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The entire universe stands as witness to the awesome mind behind its existence. It was clearly created by a Creator, and that Creator labels any who would deny this as a fool (Romans 1:20; Psalm 14:1; Psalm 53:1).
This study is not designed to convince readers that all of nature was created by God and not the product of mindless evolution. We have other material that covers that (download or request our free Bible study aid booklets Life's Ultimate Question: Does God Exist? and Creation or Evolution: Does It Really Matter What You Believe? ).
Rather, this study is for those who already believe and know that God is our Creator. It is written to help you build on that foundation and learn some profound lessons. We hope you will come away with greater understanding of, awareness of, and adoration for our awesome God.
Does our Creator expect us to learn about Him from 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. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened" (Romans 1:20-21, New International Version).
The evidence of an all-powerful Creator and many of His attributes are clearly seen by those who are willing to see! But many do "not like to retain God in their knowledge" (Romans 1:28). That is mainly because they don't want anyone telling them what they can and cannot do, including God.
Is what we see enough to understand God and His ways?
"How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!" (Romans 11:33).
Thus, God must intervene to help us grasp what He wants us to know. As pointed out above, God is invisible to us. He does reveal much about Himself through creation, but there is far more that we need to understand.
Indeed, God reveals Himself to us in two ways. The foremost way is through acting or communicating to enable others to perceive. For the most part this comes through God's written revelation, the Bible-"All Scripture is given by inspiration of God ... that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work" (2 Timothy 3:16-17)-and spiritual help to give us understanding.
The other way is what we've been discussing-the evidence of creation, because it was "God who created all things through Jesus Christ" (Ephesians 3:9, emphasis added throughout). The complexity of our planet's life in all its forms is evidence and proof of a supremely intelligent and wise Creator. There is a cause for every effect, and the cause of creation is God!
It's not necessary for every person to make a formal study of creation, but it's important that in our thoughts we continually make the connection between the creation and the Creator.
We can be impressed with visible things and fail to give due credit to the invisible Creator of those things. We must be far more impressed with the Creator than the creation. The apostle Paul spoke of those who "worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator" (Romans 1:25, NIV). That we must never do!
Do even angels worship God because He is the Creator?
The 24 angelic elders in heaven say, "You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and by Your will they exist and were created" (Revelation 4:11).
An angel said "with a loud voice, 'Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water'" (Revelation 14:7).
If even the mighty angels of the spirit realm worship and adore God because of His role as the Creator, should we not do the same?
Did God command a regular remembrance of His role as our Creator?
"Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work ... For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it" (Exodus 20:8-11).
God wants His people to rest and refrain from normal work activities each Sabbath day (see the Bible study aid Sunset to Sunset: God's Sabbath Rest ). While we are more relaxed each Sabbath, one of the most valuable things we should do is reflect on God's creation. When we're able, it's inspiring to go outdoors, examine the things God has made and rejoice in the wonders we see.
Think about these lines from the hymn by Isaac Watts, "I Sing the Mighty Power of God":
Lord, how Thy wonders are displayed, where-e'er I turn my eye,
If I survey the ground I tread or gaze upon the sky.
There's not a plant or flow'r below, but makes Thy glories known,
And clouds arise and tempests blow, by order from Thy throne.
Once we know that God created everything, that knowledge should shape our thinking and guide our actions. We should ask ourselves: What implications should I draw from that conclusion?
Let's consider seven great lessons that God's creation teaches us. When we are highly aware of these lessons, we are glorifying God as our Creator.
Lesson 1: The creation should teach us constant awareness of our Creator and reverence for Him.
"I will lift up my eyes to the hills-from whence comes my help? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth" (Psalm 121:1-2).
"Unto You I lift up my eyes, O You who dwell in the heavens. Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their masters, as the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the Lord our God, until He has mercy on us" (Psalm 123:1-2).
"Lift up your eyes on high, and see who has created these things [the heavenly bodies], who brings out their host by number; He calls them all by name" (Isaiah 40:26).
Psalm 147:4 reaffirms that God named all the stars.
It's not enough for us to occasionally acknowledge God as Creator. We should regularly look beyond the visible creation to the invisible God. The invisible spirit world is more real, more powerful and more permanent than the material world we see. May everything we see remind us of Him whom we don't see!
Indeed, God is the Designer, Artist, Architect, Engineer, Creator, Lifegiver, Lawgiver and Sustainer. Meditate daily about your Maker.
Lesson 2: The Bible and creation teach us much about God's desires and concerns.
"Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good" (Genesis 1:31).
"The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork" (Psalm 19:1).
"Praise the Lord from the earth, you great sea creatures and all the depths; fire and hail, snow and clouds; stormy wind, fulfilling His word; mountains and all hills; fruitful trees and all cedars; beasts and all cattle; creeping things and flying fowl; kings of the earth and all peoples; princes and all judges of the earth; both young men and maidens; old men and children" (Psalm 148:7-12).
Creation teaches us that our Creator never does shoddy work. Every creature is a masterpiece, because that's the Creator's nature! Clearly, God loves beauty, harmony, careful attention to detail, precision, accuracy, symmetry, balance and humor. So we should appreciate and practice these virtues.
God is the role model for Ecclesiastes 9:10-whatever God does, He does it with His might and does His best.
Obviously, God loves variety. Someone said that God must love beetles because He made so many of them. God made great variety among and even within species! The whole world is God's zoo and circus with fascinating creatures and comical animal acts. One of the thrills of travel is seeing the different flora and fauna and topography in every part of the earth. Doesn't this tell us that we should appreciate variety, including the variety of people's personalities?
We also see that God is practical: Everything works! Everything has its purpose and fits harmoniously into the earth's web of life. Many pairs of creatures have a symbiotic relationship. This teaches us cooperation, teamwork and interdependence.
Lesson 3: The Bible and creation teach us of God's great love for us and all mankind.
"Then God said, 'Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth'" (Genesis 1:26).
"What is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him? ... You have crowned him with glory and honor. You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet" (Psalm 8:4-6).
"Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap, which have neither storehouse nor barn; and God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds?" (Luke 12:24).
What an incomparable honor-to be created in God's image! And what love and generosity in giving us the earth and everything on it to use and enjoy! As undeserving as we are, God takes very good care of us.
Our gratitude should forever compel us to love God in return. "We love Him because He first loved us" (1 John 4:19).
Lesson 4: The Bible and creation teach us to take care of God's property.
"Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it" (Genesis 2:15).
"Or don't you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you, which you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's" (1 Corinthians 6:19-20, World English Bible).
"Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others" (Philippians 2:4).
The Creator of everything is the Owner of everything. Therefore, as stewards and caretakers of God's property, we should "tend and keep it" very carefully. God would have us conserve our resources rather than be wasteful or unnecessarily destructive.
"A righteous man regards the life of his animal" (Proverbs 12:10). We should have the heart of a good shepherd, not the attitude of a "hireling" who "does not care about the sheep" (John 10:11-13). A caring shepherd tries to rescue every sheep that goes astray (Matthew 18:11-13). We must dutifully provide for those under our care (1 Timothy 5:8).
Keep in mind that people are much more important to God than animals. It's sinful to be a pantheist or to worship "created things rather than the Creator" (Romans 1:25, NIV).
Lesson 5: The Bible and creation teach us to look to our Maker for instructions.
"Now this is the commandment, and these are the statutes and judgments which the Lord your God has commanded to teach you, that you may observe them in the land which you are crossing over to possess" (Deuteronomy 6:1).
"And it [a copy of the Scriptures] shall be with him [Israel's human king], and he shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God and be careful to observe all the words of this law and these statutes" (Deuteronomy 17:19).
"You are good, and do good; teach me Your statutes ... You, through Your commandments, make me wiser than my enemies ... Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path" (Psalm 119:68, Psalm 119:98, Psalm 119:105).
Who best understands a product? The inventor or manufacturer. Similarly, our Creator knows best. He is the expert, with perfect understanding of His creation. He understands us much better than we understand ourselves, so we need to trust His guidance.
God supplied us with an operator's manual, the instruction book for life, so we need to read the book! In fact, it is only through the Bible that we can learn the reason for our existence. (For a clear explanation of why you were born, please see our Bible study aid What Is Your Destiny? )
Lesson 6: The Bible and creation teach us to rely on our Maker for help and healing to solve every problem.
"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you" (Matthew 7:7).
"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God" (Philippians 4:6, NIV).
"Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven" (James 5:14-15).
Since God designed and made everything, He knows how to repair everything and solve every problem. He gave us a lifetime guarantee in the sense that we can go to Him for help and healing at any time.
When people get into trouble, they tend to try everything else before trying God. When no cures work people will say, "You're in God's hands." Well, how about relying on God from the start for His guidance, help and healing? This does not mean we should not then do what we can, such as seeking treatment.
God has given us a marvelous immune system; our bodies automatically try to heal themselves. In addition, God often miraculously heals those who pray for His healing. David summed up God's love and mercy, saying it is God "who forgives all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases" (Psalm 103:3).
Of course, we also need God to heal us of all kinds of spiritual and emotional problems. God "heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds" (Psalm 147:3).
Lesson 7: The Bible and creation teach us who our Master is-the Ruler we must obey.
"And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments of the Lord and His statutes which I command you today for your good?" (Deuteronomy 10:12-13).
"Observe and obey all these words which I command you, that it may go well with you and your children after you forever, when you do what is good and right in the sight of the Lord your God" (Deuteronomy 12:28)
"But why do you call Me 'Lord, Lord,' and not do the things which I say?" (Luke 6:46). The word "Lord" means Master or Ruler.
Who's in charge? The Creator and Owner of everything! The Master defines what is right and wrong and commands us to do what is right. Our attitude toward God's authority should be a positive "Yes, Lord!"
We are God's servants and children. God makes the rules. We are to obey our Father through His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ-out of love and loyalty and for our own good.
God's instructions must be applied. God commands us to follow His instructions.
God's laws reveal the nature and character of God. By obeying His laws, we are learning to think and act like Him.
God's generosity, mercy and willingness to forgive whenever we are sincerely sorry for our sins can be summed up in the biblical concept of grace. But grace is not permission to sin. God expects us to keep trying our best to obey Him.
God's laws include huge rewards for obedience and huge penalties for disobedience. One of the greatest penalties is the absence of God's blessings. The ultimate penalty for those who stubbornly refuse to obey is eternal death rather than eternal life.
We are "creatures," meaning created beings. We must be constantly aware that we must give account to God for all our thoughts, words and actions. We must never feel so independent and self-reliant that we fail to depend on God. As Jesus told His disciples, "Without Me you can do nothing" (John 15:5).
The prophet Hosea wrote, "For Israel has forgotten his Maker" (Hosea 8:14). We must never do that. Awareness of our Creator should be the foundation of our worldview, outlook and daily thoughts. Let's do our best to remember these crucial lessons from knowing God is our Creator!
Again, the creation itself can help us in this. For example, we see so many different kinds of plants, trees, flowers, animals, birds, fish, insects, etc., yet in our prayers we probably tend to speak only of God's creation in general. With so much to take in, we tend to lose the childlike fascination and awe at God's wonderful creatures. We suggest that quite often when you look at flora and fauna around you, you thank God for individual creatures.
Each prayer can be silent or spoken, simple and reverent, like, "Thank you, Father, for that lovely flower!" In fact, if you're able we suggest you start right now with a glance out the window or a walk outside. Walk and talk with your Creator!
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