The key to understanding humankind's presence and purpose on earth is to understand God's original intent. If we know what God intended in the beginning, we can make better sense of where we are now and where we need to be going.

Intent can be defined as original purpose. It is more important for us to know what a person intended than to know what he or she said. If we do not properly discern intent, misunderstanding will follow. This is one reason why there are so many confused people in the world. Because we have misunderstood God's original intent, we have misunderstood not only ourselves, but also God's purpose for us on earth.

Understanding intent gives us the "big picture." If we see or hear only a small part of the whole, we will misunderstand and draw an incorrect conclusion. God has a purpose for everything He does. All of us who are citizens of His kingdom are part of His overall plan, but often all we can see is the tiny portion that involves us at any given moment. Regular referral to the Bible, God's guidebook for life in His kingdom, will inform us of His intent, which will in turn help us keep the big picture before us.

Intent is also the most critical component of motivation. It is the source of motivation and the reason why someone does something or creates something. Unless specifically stated, however, intent is usually hidden. A good example of this is a work of art by a master painter. Artists rarely state their intent plainly; they let their art speak for itself. For those who take the time and effort to search it out, the intent behind an artist's work can be discerned from the painting itself. No other explanation is necessary.

As I said before, if intent is unknown, misunderstanding is inevitable. Misunderstanding intent guarantees a waste of time, talent, energy, gifts and resources. Unless we know what God intended, everything we do will be a waste of time. That is the problem with religion. Religion, at best, is humankind's best guess at God's original intent. Most religions focus on trying to get God's attention, which is the wrong approach. We already have God's attention. The key to life and purpose, however, is to get God's intention.

Fortunately for us, God has not hidden His intent away in some obscure manner the way an artist might in a painting. Instead, He has revealed Himself and His intent through His creation (sometimes called "general revelation"), as well as through His Word (sometimes called "special revelation"). An example of the first is found in Psalm 19:1: "The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands." General revelation refers to what we can learn about God through observation of His created order. Special revelation has to do with what God reveals about Himself explicitly through either direct statement or manifestation; things about Him that we could never learn or discern on our own. The Bible is full of such statements of God's self-revelation.

In fact, God's original intention is stated explicitly in the very first chapter of the Bible:

26 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."

27 So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

28 God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground" (Genesis 1:26-28).

The phrase "God said" indicates that what follows is the expression of the intent that God purposed beforehand in His mind. Whenever God speaks we need to listen carefully, because we are about to receive His hidden intention. In this case, we learn God's intention–His purpose–in creating the universe, the planet we call Earth, along with all its creatures, and especially, the human race. First, God tells us what He intended to do: create a species called "man" in His own image and likeness. Then He tells us why: so that they may exercise rulership and dominion over the earth and all its creatures.

In order to facilitate this, God prepared a special habitat for His human representatives, a "home base" from which they would fulfill His intent and fill the earth with the culture of Heaven

8 Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there He put the man He had formed ... 15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it (Genesis 2:8, 15).

God's original intent was to populate the earth with humankind, who then would rule and dominate the planet for Him and in His name. It's really very simple.