Unfortunately, too often when we study Creation in Scripture we focus on the controversy. I have looked at countless books and commentaries on Genesis and the vast majority focus almost exclusively on how God created the world. Even among Christians there is much debate over the how. Did God really create in 6 literal days or did He use evolution to bring forth life? Were the days actual 24 hours or could they have been ages? Maybe there were ages between the days? There is so much debate over the how that sometimes we seem to miss the miracle, majesty and beauty of God and His creation. It's almost like looking at Leonardo Davinci's Mona Lisa and only seeing the brush strokes, you completely miss the masterpiece.
I told you in the beginning that I would not get into the debate about Creation and evolution. I acknowledge that the debate exists, and I certainly have my own opinions, but that is not what is truly important to me, nor is it the point of this study. God's creation is amazing! Everything that He created hints at it's Creator. Genesis chapter 1 was never meant to be the handbook on how to create life, it is the introduction to the Creator. Today we are going to take the spotlight off the brushstrokes and take a closer look at what Creation tells us about out Creator.
Paul made it clear to the Romans that God's character is visible in His creation.
"For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities- His eternal power and divine nature- have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse." Romans 1:20
Nature declares many of God's attributes. Just look around at you can see that God has a great imagination, He loves variety, and beauty. Science shows us that God uses the smallest of things, the atom (I know string theory has smaller elements but you get the point), as the building blocks for all things and it's more complex then the most complex thing man has ever made. God's wisdom is way beyond ours! Nature shows God to also be omnipotent, omniscient, deliberate, and orderly these three attributes are what we will dig into today.
Our God is omnipotent (all powerful). As we talked about previously, God's creative name, Elohim, conotes eternal power, but it's not just His name that implies this, Creation itself declares it.
"Let all the earth fear the LORD; let all the people of the world revere him. For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm." Psalm 33:8, 9
"Praise the LORD from the heavens, praise him in the heights above. Praise him, all his angels, praise him all his heavenly hosts. Praise him, sun and moon, praise him, all you shining stars. Praise him, you highest heavens and you waters above the skies. Let them praise the name of the LORD, for he commanded and they were created." Psalm 148 1-5 (emphasis added)
"You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things and by your will they were created and have their being." Revelation 4:11
God spoke the entire universe into existence! He didn't lift a finger, He didn't strive, He merely spoke and it was done. The power of the ocean, the majesty of the mountains, even the intensity of a storm are nothing compared to the power of God.
Our God is also omniscient (all knowing). Every scientific discovery of our time God knew from the beginning. When Jesus walked the earth He knew the exact temperature of the sun and that the Earth revolved around it. He knew the answer to the most complex math equation, and how the human body functioned. God knows everything including our thoughts and feelings, even the ones we can't put a name to.
"Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give an account." Hebrews 4:13
This is His creation, there is no nook or cranny that is not known to Him. There is no reason to hide from our Creator (even though we sometimes want to) because no one knows us better or cares more for us then our God.
God was deliberate about His creation. He set natural laws in place to govern the weather, the oceans, even animals. He create a world that we could live in and He planned from the beginning a way for us to have a relationship with Him.
"For this is what the LORD says- he who created the heavens, he is God; he who fashioned and made the earth, he founded it; he did not create it to be empty, but formed it to be inhabited- he says: "I am the LORD, and there is no other."" Isaiah 45:18
"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.'" Matthew 25:34
God created a planet that was meant to support life, your life. Had the Earth been any closer to the sun it would get too hot, further away and we'd freeze. Our atmosphere blocks out the most harmful of UV rays but lets in just the right amount of heat to sustain life. The Earth is perfectly tilted to encourage crop growth in almost all areas. If the Earth's axis was purely vertical, there would be no seasons and temperatures wouldn't fluctuate. If the tilt was greater, the temperatures would be much more extreme; either way most of the Earth would not be able to produce food to support life. * He planned it all just for us.
God is a God of order. He created in a way that built upwards from chaos to order, laying the foundation to support life before creating life.
"Dominion and awe belong to God; he establishes order in the heights of heaven." Job 25:2
"For God is not a God of disorder but of peace." 1 Corinthians 15:33
What is interesting is that only God can bring order from chaos. The 2nd Law of Thermodynamics is called entropy. The basic idea is that everything decays, that nature left to itself will go from order to chaos to death.** We see this at work in nature as well. The minute you stop mowing your lawn things begin to get wild. Weeds sprout up, vines take over, given over time your beautiful manicured yard will become an overgrown jungle. That's entropy. Life naturally gets worse, not better. God on the other hand took the chaos of Genesis 1:2 and created order.
Take a minute to skim back through Genesis 1:3-31. Notice how God built upward, taking the earth from chaos to order.
God is awesome. His creation shows Him to be awesome. In fact Jesus told the Pharisees that if people didn't recognize the majesty of God then nature itself would cry out praises to the Creator.***
Genesis 1:1-31 is really just the introduction to how awesome God is. It gives us an idea of who God is and why He chose to create. His creation was not about showing off, receiving praise (though He is more then worthy) or because He was bored. God created the universe for us because He wants to love us, to have a relationship with us. He wanted us to be able to recognize Him and want to love Him too. Creation is just the beginning of God's goodness, the introduction to His love letter.
Thank you for joining me this week.
* Gardner, Paul. The New Creationism. Darlington, England. Evangelical Press. 2009. pg. 52-55
** Walter, Jeremy L. "Chapter One" in In Six Day, edited by John F. Ashton. Green Forest, AR. Master Books. 2000. pg. 14
*** Luke 19:40
It seems like a 180 to describe entropy, nature, and a yard doing its wild thing as somehow representative of Godless chaos! God's order is present in the weeds sprouting up too, right?
ReplyDeleteMegan
I believe that when God created the world it was in perfect harmony and plants would not become overgrown. I also believe that weeds, since they generally are called weeds because they choke out the more desired plants, may not have existed until Genesis 3:18 when God sends thorns and thistles. Its not that I think nature is Godless but that because of the Fall, it no longer funtions perfectly, the way God Created it. The whole earth, not just humans are under the curse of sin. I hope that explains my point.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if that sits right with me, I'll have to think about it. Did God's perfectly harmonious world include death at all?
ReplyDelete