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The God of Creation
by cherrell Shelley-Robinson God as Creator and Lord Scriptures: Genesis 1:1; Job 38 and 39: Ps. 90:2; Isaiah 42:5; 44:24 "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth". The Bible does not begin with a debate about God's existence but rather states unequivocally that He is the creator of heaven and earth and everything else. It is on this premise that Genesis unfolds the story of creation, man's fall and God's redemptive work started in this book and continuing through to Revelation where paradise lost is once more restored. The reader is expected to accept the simple fact that God is the Creator and by reason of this He has the divine right to make the rules for life in both heaven and earth, and to expect us, His creation, to abide by them. He also has the right to determine the appropriate consequences for obedience and disobedience, even if His creatures might think otherwise. This should not be too difficult to accept since we, as human beings, ascribe some of these same rights to parent who are expected to make the rules for their household and for their children to obey them and to be disciplined for not doing the right thing. Can we expect any less from the Creator, the ever wise and loving God who designed everything and their rules of operation, since He knows how they must work for optimal results? In case we miss the point of God as sole Creator of the world, the idea is repeated several times throughout the Bible. For example, Isaiah 42:5 states: Thus says the Lord God, He that created the heavens and the earth, and stretched them out; He that spread forth the earth, and that which comes out of it; He that gives breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein...(KJV) God as the Only True God Not only does Yahweh Elohim or Jehovah state that He is the Creator but also that He is the only true God and all others purporting to be gods are idols. This statement goes against the grain of our pluralistic world where all ideas and religions have equal value. Not so with Yahweh (Jehovah) who states that from everlasting to everlasting He alone is God. The New Testament re-affirms this when Jesus explains eternal life as "knowing the only true God and Jesus Christ whom He has sent" (John17:5), or when He says "I am the way, the truth and the life, no man comes to the Father but by me" (John 14:6). There is only one way to heaven through faith in Jesus Christ-the Son of God. This is a God of absolutes, not one of relativism. Only when we accept God as Creator and His right to make the rules for our life, will the rest of the Bible make any sense and benefit us personally. You need to ask yourself where do you stand with these absolute statementsdo you really believe them, sort of, or are you not so sure you can accept these such absolutes because you think that other religions have an equal standing with Christianity who worship the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob? It is important what you believe about these declarations because this will determine how you define right and wrong and how seriously you regard the truths revealed in the Bible about where you came from, the purpose for your present existence, your need for salvation and your destiny after this life is over. Some people make the mistake of seeing the teachings of the Bible as a kind of smorgasbord - where you pick the things you wish to believe and obey and reject those that you do not like. Such persons go on to determine right and wrong based largely on human reasoning rather than on the clear pronouncements of the word of God. While you are free to adopt this approach, the consequences are severe because God expects His word to be read, believed and obeyed based upon His divine authority as Creator and Lord. However, because He made us creatures of free will, He gives us the choice to believe and obey or to do otherwise. However, there are serious consequences to our choices. Wise and Foolish People Listen to what Jesus said after He had finished teaching the people on the Mount of the Beatitudes about the nature and character of God's kingdom and who qualified to enter into it: Whosoever hears these sayings of mine and does them, I will liken to a wise man, who built his house upon a rock. And the rains descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon the house; and it fell not because it was founded upon a rock. And every one who hears these sayings of mine, and does not do them, is likened to a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand. And the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon the house; and it fell; and great was the fall of it. (Matt. 7:24-27-KJV) Jesus was not teaching to entertain, but to clearly present the truth of God's word in order to challenge His hearers to a deeper commitment to God. The wisdom of obedience is shown in stark contrast to the dire consequences of disobedience. If you do not accept this fundamental truth about God as the sole Creator and the only true God which appears at the very beginning of the Bible, then you are likely to see the rest of the Bible as merely one of the many collections of wise sayings or a set of fanciful myths competing with all the other creation stories that abound in different cultures. The Bible leaves us no option to accept other gods or stories about the origin and purpose of man and the nature of God and our relationship to Him. It is the acceptance of this basic belief in God as Creator that leads us to bow down and worship Him, to surrender to His authority and to seek to obey His word. Such a belief in and reverential fear of God is called wisdom (Prov. 1:7; 15:33). Any other response is folly. I am a retired university lecturer and a committed Christian whose main motivation for writing is to edify others. Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com |