not only creates ex nihilo (out of nothing), but also ex amore (out of love). God loves to create and He loves what He creates. Ask an artist to stop creating, and they’ll look at you funny. Creating is a fundamental part of what God does. Therefore, He created because He loves to create, which also means He loves you. Not even the fall into sin could stop that love from accomplishing its purpose.
God’s Purpose and Grace Existed before Creation
Let us go back—farther than Genesis, farther than Eden. St. Paul tells us in 2 Timothy 1:9 that God gave us His grace “before time began.” That means before Satan rebelled, before man fell, before the world was made, God had already purposed to show grace in Jesus Christ.
This is staggering. Creation was not an experiment. It was not a gamble, as if God tossed the die and said, “Meh, let’s see what happens.” No; God was not surprised by the Fall. He created knowing full well the cost, and also the outcome. And still, it was worth it, because it means you get to be fully His.
Revelation tells us “The Lamb [was] slain from the foundation of the world” (13:8). This means that in God’s divine will, the cross was not a Plan B—it was Plan A. God’s eternal plan was not just creation, but redemption. The Fall did not frustrate God’s plan; it gave Him the opportunity to display His mercy in a way creation alone never could.
God Did Not Create Evil, but He Permitted It for His Greater Good
Now, someone may ask, “Did God, then, cause sin?” Absolutely not. God is not the author of evil. Scripture says, “God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5). Yet in God’s infinite wisdom, He permitted the Fall. Why? So that He might reveal Himself not only as Creator, but also as Redeemer. So that the world might know not only His power, but also His grace. The Formula of Concord puts it this way:
God’s foreknowledge foresees and foreknows what is evil, yet not in the sense that it is God’s gracious will that evil should happen. Everything that the perverse, wicked will of the devil and of people wants and desires to try and do, God sees and knows before it happens. His foreknowledge preserves order also in wicked acts or works, since a limit and measure is fixed by God for the evil that God does not will. He limits how far it should go, how long it should last, and when and how He will hinder and punish it…
The beginning and cause of evil is not God’s foreknowledge. (For God does not create and do evil, neither does He help or promote it.) The cause of this evil is the wicked, perverse will of the devil and of people.
FC SD XI, 6-7
The Book of Job illustrates this quite well. It presents Satan as a dog on a leash—God only lets him go so far as He will allow him. He knew Job His servant was blameless and upright (Job 1:1, 8; 2:3), and so permitted certain boundaries Satan could not cross. And in the end, Job was immensely blessed. Think, too, of Joseph who was betrayed by his brothers. “You meant evil against me,” he says, “but God meant it for good” (Genesis 50:20). Although God is not the author of evil, He does use it for His good purposes. It’s not so much that He permits it, but that He spites it.
God Created You for Redemption, Not Just for Life
Some say, “It would’ve been better if God had never created at all.” I mean, really? You’d rather not have existed than enjoying the beautiful pleasures of this life, full of evil though the world may be? How nihilistic. Fortunately for us, that’s not how God thinks. He made you not for death or damnation, but for Himself.
Consider what Paul writes in Ephesians, “He chose us in [Christ] before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will” (1:4-5).
The Father delighted to create you. He delighted to redeem you. Even knowing the cost, even foreseeing the cross, He said: You are worth it. This is not sentimentalism; this is divine truth. You were made not merely to live, but to be loved eternally in Christ. As we confess about the Second Article of the Creed in the Small Catechism, “[Christ] has redeemed me… that I may be His own.” That’s the goal: that you might be God’s own.
The Cross Shows God’s Purpose was Always Jesus
If you really want to understand why God created, even knowing the Fall would come, look to the cross. There, we see the eternal purpose of God revealed. “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).
Jesus is not merely the answer to sin; He is the reason for creation. All things were created “through Him and for Him” (Colossians 1:16). Christ is the center of history, the center of creation, and the center of salvation. And here’s the beautiful truth: If there had been no Fall, we would never have known the depth of God’s love, the riches of His mercy, or the glory of the cross.
What Does This Mean for Us Today?
It means your life is not an accident—warts, disabilities, and all. Your suffering is not random or purposeless. Your salvation is not an afterthought. In Christ, you are part of God’s eternal plan. Yes, evil still rages. Satan still prowls around “like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8). But after the blow Jesus—the promised Seed—struck to the devil’s head, he is now a toothless lion. The worst he can do now is gum you to death.
His defeat is certain. Christ has conquered, and now you are more than a conquerer through Christ who loves you (Romans 8:37). The cross was not the end; it was the beginning of making us a new creation in Him (2 Corinthians 5:17). In Baptism, you are joined to His death and resurrection, and thus are made new (Romans 6:3-5).
Therefore, when you doubt, when you suffer, when you wonder if it was all worth it, look to the cross, and look to your Baptism where you were crucified and risen with Jesus. There, God says, “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are Mine” (Isaiah 43:1).
So, if God knew the world would fall, why did He bother to create? Because He is love (1 John 4:8). Because He desired to redeem, restore, and make all things new. Because you were in His heart before time began. And because Jesus Christ was already prepared to be your Savior before the first light was even formed.
The Lutheran Column 