Why did God create man?

If God only intended fellowship of man, why is man bound to this earth?

If God intended man to live in their earthly body forever, why do the end of man and the end of earth coincide?

If God created man only to praise him, why did he create man lower than the Angels, but only for a little while? (Psalms 8, Hebrews 2)

When God created man in “our own image”, the image referenced is not physical appearance. God has no physical appearance. The “image” referenced is a single will with God and created without sin. When Adam sinned, that “image” was broken, and the only way to regain that “image” was through an innocent sacrifice, Jesus Christ. Because of Adams sin, another will came in to existence, the will of man. From that moment in time, all men are truly created equal; we are all sinners because of the “sin nature” that has been passed on. Because all men are sinners, our deeds, sacrifices, or good behavior is not adequate for forgiveness, because we are all guilty.

God did not create man solely for the purpose of fellowship. Remember God has already created the Angels. Prior to the creation of man, there was only 1 will in heaven, the will of God. When Satan fell, because of his arrogance, (Isaiah 14) (Ezekiel 28) he and his fallen Angels were imprisoned on earth. (Revelation 12) God made the heavens and earth, but during the initial time of the fallen Angels imprisonment on earth, God made the earth void and formless. This occurred between Genisis1:1 and Genisis1:2. During his imprisonment, Satan protested that a “just” God would not imprison one of his creations without allowing them an opportunity to prove their case. God granted Satan the opportunity to prove “he is like the most high”. God then renewed the earth, created the creatures on the earth, and created man. This is sometimes called the “gap” theory. This also explains the dinosaurs, which were on this earth before man, and the ice age. God released Satan from his imprisonment, and made him the Prince of the earth (John 16) (2 Corinthians 4) to see how well Satan could rule over a lower creation, man. This is why the world is in such a horrible condition. Satan has failed. Man’s only defense against Satan’s schemes is through the word of God, salvation by believing in Jesus Christ as God’s son, and guidance by the Holy Spirit that lives in all believers. Remember, God is the creator and Satan is a creation. There is no struggle between good and evil on a cosmic basis, the struggle is within us.

Isaiah 43 tells us that we are to glorify God and we are his witness. The only way we can glorify God is to acknowledge that we are totally depraved without God, and all blessing are a gift from God, not something we earned or we deserved. Our witness is to the goodness and grace of God which we all receive, but no one deserves.

I Timothy 2 tells us God desires ALL men to be saved, and come to the knowledge of the truth. Galatians 4 tells us that believers are the heir to Gods kingdom. John 17 tells us that believers, Jesus Christ, God and the Holy Spirit are one. When all men are born, their names are entered into the “Book of Life”. The only way our name is removed, is to reject Jesus Christ as the son of God.

ALL the answers are in the Bible, be filled with the Holy Spirit and read.

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

So God created man in his own image,  
    in the image of God he created him;  
    male and female he created them.  

—Genesis 1:26-27 (ESV)

Humanity is the crowning achievement of God's creation. We are the reason He created everything else—we are His signature to mark it all as His work. Among other things, we are made in His own image to be the one creative force that inhabits this universe. Before the Fall, we pointed exclusively to God's great goodness that He exhibited in creation.

After the Fall, we lost our focus on God's goodness. It's a bit of a mystery exactly how that happened. We are still God's signature, but we've become smudged. Paul struggles to explain it:

For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.—Romans 7:15-20 (ESV)

Even so, Paul knows how the story will end:

For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.—Romans 8:29-30 (ESV)

In other words, God sent Jesus to be His perfect signature on creation and, for some even more mysterious reason, we are able to join Christ. Not only will be brothers and sisters with God's Son, we also miraculously share in His glory. We may never be able to understand why God shared that joy with us, but we can be eternally grateful.

See also: "The Weight of Glory" and Desiring God.

I don't have a complete answer, and I'm not even sure we'll get one this side of eternity. But a clue can be found in the narrative woven throughout the Bible picked up in the Song of Songs but explicity explained in the New Testament: that God the Father is looking for a bride for His Son, e.g.

One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God.

Revelation 21:9-10

The implication is we, who will be in that city, are the bride of Christ.

From the Westminister Shorter Catechism Question 1:

Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him for ever.

Supporting verses:

Psalm 86:9 (ESV)

All the nations you have made shall come
and worship before you, O Lord,
and shall glorify your name.

Isaiah 60:21 (ESV)

Your people shall all be righteous;
they shall possess the land forever,
the branch of my planting, the work of my hands,
that I might be glorified.

Romans 11:36 (ESV)

For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

1 Corinthians 6:20 (ESV)

for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

1 Corinthians 10:31 (ESV)

So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

Revelation 4:11 (ESV)

“Worthy are you, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they existed and were created.”

Psalm 16:11 (ESV)

You make known to me the path of life;
in your presence there is fullness of joy;
at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Philippians 4:4 (ESV)

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.

There are numerous other verses cited, but these are the majority of the verses that support this answer.