Standing in Awe of the God of Creation (Copy)
Joshua Lowe reflects on the creation account of Genesis 1 and 2 following last Sunday's sermon by Pastor Oliver.
When was the last time you created something?
The process of creating is not always easy, first you need to assemble your tools and materials, then you need to plan out what your final product might look like. You then need to spend time working at your project for however long it takes until it is complete.
I really like folding origami, that was the last thing I created. However, it isn’t easy folding a piece of paper to make an origami piece. It takes time and effort, and if I make a mistake, it could ruin the origami and end up with just a folded piece of mess. I would have to start again.
Creating takes effort! It takes hard work and resources, which is why the creation account of Genesis 1 and 2 is so amazing! God didn’t just create a single piece of art, but He created everything effortlessly and out of nothing.
The creation account in Genesis 1 and 2 may be one of the most known stories in the Bible, but each time we read it, we should gain a deeper appreciation and awe for God.
Don’t lose sight of the forest for the trees
There are many ways which someone could interpret Genesis 1 and 2, I won’t discuss the different points of view in this article because the main point of Genesis is to bring to focus the One who created us. How different! How majestic! As we reflect on the creation account and remember how amazing our God is, I hope it will reignite our desire to love and glorify Him as He deserves.
Things about God that we learn from the creation account
1. God was there in the beginning
Genesis 1 starts very simply: In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The assumption is that God was always there, even before the beginning.
God always has been and always will be. God is infinite, He has always been there and is one who has no cause, He simply is.
This is mind-boggling to us: How can someone exist when there was nothing? But that is what the Bible is telling us—that God is infinite. While circumstances now often remind us of our finiteness, we do not despair because we have a God who is infinite.
2. God is distinct in the way He made everything good
From my introduction, we can see that it takes effort for us to create things, but God is not like us.
From Genesis 1 and 2, God creates everything simply by speaking and creates out of nothing! On top of this He doesn’t make mistakes, He creates everything good the first-time.
In this way we can see that there is a clear distinction between God as creator and His creation. God is the one who brings forth creation. Therefore, everything is dependent on God. If God chose to do nothing, nothing would happen. Since God created us, we owe him everything. It is for our good that we recognise this, because without God we wouldn’t even be here.
3. Yet this very God chooses to have a relationship with us, His creation
Even though there is a clear distinction between God and His creation, God does not choose to be some unknowable unreachable being who is transcendent and distant. Instead, He chooses to engage with man. In Genesis 2:16-17 we see that God graciously speaks to man and gives him a command: “And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
God desires to have a relationship with man, not that He needs man’s company (or that He needs anything from man at all), but He does so because He chooses to, out of love for us.
The Creator who came to dwell with man
However, soon after in Genesis 3 we learn that man messes everything up and sin causes a break in our relationship with God. Man is again in further debt to God and now even owes the penalty of sin.
It sounds bleak for man, but the amazing thing is that the Bible does not stop at the fall but continues to reveal the God of creation to us. The larger story of the Bible eventually shows us that the God of creation then comes down and dwells with man. The God who holds the universe together (who owes humanity nothing) comes down in the person of Jesus Christ to live among us and serve us. Jesus shows us the gracious and merciful character of God who uses His sovereign power to serve the undeserving.
When I think of someone with supreme power, I think of a king or an emperor who uses their power to rule over and impose themselves on others. Even though Jesus had every right to do this, He came to earth to be a servant. He serves us by dying on the cross to pay the penalty of sin that we deserve.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. (Jn 1:1-3)
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (Jn 1:14)
...grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. (Jn 1:17b)
The God of creation is amazingly infinite and powerful yet He comes down as a man, Jesus Christ, to rebuild our broken relationship with God caused by sin. He shows us an amazing love and grace that we don’t deserve. So how will you respond to the God of Creation?