BY FAITH...
Hebrews 11:3
"We understand that the universe was created by the word of God, that which is seen, made from things unseen"
Creation is the beginning of God’s Revelation of himself. That's really what it was and is all about. And we, his creation, proclaim our faith in His creative revelation,
(from the Nicene Creed):
“I believe in one God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible.”
What do we believe?
By faith we believe that regardless the scientific explanations of how the universe came to be, God, in one divine action from out of time, beyond time, before time, from eternity; created the universe, all from nothing, and He sustains all that exists in it. We're saying we believe that the universe is a metaphysical reality that finds its source from God's creative Spirit and is dependent upon His continual presence for its sustainability. That is our faith, and our creed. We believe God created the universe out of perfect love. God chose to create the universe because he is perfect love. He didn't need to create in order to be God, or to be perfect love, he chose to create the universe in the way he saw fit. In perfect freedom and love he created all things (1 John 4:8).
By faith we believe the creation is the work of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In perfect communion, together they produced the universe out of divine love and goodness. And they called it good. The entire and immediate emphasis of creation is upon God. And going forward the emphasis is that everything is given existence and sustained by God. Creation is about God. And so, here's the truly interesting part of this story, God did not need to create in order to love. The truine God is love, perfect love, enjoying perfect fellowship and perfect love as the three-in-one God.
And so, as an act of love, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, spoke, "let there be..." And by faith we believe these things.
By faith we believe the Bible is clear that humanity is the apex of Their creative divine work. Human beings were the final creative act of The Creator, on the final “day” of creation, and finally created in the image of The Creator (Genesis 1:24-8).
Now...we don't know all the implications of what that means to be the image bearers of God, but we do know that the creative spirit is a part of that image. We aren't creating out of nothing like our Creator, but we are created to create from his creation. Sort of like vice-creators, dependent upon his sustenance. We not only “have our being” in him, but we “live and move” in him as well (Acts 17:28; Hebrews 1:3; 2 Peter 3:7). We are created with free will and still dependent, accountable to him (Romans 3:19). Without accountability, the need for grace and forgiveness evaporates. And in this way The Creator is just. God invests his creatures with responsibility. Exercising dominion over creation means that we are stewards of that co-creation and accountable to him for how well we care and co-create from what he has made.
By faith we believe that the unity and diversity of the triune God is reflected also in His created image bearers. There are no divisions of superiority among the creation of humanity. The universal brotherhood of man is inherent in God's creation, every human being receives life from the same “parent”, there is no master race, no superior human beings. And so again, we have a great responsibility to protect that creation from immorality and the sin of prejudice. Those abominable acts contradict God's love which is inherent in his creation. We cannot bear that bastardized image of God and remain sustained by his grace and mercy.
Malachi 2:10
"Have we not all one Father? Has not one God created us? Why then are we faithless to one another, profaning the covenant of our fathers?
And therefore, we should not be creating racism or prejudice of any kind based upon skin color, gender, ancestry, or anything else that is a part of the created order. All judgements about humanity are God's own creation, and his business alone.
This is perfect love and perfect creation. All things working in unity.
And this looks NOTHING like what we see in the world today.
Why?
What happened?
By faith...what happened?
(Leave your comments below).