What is The Purpose of History?

One of the reasons I've gradually moved to embrace Reformed theology has been the purpose of human history. I think it's important for Christians to try to take pause from the everyday details of life and think about important things. One important question we might ask is "Why did God create man?" "What is the purpose of the continual progression of human history?"

We cannot say that God created man because He was seeking relationship (what relationship could be more fulfilling, enjoyable, and all-satisfying than the perfect relationship that exists within God Himself as Father, Son, and Spirit?), or that He needs man for anything (Job 22:2; 35:7; Mark 10:45; Acts 17:25). I believe that the purpose of everything God does is to display His own glory.

All through history, God has been acting for His own glory. He parted the Red Sea not because He exists to please people, but for the glory of His own name (Isaiah 63:12). He led His people not so that they could have "their best life now", but because it served His own interests to do so (Isaiah 63:14). God is merciful because it serves Him (Isaiah 48:9). God's people suffer and are cast out by society for God's glory (Isaiah 66:5; Acts 9:16). God redeems for His purpose (Ezekiel 20:9, 14, 22, 44). God sanctifies His people and makes them holy also for the sake of His own praise (Ezekiel 36:22). God raises up and destroys kings and kingdoms according to His will (Daniel 4:17, 25, 32). God even decrees that sin happens (note: this is different from doing and being guilty of sin) in order that His purposes are carried out (Genesis 50:20; Acts 2:22-23; 4:27-28; 1 Peter 3:17). The Bible affirms that absolutely everything that happens in the entire Universe is according to the purpose of God! (Isaiah 46:9-10; 55:11; Psalm 33:11; Proverbs 16:1, 4, 9, 33; 19:21; Matthew 10:29; Ephesians 1:11; Hebrews 6:17).

At this point someone may object that this makes God out to be an egomaniac. After all, aren't we supposed to put others ahead of us? Yes, we are. The reason that it is wrong for us to seek our own glory is the exact same reason why it is the greatest good for God to seek His own glory - God is good. Man is not. If God is good, and God loves good, then God must love Himself above everything else, and He must seek His own glory as the ultimate good, and in fact, the entire purpose of the universe. If He did not do this, then He would not be good or loving.

So, the Reformed have a ready answer to the question "What is the purpose of human history?". The purpose of human history is for God to create man with the ability to perceive, observe, interpret, think, and make volitional choices, and then to display His glory to him. For some, this results in rebellion and ultimately God being glorified in His wrath towards their evil. For others, this results in repentance and a heart inflamed for God's service, and ultimately God being glorified in His mercy for rescuing sinners from their depraved state (Romans 9:19-23).

But what about those truly evangelical Christians who are not Reformed? How do they answer this question? This is a genuine curiosity for me. I have spent most of my Christian life being non-Reformed, and to be honest, I would have had no answer for this question. I might have even said "history exists for God" or something like that. Ultimately, though, my theology would have provided no basis for such an answer. If we accept a form of free will that allows man to choose contrary to his own nature, then we have "free-will choices" being made outside of God's determination. God's will may be overcome by the power of man's freedom.

In the Arminian/non-Reformed view, it would seem to me that the only consistent answer to the question must be that history exists to display the glory of human freedom. God cannot be sovereign in this scheme, because He cannot determine the outcome of events. He can attempt, He can even foresee, but He cannot cause or determine. That God would ever get His way is almost impossible, for the longer history goes on, and the longer the chain of libertarian human choices become, the less certain any outcome is (if you dump out a box of cards off the roof of your house, it is unlikely that they will all land in order on a neat stack. If you dump them out from an airplane, the chances of this happening are even more unlikely).

If this is the case, though, there are several serious implications. Here are but a few 1)man has a greater degree of freedom and sovereignty than God; 2)the future may be known by God, but it is still out of His control; 3)we cannot be assured that God will eventually bring all things to an end, destroy evil once and for all, and redeem His creation; 4)even if He did, this would actually be the result of the correct chain of human choices, and not by the power of God. In sum, man gets not only the blame for history, but he also gets the glory.

I am genuinely curious, though, how other non-Calvinists would answer this question in such a way that preserves all glory for God? Is there another way? I'd like to hear.

For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it, for how should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another. Isaiah 48:11