What’s So Important About Creation?
Conviction Three, creation, fell at a particularly perfect time. It’s late October, the leaves are falling, the temperature is dropping, and the air smells of fall. Fall is filled with all sorts of outdoor activities like fall festivals, corn mazes, sporting events, and hunting season. My point is this: people everywhere are outside enjoying the weather during this wonderful time of year. Creation isn’t just the existence of the visible and invisible universe, but also the concept that God created it and mere chance is not the origin of the universe. As a Christian, we should see creation in a different light than others. So how should we view it and why is that important to our individual theology? I want to share four reasons believers should approach the concept of creation differently.
1. Creation helps us understand and know God. Romans 1:20 helps us understand what is known as general revelation – the ability to know God through the created world. It says, “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.” Creation declares His glory and through the study and care of creation, we can understand God even better. The creation itself points to him, so knowing creation helps us to know God. The psalmist says it well in Psalm 111:2, “Great are the works of the Lord; they are studied by all who delight in them.” There is great value in the study of and immersion in creation.
2. Creation is unified in a way to show us God. Colossians 1:16b says that, “all things have been created through Him and for Him.” With such diversity in a single ecosystem alone, it is difficult to accept the secular science suggesting that everything happened by chance. One of my favorite examples of the cohesive nature of creation is the African savannah. The savannah is filled with hundreds of species, all which interact differently. From the termite who builds tall cement-like mounds that serve as watch towers for both predator and prey to the mighty elephant, forming paths and fostering new plant growth, there are dozens of examples of unity within creation. One interesting example is the zebra and wildebeest, two very different species that are often found traveling together. While they eat similar food, they do not compete. Rather, they work together. Zebras prefer taller grass while the wildebeest eat grass sprigs coming out of the ground. The zebra’s eyesight is superior to the wildebeest, allowing it to watch for danger and the wildebeest can hear better, allowing it to hear for approaching predators. This is only one example of dozens on the African savannah alone, but the way creation works together in ways that are certainly not random is further proof of God’s handiwork in that His creation, an enormous, unified system, points to Him, a God of unity. Worship singer Steve Green said it beautifully in his song, Symphony of Praise, “The glories of God explode in full orchestration as all creation joins the thunderous refrain, ‘Worthy, Worthy Worthy is the lamb that was slain.’”
3. Creation is very good and man is special. On the sixth day, after God created man, He declared it was very good. If the literal Creator of the universe says creation is good – man, animals, plants, and the many, many systems that allow the universe to function as it does…who are we to argue? Not only is creation very good, but man was specifically designed in God’s image. Both of the aforementioned points, in addition to explicit commands in Scripture, should help us understand the importance of good stewardship in creation and a reminder of who other human beings are. Creation points to God and we have been given dominion over it. In the words of Spiderman, “With great power comes great responsibility.” As stewards of God’s Creation, we must take care of it to the best of our ability. Additionally, all of mankind was made in God’s image, not just Adam and Eve, not just you, not just the people you like. How would your perspective of people change if you viewed them as fellow image-bearers of the Creator of the universe?
4. God sustains Creation and you are included in that. Jesus spoke in Matthew 6 in His Sermon on the Mount. In it, he reminds us that Creation belongs to God and God takes care of His Creation. Matthew 6:26-30a says,
“Look at the birds of the sky, that they do not sow, nor reap, nor gather crops into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more important than they?...Notice how the lilies of the field grow; they do not labor nor do they spin thread for cloth…But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you?”
This reminder is a beautiful picture of how God cares for and sustains Creation in large and small ways. If He does this for a bird or a flower, beautiful creations yes, but not image-bearers of God, how much more would He do for us? I find great encouragement in this passage and it reminds me of the power of God and His unmatched ability to sustain a universe.
Ultimately, creation is our temporal dwelling place, but it was created by God nonetheless. As image-bearers charged with the responsibility of caring for Creation, I am reminded, especially as I spend a lot of time in the outdoors in this gorgeous season, that this creation isn’t just beautiful, it’s God’s revelation to us. It allows us to know and understand him while being able to take great pleasure in its beauty. Not only that, but seeing the sustenance of creation, such as a bird, a deer, even a tree, is a symbol of encouragement. God has created and sustained that life. Mine and yours, as an image-bearer is so much more special, created with divine purpose to serve God. So, next time you are out in the creation (or enjoying it from your television), remember the power that God has and the wonderful Creation that points you straight to Him.