Creation

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WHY DO I BELIEVE

Every now and then I come to a time that I review why I believe.  I just read the creation story in Genesis 1&2 and enjoyed the thought-provoking contemplation that it brings.  Can such an awesome being exist?  Is there really an entity that can speak the entire universe into being?  Then I travel through my memories reviewing why I believe this to be true.

I start with remembering when I was at my lowest point, and I called out to God.  Somewhere in my inner being, I knew he was there.  My life changed dramatically from that moment, and I have walked a blessed life since that day.  He has spoken to me in the most intimate ways on a number of occasions.  He has directed my life in ways I didn’t understand at the time, but His ways have always brought blessing.  We have a long term relationship that is ever growing.

So as hard as it is to imagine a being who could speak the entire universe into existence, I have a personal relationship with Him.  I communicate with him on a daily basis.  He answers me.   God loves me, and I love Him.  I see His beauty in all that He created.  I say yes!  There is a being who spoke the entire universe into existence.  I believe because I have experienced Him.

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LIGHT

God loves us!  As he was preparing a place for us he first created light.  Light is incredible.  It sustains physical life, refracts into all the wonderful colors we see, and provides a contrast to darkness.  God designed a great place for us that is full of light.

Light is necessary for life to exist on earth.  The process of photosynthesis is the foundation for all food consumed by living creatures.  The light we receive from the sun provides the necessary heat the earth requires.  In light we find God’s provision for his created ones.

As light contacts various objects it refracts.  These refractions disperse the light into an amazing array of colors making the earth a beautiful place.  The colors we see calm us, delight us, and stimulate us.  Through light our creator has inspired us and made our lives full and interesting.

Light and its contrast darkness are used figuratively throughout the scriptures to help us understand God’s care for us.  We read in Psalm 18: 28 “God turns my darkness into light,” and Psalm 56:13 says that God provides the light of life.   Light provides a metaphor for virtue.  Light is righteousness and darkness is sinfulness.  Romans 13:12, “The night is nearly over; the day is almost here.  So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.” 

Light has great importance in God’s creation.  Isaiah used light to predict the coming of Jesus, “the people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned (Isaiah 9:2).”  For us today that light has long since dawned.  We can now walk in the light.  I pray that His light will shine in your heart today, and that darkness will have no place in your heart.  Praise be to God for the wonders of light.

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Controlling the Future

I like science fiction.  I don’t know what that says about me, but I do.  The idea of projecting where scientific discovery might take us fascinates me.  I like the adventure and the jolt to my imagination.  Fantasizing future worlds, even alien worlds, has occupies a fair portion of my personal time.

Yet the science fiction stories, where man goes back in time to reshape the future, point to the complexity of manipulating the intricate details of the progression of time.  Change one little occurrence and the entire future of man is impacted.  We can predict, but there are too many factors for us to have complete control over the outcome.

Now, imagine someone able to create a universe, create humans to live in this universe, and set the ball rolling toward a planned outcome.  To add to the complexity of the task, he gives the humans freedom of choice.  During the unfolding of his plan, he intervenes occasionally knowing exactly how this will affect the outcome.  Remember, his interventions usually involve humans who are continually deciding about their actions and reactions to their situation. 

The greatest intervention this creator makes is sending his son to live among humans with the plan to redeem them.  They need redemption because they have violated the prime directive to act in love and, within their freedom of choice, have chosen to injure their fellow humans. They have also turned their back to the creator and denied his very existence.  He accomplishes his redemption plan right on schedule and continues on to his planned outcome. 

The outcome he plans is for all those who receive his redemption to live forever in eternity with him.  Not all of his humans will accept the offer, but every one of them has the choice to receive redemption.  The only one who could put together such an elaborate and complex plan is the all-powerful, all-knowing, creator God.

Read: Genesis 1-3, Job 38 – 41, & Revelation 21 & 22

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IT IS ALL HIS

Psalm 24:1  The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it, the world and all who live in it.

God’s World and Us is founded on the truth revealed in this scripture verse.  God owns us and everything we know.  This blog is dedicated to exploring our relationship with the owner and the daily lives we live out here on his earth.  Today, I want to focus on his ownership.

In the Parable of the Tenants, found in Matthew 21:33-46, Jesus tells of a landowner who built a vineyard and then rented it to some farmers. The farmers had an obligation to share the profits of the vineyard with the owner.  They betrayed their obligation and beat and killed his representatives when they came for the owner’s portion.  The farmers even killed his son when he came to them.  The parable is about the failure of the Jewish leaders to respond to God’s calling, and how he is going to turn his kingdom over to more faithful tenants.  As I read this parable, my thoughts were pervaded by the idea of being God’s tenant.

Since God created the earth and everything it, what I claim to own is actually his.  I am God’s tenant here on his earth.  He has set me up with the talents and abilities needed to accomplish the tasks he has set before me.  So I asked myself, what kind of a tenant am I?  Do I respect the owner and take good care of what he has given me, or do I use what he’s given me for my own benefit without regard for him?  Do I turn over the profit of my life, or do I take the credit?

As I process through these thoughts I find myself in need of repentance.  The things I possess, I think of as mine – rarely acknowledging the true owner.  I’ve taken a lot of credit for my accomplishments without mentioning my Lord to whom the credit is really due.  I am glad he is a generous and gracious owner who is slow to anger and abounding in love.  Thank you Heavenly Father for giving me such a great life.  Help me to be a humble and grateful tenant.

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UNDEFEATABLE POWER

There is an undefeatable power in the universe.  In fact he created the universe.  His power is wrought of love and is so far above man’s power that he can send his son as a helpless infant to the earth, and accomplish his plan.  Man and the demonic forces of evil could not stop him.  An earthly king could not kill him.  It goes like this, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”  The Christmas Story is a story of the greatest love and the greatest power.  The baby in a manger, so gentle and mild, was a display of God’s wisdom and power that transcends our understanding.

If I was in charge of bringing Jesus to earth, I might amass a great army.  I’d post a 24 hour guard and develop a secure safe house with all the latest technology.  This is hilarious in comparison to the open manger.  God didn’t need my help.  He is all powerful.  He didn’t have to come with all guns blazing.  He came in love and tenderness.

The underlining truth is that God’s plan, for your life and mine, will be accomplished, and nothing can defeat his will.  Sometimes I feel as vulnerable as a babe in a manger, but I’m really as safe as the infant Jesus was.  I can trust God with everything.  The Christmas story fills me with great confidence.  It is a story of power displayed in love.  I worship God because he is higher than me, and his ways are higher than my ways.  I trust in his power; I trust in his love.  I pray that the love and power of the Christmas Story will bring you peace and comfort this season.

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THE PURPOSE OF LIFE

When contemplating the meaning of life, I find that it is infinitely complex like the Author of Life.  Still, it can also be boiled down to something quite simple.  The questions: why am I here and what is my purpose can be easily answered.  We are here because God brought forth life in his creation, and He made beings like us in his image.  So we have life because God ordained it.  Our purpose is to have a close loving relationship with him.

Since we acquired, through disobedience, the knowledge of good and evil, that relationship has been complicated.  We now have to seek him, yet he has cleared the way for us to find him through the cross of Jesus.  We just have to accept the way he has provided.  Finding him is not difficult.  However, looking for him through other paths will not lead to him.  There is only one way; His way.

We exist at God’s good pleasure, and he has given us purpose.  As I stated above, our purpose is to have a close loving relationship with him.  Some are confused about our purpose and think that our purpose is to work.  It is important to note that the work I’m referring to is the work of the kingdom, good deeds, as opposed to working for a living.  These works are not our purpose; they are the result of our purpose.  In my loving relationship with God, he has taught me to love others.  Because I love him, and he has taught me to love others, I work to help those around me.  I give of myself.

Throughout my life, I have worked to provide for my family.  This is a requirement in this fallen world.  During this time of sorting out eternity, we have to work for a living.  It is the curse for disobedience (Genesis 3:17-19).  In the midst of our work, we often have the opportunity to do the work of the Kingdom.  However, no matter what type of work we are doing, the only work that has eternal merit is that which is driven by love.  In our relationship with God, he nurtures us with love. From this love, he generates in us the strength to provide for our family and do the work of the kingdom.  Work flows out of the fruit of relationship.  Relationship with God is our purpose.

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AWESOME POWER – GREAT BEAUTY

One of my favorite places on God’s earth is at Monterey Bay here on the California Coast.  At the southern tip of the bay where it meets the open ocean, large waves crash on building size rock formations creating a scene of awesome power.  Near the beach is a smaller formation that receives the partially spent waves but still with a powerful display of water crashing upon rocks. At low tide you can climb onto this smaller formation, and when you reach the top you find there a seat smoothed by the crashing waves.  I love to sit there feeling the waves crash around me.  It’s like being in the midst of great power but protected from the danger.

When I visit this place, I feel very close to God.  The awesome power of these waves reminds me of how God is ultimately powerful.  The peace and security I feel reminds me that I am protected by his love for me.  I feel as if I’m in the shadow of his wings. (see Psalm 17).  I usually don’t want to leave.  I know I have to because high tide is coming, and I must return to the world and its trials.  It seems amazing that a place so filled with chaotic noise and danger would be a place of peace and comfort, but I assure you it is.

Just a few hundred yards north along the beach, the rocks are gone and the waves brake into a rolling foam and crash into the beach.  Facing what promised to be a tough day at work, I left home early to walk along the beach in my favorite place. I needed the Lord to strengthen me.  As I looked out over the ocean, the sun began to rise from behind me.  The hill behind me was covered in a thick mist.  The rays of the sun were refracted by the mist producing a unique phenomenon.  The foam on the rolling waves began to take on the colors of the rainbow.  It was a most beautiful display.  As the sun continued to rise, the colors eventually faded, but I remained until it was finished.

This event reminded me of the great beauty of God.  Throughout God’s creation, there is great beauty.  We see his beauty in the sunrise and sunset, the flowers and trees, and in the mountains and the animals that he created.  Every once in a while, we get a special glimpse as I did that morning.  The day went much better than I had anticipated.  Who could have a bad day after that?

Our creator is awesomely powerful and greatly beautiful.  I have learned to look for his attributes each day.  I find abundant comfort in remembering who he is as I walk in the midst of what he has made.

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PSALM 8, A PSALM OF DAVID

When we look with wonder into the heavens at night, we connect with the billions of others who have lived on the earth through the centuries.  There is in us a great awe as we survey the vastness of the heavens.  We are inclined to speculate about where it all came from.  For King David there was no doubt that his God had created all that he saw.  And in creation, he saw the glory of his God.  In Psalm 8 he voiced, “How majestic is your name in all the earth.”

In my quest to understand God, King David, “a man after God’s own heart” (See 1 Samuel 13:14), sets a perspective of God that is foundational.  To understand God, I need to see how big he is.  You can’t get any bigger than the creator of heaven and earth.  Everything I know and understand, plus an infinite amount beyond, was created by God.  He’s big!  Yet he allows praise from the mouths of little children to silence his enemies.  God is big, and he is humble.

What draws the attention of this mighty creator?  Human beings are at the center of his creation.  In our original state we were created just a little less than God himself.  We are created in his image.  He made us rulers over all the creature of the earth.  David’s response to these thoughts; “How majestic is your name in all the earth!”

As I look into the night sky, the words of Psalm 8 always bring from deep in my soul a resounding praise.  How amazing are you my God that you can create these limitless expanses, yet I am important to you.  Thank you God for loving me, redeeming me, and giving me an eternal future with you.

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SALT

Sodium is a highly reactive element that can explode when it contacts water. Chlorine is poisonous to all living organisms.  Yet together in the compound sodium chloride (salt) they are essential for life.  Salt is another of the amazing items in this wondrous world that God created.  This simple compound has greatly affected life on earth and has been used by God to relate to us and to teach us.

In modern America salt is found in great abundance, but in ancient times salt was often worth its weight in gold.  Before refrigeration salt was used to preserve foods.  Many countries used salt to prepare the dead for burial.  It was therefore essential for survival and a part of cultural traditions.  Trade routes were established just for the selling of salt.  Countries went to war over it, and many countries levied taxes on salt.  Salt was highly valued.

For the ancient Hebrews, salt was a sign of their covenant with God.  Salt was added to their offerings to represent their covenant relationship. (See Leviticus 2:13) The salt covenant was also mentioned in relationship to King David’s promised eternal reign. (See 2 Chronicles 13:5)

Jesus used salt as an analogy when he taught, “You are the salt of the earth.  But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again?  It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot” (Matthew 5:13).  We are the salt of the earth!  We are the ones who bring flavor to the earth.  This makes sense to us because salt is a part of our daily life.

Salt is a very useful item in God’s world both as a flavor enhancement and a preservative.  Its properties also provided Jesus with a useful analogy to teach us.  So for us who love and follow God, we can enjoy salt and be salt as we walk through God’s world.

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SIBLING RIVALRY

Have you ever felt like God’s favorite?  God has a unique way of making each one of his children feel special.  He knows us intimately and speaks to us individually in a personal specific manner.  No one else knows us this well.  He is never condemning even when correcting us.  Therefore we should rejoice in our close relationship with God, but we should also be aware that this intimate closeness is available to all who will receive him.

Being special to God does not in any way invoke superiority in comparison to others.  For us humans who carry a sinful nature, this is an important caution.  We want to be special, but in our fallen state, we feel it necessary to prove ourselves superior to others.  I’m better than so-n-so because _______.  It’s easy to fill in the blank because we’ve all been there.  However, Christ died for all of us.  We each get the full power of redemption through his shed blood.  Nobody gets or needs a greater portion.

As the principal of a Christian school, my position had a great deal of responsibility and prestige.  The young man who cleaned the building had a different position.  We were both called of God to fill our respective positions.  Was one job superior?  Not in God’s eyes.  We were both walking in what God had set before us.  With God there is no favoritism. (See Acts 10:34, Romans 2:11, Ephesians 6:9).  We were equally important in God’s kingdom.  Both of us were created and gifted to fulfil our purpose for Him.  We were also equally loved by God.  In God’s eyes we were and are his special children.

God is able to have an infinite number of favorites.  We are each one God’s favorite.  We are all special to him.  In the family of God there is no need for sibling rivalry.  We need only to love one another and trust our Father to provide what we need.  He created us with a special purpose in his kingdom.  As he directs you through your life be content.  You are unique and special in his eyes.