In the beginning, God created the Heavens and the Earth. (Genesis 1:1) Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. (Isaiah 40:28)
The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. (Psalm 19:1-2).
Creation is the glorious effect of the cause of God’s will. This is a subject of considerable wonder, given the kind of creation in which we find ourselves. To say that the universe is vast is a laughable understatement—traveling at light speed, it takes over 150 billion years to travel across the cosmos. To say that it is complex and delicately made is to almost trivialize how complex and delicate it actually is. The universe that you and I inhabit is an enormous, lovingly made home designed to tell us something about the God who made it.
The first thing to note about God’s activity in creation is that it’s something that only God could do. The Bible uses an interesting word to describe God’s activity in creation. When God creates, he bara ’s—a unique Hebrew word which means to create or initiate out of nothing. Only God can do that. We make things out of pre-existent stuff, but God does not. God makes from nothing. In his fullness he approaches the emptiness and void of nothingness and fills it up with everything.
The simple fact is, you and I require a creator. We are contingent beings—contingent on being made. God is not like us. God does not require a creator, because God is eternally existent. He is the source of all life, the giver of the world we inhabit, and for this fact we should be utterly amazed by him. When you go outside and stare up at the starry sky, or when you go inside and stare into a microscope, our breath should be taken away at the intricate wisdom with which God made the world that you and I call home.
So why does this matter? Let’s consider two reasons. First, the world God made was a good world. The Scriptures tell us seven times in Genesis 1 that God’s creation was good. So the world, prior to sin, was good. This means that stuff (money, food, our bodies, etc.) is neither totally evil as the ascetic, religious people tell us, nor is totally good, like the materialists say. Instead, the “stuff” of creation is given for a different purpose, which is the second reason this whole discussion matters: God made you and I and everything to declare his glory, greatness, and power. Like a living painting, like a moving sculpture, the world of worlds spinning in harmony from the greatest celestial body to the smallest subatomic particle is given to us to cause us to say, “Wow, God. You are amazing.” At bottom, the universe isn’t about us. Creation is all about God! This doctrine should drop down into our hearts like a match into a box kindling, causing the fire of our love for God to blaze brighter, just like a star in God’s creation—burning passionately for the glory of God, and our deep joy.
God you are the maker of all things. I exalt your power and infinite intelligence and wisdom with which you made everything! The Bible tells us that in you we live, move, and have our being. Thank you for creating me. Thank you for creating the world in which I live. Since you’re the Creator of all things, you own everything. Help me to live out my day today dependent on you.
God, you made everything, so you know how it works best. So God, please give me wisdom today how to live rightly. I want to experience your glory, and the comfort of being constantly aware the I know the creator of all things. Thank you for this grace, creator God.
In Jesus name, and for your glory, amen.