If God created the world to display the fullness of his attributes, would he have been less glorious without creation? We get loads of hard questions that require us to think carefully. Like this one: Is God independent from his creation, or is God dependent on his creation? Does he need his creation, or does he not need his creation? The implications here are huge. The email is from a listener named Chris. “Dear Pastor John, I have followed your ministry for many years. I have long considered myself a seven-point Calvinist as well — specifically when it comes to the argument that we are in the best of all possible worlds because God is after the greatest amount of glory for himself and the greatest good for his people. But I see a potential conflict with the independence of God. “If it is true that God truly exists independently and without need of anyone or anything, does this conflict with him needing creation in order to display the fullness of his attributes and receive the fullness of his glory? Another way of asking it is this: Could God have been just as glorified without creation? If so, then does the doctrine of best of all possible worlds lose meaning? If he could not have done it another way, because of his commitment to his glory, then wasn’t he in a sense forced all along to act out of a dependency on creation?” Episode 1362: https://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/would-god-be-less-glorious-if-he-never-created Related Resources: “Where Did Satan’s First Desire for Evil Come from?” https://youtu.be/ECPCLhe3UQo “How Can I See the Beauty of God?” https://youtu.be/EnGtaL9InOA “Three Threats to the Joy of This Generation” https://youtu.be/r97V7ox0n0o “What Is the Sovereignty of God?” https://youtu.be/9DyZyOqOLrA