Tag Archive for Creator

Jesus the Word

2015-02-26 Devotional, Pictures of God No comments

from the devotional book, PICTURES OF GOD

John 1:1-3

Do the opening verses of John remind you of any other passage of scripture?

John opens the story of Jesus with a retelling of the creation account from Genesis 1. He makes the parallels obvious:

  • In the beginning
  • “The Word” reminds us of God speaking the world into existence.
  • Darkness…emptiness…light

But John writes to give Jesus His proper place in the creation account. When all things were created, Jesus was at the very heart of the process.

What does John mean by referring to Jesus as “the Word”? What is a word? It is a means of self-expression, of conveying one’s will, intent, heart, and mind. So when John refers to Jesus as the Word of God, he is saying that Jesus is God’s expression of His own will, intent, heart, and mind.

But remember from Genesis 1 that God’s Word is more than just an expression of intent. God’s Word carries the full authority of our Sovereign Creator. He speaks, and it happens.

Jesus is that sovereign, active, powerful, creative Word of God. Jesus is not just an expression of God’s will. He is God’s will in action, bringing into reality all that the Father desires and commands.

All things came into being through Him [through Jesus], and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. (John 1:3, NASB)

By Him [Jesus] all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. (Colossians 1:16-17, NASB)

Since the very beginning, Jesus has been God’s Word, bringing to reality all the Father’s will. It was true when God spoke worlds into existence. It is true today. Think of all our loving Creator wants for us and for His creation. Jesus Christ is His sovereign, creative Word, bringing about all the Father’s will. He is God’s sovereign, creative Word in you, fully accomplishing all your Creator wants for you.

Reassurances

2015-02-24 Devotional, Pictures of God No comments

from the devotional book, PICTURES OF GOD

Isaiah 42:13-17; 43:14-21

When you need reassurance, picture these truths from Isaiah:

  • When you are threatened, your Creator charges out like a mighty warrior, raising a war cry, doing battle on your behalf. (42:13)
  • In His deep passion for you, your Maker is like a woman in labor, groaning, gasping, panting, crying out for your best. (42:14)
  • Your weaknesses and limitations do not limit God. He can do things for you that you could never do for yourself, things you could never imagine. (42:15-16)
  • When the situation looks the darkest, remember that you have not yet heard the end of the story. (43:14-15)
  • The God who parted the Red Sea to let His people through can move any difficulties out of your path. (43:16-17)
  • Your God did all these mighty deeds in the past, but He is not limited to the past. When His people are in need, the Creator delights to create something brand new. He is not done creating! (43:18-19)

Our Creator God is not bound
by the past or the present,
by our weaknesses or limitations,
by obstacles or roadblocks,
by norms or impossibilities.
Nothing can restrain His passionate love for His people.

Whom or What Are You Worshiping?

2015-02-12 Devotional, Pictures of God No comments

from the devotional book, PICTURES OF GOD

Jeremiah 10:1-16

God spoke through the prophet Jeremiah about 600 B.C. But if God were to raise him up and speak to our society today, what would he say?

“People, your gods are what you seek, what you trust and live for, what you look to for ultimate meaning. They are what define you. So look logically at who or what you are worshiping. Your gods are no gods at all!

“Material goods are too temporary and shallow to fulfill the dreams and desires your Creator has planted in you. They can’t change who you are inside, and you can’t take them with you when your body dies. Look at them, for heaven’s sake! They’re only wood and stone, metal and plastic!

“Money is simply a medium of human exchange, with no intrinsic value. It can only bring what human beings have to give, and no human being can give you what you truly need.

“Comforts and pleasures are fleeting sensations. Don’t spend so much effort trying to temporarily FEEL better. You can BE better from the inside out, and forever!

“No matter how you take care of your health and appearance, age, sickness, and death will overtake you. You are spending too much of your life trying to keep what you are sure to lose.

“All these things are promising you a meaningful and satisfying life. Whose promises do you believe? If you want life, go to the only Source of life, the One Who made you.”

The LORD is the true God;
He is the living God and the everlasting King…
It is He who made the earth by His power,
Who established the world by His wisdom;
And by His understanding He has stretched out the heavens…
The Maker of all is He. (Jeremiah 10:10, 12, 16, NASB)

Psalm 104: Immerse Your Senses in God

2015-02-05 Devotional, Pictures of God No comments

from the devotional book, PICTURES OF GOD

Psalm 104:1; Psalm 19:1-6; Romans 1:18-23 

Most of us moderns are fundamentally different than people of earlier generations in one important respect: we spend so little time outdoors. When you spend time out in nature, you start to notice things: the majesty of the sky and the vastness of the world above and beyond; the beauty of the landscape; the movements of the wind and clouds; the birds, with their colors, calls, flying patterns, and habits; and so much more.

The writer of Psalm 104 is outdoors, and he sees God. He looks around him, and he sees the greatness, the splendor, the majesty of God. Creation helps him imagine and know the unseen God.

If you were absolutely intent on communicating a vital message to every human being on earth, to every person of every nation, every age, every ability, every personality, throughout all time, how would you do it? There are thousands of languages in the world today, and each is constantly changing. Levels of education vary. Technologies come and go. How would you communicate with each and every individual?

God wanted us to know Him, so He painted a vivid picture of Himself in creation itself. He wrote all the essential truths about Himself into the world around us. Creation speaks about Him in a way that is above and beyond all human language.

The heavens are telling of the glory of God;
And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.
Day to day pours forth speech,
And night to night reveals knowledge.
There is no speech, nor are there words;
Their voice is not heard.
Their line has gone out through all the earth,
And their utterances to the end of the world. (Psalm 19:1-4, NASB)

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. (Romans 1:20, NASB)

Do you want a living picture of God, one that will engulf all your senses? Go out for a walk in nature, and keep your eyes and your heart open.

The God of Life

2015-01-29 Devotional, Pictures of God No comments

from the devotional book, PICTURES OF GOD

Genesis 1

God gave both plants (vv.11-12) and animals (vv.21, 24-25) the ability to reproduce themselves. He made life self-perpetuating. What an amazing gift! He shared a portion of His life-giving ability with each of His creatures.

My wife will often ask me what is the purpose of some particular animal. I don’t really have an answer, except that life is the purpose. God is a God of life! Overflowing, abundant, infinitely varied life! Life fills earth’s macro-systems (some look at this entire earth as a single, living organism). And life fills our micro-systems, with tiny drops of water containing varied communities of their own.

When God created non-human life forms on this earth, He said, “Let the waters teem with swarms of creatures” (v.20, NASB) or “Let the earth bring forth living creatures” (v.24, NASB), but with human beings, He said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness” (v.26a, NASB). All living things derive their life from God, but we in a special sense. 

God…breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being” (Genesis 2:7, NASB).

He patterned us after Himself – not physically, but spiritually, intellectually, morally. He shared Himself with us. He even shared a bit of His sovereignty, allowing us to rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth” (v.26b, NASB).

Life is a gift. We human beings didn’t originate ourselves, nor did we ask to be created. What’s more, our physical lives are in many ways self-perpetuating. Most of our physical functions are automatic and self-administering. Our heart beats without our input. We breathe without deciding to do so. Our cells do their work without our conscious involvement. About all we need to do is feed and water ourselves, and for that we’ve been given powerful drives as reminders. Life is truly a gift!

Even our physical bodies point to God as a magnificent, powerful, all-wise, and deeply-loving Creator. How should we respond? By thanking Him sincerely and often, and by treasuring His image in all human life, both in ourselves and in others.

Listen and sing:
Hymn: Praise to You, Giver of Life!
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Perfect in Every Detail

2015-01-28 Devotional, Pictures of God No comments

from the devotional book, PICTURES OF GOD

Genesis 1

As I read Genesis 1, not only does God’s youthful enthusiasm strike me, but the orderliness of His process.
In days 1-3, God prepares the earth, layer by layer.
In days 4-6, He goes back and populates the earth, layer by layer.

Or to put it another way:
In days 1-3, He sets the stage, room by room.
In days 4-6, He goes back and brings in the furniture, room by room.

The two halves of the process parallel each other. Specifically:
On day 1 (vv.3-5), He creates light.
On day 4 (vv.14-19), He creates the sun and moon.

On day 2 (vv.6-8), He places the sky as the separation between the waters above (the heavens) and the waters below (oceans, seas, etc.).
On day 5 (vv.20-23) He puts life in the water and sky.

On day 3 (vv.9-13), He creates the dry land and vegetation.
On day 6 (vv.24-26), He creates living creatures on the dry land, including man.

He creates our home as would any careful builder: layer by layer, starting from the general and working to the particulars.

This brand new, uncorrupted home speaks His love and careful attention in every detail. As Isaiah 45:18 says, “He is the God who formed the earth and made it, He established it and did not create it a waste place, but formed it to be inhabited.” (NASB)

Examine human handiwork under a microscope, and the closer you look, the more rough edges you find. It’s inevitable. Our tools and manual abilities are limited. But look at God’s handiwork under a microscope, and the deeper you go, the more organization and detail you find.

Look at His creation from a broader and broader perspective, and you find more and more order and meaning. Look at smaller and smaller levels, and the same is true. His wisdom and care extend to infinity in both directions, to galaxies and beyond, and to sub-atomic worlds and below. His marvelous world speaks truths about Him that words cannot capture.

Our Relationship with God

2015-01-23 Devotional, Pictures of God No comments

from the devotional book, PICTURES OF GOD

Genesis 1:26 – 2:9

What is the basis for God’s claim on us? Why is He interested in us, and why are we obligated to Him? Why can’t we simply ignore Him the way we ignore many other beings in our universe? Does He demand our obedience because of His raw power? Does He get attention because He’s simply the biggest bully on the block?

God created us. We cannot ignore Him because we are His. We are permanently, totally, inescapably linked to Him.

Specifically, He created us from Himself. We are patterned after Him. To understand ourselves, we must understand Him. He is deeply, unavoidably relevant to us. He is the source, the pattern, and the goal for all we are. Our entire existence, our whole being is wrapped up in Him.

In Him we live and move and exist. (Acts 17:28, NASB)

From Him and through Him and to Him are all things. (Romans 11:36, NASB)

Get the big picture: dwelling in unmeasured eternity is a self-existent Being, complete and at peace in Himself. He is complete in power, wisdom, and love. His love comes not from need – need for us, or for fellowship, or for anything else. The opposite is true. His love comes from His fullness, not need. He is forever full to overflowing. From this overflowing, this giving, this love, He conceives the idea of creating…creating a race of beings somehow like Himself. He sets about to create a home for these beings, a home that meets all their needs – not just physical needs, but needs for beauty, order, rulership, challenge, discovery, and responsibility…the need to know their Creator.

God created all that is, and specifically, He created us from Himself and for Himself. That truth should transform our entire understanding of Him, ourselves, life, and all of reality.

Revealed by Mystery

2015-01-01 Devotional, Pictures of God No comments

from the devotional book, PICTURES OF GOD

Psalm 19:1-6

If you were to draw a picture of God, what would He look like? How would you picture a God who cannot be pictured?

He is spirit, unlimited by matter. But we are material creatures living in a material world. To us, matter is reality. Sight is one of our main ways of perceiving the world around us. So how do we know an immaterial God? How do we picture Him, grasp Him, imagine Him, relate to Him?

Realize this: God created matter to reveal Himself, not obscure Himself. He conceived and created this material world and the senses that perceive it in order to point us toward Him, not away from Him. Sight, smell, hearing, touch, and taste were designed to draw us toward the God Who is far beyond them all.

This magnificent, material, sensual world points us to a Source profoundly greater than itself. Its wonders prod us to look up. They challenge us to imagine something or Someone beyond imagining. They introduce us to a God who is far more than our God-given intelligence can fully grasp. This majestic, intricate universe is just the appetizer, the teaser, the opening phrase of the symphony that is our Glorious God Himself.

God’s mystery doesn’t hide Him. It begins to reveal Him. The Unknowable One is intent on being known. He is intent on being known by you.

I Am Your Creation

2014-10-28 Devotional with Hymn No comments

During some periods in my life, I’ve lived in a vague uneasiness about myself. I’ve felt a restlessness, an unsettledness within that was hard to pin down or identify.

Eventually I realized this stemmed from a clouding of my relationship with God. Though I had not totally rejected Him, I was reluctant to face Him, afraid to stand before Him unhidden. Perhaps I had let Satan steal my confidence through his false accusations. Or perhaps sin had crept in, and I knew deep within that I hadn’t been living as I should. As a result, guilt had separated me from a full, joyful relationship with God. I was hesitant to look into His face.

If you’ve ever experienced these feelings, try something with me. Close your eyes and bow your head, and see yourself standing before Him right now. In your heart look Him straight in the face and say, “God, I am Your creation.”

Go ahead, try it.

Listen. How does your heart respond when you say that?

I have a sense of being a child, standing before my Father, with my arms outstretched, looking up into His face. No matter what my struggles, He understands me. My sins and failures have not dampened His love. I’m enveloped in acceptance, an affection, a belonging that goes deeper than my childish inadequacies.

When our children fail or get in trouble, we don’t want them to hide from us or go to other sources for help. It hurts and frustrates our hearts when they won’t share themselves with us, even when they fall. We long for them to come to us and be assured of our love, understanding, and total support, no matter what they’ve done. Our Father is the same with us. We are His. Though sin brings a cloud and a separation from Him, the separation is on our end, not His. The love and acceptance still exist. He yearns for us to turn to Him again.

As I stand before Him as my Creator, realizing I am His very own, worship becomes a living relationship. At such times, words are unnecessary. Communication lines are open from heart to heart, without the formalities of speech. The love I sense for Him is worship. That trust growing within me is the adoration He desires.

Standing there, I long to live always in His presence, in that unbroken fellowship with Him. Sin appears now as foolish and destructive, soiling that beautiful, living relationship. I want Him to seal all my affections forever as His very own. I want to live fully and freely before Him—naturally, as His love designed.

And in that love, I want to glorify Him in every way I can. Creation so beautifully and lavishly glorifies Him, singing constantly of His power, His wisdom, His love. As His creation, I want to take my place in that symphony.

We are His creation, His children. That warm, open relationship is what He wants most for us, and with us. He only asks that we trust Him—trust Him enough to come to Him immediately and repent when we have sinned; trust Him enough to bring Him our needs and concerns; trust Him enough to obey His words of love.

He is a wonderful Father!

O Lord, you are our Father.
We are the clay, you are the potter;
we are all the work of your hand. (Isaiah 64:8, NIV)

Listen and sing:
Hymn: I Quiet Myself in Your Love
Recording
Printed Music & Lyrics

The Immensity of God

2014-09-21 Devotional with Hymn No comments

O Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,
what is man that you are mindful of him,
the son of man that you care for him?
(Psalm 8:1, 3-4, NIV)

Have you ever had the experience that the psalmist describes above? Have you been out under the clear night sky and looked up at the stars and the vastness of the heavens? Have you marveled that the Creator of all this has any interest in you? Here are some facts that may stimulate your imagination.

Light travels so fast that a beam of light can circle the earth more than 7 times in a second. The moon is a quarter of a million miles away, and its light reaches the earth in less than a second and a half. The sun is approximately 93 million miles away, and its light arrives in approximately 8 minutes.

Our own galaxy or group of stars is called the Milky Way. How long do you think it would take light to travel just across our own galaxy? 100,000 years! Light travels around the earth 7 times in a second and 93 million miles from the sun in only 8 minutes. But our galaxy is so vast that even light takes 100,000 years to cross it.

Galaxies are vast beyond our imagination. But ours is only one galaxy. How many galaxies do you think there are in the universe? Estimates vary, but in 1999, data from the Hubble space telescope led scientists to estimate that there are 125 billion galaxies in the universe. Some estimates run much higher. Try to imagine that: 93 million miles in 8 minutes; 100,000 years to cross our galaxy; 125 billion galaxies.

We are so very small. Reality dwarfs us. It dwarfs the human race. It dwarfs the entire earth.

But here’s something else to consider: this vast universe is only the smallest taste of the Living God. He overflows the physical universe. Job 26 talks about God’s mighty works in creation, then in v.14 says that in all these we see only the fringes of His robe. We hear only a faint whisper of Him.

What’s more, the gap between God and us is far greater than the size of the universe. The real gap between God and us is in the essence of who we are.

  • He is all-powerful and all-wise, unbounded by matter and time. We are weak and blind, living momentary lives, consumed with the here and now.
  • He is holy and pure. Without Him, we are corrupt and sinful.
  • He is unlimited love. We are proud, small-minded, and selfish, wrapped up in our own comfort and narrow interests.

But now for the most amazing truth: God’s love has bridged this gap between us. This immense chasm of time, space, and character has been closed by God’s all-encompassing love. All the immensity of God, all the eternity of God, all His glory and power and holiness have been embodied in a human being: Jesus Christ. We are united with this immense God in Christ (Colossians 2:9-10).

Listen and sing:
Hymn: The Fullness of God’s Glory
Recording
Printed Music & Lyrics

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