The Revelation of Creation

Genesis speaks to us of so much that we are not even past the first 19 verses and yet we still have so much to meditate upon and explore the depths of. There are treasures to be found when we are not just doing a quick daily reading, but really meditating and considering all that His living Word is providing to us. This is why Jesus said "Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God" (Matt. 4:4 & Luke 4:4). Are we Christians gobbling His Word up in a gluttonous fashion like some cheap and non-nutritious fast food, or are we taking our time and savoring it like the more costly yet much more healthy "real" food that it is? We first have to come to His banqueting table with a grateful heart and a desire to know more of Him, rather than with a desire for the" appearance" of being spiritually disciplined.

One of the treasures of these verses is in the way that the manner of God's creation, and creation itself, reveals so much of God to us.

"And God saw that it was good." (verse 12)

Creation was not a "job" to God: something that just needed to be done and got over with. He took delight in His creation acts. The finished product pleased Him. What does that tell us about Him? What sensitivity and artistry is involved in His character? What care and forethought was included in the process? How can our God then be a cold hard being void of feelings? He is not. As we also were not created to be who were made in His image. The Bible is full of descriptives of God. Anyone with the least amount of understanding can glean from passages all through the Bible that He is a being of great emotion and feeling and sensitivity and wisdom. The results of His creation (that which we marvel at every day) speaks volumes about His artistry, and yet all the functionality of all that He created, even as seen in these first few verses, demonstrates unimaginable intelligence and wisdom. All of this is so clearly demonstrated that Paul declares that none of us have any excuses to not believe in God's existence and His power and His right to govern over us, His creation. Paul says that there will be no excuses for us when we receive God's judgment for our lack of belief, by virtue of God's creation on display before us. (Romans 1:18-21)

Revelation 4:11 tells us that God "created all things, and for His pleasure they are and were created."

Listen to how David, whom God called "a man after my own heart", describes creation and the Creator in Psalm 104:

"Who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain" (verse 2), "who laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be removed forever" (verse 5)," thou coverest [the earth] with the deep [oceans] as with a garment" (verse 6); "He watereth the hills from His chambers" (verse 13).

David understood the tenderness as well as the precision with which God created all that He created, and how God continues to care for it.

Now listen to God's own words to Job about His creation:

"Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Declare to Me, if you have and know understanding. Who determined the measure of the earth, if you know? Or who stretched the measuring line upon it? Upon what were the foundations of it fastened, or who laid its cornerstone, when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy? Or who shut up the sea with doors when it broke forth and issued out of the womb? When I made the clouds the garment of it and thick darkness a swaddling band for it, and marked for it My appointed boundary and set bars and doors, and said, Thus far shall you come and no farther; and here shall your proud waves be stayed? Have you commanded the morning since your days began and caused the dawn to know its place, so that [light] may get hold of the corners of the earth and shake the wickedness [of night] out of it?" (Job 38:4-13 Amplified Version)

Here is God Himself providing Job (and us) with great understanding of the caring and loving tenderness that He put into His creation; here is God describing His creation using metaphors that speak of birthing a child, and of setting boundaries for it as a parent would a child. I have always thought "earth-lovers" go overboard (and I still believe they do if they love the earth more than they love God); but I cannot refuse to understand that if I love God, I will also love and cherish His creation as He does: not to the extent that I love it more than God or care more for it and animals than I do for man, but still with the understanding of being a faithful steward to certainly not carelessly destroy that which God cherishes.

But what I say to you now is this: if God cares this much for His creation of earth and sea and sky and heavens; how much more does He care for man who was created in His own image?

And how much then does He care about how we treat each other?

Perhaps we should meditate on this for awhile and hopefully we will come to understand a little of the impact that increasing our knowledge of God Himself will have on our lives and the lives of those around us.